Lin Jing arrived at the gate of Thousand Illusions Mountain of Senluo Dao.
On the way, he had already done sufficient homework on Thousand Illusions Mountain.
Unlike the sects of the Ancient Country which recruit disciples once every few years, most sects in Qingzhou recruit people all the time.
The same was true for Thousand Illusions Mountain, where there was a peak specifically used for assessing those who wished to join the sect.
This assessment was divided into tests for mortals and tests for cultivators.
Lin Jing did not intend to hide his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation. Being too low in cultivation was not conducive to his opportunity to learn the magic of Thousand Illusions Mountain.
However, regardless of whether it was the mortal assessment or the loose cultivators’ assessment, the most important part had to be experienced.
Illusion Heart Array.
This was an illusion array set up by a high expert of Thousand Illusions Mountain. Upon entering the array, if one’s purpose for joining the sect was impure, one’s mind would become lost, exposing one’s true heart.
Lin Jing wasn’t particularly worried about the Illusion Heart Array, not because he relied on his own mastery in illusion but because the Ice Soul Gu parasitic within him ensured he was hardly ever confused, for the Ice Soul Gu would naturally freeze his mind.
"You wish to join Thousand Illusions Mountain?"
At the foot of Ascension Peak of Thousand Illusions Mountain, a chubby old man in a purple robe stroked his beard, scrutinizing Lin Jing.
"Reached mid-Foundation Establishment at such a young age; remarkable talent. Why do you wish to join Thousand Illusions Mountain?"
Lin Jing replied, "Senior, I am an orphan, raised under my master’s guidance. Not long ago, my master passed away. Due to some talent in the path of illusion, before his passing, my master suggested that I join Thousand Illusions Mountain to cultivate and undoubtedly become a formidable cultivator."
"A loose cultivator? What was your master’s title, and what is your name?" asked the Golden Core Stage elder.
"I only know my master was called ’Master Huang Song’. As for myself... I am named Huang Yu."
"Never heard of him," the elder snorted dismissively, unconcerned. Too many nameless loose cultivators existed. He said, "With your aptitude, as long as you pass the Illusion Heart Array, joining Thousand Illusions Mountain should not be a problem at all."
"However, for disciples like you with such talent, Thousand Illusions Mountain has numerous candidates. You are joining midway into the sect; if no one guides you, even with decent talent in illusion, becoming a true disciple won’t be easy."
The elder sighed, showing a somewhat regretful expression.
Lin Jing felt a sting in his heart but still took out a pouch of mid-grade Spirit Stones and handed it to the elder.
"Senior, a small token of Spirit Stones, hoping you can... guide me somewhat, disciple." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn N()velFire.net
"You loose cultivators always like to do such things. Once you join Thousand Illusions Mountain, you must refrain from such practices. However, considering your eagerness to seek the path, I will make an exception," the elder accepted the Spirit Stones and said, "Go through the Illusion Heart Array first, skip the other tests."
"After passing through the Illusion Heart Array, I will immediately find someone to arrange an identity as an inner mountain disciple for you, and arrange an opportunity for you to enter the ’Divine Beast Hall’ once."
"The Divine Beast Hall is filled with powerful demon beast statues and murals from the outside to the inside, containing their spiritual essence. If you can manifest the essence of a powerful demon beast within, you will quickly outpace the ordinary disciples. The opportunity to enter the Divine Beast Hall is very rare. Usually, disciples need to use merit to exchange for it, but you’ve just entered the mountain and have already obtained it, which can save you from taking many detours!"
The elder chuckled and pointed towards the trail leading up the mountain, saying, "Go on, it’s only a hundred meters."
Lin Jing, under the guise of "Huang Yu", nodded. This old man was quite competent, at least he would act after accepting a gift.
Huang Yu, when reversed, is Yu Huang, symbolizing his ambition.
The so-called Illusion Heart Array was something Lin Jing walked through with ease.
According to his perception, this Illusion Heart Array could at most affect the mind of a cultivator below the Nascent Soul level, which Lin Jing could completely disregard based on his own mastery in illusion.
Of course, this was because Lin Jing’s mastery in illusion could not be judged by ordinary standards, after all, his illusion knowledge was gained under the Golden Bodhi Tree.
As for loose cultivators above the Nascent Soul level joining Thousand Illusions Mountain, they probably wouldn’t need to go through the Illusion Heart Array. The Sect Leader would likely come out to personally negotiate...
"Not bad." After Lin Jing walked through the Illusion Heart Array, the chubby old man in the purple robe appeared in front of Lin Jing in an instant, smiling as he looked at him.
"Huang Yu, isn’t it? Wait a moment, I will call a disciple to bring you into the sect," he said, taking out a jade pendant, infusing it with mana, and shortly afterwards, a rainbow light flew out from within Thousand Illusions Mountain.
During this time, Lin Jing had already received a cultivation technique from the hands of the chubby elder.
The "Thousand Illusions Canon", Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment Chapters, after cultivation, would engrain the magic with illusion properties, allowing the cultivator to deceive divine senses of those one or two major realms higher, and enable the illusions to cause significant mental harm, achieving tremendous results when practicing illusion magic based on this power.
"Although I do not know what cultivation technique you are currently practicing, while your cultivation is still low, you should start converting to a new technique early. If you wish to continue down the path of illusions, an illusion cultivation technique is indispensable, understood? If you use other techniques’ power to perform illusions, you can play at most six-tenths of the trickery, but under the enhancement of True Essence of Thousand Illusions, the illusion effects can be doubled!"
"Disciple understands!" Lin Jing certainly had no intention of changing his cultivation technique, for he did not really plan to fully pursue the path of illusions, merely using it temporarily in Qingzhou.
For someone with a difficult time cultivating like him, the Beast Taming Technique still suited him better.
Moreover, this Thousand Illusions Canon, as a cultivation technique, if setting aside the "illusion carries mental harm" characteristic and its "accessible to most people" feature, it was entirely overpowered by the Unpredictable Transformations he comprehended in Bodhi Heaven.
The Unpredictable Transformations allowed him to deceive three levels higher, although, at present, it was merely deception, simulating terrifying pressure, and hardly could cause substantial harm to enemies, which made it somewhat inferior to the True Qi of Thousand Illusions.
However, for Lin Jing, who had already joined Thousand Illusions Mountain, his objective perfectly aligned with compensating this flaw by utilizing various illusion cultivation techniques and magics here to enhance his mastery in illusion.
"Second Master, you called for me," said the young man the chubby elder called over.
This mid-Foundation Establishment young man was plump, with flickering eyes, not seeming like a good person.
"How many times have I told you, use your professional title in the sect!" the chubby elder glared at him.
"Ah, Steward You, what are your orders!"
"This is Huang Yu, who just passed the assessment and is a loose cultivator talent joining our Thousand Illusions Mountain. His talent meets the standard for entering the ’Divine Beast Hall’, take my handwritten decree and give it to Elder Qin guarding the hall."
"Yes, Second Master," said the plump disciple with a promise to complete the task expression.
Then, he turned to Lin Jing, smiled, and said, "Junior Brother Huang, since you’ve joined Thousand Illusions Mountain through my Second Master, from now on you will be under my wing, come, I’ll take you to the Divine Beast Hall first!"