Seeing this scene, Lu Ye immediately understood that the test consisted of two stages: one to check if one had the potential for cultivation, and the other to assess one's talent level.
Potential and talent are different. The former determines whether a person can cultivate and if they have the qualifications to do so, while the latter determines how high their future achievements will be. In theory, the better the talent, the higher the future achievements will be.
Of course, the talent test here, due to limited conditions, is only a rough assessment and cannot guarantee complete accuracy, but it is generally close to the mark, with not much deviation.
Lu Ye was not worried about his potential; he had already opened his acupoint and was definitely capable of cultivation.
As for his talent level, that was uncertain. He did not know how his talent was, and he would have to go to the tent at the back to take the test to find out.
The first person with the potential for cultivation had already appeared, bringing a bit of vitality to the originally lifeless queue, making everyone feel a renewed sense of hope.
However, reality is always cruel.
In the subsequent tests, more than ten people were eliminated before another person with the potential for cultivation finally appeared.
The scene played out again.
The long queue continuously shortened, one slave after another moving from hope to disappointment...
Overall, among every ten people, there would be one with the potential for cultivation, a ratio that matched what Lu Ye had learned.
He stood in the latter half of the queue, but because the testing speed was fast, it took less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick before he was standing in front of the table.
"Have you opened your acupoint?" the cultivator behind the table asked in a monotonous voice.
"I have opened one acupoint," Lu Ye replied honestly.
The cultivator immediately looked up, sizing up Lu Ye, and smiled. "Good, finally someone who has opened an acupoint."
Although seven or eight people had passed the potential test, none of them had opened their acupoints. In this queue, Lu Ye was the first to truly open his spiritual acupoint!
"Come, place your hands on this." The cultivator pointed to the crystal ball on the table.
Lu Ye was confused; wasn't this thing for testing potential? Since he had already opened his acupoint, what else needed to be tested?
The cultivator, seeing Lu Ye's confusion, explained: "Here, we not only test potential but also check the elemental affinity."
"Elemental affinity?" Lu Ye was even more puzzled; he had never heard of such a thing.
Perhaps because Lu Ye had opened his acupoint, the cultivator patiently explained: "Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—among the five elements, everyone's spiritual energy will lean towards one of them, which is the elemental affinity. Each affinity has different focuses."
"I see!" Lu Ye suddenly understood but was still puzzled: "Then before..."
The cultivator smiled. "They haven't even opened their acupoints, so they don't have spiritual energy and cannot be tested for elemental affinity."
"I see." Lu Ye understood, lifted his hands, and placed them over the crystal ball.
"Activate your spiritual energy and channel it into it." The cultivator instructed.
Lu Ye followed the instructions, his eyes fixed on the changes in the crystal ball. He was also curious about his elemental affinity.
The crystal ball first lit up, indicating that Lu Ye had the potential for cultivation. However, for someone who had already opened their acupoint, this result was not significant.
The next change was the test for elemental affinity.
Under Lu Ye's watchful eyes, a bright orange flame suddenly appeared inside the crystal ball, burning fiercely!
This scene made his pupils involuntarily contract because the orange flame looked... very familiar.
"Oh?" The cultivator behind the table raised an eyebrow, excitedly saying, "The primary element is Fire, and there's a bit of Metal. Not bad, not bad. Alright, you can stop now."
His primary element being Fire, Lu Ye could understand, as he owed his ability to open his acupoint to the Talent Tree, which had consumed a ball of orange flame, allowing him to suddenly open his acupoint.
The leaf on the Talent Tree that carried the sharp spiritual pattern was also burning fiercely.
But the Metal element puzzled him; he vaguely felt it might be his original elemental affinity.
"Keep this item and go to the tent at the back to find my third senior brother." The cultivator handed Lu Ye a jade token. Lu Ye thanked him and took it, seeing that one side was engraved with his name and a single character below it, representing the opening of an acupoint, while the other side was engraved with his elemental affinity.
Passing the table, Lu Ye walked to the back.
Not far away was a tent that had been temporarily set up. Those who had passed the potential test had all entered this tent to check their talent.
Standing in front of the tent, Lu Ye first apologized and then lifted the curtain to enter.
The tent was spacious, and a cultivator with a meticulous and stern expression was sitting cross-legged on a mat, eyes closed, meditating. This must be the third senior brother.
In front of the third senior brother, there was a round disc, made of some unknown wood, about the size of a table. There were eight indentations around the edge, and some bare saplings had sprouted next to them.
Lu Ye came forward, bowed, and said, "Lu Ye greets senior brother. This is my jade token, please inspect it."
The third senior brother opened his eyes, took the jade token, and looked at both sides, raising an eyebrow. "You've opened your acupoint?" He gestured for Lu Ye to sit.
It seemed this disc was the tool for testing talent. Lu Ye walked over, sat cross-legged in the center, and noticed that the disc was engraved with many intricate and complex patterns and designs.
Spiritual patterns? Lu Ye's interest was immediately piqued, and he carefully examined them, but with his current eyesight, he could not discern what these spiritual patterns were for.
The only spiritual pattern he knew was the sharp one.
The spiritual patterns on the disc were numerous and densely packed, tightly connected, forming a cohesive whole.
This was not just spiritual patterns; Lu Ye realized, recalling something he had once heard.
This is an array!
An array is constructed from spiritual patterns?
"Cough!" The third senior brother's light cough interrupted his thoughts, and Lu Ye quickly sat up straight.
Their eyes met, and after a brief silence, the third senior brother spoke: "Our Green Jade Sect is located in the heart of the Cangluan Mountains in Bingzhou, with three hundred large and small spirit peaks. In terms of overall strength, we rank in the top five in Bingzhou. The sect leader and the deputy leaders are all at the Divine Sea realm, and below the sect leader, there are over a hundred True Lake realm cultivators..."
Lu Ye had thought the third senior brother was a man of few words, but he was wrong.
Once the third senior brother started speaking, he did not stop, continuously introducing various aspects of the Green Jade Sect, leaving Lu Ye feeling lost and impressed.
Moreover, for some reason, the third senior brother's speech gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
When the third senior brother began to talk about "how the Sword Sect is like this, how the Dharma Sect is like that..." Lu Ye's sealed memories surged up.
Lu Ye's lips twitched, thinking to himself, is this a recruitment brochure for the cultivation world?