Chung shifted nervously, glancing at the rich kids to his right and his left. He tried to stop his fidgeting but just ended up squirming even more.

Dammit, why was I placed with these rich snots. I look pathetic. This is my chance out of the slums. Once the Axel’s gang finds out I am the one who killed Two-Toed Tan, I’m done for. Heck, if I can’t be accepted, I might have a better chance of trying to survive in the wilds.

Chung thought of the stories of the wild he had heard from his mother and shivered.

Okay, make that an equal chance. Certain death from the Gang or certain death by some crazy spirit beast. Dammit, Ma was right. I’m going to end up dead before my first hair. May the sweet whore rest in peace.

Chung’s attention snapped back to reality as the disciple from the Thousand Season Sect descended from the stage. Even the officials on the stage stopped talking as the disciple stepped down. Chung didn’t have time to think about it as he tried once again to stop his fidgeting.

Come on body, listen to me! I need this. Huh, why is he coming this way? Wait, did I offend him somehow. Does he hate poor kids!

The disciple stopped in front of him and Chung finally saw how vacant his expression was. The next thing Chung knew, one of his hands was grasped by the disciple. Chung felt his blood run cold.

Oh-oh, he is just like Two-Toed Tan. I don’t want to be recruited anymore.

Ignoring the panicking child, Felix glanced back to see the officials looking at him with a variety of expressions.

“Disciple Felix,” Said Xue, “Could you please enlighten the rest of us what you think you are doing?”

Holy shit, I totally spaced out there. What was I thinking?

His expression twitched as panic tried to break down his mental doors. With an effort of will, he crushed the internal rebellion, letting his face resume a polite but slightly surprised expression. He released the child’s hand and turned back toward the raised platform. Facing Xue, he brought his now clammy hands together in a sign of respect.

What did I learn earlier today? Give face. Shift blame.

“Excuse me Senior Xue and Greenwood officials. This one thought the plan was for me to perform my test first. I apologize for my misunderstanding.

Xue paused but quickly nodded as if in understanding. The mayor’s eyes glinted and he leaned forward in his chair with a smile.

“Really, an inspection skill for someone in the essence gathering Realm. What is it called?” He said.

Felix felt a wave of nerves once again.

Remembered my new mantra, give face, shift blame.

“I apologize mayor. This one was taught by our Sect’s Elder Shen. Until I have completely mastered it, I am not allowed to discuss it.” Said Felix.

The mayor’s smile became a bit forced but he nodded. “I, of course, would not want you to disobey one of your venerated elders. Forgive this humble Mayor’s curiosity. Fairy Xue, perhaps you would like to begin the testing?”

“That would be well with me. As my disciple Felix’s method expends spiritual energy, it would be best to perform the other test first.” She said, glancing at Felix as if to reconfirming an earlier point. Realizing she was asking in truth, Felix hurriedly nodded. “So then let’s begin.” As Felix jumped back up to his previous seat, Xue imperiously pointed at a random child in the front row. “Come on up.”

Nervously, the child walked up the small ramp to stand before Xue. Felix was taken aback at the gentle smile that graced Xue’s face. With a flourish, a Crystal appeared in her hand. She twisted her fingers so that the ball remained spinning on the tip of her index finger.

“This is a comprehension crystal.” She said aloud for the crowd. “It operates by exposing someone to many basic problems common to the cultivation world. You will not need to do anything as your subconscious mind will instinctively solve a few of them. It will glow as long as you meet the bare minimum.”

With a twirl of her fingers, she suddenly held the ball between her index and middle finger. Reaching forward, she gently pressed the Crystal against the child’s forehead. After a second, the crystal lit up with a dull light.

“Excellent.” She said.

Felix watched the process with interest. The next crystal Xue brought out tested how sensitive the child was to spiritual energy. After that, she performed several quick tests with weird looking talismans. Apparently, they were for special characteristics like bloodlines, spiritual roots. There was one final one that simply tested the strength of a person’s meridians.

Even though each test was quick, the number of children ensured it was late at night. Xue also handed out a good number of the test manuals to children who hadn’t made the cut. As Felix began to think he would fall asleep, he heard Xue say his name.

