“Yeah, yeah, Little Junior Sister, you should share your thoughts too.”

Emma Sullivan was surrounded by everyone, all talking at once, so she could only helplessly point at the water mirror and give her opinion, “She should be the first place in this round.”

Someone disagreed and said, “Little Junior Sister, I’d believe you if you said Grace Brooks was first, but this little girl looks like she’s about to fall over after just a few steps—how could she possibly have the potential to be first?”

Emma Sullivan: “She has a Heavenly Spiritual Root, which means the highest affinity with attributes, and it’s easiest for her to find spiritual plants that match her own attribute.”

Once the Heavenly Spiritual Root was mentioned, everyone fell silent.

Who could compete with such a natural advantage?

Even if she didn’t actively look for spiritual plants matching her attribute, those plants would seek her out on their own.

“It’s one thing for water-type spiritual plants to be drawn to her, but what’s with this little raccoon?”

The speaker pointed at the water mirror, trembling with anger. Back when he tried every trick in the book, this little raccoon refused to go with him, and now it was acting all cute in front of a water spiritual root?

“Senior Brother Harris, don’t worry so much, this could be a good thing. Maybe she’ll bring out that little raccoon you’ve been longing for.”

Thinking of it this way, Brian Harris’s anger dissipated.

He’d been thinking about that little raccoon for three years, but he just couldn’t get into the Floating Light Realm. Now that someone else had encountered the little raccoon, maybe she really could bring it out for him.

Once she came out, he’d trade his treasured spiritual medicine for it. After all, she had a water spiritual root and had no affinity with the little raccoon’s attribute.

Chapter 4: The Sect’s Three Trials (Part 2)

A flash of white light appeared in the water mirror as someone crushed their round token and was transported back.

Henry Carter came out carrying a bamboo basket. Not knowing how the others were doing, he handed the basket to a Sword Sect disciple and asked, “Can I enter the next round now?”

The Sword Sect disciple quickly checked the spiritual plants he had collected and handed him a pure white bird feather.

“Light the bird feather in front of the Heart-Clarifying Gate, and you can enter the next round.”

The water mirror flickered a few times, and soon a few more people emerged from the Floating Light Realm.

Seeing so many people come out, Henry Carter quickly gripped his white feather and stood in the teleportation array, eager to be the first to enter the second round.

Since some had already started the second round while others were still in the first, Emma Sullivan raised her hand and activated the jade token in her hand, splitting the water mirror in two.

“Everyone’s coming out of the Floating Light Realm one after another, so what’s this little girl still dawdling for?” Brian Harris stared anxiously at the water mirror, looking for all the world like it was his own family being tested inside.

Emma Sullivan smiled lightly and said, “I think this little girl is quite clever. Gathering a few more spiritual plants will benefit her cultivation. Even if she doesn’t use them for cultivation, she can trade them for spirit stones—the more, the better.”

Of course Brian Harris understood this logic. He was just worried that if she took too long, something might go wrong—what if the little raccoon ran off at the last minute? Where would he go to cry then?

Anxious as he was, all he could do was wait outside the water mirror.

The last bit of incense ash fell, and everyone in the Floating Light Realm was forcibly transported back. The white light was blinding, and Brian Harris didn’t even get to see the final moment—whether Ethan Clark had brought out the little raccoon or not.

Brian Harris paced behind the disciple inspecting the spiritual plants, his gaze openly fixed on Ethan Clark’s bamboo basket.

“Twenty-one water-type spiritual plants in total…” the Sword Sect disciple read aloud, while someone behind him quickly recorded the results.

“Wait… there’s also a fire-type spiritual creature, so one point will be deducted.”

The Sword Sect disciple rummaged through the full bamboo basket, pulled out a little multicolored raccoon, and cast a spell, trapping the raccoon in a transparent sphere.

Ethan Clark opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the disciple looked up and explained, “Raccoons are lively. You can come collect it after you finish the trial.”

Only then did Ethan Clark relax, took her white feather, and turned to walk toward the teleportation array.

Brian Harris swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue. Forget it, he’d wait until she finished the trial. He couldn’t delay her assessment just because he wanted the little raccoon.

The second round was Heart-Clarifying. In the water mirror, only the scenes of each contestant in front of the Heart-Clarifying Gate could be seen; as for what was behind the gate, the water mirror could not display it.

After entering the Heart-Clarifying Gate, everything each person encountered followed the changes in their own heart. This round was both the hardest and the easiest.

So-called “seeing one’s true heart,” temperament was also an indispensable aspect of a cultivator.

Many cultivators, during their path of cultivation, had their temperament affected and eventually fell into the demonic path, bringing harm to the world.

“Huh, how did she come out so quickly!”

“Who is this little girl? She’s amazing—she was in there for less than half a cup of tea!”

Even Emma Sullivan couldn’t help but take another look. This little girl named Ethan Sullivan was truly a promising seedling for cultivation.

No confusion, no attachment, no resentment, no anger or ignorance.

Ethan Clark walked out from behind the gate, and the scene before her eyes suddenly changed.

Everyone noticed the water mirror had changed as well: a vast maple forest, like clouds at sunset tinged by the sun’s rays.

A small stream wound its way out from the depths of the maple forest, its water tinkling musically in the silent woods. By the stream stood a huge smelting furnace and a long wooden table.

This round was called Sword Forging. As the name implied, contestants needed to forge a sword of their own.