“This feels way too real.”
Su Bai stood at the bow of the flying boat, surrounded by a sea of blue clouds and an endless stretch of sky.
When he looked down, he could see rolling mountain ranges and star-like clusters of towns scattered across the land.
Su Bai felt strange.
By all logic, he should still be in his bedroom, playing the Cultivation Simulator game.
But now, he seemed to have gained a completely different perspective.
The lines of cold, lifeless text in the simulator were somehow turning into vivid, immersive experiences—almost as if another version of himself were actually living through it all.
The dual perspectives, one as the player and one as the character, overloaded his mind for a moment.
Put simply, it felt like he had launched Minecraft and was controlling two Steves at once.
Standing at the front of the flying boat, Su Bai was filled with awe and wonder at the surreal experience.
***
Just then, he noticed a crowd forming nearby for no apparent reason.
Thanks to his sharp eyesight, Su Bai quickly spotted the center of attention—a young boy, probably around ten years old.
Despite being only ten, the boy was dressed in a deliberately mature style.
He wore a pale blue robe, a jade crown, and a purple belt.
At a glance, he looked noble, refined, and unmistakably wealthy.
[True to your gossip-loving nature, you moved closer to see what was happening. Soon, you learned that the boy’s name was Fang Xiu—‘Xiu’ as in ‘rest in peace.’ He hailed from a mortal aristocratic family, and several of his clan brothers stood nearby to help keep order.]
[Fang Xiu was a natural leader—or perhaps a charismatic con artist. He had gathered the group and was enthusiastically offering free information to everyone. He explained your current destination, the concept of cultivation, and what life in the sect would be like.]
[You weren’t sure why he was being so generous, but it didn’t stop you from enjoying some free knowledge.]
[Through Fang Xiu’s briefing, you learned that this cultivation world was called the Realm of Immortality. It was divided into five regions: Central Continent, Western Desert, Eastern Sea, Southern Frontier, and Northern Plains. Each region had its own unique features.]
[You were currently in the Central Continent, and your destination was a sect located within it—the Three Peaks Sect.]
[According to Fang Xiu, the Three Peaks Sect was founded by three Golden Core cultivators. The sect had tens of thousands of disciples and over twenty Foundation Establishment elders.]
[You didn’t fully understand what that meant, but you noticed the faint look of longing in Fang Xiu’s eyes when he mentioned Golden Core cultivators.]
[After milking all the useful information you could, you took the chance to get on Fang Xiu’s good side. He welcomed you warmly and patted his chest proudly, declaring that you would all be family once you joined the sect and should help each other out.]
***
[The flying boat journeyed for three days and nights.]
[Along the way, whenever it passed a village or town, one of the two accompanying cultivators would briefly disembark and soon return with one or more boys and girls.]
[As for the food situation for your group of several hundred people, every mealtime, one of the two cultivators would simply wave her sleeve.]
[A gentle breeze would brush across your face, and you’d feel instantly full.]
[Eventually, the flying boat arrived at its destination.]
[The two cultivators led you all off the boat and into the Three Peaks Sect.]
[The sect was far more magnificent than you had imagined. Three vast mountain ranges stretched into the distance, each dotted with towering peaks. But one peak stood out far above the rest.]
[Although you viewed it with your naked eye, that distant mountain gave you a strange, inexplicable feeling. It was the most beautiful and majestic mountain you had ever seen—even though, back in the Huayuan Federation, you’d seen taller and grander ones.]
[You found yourself momentarily entranced. And you weren’t alone—hundreds of other boys and girls were equally stunned. Some even gaped in awe, too mesmerized to breathe.]
[After handing your group over to a new arriving cultivator, the two who had accompanied you for the past few days turned and left. Their departure caused quite a stir—many felt reluctant to see them go.]
But thanks to the calm authority Fang Xiu had established over the past few days, he was able to quiet the crowd with a single command.