“Alright Felix, it is time you try the analyze technique.”

Felix tried to put on a casual air and walked over to the small group of children who remained. He actually spotted the child whose hand he had first grabbed and decided to test him first.

“What is your name, little one?”

“This one is known as Chung.” Said the child, still just as fidgety as the beginning of the selection. The kid made an attempt to clasp his hand together as Felix had done for the officials.

Felix smiled and stepped forward to grab Chung’s hand. Closing his eyes, he tried to reach for that guiding feeling he felt when flying with Xue. After a moment, he found it and let it guide him to inject qi into the child. After a moment, he felt a much-subdued wave return with a baffling amount of incomprehensible information. Luckily, the system guidance stepped in.

[Name: Chung]

[Race: Human]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 11]

[Cultivation: None]

[Constitution: None]

[Bloodline: None]

[Roots: ?? 58%]

[Potential Points: ??]

[Sword: Potential]

[Earth: Potential]

The experience was weird as some of the information came from the guidance and some of it from himself. He focused on the last two of the entries that talk about sword arts and earth. After a moment he got a sense that potential meant just that, there was potential there. That was it. The potential for the sword arts felt like it could mean the boy was an earthshattering genius or could learn to poke things really well. Weirdly, there was a feeling that the fault was in his own ignorance. Like he was looking at something in the distance but had no understanding of depth perception. He found that the ‘??’ for the roots meant that the kid did have a spiritual root, but he couldn’t tell which kind.

Well, that was not very helpful,

Sighing. Felix went to the next child. He tried to ignore it when Chung broke into tears when he didn’t say anything.

Sorry kid, I am not sure what to make of all this. Can’t be giving you false hope yet.

After another introduction, he tested the next kid and focused on what was different.

[Cultivation: None]

[Constitution: None]

[Bloodline: None]

[Roots: None]

[Potential Points: ??]

[Sword: No]

[Earth: No]

Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about this boy. At least from what was shown. What about stuff that isn’t sword or earth…

Once again, Felix sighed but this child only teared up. He found that none of the others even had a spiritual root. A few of them had potential with both sword and earth. After finishing the last one, he returned to the stage to find all the officials looking at him eagerly, hoping to hear the results.

Felix clasped his hands again. "Excuse me Mayor, but Elder Shen of my Sect said I can't reveal the results of the technique without an Elders permission."

The official’s expressions soured but they kept their opinions to themselves. It was one thing to offend a disciple, it was quite another to go against the word of a Sect Elder.

The mayor clasped his hands in respect and bowed. "Of course, disciple Felix. Our small town would not question the words of a Thousand Season Elder. We can show you to an isolated room to discuss the results."

"That will not be necessary, I can simply put up a sound barrier” Cut in Xue. Annoyance could be seen plainly on her face. The surrounding officials began to get nervous as they sensed Sect Politics. However, Felix had noticed that her eye twitches every time he mentioned elder Shen.

Dammit, I should have mentioned a different Elder.

Felix stepped closer to Xue and she whipped out a talisman. The talisman glowed and then a curtain of water splashed outward, creating a curtain around them that distorted sight and sound. She turned to face Felix.

"Alright, Felix. What the hell did you just do? I know of no such technique in the Sect's archive. More importantly, there is no technique that I have heard of that would allow an essence gathering cultivator to evaluate someone’s potential."

Felix was a little taken aback by her vehemence and put on a serious expression

Wow, can I make up believable enough bullshit that Xue would buy it? Xue is smart enough that she might just see through it. Unfortunately, my system isn’t that believable. It doesn't seem to match up with the logic of this world.

Felix looked at Xue’s eyes and saw she wouldn’t let this go.

Wow, she has nice eyes- Wait, wait. None of that. Let’s go big picture. You are in a world of cultivation. Some of my memories tell me this can be a very shitty place. Your one advantage is tied to your Sect. So making allies is good. Sister Xue has shown herself helpfully and not to mention stupidly talented. Though frankly, you are out of your depth in this evaluation. Either way; she seems trustworthy and potentially very helpful. Confide now to potentially gain her help and trust. Honesty can be a weapon, right?

