The warm gaze of the sun pulsed over the courtyard as the wind danced around. A bird flew by, landing on the branch of a tree. Its gaze swept around curiously, unaware that a snake coiled nearby. The snake hissed silently, opened its mouth, and struck, but the bird quickly flew off, leaving the snake biting empty air.
The snake hissed in disappointment and slithered away, revealing a group of young people standing in the courtyard. Before them was an old man in a white robe with long white hair, his hands resting behind his back as he swept his gaze over the members of the Yin Clan.
"When I call your name, stand beside me!" the old man shouted, then called the names one by one. "Yin Xin… Yin Mei… Yin Shui…"
As he called the names, a young woman walked toward his side, followed by another, and another. Minutes passed by, and beside the old man were already six young people, two females, and the rest male.
They stood there proudly with hints of joy on their faces. However, those who didn't get called were filled with disappointment and envy.
"This is finally the last test of your Immortal Foundation. If you didn't get called, then that means you have already lost the qualification to cultivate and attain immortality. However, those whom I call will have a chance to cultivate. Even if it's thought to be too late, as long as they live, they will have a higher chance of achieving greater achievements."
The old man spoke solemnly as he gazed at the young people before him, his heart filled with disappointment. He then glanced at the young ones beside him, took a long sigh, and continued, "But don't worry. You are still members of the Yin Clan. Even if you can't cultivate, you can still find a stable job and live peacefully."
After saying that, his gaze dropped onto the young man at the very front. He was a handsome youth with striking features. The young man's eyes remained calm, but the old man knew what he was thinking. He shook his head and said his final words before leaving with the chosen.
As the old man left, the others finally let out their emotions.
"So I knew it! I already knew I didn't have a foundation. Why did I even come here? I just got humiliated in front of my crush!"
"My mother will be angry. I don't want to go home. Brother, let me stay at your house for a bit!"
Yin Yue glanced at them and let out a faint smile as he turned to leave. Unlike the others, he didn't feel much disappointment because he already knew he was born talentless. Usually, the clan would test its members at the age of six to see if they had an Immortal Foundation. However, since the Yin Clan was just a small clan, they couldn't afford to waste their younger members in case some of them were late awakeners or required certain conditions to unlock their Immortal Foundation. In the end, the clan decided to do three tests at ages six, eighteen, and twenty-four.
In the end, it worked, and more young members were found to have Immortal Foundations. Some of them were even geniuses. One of those geniuses was Yin Yue's father, the current head of the clan.
However, even an apple would fall far from the tree. At the ages of six and eighteen, Yin Yue was found to have no Immortal Foundation. He remained talentless. Even though he carried a bit of hope that this time would be different, in the end, just as he expected, he was still talentless, leaving him feeling a bit disappointed.
"I wonder how my father will react? Will he still treat me warmly or not? What about my mother and other siblings?"
In many novels he had read, the MC was treated like trash by their family because they were talentless. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but worry. In fact, he didn't care about immortality or anything like that; he just wanted to live peacefully and be treated like a normal human being. Being treated like trash would destroy that peaceful life.
Yin Yue couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Unknowingly, he had already reached his house. Outside, he saw a young woman standing nearby. She had a sword at her waist and long hair tied in a ponytail.
When the young woman saw Yin Yue, she let out a smile and bowed in respect. "Young Master, welcome back. How was the test?"
"There is no hope…" Yin Yue simply said as he walked past the young woman.
Hearing his words, the young woman showed a surprised expression before regaining her calmness as she followed Yin Yue inside.
"Don't worry about it, Young Master. You are still the eldest son of the head. Immortality or not, you still have a status higher than most."
Yin Yue sat on the chair and said, "What's the difference? A simple Qi Condensation first stage could kill me right here without me fighting back. I may be the Young Master of the Yin Clan, but once the news reaches everyone, do I still have this status with power, or do I just become a Young Master in name?"
"In this world, strength decides everything, not status. Even a mortal emperor who rules millions would still kneel in front of a cultivator…" Yin Yue sighed.
"I apologize, Young Master." The young woman bowed in understanding. Then, as if she thought of something, she asked, "What is your plan now, Young Master?"
"Plan?" Yin Yue gazed at her, then at the sky outside. The deep blue sky was peaceful, with moving clouds and flying birds. For a moment, he felt like he wanted to be like the birds. He wanted to spread his wings and go wherever he wanted.
Freedom.
That was what came to his mind when he thought about it. When he looked at the birds soaring through the sky under the beautiful heavens, he saw freedom. Yin Yue longed for freedom; even in this life, he still longed for freedom.
Originally, he was not from this world. He was a salary slave under a corporation. His life was monotonous and boring. He kept working and working until it became automatic. He didn't even realize what freedom was back then until he died from overwork. Now, in this world, even though his life was different from his past one, it still felt the same. Even as the Young Master of a clan, with no need to work and able to enjoy life until his death without worry, inside, he still longed for freedom.
But what kind of freedom that was, Yin Yue still needed to understand.
"Young Master?"
Yin Yue was pulled out of his thoughts by his bodyguard's voice. He smiled and said, "I think I'm going to write a book."
"A book?" His bodyguard was surprised. "You want to become a scholar, Young Master? That's great!"
"You misunderstood. In fact, I want to write a novel." Yin Yue smiled.
"A novel?" The bodyguard was a little surprised, then her eyes shone as she said eagerly, "What kind of novel, Young Master? Is it romance, like an immortal and a mortal woman falling in love with each other, but their parents get in the way?"
Yin Yue looked at his bodyguard speechlessly. This was his first time seeing this side of her. He coughed lightly to attract the attention of the young woman, who had already started to fall into her fantasy.
"No, I'm not planning to write a romance novel. Besides, novels like that are boring. I'm going to create a novel that men will understand—a cultivation novel!"
"A cultivation novel? That's great…" Even as she spoke enthusiastically, Yin Yue noticed a lack of interest in her tone. He only smiled. Women would not understand his thoughts. If his bodyguard were a man, they would react the same way she did when she thought about romance novels.
As Yin Yue was about to continue, a knock sounded on the door. He glanced at the young woman, who nodded immediately and walked toward the door.
"Who are you?"
"Hello, Miss Xinyan. I'm Yin Simin, carrying the order of the family head to collect the spirit stones from the Young Master." The young man bowed slightly outside.
In fact, when Yin Simin said "collect," it was merely out of respect for the Young Master. Yin Yue knew his father was disappointed in him, so the family head wanted to take back the spirit stones he had given to Yin Yue.
"What?" Li Xinyan was about to complain when Yin Yue looked at her and shook his head. "It's fine, Xinyan."
Yin Yue then looked at the servant. "What else did Father say?"
"I'm sorry, Young Master, but the family head only ordered me to collect the spirit stones. He didn't say anything else," the servant replied respectfully.
"Alright, I understand." Yin Yue could only sigh as he stood up to take the spirit stones.
Spirit stones were important to the clan. They were treated like treasures because they were rare and difficult to obtain. When Yin Yue was young, his father gifted him these spirit stones because he was confident that Yin Yue would be born with an Immortal Foundation. However, it seemed he had greatly disappointed his father. His heart felt heavy as he took the spirit stone box from the drawer and opened it. Inside, three shining stones lay quietly.
Yin Yue took one spirit stone to admire it, but the moment his hand touched it, a holographic screen materialized before him, followed by a monotonous robotic voice.
[Would you like to exchange a low-quality spirit stone for 1 Gacha Point?]
"Huh?"