The Subterranean Demon Test was fast approaching, a mandatory assessment for anyone who had joined the Five Immortals Alliance within the last decade.
The test fundamentally covered two areas.
First, the individual combat prowess of the cultivator.
Second, the cultivator's familiarity with the subterranean demons.
The first part of the assessment focused on individual combat ability, beginning with arcane arts.
The path of the Sword has its own road, just as the path of the Sorcerer has its own.
The path of arcane arts diverges sharply from the path of the Sword.
When the arcane arts reach a certain echelon, one attains the state of Initial Grasp of the Heavenly Heart (Chu Zhang Tian Xin).
This state allows the caster to completely command the flow of a specific type of elemental Yuan Qi within a ten-mile radius.
This distinguishes Sorcerers from Sword Cultivators: the Sword Cultivator integrates themselves into the fabric of the world, much like how Lu Yuan, mastering the Detachment Sword Intent of Wind, essentially becomes the wind itself.
Conversely, the Sorcerer masters the flow of elemental Yuan Qi, commanding a portion of the cosmos.
Although the Initial Grasp of the Heavenly Heart in arcane arts differs significantly in nature from the Sword Intent levels, their standing in terms of sheer power is comparable.
The combat strength derived from Initial Grasp of the Heavenly Heart is similar to that achieved through the Sword Intent levels, and both are exceedingly rare accomplishments.
Following this is the Middle Grasp of the Heavenly Heart (Zhong Zhang Tian Xin), where control extends over a specific Yuan Qi flow within a hundred-mile radius.
This corresponds to the intermediate comprehension levels of Sword Intent.
The third tier for Sorcerers is Heavenly Heart in Hand (Tian Xin Zai Shou).
At this point, the cultivator commands the flow of a specific Yuan Qi within a thousand miles, which aligns with the complete comprehension of Sword Intent.
Likewise, the heavens possess Three Thousand Avenues of Passage.
Sorcery also encompasses Three Thousand Great Daos.
Three Thousand Heavenly Heart Consciences.
Mastering all Three Thousand Heavenly Heart Consciences elevates one to the status of the Ultimate God of Sorcery.
Of course, the Ultimate God of Sorcery, much like the Ultimate God of the Sword, remains an ethereal concept, never witnessed.
It should be apparent from this introduction that Initial Grasp of the Heavenly Heart is analogous to initial Sword Intent comprehension, Middle Grasp of the Heavenly Heart parallels intermediate Sword Intent comprehension, and Heavenly Heart in Hand aligns with complete Sword Intent comprehension.
Furthermore, mastering Three Thousand Heavenly Heart Consciences to achieve the status of a Sorcery God mirrors achieving the status of Sword God through Three Thousand Sword Intents.
However, a corresponding equivalent to the Detachment Sword Intent is missing.
Consequently, the various stages of arcane arts have historically been slightly easier to attain than the corresponding stages of Sword Intent.
Conversely, an equal stage in Sorcery tends to be slightly weaker than the same stage in Swordsmanship.
The enduring debate in the cultivation world centers on whether Sorcery or Swordsmanship is fundamentally stronger.
Against the backdrop of this ongoing dispute, the emergence of the Three Sects of Mount Hua—the Sword Sect, the Qi Sect, and the Sword-Qi Sect—is hardly surprising.
The contention between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect is, at its core, the debate over the superiority of Sorcery versus Swordsmanship.
Setting aside this philosophical digression, let us return to the present: the Subterranean Demon Test.
The arcane arts were tested first.
Unluckily for Lu Yuan, he had almost never practiced arcane arts.
Beyond the ten essential, frequently used spells—such as the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Spell, Sound Interception Spell, Water Mirror Spell, Magnetic Mirror Spell, Clairvoyance Spell, Tracking Spell, Anti-Tracking Spell, and others—Lu Yuan had never mastered any other spell.
The last time he had attempted anything serious was dozing off while practicing the Water Mirror Spell.
If even that was his effort for the Water Mirror Spell, attempts at more difficult techniques like the Water Arrow Spell or the Multiple Water Arrow Spell were naturally abandoned.
Because of this deficit, Lu Yuan predictably secured the absolute worst score in the arcane arts assessment, leaving no room for surprise.
Next came the testing of swordsmanship.
For this segment, merely approaching Sword Intent comprehension was enough to earn a perfect evaluation.
Lu Yuan’s swordsmanship, unsurprisingly, was flawless, netting him first place.
The results of the initial two assessments aligned perfectly with Lu Yuan’s self-assessment: inept at Sorcery, a grandmaster of the Sword.
This was expected.
However, the subsequent tests completely blindsided him.
What followed were questions so bizarrely specific.
The weakness of the Sand Demon? He had killed several Sand Demons but never bothered to learn their weaknesses; he simply overpowered them through sheer force.
How to deal with the Earth-Crawling Spider-Men? This stumped Lu Yuan.
Earth-Crawling Spider-Men are notoriously difficult foes; they lie flat on the ground, hidden, before erupting in a sudden attack.
Countless cultivators had devised complex countermeasures specifically targeting them.
Lu Yuan’s predicament was that he never used any special tactics against them; he relied on overwhelming force.
Once a Spider-Man dared to emerge, it would be instantly trapped within his Sword Intent, unable to escape, rendering all clever methods unnecessary.
Thus, he genuinely could not answer such a theoretical question.
This difficulty stemmed entirely from the extreme sophistication of his swordsmanship, which made dealing with Earth-Crawling Spider-Men so simplistic that no special methods were ever required.
