“This!..”

The orb radiated red.. Then blue.. Green.. Yellow.. Purple.. Yellow.. Green.. Blue.. Red.. Then after a few seconds, all of the colors appeared and separated and then disappeared.

Elder Luo couldn’t help but suck in cold air.

“This is too abnormal.. Princess Bai, what does this mean??”

Princess Bai, the woman, turned her attention towards Li Jian.

“Dong Luo, speak of this to anyone and I will make sure you suffer pain worse than death. Go get my father.”

Elder Luo took those words to heart and left immediately.

When Elder Luo left, Princess Bai looked at Li Jian.

“What is this little brother’s name?”

Princess Bai smiled and turned towards Li Jian. Being this close, he could feel her warmth and even smell a sweet flowery fragrance. Looking closely, she had a beautifully sculpted face that was complemented by her dark green hair that hung behind her alluring body.

“Li Jian greets Princess Bai.”

“You don’t need to call me Princess, Little Jian.”

Li Jian lightly smiled and took his attention away from her body.

“Elder Sister Bai.. About my affinity..”

“Stop. Don’t speak any further.”

The door opened and a young, dignified man walked in.

“Father..”

Elder Sister Bai bowed her head gently.

‘This must be Patriarch Shui of the Jade Moon Sect!’

Li Jian looked at the man and couldn’t help but gaze in awe. Many participants in the first stage of the exam had glorified Patriarch Shui and viewed him as the most powerful being. One time, Patriarch Shui took on a whole army by himself! After that battle, people began calling him "The Jade Dragon”.

“Bai’er, set up an array.”

Raising her two arms, hand over hand, palm facing out, a spiritual array formed and covered the whole room instantly. With perfect control of her spiritual energy, she had easily created a vast and intricate array in less than one second. This array made it so that anybody outside wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop or see what was happening on the inside.

“What happened Bai’er.”

After explaining the abnormality of the Affinity Orb, Patriarch Shui closed his eyes and let out a breath.

“Li Jian.”

Hearing his own name, Li Jian stood up straight, clasped his hands and bowed.

“Yes, Patriarch?”

“What I tell you now, you must never reveal this information to anyone. This could endanger your life.”

‘Endanger my life? What exactly is happening?’

Seeing his concerned look, Patriarch Shui closed his eyes again.

“For your own good, I will not be telling you what your affinity is. You must have the strength to find out for yourself. After you leave this room, you will show others that you have no affinity with any element.”

“If that is what Patriarch believes is best, I will not go against you.”

Breaking the tense atmosphere, Patriarch Shui opened his eyes and smiled.

“Li Jian, I had the opportunity of watching your performance in the recruitment exam. Can you tell me why you decided to destroy the array?”

Li Jian looked up at the Patriarch with an embarrassed look.

“Well.. I was getting tired and just wanted the turtle to stop spawning.. It felt reasonable to destroy the source..”

“Hahaha, that’s your reasoning? That array was set up by Bai’er herself! Ordinary cultivators in the Spirit realm would have a hard time breaking it, and yet you who is only in the 2nd level of the Mortal realm succeeded. That was a stage set up to test your battle strength and see how many you can kill before being defeated. Although scoring lowest, you surprised us by destroying the array. Since it’s over now, I hope you’ll dedicate yourself to your training. I await your future endeavors Li Jian.”

“Thank you Patriarch, I will not let you down.”

“Li Jian, you may leave now. Elder Luo is waiting outside. I hope you don’t forget what I said about your affinity.”

Li Jian bowed once again and left through the door.

Elder Luo had been waiting outside the whole time and the moment Li Jian exited through the door, he looked at Li Jian trying to figure out who this 2nd level Mortal realm child was to be able to make the Affinity Orb have such a bizarre reaction.

“It’s getting pretty late, so I’ll show you to your room. Because your ranking was low, you’re only an outer disciple of the sect. Tomorrow morning, you’ll be given a proper introduction.”

“What ranking did I need to become an inner disciple, Elder Luo?”

“Top 3 became inner disciples due to their ranking and cultivation.”

Following Elder Luo through many large courtyards, Li Jian couldn’t wait to see what his house would look like! These houses were not only bigger than the old, wooden house Li Jian had lived in by at least ten times, but were also too luxurious. The jade-green accents that accompanied the sleek, white marble of the building made it seem like these houses were built for royalty.

Walking farther and farther away, the quality of the buildings and landscape decreased..

“Here we are, your new home. Your sect uniform is inside. Tomorrow morning, I’ll send over someone to guide you. The other disciples have already been given their introduction and are already settled in.”

Elder Luo stood in front of a small, wooden home that was comparable to the house Li Jian had lived in at Falling Leaf Village.

‘Nothing’s changed but the location..’

Looking at his house in contempt, Li Jian thanked Elder Luo for guiding him and then walked into his new home.

Creaking loudly, the door opened. Inside of this “house” was a room with a dusty, old bed that looked to have been feasted on by moths.

