The Junior Elder stared blankly and even the formation operators forgot to breathe. For several seconds nobody spoke, then chaos erupted.
"Four affinities!?"
"What?!"
"That’s impossible!"
The observation galleries exploded into noise. Many elders stood up immediately while some even moved closer to the formation screens. The body cultivation elders who had already bee interested in Little Bull now looked pletely stunned.
Elder He Jian’s eyes widened as even he had not expected this. The two Administrative Division disciples who had mocked Little Bull earlier stared with open mouths. Their faces had bee increasingly ugly ever since the vitality assessment.
Now they looked as though they had swallowed rotten fruit.
One of them rubbed his eyes, the second checked the screen twice, but the result remained unchanged.
Four affinities. All clearly visible.
"No way..." one muttered while the other couldn’t find words and above them, discussions exploded.
"A quad affinity recruit?"
"When was the last time we saw one?"
"Wasn’t it during Elder Mountain River’s era?"
"No. That was triple affinity."
An older elder suddenly spoke as his voice carried throughout the observation area.
"The last confirmed quad affinity recruit entered the sect one hundred and twelve thousand years ago."
The noise vanished instantly as many younger elders stared at him.
"One hundred and twelve thousand years?"
The old man nodded slowly. "Even my great, great, great grand master was still not born back then."
Everyone inhaled sharply as the significance became even clearer. Many had seen dual affinities. Some had seen triple affinities. But a recruit possessing four natural affinities was practically legendary.
Several elders immediately began debating.
"Are they truly natural affinities?"
"Could it be related to his physique?"
"Perhaps his physique grants elemental adaptability."
"No matter the cause, the result remains extraordinary."
"He has four affinities and monstrous vitality."
"What exactly is this boy?"
Even the body cultivation elders were no longer speaking confidently. Initially they had assumed Little Bull would simply bee a promising body cultivator. Now the situation seemed far more plicated.
A physique, monstrous vitality. four elemental affinities and no Qi patibility. The bination made little sense. Yet it was happening right before their eyes. Far below, Little Bull looked up at the floating lights.
Then he pointed. "Oh."
The Junior Elder blinked as Little Bull tilted his head. "Is four good?"
The question nearly made several elders choke. For a moment nobody knew whether to laugh or cry. The boy who had just produced a result unseen in over a hundred thousand years was standing there asking if four was good.
The Junior Elder finally recovered and his expression had bee plicated.
Very plicated.
"Good?" he repeated.
Then he laughed helplessly. "Little Bull."
"Yes?"
The elder pointed toward the four lights. "That result is good enough that half the elders here are already thinking about fighting each other to recruit you."
The entire hall erupted into even louder discussion as everyone’s attention became fully focused on the simple village youth who continued staring at the lights with plete innocence.
With the elemental affinity assessment finally pleted, Little Bull was escorted toward the next major stage of the recruitment process. pared to the previous tests, this one appeared far more plicated.
The assessment grounds were divided into many separate sections, each dedicated to a different cultivation occupation.
Formation Masters occupied one hall, Alchemists another, Weapon Forgers a third, while Beast Masters, Talisman specialists, Herbologists and several other paths had their own testing areas as well.
Unlike the previous assessments, these were not meant to measure innate talents through formations alone. For this, Knowledge, understanding and a lot of experience was required.
Many recruits who arrived at the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect were already cultivators. Some came from clans, others came from minor organizations or schools and a large number had spent years studying one occupation or another.
As such, the sect naturally needed to know where their talents lay. Even recruits who had never touched these professions before were still tested. The purpose was not merely to discover skill, it was also meant to discover potential.
A recruit might never have forged a weapon before, yet possess remarkable insight into metallurgy. Another might never have studied formations or alchemy, yet possess exceptional spiritual perception.
The tests were designed to reveal such possibilities. For Lin Mu, however, this created an entirely different problem. As he followed the Junior Elder through the assessment halls, he felt a rare sense of uncertainty.
The reason was simple, he knew too much. Formation arrays, Alchemy, Forging, Talismans, Beasts, Medicine, Runes and Immortal tool refinement, he knew it all. There were very few cultivation occupations that he lacked knowledge about.
Years of experience, countless inheritances, teachings from Xukong, guidance from the Saintess, the libraries of entire sects, the wisdom of the Dwarves and his own personal experiences had filled his mind with an absurd amount of information.
If he answered honestly, the assessment would immediately bee suspicious. Little Bull was supposed to be a village orphan, a simple laborer. He was a man who had spent most of his life farming and hunting beasts.
If he suddenly began discussing advanced formation theories or immortal alchemy techniques, every elder present would bee suspicious immediately. As such, Lin Mu could only do one thing.
Act ignorant.
The thought alone made him feel somewhat strange. Above the assessment grounds, several elders continued observing him closely.
One of them smiled. "Now we’ll finally see his weaknesses."
Another nodded. "A physique alone is not everything."
More people also began to speak.
"He certainly doesn’t look educated."
"He is still a moner after all."
Meanwhile, Elder He Jian simply watched quietly. He had no expectations for this portion as Little Bull’s background was clear. Even if he scored poorly, it would not affect the elder’s opinion of him.
An hour later, after numerous recruits pleted their own assessments, Little Bull’s turn finally arrived.
The Junior Elder led him into the first testing room: Formation Theory.
Several disciples sat behind long tables while recruits were questioned individually. A middle-aged Formation Elder glanced at Little Bull’s records as his eyebrows rose slightly.
"Oh?"
"The vitality monster."
Several nearby disciples chuckled.
The elder smiled. "Let’s see how much your head works."
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