Fortunately, the later tests included practical combat scenarios, which Lu Yuan handled with ease, conquering them all.
The results of the Subterranean Demon Test were soon posted.
First place, unsurprisingly, went to Nangong Lie.
The top ten rankings were filled with familiar faces, names everyone knew.
The only outlier, the holder of the Unique Token, piqued everyone’s curiosity.
They scanned down the list, finally locating Lu Liu’s name.
Lu Liu placed forty-third—a truly unimpressive ranking.
“Isn’t this the Unique Token holder? I heard he took first place in the Tenth Branch Competition.” “Yes, that’s him.” “Why is his performance this time so abysmal?” “The Tenth Branch Competition was for relative newcomers.
What does winning there matter? This Subterranean Demon Test is open to everyone who joined the Five Immortals Alliance less than ten years ago.
Facing so many genuine experts, he naturally couldn’t compete.
But forty-third is still quite poor; I expected him to be in the top ten or twenty.” “Indeed.
It seems that Yu Lin might have been all hype.” “That’s true.
I heard he beat the second-place finisher by a wide margin in the Tenth Branch Contest to earn that token.
Now, maybe there was some exaggeration involved.” At this point, all sorts of comments surfaced.
Seeing the results, Lu Yuan merely shrugged.
Such a performance was entirely normal.
Firstly, the test evaluated Sorcery, where he was inherently inept.
Secondly, it tested understanding of subterranean demons, and his knowledge in that area was undeniably shallow.
Hence, this final result.
This score was certainly not commendable, and Lu Yuan felt a slight pang of disappointment.
However, after taking a large gulp of wine, Lu Yuan found himself wondering why he felt let down.
Had he become too accustomed to success lately? First in the Five Peaks Grand Competition, then first in the Tenth Branch Competition of the Five Immortals Alliance—these victories had conditioned him to occupy the highest perch, leading to a hint of arrogance.
He was being foolish.
His current strength was certainly formidable; if he actually fought Nangong Lie and the others, he likely wouldn't lose.
But this test measured understanding of subterranean demons, a field he knew little about.
Losing in such an arena was completely normal.
Life cannot be nothing but victories.
He wasn't an all-encompassing genius, but merely someone possessing extraordinary talent specifically for the Dao of the Sword.
To date, he had discovered no other talent besides the Dao of the Sword—oh, wait, there was also the Dao of Wine and a nascent talent for cooking.
Beyond those, nothing else.
He realized he had been carried away by a string of recent wins, allowing a small surge of pride to swell, making him think he was formidable and needed to claim first place in everything.
Now, he had been sharply reminded that he was no universal genius.
It was time to reassess himself.
Who was he, really? His talent in the Dao of the Sword was exceptional.
His talent in the Dao of Wine was decent, his tolerance for alcohol continually improving.
His culinary talent was slightly above average.
He had zero aptitude for Sorcery.
His memory was average.
To this, add four parts laziness, three parts carefree wandering, two parts reckless audacity, and one part cunning.
His temperament allowed him to integrate easily into the natural world, but after achieving some notable victories, he allowed himself a bit of smugness.
Alas, he was riddled with flaws.
Still, it was normal for a young man to have shortcomings.
A youth with no flaws, utterly seasoned and measured, would be dreadfully dull.
Lu Yuan never wished to be such a person.
In the midst of this self-examination, Lu Yuan’s heart gradually became clearer.
It could be said that this failure would be of immense benefit to his future growth.
If Lu Yuan had continued a streak of uninterrupted triumph, he might have become excessively arrogant, transitioning from minor conceit to major hubris, which would have harmed his future prospects.
Thus, appropriate failure can foster greater growth than endless victories.
Without setbacks, a tree cannot grow into a towering giant.
Every titan in the cultivation world has faced setbacks during their development; there are no exceptions.
Lu Yuan was already on the side that had experienced relatively few hurdles.
At this moment, Lu Yuan leaned against a tree.
Even the subterranean world hosted trees, such as those in the Crimson Maple Forest that exuded a crimson light.
A mouthful of wine slid down, its flavor faintly mellow and fragrant.
Drinking the wine, he felt utterly unrestrained.
Truly, there is profound meaning in wine, yet words fail the attempt to explain it.
Song Jianjiu shook his head, a wry smile touching his lips.
Lu Yuan was truly an erratic individual; one could never predict his next move.
During the Tenth Branch Competition, he hadn't expected much from him, yet Lu Yuan shocked everyone by taking first place.
Now, for the Subterranean Demon Test, Song Jianjiu had anticipated a decent showing that might stun everyone, but the result was far worse than imagined.
No matter what, he never managed to guess the outcome.
Song Jianjiu was well aware of Lu Yuan’s profound capabilities.
He suspected even Nangong Lie, who ranked first, could not defeat Lu Yuan.
After all, the four demons Lu Yuan had dragged back recently—a Body Tempering Fourth Level Great Asura, a Body Tempering Fifth Level Great Asura, a Body Tempering Fifth Level Earth-Crawling Spider-Man, and a Body Tempering Sixth Level Sand Demon—had sufficiently proven Lu Yuan’s true strength.
Lu Yuan, truly an unpredictable soul.
(Many people might assume I'm about to launch into another test sequence, ha! You guessed wrong.
I am writing about setbacks.
A minor setback was deemed necessary for the protagonist’s development before the arrival of the envoys from the Great Jin Kingdom.
Recently, due to weather issues, I have experienced intermittent power outages and internet loss, preventing normal updates.
This is the only chapter for today; apologies.
I will strive for three chapters tomorrow, hoping for clear skies.)