Chapter 15: Not a Hair's Breadth of Difference

Zora looked at the two characters and read aloud: "River Snow."

Unlike others who might offer grand praise for the name of the sword in their hand, she simply memorized the name with an expressionless face and returned the blade to its scabbard.

"How much longer?"

Vane lowered his head, using the tip of his spear to nudge a knee-high blade of grass aside to reveal a small purple two-petaled flower beneath. These tiny flowers seemed to be everywhere in the Voidwave Realm, mostly hidden under the fertile and strange green grass, making the purple almost invisible to the naked eye. He didn't know what kind of flower it was, but from the vantage point of the tree, he had seen them clearly. He had observed that these flowers withered and grew back roughly every fifteen minutes.

He made a mental calculation.

"About half an hour left."

"So long." Zora sat down on the spot, hugging her knees and staring quietly into the distance. Her eyes were out of focus; she was clearly in a daze.

"..."

Vane also lifted the hem of his robes and sat on the ground, crossing his legs as his black garments spread out around him.

The atmosphere between the two was silent as they sat together. Faint, hazy screams rose again, and from all directions came the muffled sounds of disciples' clamor, cheers, mad laughter, or weeping.

Vane couldn't help but glance at Zora beside him. Her eyes reflected the brilliant light, but her mind was wandering far away.

Withdrawing his gaze, Vane watched the distant landscape in silence for a moment. Soon, he lowered his long lashes and closed his eyes, attempting to sense spiritual energy according to the methods he had read about in the Demon Realm.

As expected, although his shallow cultivation had been stripped and his meridians severed, some residual spiritual energy remained within his body, stored in his flesh and bone. It wasn't of much use, other than helping his wounds heal faster.

Furthermore, his cultivation meridians seemed to have been restored to their original state by the Puppet Threads.

The youth pressed his palm against his arm, his expression complicated. Golden threads were buried deep within his bones; even if Zora rarely used them, it didn't change the fact that they imprisoned him.

Likewise, it didn't change the benefits they provided in repairing his body.

Just as the youth closed his eyes again to feel the slight vibration of his meridians following the rhythm of his heart, a finger poked his arm.

He opened his eyes.

Zora didn't turn her head, still staring into the distance, but her finger pointed to the left bun that had been flattened while she slept in the tree: "My hair is a mess."

"..."

Vane pulled out the comb.

The hair ribbon was untied and then retied. Zora asked: "Do you know how to do any other styles?"

"A ponytail."

"And?"

"That's all."

"Remember to learn more."

"...Yes."

As the ribbon fell into place, a sudden tolling of a bell echoed from above—distant and solemn, spreading throughout the entire secret realm.

—"The time has come. What you have gained or lost is your own fate. Three new disciples for the Sword Gate; the rest shall enter the recruitment for the Formation Gate."

The all-encompassing voice seemed to surround them, clear and distinct.

Zora's vision blurred, and the grass she was sitting on turned into cold, hard stone in the blink of an eye.

They were in a stone plaza spanning several miles. The ground was engraved with patterns containing the laws of the Dao, the lines slightly recessed. At the edge of the circular stone surface, wisps of white clouds drifted by; the entire stone platform was level with the clouds.

Ahead were stone stairs leading to a smooth platform furnished with several chairs carved from ancient trees. Several elders and Immortals of the Sword Gate sat in the chairs, looking as ethereal as cranes and pines.

Besides them was one other person—the disciple Zora had met in the Voidwave Realm and sparred with once. He was trembling with shock, clutching his sword and wearing a look of ecstatic joy.

"...I... I was chosen..."

Vane: "..."

Vane composedly let go of the hand he had resting on Zora's bun and tucked the wooden comb back into his chest.

Zora stood up, looking up at the Immortals.

One of the Sword Gate elders, Duan Chaoqing, wore a smile: "From this day forward, you are disciples of the Sword Gate of the December Sect. To gain three sword cultivators after the Cloud Stairway trial is a blessing for our gate."

In past Cloud Stairway trials, there hadn't been a single one in over a decade.

Another elder added: "Next, we will test your spiritual roots. Do not worry; anyone who can obtain a spiritual weapon in the Voidwave Realm possesses the aptitude for cultivation."

It was merely a matter of distinguishing the mediocre from the extraordinary.

A young Sword Gate disciple arrived on a crane, bowed to the Immortals, and then cupped his hands to the three newcomers. He first handed five differently colored stones to the man who was smiling brilliantly.

The man held the five stones, and a faint light began to rise. Four of the stones were lighter in color, and a small patch of spiritual energy swirled slowly around the five stones.

The Sword Gate disciple announced loudly: "Common Four-Element Roots."

The fewer the spiritual roots, the better; the purer they were, the more excellent. Having many roots meant more channels for spiritual energy to flow through, making it thinner—and yet, only one channel was truly useful; it was the same for everyone.

A cultivator could not practice more than one spiritual root because the human body is a single entity; the harmonious way was for the flesh, bone, and blood to practice one type together. After all, humans are not precision instruments; one cannot accurately measure the energy in each root to balance them. Practicing two or more roots would eventually lead to a disharmony of Yin and Yang, resulting in irreversible consequences.

