Bai Tianyu brought the thirteen children to the Affairs Hall, where an old man sat in a chair.
Seeing him, Bai Tianyu and his two companions bowed at once. “Reporting to Martial Uncle Lin-we were ordered to bring the new disciples for registration.”
Bai Tianyu turned to the thirteen children. “Quickly now, pay your respects to Elder Lin.”
All of them bowed in unison. “We pay our respects to Elder Lin.”
Elder Lin cast a lazy, sidelong glance at the children, then addressed Bai Tianyu. “Nephew Bai, did you find any good seedlings this time?”
Bai Tianyu answered respectfully. “Reporting to Martial Uncle-the three of us were quite fortunate. We found a genius with dual gold-wood Spiritual Roots.”
Dual Spiritual Roots.
The words jolted Elder Lin from his languid posture. His gaze sharpened and swept across the thirteen children.
Bai Tianyu understood immediately. “Sun Hao, step forward for the Elder’s inspection.”
“Yes, Senior Brother Bai.”
Sun Hao stepped out. Elder Lin produced a piece of jade and handed it over. “Touch the Spirit Testing Stone.”
The Spirit Awakening Pill awakened dormant Spiritual Roots. The Spirit Testing Stone was the tool used afterward to identify their nature.
Sun Hao placed his hand on the stone as instructed. Immediately, it radiated two colors of light-gold and green.
Elder Lin confirmed the result and smiled with satisfaction. “Good. Dual gold-wood Spiritual Roots. Not quite a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but rare and valuable all the same.”
“Once he reaches the Outer Sect, a Senior Brother will certainly take him as a disciple.”
They had expected as much-a dual-root disciple would be taken under a Sect Elder’s personal guidance.
Even so, Elder Lin’s words stirred visible envy in Bai Tianyu and his two companions. To be accepted as a Direct Disciple by a Foundation Establishment Elder meant a status far above theirs as mere Outer Sect Disciples.
In the cultivation world, where resources were scarce, a strong backing meant easier access to cultivation materials and faster progress.
Moreover, dual Spiritual Roots granted astonishing cultivation speed. Barring misfortune, Sun Hao’s chances of reaching Foundation Establishment exceeded nine in ten.
All they could hope was that Sun Hao would remember today’s kindness.
Elder Lin’s gaze moved past Sun Hao and settled on the remaining children. “Now I will check each of your Spiritual Roots and arrange your placements.”
He handed the Spirit Testing Stone to the next child. The stone emitted three colors of light at the child’s touch.
“Three Spiritual Roots. Outer Sect Disciple-enter the Outer Sect for cultivation.”
Then came Shi Rou.
“Three Spiritual Roots. Outer Sect Disciple.”
The next child produced four colors.
“Four Spiritual Roots. Menial Disciple.”
“Four Spiritual Roots. Menial Disciple.”
“Three Spiritual Roots. Outer Sect Disciple.”
…
One by one they were tested. In total: one with dual roots, three with triple roots, and the rest with four.
Lu Qinghe, thin and frail, had ended up near the back of the line.
When he touched the Spirit Testing Stone, five colors of light bloomed from its surface. Elder Lin’s brows rose.
“Five Spiritual Roots-a Mixed Spiritual Root of this sort?”
He hadn’t expected Bai Tianyu’s group to bring back such an oddity. Five Spiritual Roots technically qualified one for cultivation, but few who possessed them ever broke through from early-stage Qi Condensation to the middle stage.
And early-stage Qi Condensation amounted to little more than a stronger body. Hardly different from a mortal.
Elder Lin frowned. “Why did you bring back such a waste root?”
Bai Tianyu answered quickly. “It concerns the karmic ties of Ancestor Ouyang. The three of us didn’t dare decide on our own.”
Elder Lin understood their reasoning. He wouldn’t be careless with such a matter either.
“Five Spiritual Roots. Menial Disciple.”
Elder Lin produced a set of tokens, each engraved with the characters for “Taixuan.” “Drop your blood onto these. Once you do, you are disciples of the Taixuan Sect.”
All thirteen children bit their fingers as instructed. The tokens flared with light, and just like that, their entry into the Sect was complete.
With everything settled, Elder Lin turned to Bai Tianyu’s group. “You three are returning to the Outer Sect. Take the four Outer Sect Disciples with you.”
“Yes!”
The three led the four chosen disciples away, leaving nine envious children behind.
Young as they were, they already sensed the truth-those who had been taken away now belonged to a different world.
Elder Lin clapped his hands. A young man emerged from the back.
“Liu Hong, take them to the menial quarters.”
“Yes.”
Liu Hong swept an indifferent glance over the nine of them. “Follow me.”
This time, there was no flying. They walked down the mountain on foot.
Several hours later, they arrived at a scattered cluster of courtyards.
Liu Hong addressed the group. “These empty courtyards are yours to claim. Use your identity tokens to select one.”
“From now on, you may cultivate here in peace. Once you successfully draw Qi into your body and reach the first layer of Qi Condensation, you will be assigned to the various peaks to carry out Sect duties.”
All nine bowed. “Yes, Senior Brother.”
“Wake early tomorrow. I will teach you to read and write, and explain the fundamentals of cultivation.”
With that, Liu Hong turned and drifted away.
Once he was gone, the others scattered to choose their courtyards.
Wang Shan watched Zhao Xiaowu leave without so much as a word and curled his lip. “Snob.”
They came from the same village, but Zhao Xiaowu had never gotten along with them-and he looked down on Lu Qinghe’s Five Spiritual Roots most of all.
Wang Shan turned to Lu Qinghe. “Mud Monkey, which courtyard do you want? I’ll pick the one next to yours.”
Lu Qinghe had no preference. Even the worst courtyard here was far better than the crumbling mountain temple back in Stone Village.
His mind was elsewhere-fixed on how to cultivate quickly, how to become an immortal who could soar through the heavens and vanish into the earth. The miraculous abilities Senior Brother Bai and the others had displayed today burned in his memory.
Before, he had come here for a full belly and a roof over his head. Now he had a new goal.
Become an immortal.
“Anything is fine,” Lu Qinghe said. “Fatty, you decide.”
Wang Shan searched eagerly and eventually found two well-situated courtyards side by side.
“Mud Monkey, we’ll live here.”
“Good.”
They took out their tokens and held them before the courtyard gates. The doors swung open on their own, and both boys stared in wonder.
Wang Shan’s face lit up. “Mud Monkey, I’m going to look at my new home first!”
He bolted inside.
Lu Qinghe wasn’t far behind. He stepped into his courtyard and found it modest-a stone bed, a stone table, and a meditation cushion.
On the stone table sat a jade slip. Lu Qinghe couldn’t tell what it was and didn’t dare touch it carelessly.
He tidied up briefly, then heard his stomach growl. Only then did he leave the courtyard and call out loudly for Wang Shan.
Wang Shan emerged, looking puzzled. “Mud Monkey, what is it?”
Lu Qinghe pointed at his stomach. “Hungry. Let’s find the dining hall.”
Wang Shan nodded. “You shouldn’t have said anything-now that you mention it, I’m starving too.”
The two hurried to the dining hall and collected a free portion of food.
Lu Qinghe wolfed it down. It was without question the best meal he had ever eaten.
Not because he had never tasted fine food before-but because although this wasn’t true spirit food, it had grown within the Sect where Spiritual Qi was dense.
Even the faintest trace of spiritual energy made it incomparably delicious.
By the time their bellies were full, the sky had grown dark. Children came and went around them-all Menial Disciples the Taixuan Sect had recruited in recent days.