The newly arrived cultivator gently patted Fang Xiu’s shoulder. Fang Xiu bowed his head deeply with a respectful expression and addressed him with a word that you clearly heard—
[Third Uncle-in-law.]
[…Well, that explains it. An insider. No wonder he knows so much basic information,] you silently complain to yourself.
Under the orders of the reception cultivator and Fang Xiu’s direction, you all form a line and are led in front of a massive pillar with the texture of jade.
“D-grade aptitude.”
“D-grade aptitude.”
“No aptitude.”
“C-grade, not bad.”
“C-grade, decent.”
“No aptitude.”
“……”
Under Su Bai’s watchful eyes, one by one, the boys and girls are evaluated for aptitude.
Those who pass are sorted into different groups based on the grade they receive.
D-grade is the most common, followed by C-grade.
Only two or three receive B-grade. As for A-grade—so far, there is only one, a lone girl.
Unlike the cultivation novels Su Bai has read, this world does not speak of “spiritual roots.”
Here, there is only aptitude, graded from A to D—A being the highest, D the lowest.
Whether there is a level above A-grade, Su Bai does not yet know.
But what he does know is that when the A-grade was—no, when the A-grade was detected, the reception cultivator couldn’t hide his excitement.
He even patted the testing cultivator on the chest and exclaimed, “Tonight’s Peach Blossom Spirit Brew is on me!”
“Number 108.”
Upon hearing his number, Su Bai quickly steps out of the line and mimics the actions of those before him, placing his hand on the jade-textured pillar.
The next moment, a milky-white glow spreads across most of the pillar.
Then two stacked, square-shaped, ancient blue seal-script characters emerge on the pillar: B-grade.
“B-grade. Not bad. Next.”
The recording cultivator’s eyes light up.
Inwardly, he praises this year’s luck.
Not only is there an A-grade, but several B-grades as well.
The sect’s new blood looks promising, and his monthly spiritual stipend might even increase by thirty percent.
[You join the sparse line of B-grade individuals. The entire aptitude test takes another half hour, during which only two more B-grades are added.]
[No more A-grades appear. Meanwhile, you notice that Fang Xiu, who had been quite popular and full of confidence aboard the airship, is now standing in the C-grade group.]
[When the testing ends, only about two hundred out of several thousand boys and girls are found to possess any aptitude at all—and most of those are D-grade. The two cultivators seem used to this outcome.]
One cultivator leads the A-grade girl away, while another guides the B- and C-grade groups to a grand hall within the sect.
Inside, nearly ten cultivators with terrifying, abyss-like auras are already waiting.
“Time really flies. Another round of disciple selection after just one closed-door cultivation session.”
“Indeed~ The last selection feels like it was just yesterday~”
“Hmph! What’s the point of selecting them? They’ll all end up as cannon fodder for the Immortal Alliance anyway!”
“Watch your words, Elder Meng. Matters of the Immortal Alliance are above us… We are merely Foundation Establishment cultivators. How could we…”
“Ahem! Enough, everyone. Don’t embarrass yourselves in front of the juniors. My lineage lost quite a few disciples to the Immortal Alliance last time. I’m going to pick more from this batch!”
[From the elders’ conversation, you gather that they are all powerful Foundation Establishment elders within the sect. You also learn of an organization called the ‘Immortal Alliance.’]
[Next, you are selected like pigs at a market. For C-grade cultivators, the elders directly assign them to their lineages. For B-grade individuals like you, they are much more polite, allowing you to “choose” voluntarily.]
[And just like that, you are “voluntarily” accepted as a disciple under a Foundation Establishment elder named Cang Yue.]
[Under Elder Cang Yue’s tutelage, you spot Fang Xiu once more—the one who had dazzled everyone on the airship. As a B-grade cultivator, you are immediately designated a true disciple. Of course, you are the fifth in line after four senior brothers and sisters.]
[And thus, your journey into the world of cultivation officially begins. You are Su Bai.]
It’s too peaceful