‘This is fine.. Not like the luxurious buildings near the main building. To be accepted as a disciple into the Jade Moon Sect is already a great accomplishment, so I shouldn’t get picky about what my house looks like..’

Li Jian sighed and then laid down on his bed. He had drained quite a bit of his spiritual energy since the beginning of the exam and had no time to rest. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind.

Focusing on his dantian and spiritual energy..

‘My understanding of spiritual energy has definitely expanded. It looks like my cultivation is nearing the 3rd level too. I’ve made incredible gains through this exam!’

Smiling happily, Li Jian knocked out and fell asleep. His spiritual energy was too low and he needed to rest.

Hidden within Li Jian’s dantian, the small white crystal pulsed for a split second.

Back at the Affinity Orb room, Patriarch Shui was lost in his thoughts.

“Father, why didn’t you tell him what affinity he had?”

“I wasn’t confident in my answer, but I do have something in mind.. Either way, it’s too risky for anybody to know about Li Jian’s affinity because he is too weak to protect himself from any danger. Go home and rest Bai’er, and also look out for Li Jian, but don’t make it obvious.”

“I’d normally hate doing these small things for the sect, but you can definitely entrust him to me!”

Princess Bai left leaving only Patriarch Shui within the array. He stayed a little bit longer thinking about the weird changes of the orb.

‘I need to confirm something..’

The array disappeared along with Patriarch Shui.

Sleeping comfortably, Li Jian had fallen asleep and was dreaming.

In the middle of a warzone, Li Jian glanced at a man before disappearing. He then reappeared behind the man and unleashed a devastating skill. The only thing that was visible was the body of the man being crushed into the ground, creating a crater with a diameter of 1500 meters. After a few breaths, an army rushed towards Li Jian hoping to avenge their dead commander. Under a heavy barrage of skills, Li Jian slowly waved his hands at the oncoming attacks and easily deflected them like he was pushing them aside.

At the sound of yelling and loud banging, Li Jian’s dream was interrupted.

“WAKE UP IDIOT OR ELSE I’M GOING TO LEAVE AND YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SURVIVE IN THE SECT.”

Li Jian rubbed his eyes to adjust to the bright morning sunlight that had snuck through the cracks of the wall.

‘That dream just now was different. These last couple nights I’ve had the same dream of making a promise with a beautiful girl, but what was that battle this time..? It felt so familiar...’

“I. AM. LEAVING!"

Li Jian got out of bed and changed into his new grayish-green robes.

Walking out the door, he was welcomed with the sight of a chubby boy staring at him angrily.

“Finally!! I missed breakfast and my mid-morning meal because of YOU. Elder Luo told me to be your guide today and that I had to help you. Of course I’m getting some contribution points, but still!”

“Haha.. Sorry you missed your breakfast and mid-morning meal..”

“The name’s Lee Gang.”

“Thank you for being so patient Lee Gang.”

“Follow me, I’ll show you around the outer sect.”

Lee Gang, stomping his feet with each step, was clearly a bit mad.

“First things first, contribution points are the currency in the sect. You can use your contribution points at the Outer Sect Shop to buy pretty much anything like cultivation resources, medicine, weapons, skills, and most importantly, food! But all the good stuff is limited in stock..”

“You can gain contribution points by carrying out tasks from the Elders or successfully completing missions. The missions are posted on the mission board right in front of the Outer Sect Hall.”

“We’re in the residential district at the moment, but we’ll soon reach the hall. The shop is also inside of the hall, so it’s very convenient.”

“Oh, since you’re new, you’ll have to take classes until the teacher passes you.”

“How do I pass?”

“Learn the material and perform well, obviously. By the way, what affinity do you have? Mine’s wind. They say people with wind affinity are more agile and swift than others.”

Lee Gang puffed his chest out as if he was proud, but while puffing his chest out, his belly pushed out, stretching his robe to its limits.

‘I can’t see this fatty being as swift as wind..’

“I have no affinity.”

Lee Gang stopped abruptly causing Li Jian to walk into him.

“You have no affinity? I’ve never heard of someone with no affinity.. Good luck with that, the classes here only teach you based on what type of affinity you have.”

Dropping the matter, Lee Gang pulled a rice cake out of his pocket and took a tiny bite.

‘How did he become so fat if he eats like this?!’

“Stop staring at me while I eat. I get nervous.. Oh! You must be wondering why I’m taking such tiny bites huh.”

“No.. I...”

“Well, I’m on a diet. Apparently, Hwa Qing likes muscular men. Wait until she sees what’s under this belly hahaha.”

With nothing to say, Li Jian just followed this Lee Gang unable to say anything.

In an old library, two men, one old, one young, stared down at a dusty, tattered book.

The old man pointed at some words on a page with a solemn expression.

The young man, shocked to the core couldn’t believe what he read.

He mouthed the words:

“Spatial Affinity.”