Every cultivator would choose the root most suitable for them and let the others go to waste. Any absorbed energy would be released or dissipated, as the roots themselves could not be removed. Thus, the more roots one had, the more energy was wasted, leading to slower cultivation and difficulty in refining.

Purity was essentially the capacity of the channel to hold energy and the speed and degree of its digestion.

Zora watched as the five stones left the disciple's palm and the light died out, instantly turning back into ordinary, cold hard stones. The Sword Gate disciple took them and handed the five stones to Vane.

She searched through the plot in her mind; the book was too long for her to remember every detail. According to the story, during this talent test, Vane—acting as the early-stage disguised villain—would naturally cause a sensation and even be taken as a final disciple by the eccentric Jin Chuyang, who rarely took students.

"Oracle, what are my spiritual roots?"

[I don't know either, Host. This is your own body,] the Oracle spoke up. [From what I can see, they should be quite good.]

It muttered: [After all, you could even attract a divine sword in the Voidwave Realm. They must be excellent, so don't you worry.]

"How do they compare to Vane's?"

[...That is uncertain. At the very least, before the turning point where he re-enters the Demon Realm and the plot warps, it should be very hard for the villain to break both the Puppet Threads and the Master-Servant Covenant.]

It was actually comforting the Host now.

Removing the Puppet Threads required stripping one's own bones, which meant he had to temper a body capable of enduring such pain to extract them—at least reaching the Core Formation stage.

Although the villain had reached Core Formation long before returning to the Demon Realm, there was still the Master-Servant Covenant bound by the laws of fate. Only when the internal Core (Yuan Dan) was even more stable could he survive the backlash of breaking the covenant—and that would require reaching the late Nascent Soul stage.

Even though the villain spent many years in the Demon Realm and was already at the Great Ascension stage when he appeared in the warped ending, it meant that once he returned to the Demon Realm, it was highly likely he could remove both restraints.

It's fine, it's fine,

the Oracle comforted itself.

Maybe the Host will have a way! That time is still far off!

Zora gave a casual response, not thinking that far ahead. She simply felt that if a servant surpassed their master in strength, it would add many potential dangers. As for matters further down the line, she felt she needed to test her talent first before making plans.

Zora looked toward the youth in whose hands a brilliant light was erupting.

The Sword Gate disciple looked astonished, and the Immortals in their seats were equally surprised.

"Dual-Element Roots! It's actually Dual-Element Roots!"

And the purity was exceptionally high—a natural-born cultivator!

Amidst the many burning gazes, Vane's first instinct was to glance at Zora. He was a servant; a servant could not be a genius—usually, a master would not allow it.

But the girl remained unmoved, even frowning slightly as she urged him with her eyes to hurry up and finish so she could take her turn.

Startled for a moment, Vane turned away to avoid her gaze, pursing his lips as he looked at the five stones once more. After a brief silence, he handed the stones to her with somewhat hurried movements.

The bubbling astonishment was forced to an abrupt halt. An elder cleared his throat, signaling for silence. The Sword Gate disciple reined in his shock, looked at the newly revealed genius, then turned to look at the girl beside him, his expression growing strange.

Zora, completely unaware, gripped the five stones.

Spiritual energy swirled into a vortex around her. Two of the stones filled with energy and instantly lit up. Without anything to compare them to, the light seemed similar to Vane's, but it was hard to tell for sure.

The Sword Gate disciple was shocked once again: "Al... also Dual... Dual-Element Roots!"

This time, the plaza went deathly silent. After a long while, an elder suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "Excellent! Today my Sword Gate has not only added three disciples, but two of them are Dual-Root sword cultivators. My December Sect shall surely endure for all eternity!"

"The Sword Sovereign said he would no longer take disciples. That girl could join my lineage; I happen to be missing a final disciple."

"Using a long spear... it seems no one in the gate uses such a weapon. I can give it a try."

"The disciple with four roots shall join my lineage."

...

One praise followed another. As the elders began to fight over the disciples, ignoring the three below, the disciple with four roots was beside himself with excitement and began to chat cautiously with the Sword Gate disciple.

Zora stared at the five stones and blinked. She turned to look at Vane.

She happened to meet his gaze. Vane paused as Zora walked closer and, with a serious expression, grabbed his hand. She took one of the small, glowing stones she was holding and pressed it into his palm.

From the youth's perspective, they were too close. Vane instinctively tilted his head back to put more distance between them, and only after a while did he slowly lower his head.

He was all too familiar with the stray hairs on her forehead. At this moment, she was frowning slightly in seriousness, her lashes trembling as she blinked. Zora's palm was very cold as she held the back of his hand; he couldn't help but feel a strange chill.

Zora's other hand, holding her stones, was open as she carefully compared the glowing stone in her hand to his.

Vane realized she was comparing them and said in a low voice: "There is little difference."

She looked up abruptly, and Vane, having only looked for a short time, instinctively straightened his neck.

Zora stared at him: "Is it ultimately brighter than yours, or dimmer?"

"..." Vane paused, then lowered his head and focused his attention to look again. Zora also looked down, watching the two glowing stones in their palms together with him.

Having finished his observation, the dark pupils that were fixed on his palm shifted slightly to look at her lashes. The girl, sensing this, met his gaze.

Vane said: "Exactly the same. Not a hair's breadth of difference."