The woman was about to bring out an artifact when Alex spoke up. “There’s no need for that. I can tell an oath to confirm my age,” he said.

The woman looked at the white-haired old man who smiled at Alex.

“Very well,” the old man said. “Speak your oath. Since you say here that you are about 2 thousand years old, make an oath that you are older than 1500 years of age.”

Alex was about to say the oath when his ears registered what the old man wanted him to say. “I’m sorry?” he asked. 𝓯𝘦𝘦𝑤𝑣.𝒸𝘰

“Go on,” the old man said. “Confirm that you are older than 1500 years of age.”

Alex hesitated a bit, confused about the situation. How was he supposed to make that oath? He couldn’t. The examiners were seeing right through him.

“I…”

“What about a thousand?” the middle-aged man asked. “Can you say that oath?”

Alex tried his best to not show any emotion on his face. Just what was happening here? How were these people aware of the fact that he wasn’t as old? They shouldn’t have been able to tell that at all.

“Will you like to have the artifact test you perchance?” the woman asked him.

Alex sighed. “Is it necessary for you all to learn of my age, seniors?” he asked. “Will I be rejected if I refuse?”

“There is a chance,” the old man said.

Alex hesitated a bit. Should he just give up then? He certainly couldn’t speak the oath they wanted to and he even more so couldn’t let them test his age.

The old man noticed the dilemma Alex was facing and panicked a little. “You can just speak an oath to claim that you are over 500 years old and we can move on.”

Alex grimaced even harder, unable to hide his frustration.

“I suppose I should just give up then,” he said. “Thank you for your time, seniors.”

He stood up to leave.

The faces of all three of the examiners at that point were plain stunned. They couldn’t believe that before them was someone who claimed to be capable of doing so many things, along with having a Battle Power of 3, while being less than 500 years old.

They could not let someone like that leave.

“Wait!” the old man quickly said.

“I said there was a chance you would be rejected. I never said you were rejected,” he said. “Sit and we can continue.”

Alex looked back at the three and wondered if he should do as they said. After some thought, he went back and sat down. At least they were stuck on 500 years.

If they realized he was only 160 or so years old, he couldn’t imagine what these people would do.

‘How did they find out I was young though?’ Alex wondered. It just didn’t make sense.

The old man brought out a talisman and handed it over to Alex. Alex took the talisman and looked at it to see what it was. It was no recording talisman, so he curiously looked through the runes.

He saw a rune about BOND and another about TRUTH. After looking at the talisman for a few seconds longer, he had a vague idea of what the talisman was.

It temporarily bonded with a person, revealing whether they were telling the truth or not.

“What is this talisman called?” Alex asked. “Truth Seeking Talisman?”

The old man raised an eyebrow. “So you are indeed good at talismans too. We call it the Lie Detecting Talisman. Please bond with the talisman so we may begin questioning you. Do not worry, you can choose to not answer questions too and we won’t fault you for it.”

Alex thought for a bit and nodded. He had seen how easily he could break the bond with the talisman should he choose to, so he couldn’t be forced to answer questions he didn’t want to.

This was a much more humane alternative than the Truth Seeking pill or his Soul Search technique.

Alex bonded with the talisman and felt a slight buzz coming from it. He looked ahead.

“Please lie for this question. What is your name?” the old man asked.

Alex gave a fake name and the talisman buzzed loudly. It was working.

“Then let us begin,” the old man said. “What is your father’s name?”

Alex frowned. Why did they want his father’s name? He remained quiet.

“How many generations of your family do you know the name of?” the middle-aged man asked.

Alex thought for a moment. “4,” he answered. He remembered his great-grandfather’s name, but that was all he remembered.

“And do you come from the 3rd Major Spirit world?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” Alex answered.

The sight of the talisman not buzzing caused the three examiners to give a look of shock. They looked around at each other, talking about something between themselves.

“How old are you?” the old man asked. “Please lie for this question.”

That was a weird question, but Alex complied. “2 billion years old.”

The talisman obviously buzzed at that point.

That caused the three to be even more confused.

Alex watched the confused look on the three, wondering what was there to be so confused about. Did they perhaps find it hard to believe that he was someone from a lower world? Just because of how much he had managed to accomplish?

Just as Alex thought of that, everything began falling into place for him, giving him the exact understanding of the situation. He questioned about his father, his age, the generations of his family he knew about.

Everything they asked, they asked to find out a single thing.

They wanted to know if Alex was a junior from a large family, masquerading as a rogue cultivator to try and get into their sect.

Alex sighed. Senior Yang had indeed told him about this when he had told him to think of a Daoist name. Many youths from a big family used Daoist names to hide their true identities so that they could go out into the world and experience it for themselves.

‘Because of my talent, they think I must be someone big,’ Alex thought. Should he go along with their assumption and give answers that didn’t outright say he was who they thought he was, but suggested it at least?

‘No, that’s the exact opposite of what I need right now, isn’t it?’ Alex thought. Getting cultivators to raise them, just for them to leave it later on and return to their family was a waste of sect resources. These people were here to avoid that.

‘Was that why they were so adamant about finding out my age?’ he wondered. ‘They thought I was some prodigy from some family.’

“Seniors,” Alex said. “There must have been a miscommunication between us at some point, which may have led you to some assumptions that are not true. Just in case you are assuming that I want to make it clear.”

The three looked back at him, stopping their conversation to do so.

“I am not someone with a big background. I was born in the lower world to two regular humans who weren’t cultivators and worked my way to where I am right now. Please get rid of any idea you may have of me being a secret young master.”

The talisman didn’t buzz.