Felix realized he had lost himself in thought from the growing frown on Xu’s face. Coughing awkwardly, he put on a serious expression.

"Sister Xue, can I trust you?" said Felix, fighting to maintain eye contact. "I am out of my depth. I am still struggling with the ramification of what happened to me. The truth is that I have benefited more from the attack than the elders realized.”

Felix moved a little closer as he saw Sister Xue deep in thought "Sister Xue, you have been kind and are amazingly talented."

Xue blinked in surprise at this seeming non sequitur.

"From the accident, I have gained a gift. An instinct almost. You know how my notes were pretty good on improving that cultivation method?"

Sister Xue recovered her composure and nodded.

"Well, that is thanks to this instinct I’ve developed.”

Xue's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying you instinctively know things?"

Felix shook his head. "Not exactly." He paused as he tried to encapsulate his experience into words. "Or kind of. It is more like a guiding force. A feeling. The more I know, the more I can get out of it too. That is why I was so desperate to read as much as I could in the library. It is also why I was so amazed by your technique.”

"My technique?"

"Yes, based on what my 'instinct' is telling me, your technique is a much higher grade than anything I could find. So, sister Xue, I will ask you again. Can I trust you?"

Xue looked at Felix for a long time, and finally, she reached out and laid a hand on Felix's shoulder.

"You can. But I am not becoming your sworn sister” A small smile played across Xue's lips. "At least not yet. This is too much to take in. For now, you have my support." Then Xue puffed up her chest and struck a pose. "Plus, as you said, I am super amazing. How could such an amazing senior sister let her junior brother struggle?"

Felix cracked a smile.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

“So, I am sure you want to know what I was doing to the kids.

"Yes, what were you doing? Was this also this instinct?"

Felix nodded. “I was trying to see how helpful it would be in evaluating new disciples.”

"That’s strange. I have heard of heavenly guidance and moments of epiphany. There is plenty of literature mentioning such events. They are often personal inspirations. If what you have helps you understand other people... that is strange.”

Felix shook his head. "Well, it's sorts of helpful. I feel like there is a lot of information there that I don’t understand. I feel like I could have got more out of it if I simply knew more.”

Xue nodded thoughtfully.

"So, what could you understand? Let’s focus on that for now.”

Felix went through each of the categories listed. She thought the sword and earth part was interesting but her draw dropped at the description for bloodline, physique, and spiritual roots.

“That…. now that is useful. Does it just tell you what kind they have?”

“That’s all I get right now but maybe that will change.”

Xue started pacing and Felix was surprised by how agitated she had become.

“Um, Senior Xue.” He said hesitantly.

Her head snapped in his direction and then she shook it ruefully.

“Sorry, Felix, you just don’t get it. This… this could be huge for the sect.” She glanced at the barrier. “However, this is not the time to discuss it. I truly need to get you back to the Sect. I should have left you there safe and sound.”

Oh, come on. I was finally about to get some answers.

“Please Senior Xue, can you at least give me a reason why knowing about those three things is important?”

“Felix. Many spiritual roots, bloodlines, and physiques are obvious. Someone with a bit of spiritual sense can scan the person or even see physical traits with their eyes alone. But, some of the rarer ones are much harder or even impossible to detect. There is no universal technique to discover such people. The only people who might have that capability would be those so powerful that it isn’t worth their time. So just that basic detection alone is invaluable for our Sect. Now think about the ramification if you tell EXACTLY what type they have.”

Felix tried to think of the ramifications, and he knew he failed. However, he could feel the seriousness of Xue’s tone, so he nodded.

“I don’t but I understand its importance. I will not say anything about it until we get to the Sect.”

Xue nodded in his directions. “Good, now let’s get this over with. We will simply pick the children that your gift assures are good at something. I will instruct the Mayor that I want all the others to be sent to the Sect with the group that gets the second chance. If you can really learn more from studying, who knows what else you can detect. Tomorrow we will leave and get you back to the Sect.

Comporting herself, Xue turned and dismissed the barrier with a wave. She nodded toward the officials.