Chapter 1543: Enhanced soul
All three of them were confused when they heard this.
Even Xiao Mu who was the one that had passed the trial couldn’t help feeling strange about the fact that it had passed the trial.
After all, this really went against the norm.
For a second, the three of them even thought that this might be some kind of trap.
But it turned out that this wasn’t the case as the elder revealed himself in front of them.
When the elder appeared in front of them like this, it really was hard for them to keep thinking that it was some kind of trick. Especially when the elder even took out what seemed to be a brush and offered it to Xiao Mu.
Xiao Mu was the one that asked, "Am I really worthy of accepting this?"
The elder looked visibly confused when he heard this, but then he looked carefully at Xiao Mu. The expression on his face didn’t change at first, but it didn’t take long for it to slowly change while he was looking at Xiao Mu.
It was clear that he was noticing what was off about Xiao Mu as this expression slowly changed.
But in the end, it didn’t seem like the elder was planning on changing his mind.
The way that he looked at Xiao Mu, it was almost as if he was entertained by what he saw.
Only when Lin Fan’s group saw the look that was on the elder’s face, they couldn’t help being confused as to why the elder was looking at Xiao Mu in this way. It wasn’t that they were insulted that the elder found Xiao Mu interesting, they were just confused about what the elder found interesting.
As far as they were concerned, there shouldn’t be anything that was that new to the elder about Xiao Mu.
Xiao Mu was technically one of the training dummies from the Dao Sect, so it should have been something that the elder had seen before.
Even if Xiao Mu had gained sentience, this was an elder of the Dao Sect who should have seen something similar before.
It didn’t seem like the elder was planning on saying anything at first, but eventually the elder said, "You’ve gone beyond just gaining sentience, that’s why you’re allowed to take the trials now."
Hearing this, all three of them revealed even more confused looks.
Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan came forward to see what had changed about Xiao Mu, but they weren’t able to find anything that wasn’t there before. Even when Xiao Mu analyzed its own body, it was confused since it didn’t notice anything strange.
The elder just revealed an amused look seeing this and didn’t say anything as he watched them acting this way.
Only when they stopped and looked at him again did the elder finally say, "Your soul has developed to the point where you’re indistinguishable from a human."
Once again, Xiao Mu and the others went to find what the elder was talking about.
But when they tried, it wasn’t as if they were able to find what the elder was referring to.
The only thing that seemed to have changed was the quality of Xiao Mu’s spiritual sense. This was something that they hadn’t paid attention to previously, but they were able to see that it was different now.
"Spiritual sense comes from the soul, so that’s why it’s different." The elder calmly explained.
This was something that they had an idea of, but they didn’t know if what the elder was referring to was really enough to change Xiao Mu’s spiritual sense like this...
After all, Xiao Mu’s previous spiritual sense did come from a treasure that was embedded into Xiao Mu. It wasn’t the normal kind of spiritual sense in terms of coming from one’s cultivation.
So perhaps there really was a change that had come over Xiao Mu’s soul.
It was just that this wasn’t something that they could confirm, so they had to just trust what the elder said.
But there was still something that Lin Fan had to ask, "Even if they have a soul now, does that really mean that they qualify? After all, it wasn’t a matter of if they had a soul or not previously."
What Lin Fan was referring to was the fact that Xiao Mu had access to the Dao Sect’s database.
Using the information in that database to clear the test of the Dao Sect, it seemed kind of redundant. After all, the information in that database was the information that had been gathered in the Dao Sect for ages.
It was basically using the answer sheet to take the test, which did make the test a bit pointless.
"Don’t humans use notes to create the things that they create? It’s just all a part of learning."
The casual way that the elder answered this question caught Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan off guard. However, it didn’t seem like Xiao Mu was that confused by the answer that the elder gave.
In fact, it looked like there was something that resonated with Xiao Mu as it couldn’t help looking at the talisman that was on the table. It really looked like there was something that Xiao Mu had figured out that the two of them didn’t.
Only when they looked at the talisman, they couldn’t figure out what Xiao Mu had figured out.
It just looked like a normal talisman to them.
"It is just a normal talisman, but it contains the insights of this one inside of it."
Slowly, Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan understood what the elder was saying about this token.
This token was actually the work of Xiao Mu after it had drawn on the information in the Dao Sect’s database. This was something that Xiao Mu had created using that information as a reference, but it wasn’t something that was completely copied from it.
It seemed like Xiao Mu had made an advancement in its own techniques as it had created something original. Though as for what kind of effects this talisman of Xiao Mu’s had...
Regardless, this meant that Xiao Mu really wasn’t just simply drawing on the information in the Dao Sect’s database. It meant that it wasn’t just using the answers anymore, it was even coming up with its own answers.
It meant that Xiao Mu was learning from the information that it had access to.
Thinking about this, it really did seem like the first time that Xiao Mu was doing something like this.
Well, other than when it was taught how to mix poisons by that female elder.
Perhaps that was the turning point of it all, perhaps that was what inspired Xiao Mu to start thinking on its own and developing things with that knowledge?
It just needed that one example to drive it forward?
When Lin Fan thought about it more, he realized that Xiao Mu did start to want to learn more things after that. It had kept asking him to teach it new things after that first experience.
So it did seem like Xiao Mu’s soul was developing and it was slowly becoming more and more like a human.
If that was the case, perhaps it would be best for Xiao Mu to inherit everything.
After all, with Xiao Mu’s identity, it could even be considered the last proper disciple of the Dao Sect. The others had long lost that identity as they had been outside for a long time and devolved into their separate factions.
It was only Xiao Mu who had been in the Dao Sect all this time, even if it had only been here as a mindless puppet before this.
Since the elder was willing to give the inheritance to Xiao Mu, there really was no reason not to accept it.
Xiao Mu even seemed excited about receiving it since it seemed like Xiao Mu wanted to learn more about talisman drawing.
But when the elder looked at Xiao Mu as if he was asking if Xiao Mu wanted to become his disciple, that was when Xiao Mu ignored the elder. It didn’t matter how the elder looked at Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu just completely ignored the elder’s request.
In the end, the elder had no choice but to settle for being Xiao Mu’s half teacher.
The elder didn’t disappear after Xiao Mu received the brush that symbolized the inheritance of this pavilion. Instead, it seemed like the elder was planning on staying around to teach Xiao Mu a bit more about talisman drawing.
The talisman that Xiao Mu had made for the test was unique, but that didn’t mean that it was perfect.
It was the best talisman that Xiao Mu could make even with its sloppy talisman drawing techniques.
The only reason that it had worked was mainly because of Xiao Mu’s mechanical abilities that allowed it to copy what it had in mind. It was only because of this ability to not even waver a single centimeter that Xiao Mu didn’t ruin the talisman in the end.
But Xiao Mu was still missing the fundamentals of being a talisman master and that was what the elder was teaching Xiao Mu.
As Xiao Mu learned more about the basics, it started taking the talisman papers and drawing the talismans that it wanted.
Seeing this, the elder looked like he approved of Xiao Mu’s actions at first.
However, as time passed, the elder’s expression changed.
In the end, there was a concerned look that was on the elder’s face as it watched over Xiao Mu.