[It’s alright, Host. The people you’ve been grouped with are all quite strong too. Just follow them into the inner sect for now.] the system quickly spoke up to comfort Gu Er.
“Our group is still missing one person.” Gu Er snapped back to reality, scanned the surroundings, and noticing the numbers were short, quietly raised her hand to ask.
“You, come over here.” Zhao Yao frowned, swept her gaze across the crowd, and casually pointed at someone to come over.
The child who was pointed at was overjoyed and sprinted over as if the wind were at his feet.
In the end, nearly fifty people were scattered into a dozen or so groups.
The Lingyun Sect’s once-in-fifty-years recruitment of inner disciples was undoubtedly a matter of great importance to the entire sect.
Although the assessment for accepting disciples was not particularly strict, in order to prevent cheating during the examination, not only were senior brothers and sisters from each peak supervising, but the presiding elders from each peak would also watch, taking the opportunity to pick out promising talents for their future tutelage.
Over the matter of taking disciples, the elders had already clashed openly on more occasions than anyone could count.
At this moment, the children taking the exam had no idea that their future masters were secretly observing them.
“Zhao girl and Zhong girl, one with a fire spiritual root and one with a wood spiritual root, are simply perfect candidates for my Tianling Peak!” Elder Ye Qingyue of Tianling Peak said, his eyes filled with admiration.
Fang Zhiran, the elder sitting across from him, snorted coldly: “Elder Ye, don’t get things mixed up. A fire spiritual root isn’t only useful for alchemy. If this girl can join my Chuyun Peak and become a sword cultivator, she will surely accomplish great things in the future!”
“Isn’t there still that Zhong boy? And that girl surnamed Gu is also a genius with a single-element thunder spiritual root, a natural-born talent for sword practice! Those two children go to you, so don’t try to snatch this fire spiritual root from me!”
Elder Ye absolutely could not tolerate having a disciple stolen from him: “If this fire spiritual root girl doesn’t end up under my tutelage, then I’m sorry, but Chuyun Peak’s pill supply will be cut in half from now on.”
Chuyun Peak and Tianling Peak had never gotten along, and the previous peak masters had also bickered like this at every opportunity.
Hearing this, Fang Zhiran was so angry his mouth twitched. He pointed at Ye Qingyue, unable to speak for a long moment: “Fine, you Ye Qingyue! You’re threatening me?!”
“So what if I threaten you? If you dare compete with me for a disciple, you have to bear the consequences of offending an alchemist!” Elder Ye crossed his arms, showing no intention of backing down.
Fang Zhiran: “…” He had no rebuttal.
You could offend anyone, but never the healer.
“Hey, hey, Fang Zhiran, I’ve had my eye on that thunder spiritual root girl for a while now. She’s definitely joining my Qingyu Peak.” Jiang Luowen, holding a small fan, interjected at the right moment.
“Is it appropriate for you to have a thunder spiritual root girl learn formations from you?” Fang Zhiran couldn’t help but retort.
“That’s none of your business. Anyway, I like the look of that Gu girl.” Jiang Luowen shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
Fang Zhiran took a deep breath, telling himself not to get angry at that Jiang dog. If he lost the thunder spiritual root, there was still the Zhong boy with the fire spiritual root.
If anyone tried to snatch the last good seedling from him, he would really start throwing punches.
“That Shen girl has a water-wood spiritual root, suitable for both artifact cultivation and talisman cultivation. Ahe, are you interested in taking her as your disciple?” Song Bojian, peak master of Chenming Peak, turned slightly to look at Bai He beside him and said softly.
“That Lu boy is suited for artifact forging, and the Shen girl can follow me to learn talisman drawing.” Bai He of Bishui Peak nodded slightly.
The elders spoke back and forth like this, quietly deciding on their preferred closed-door disciples.
Elder Xiao Zhenyu of Chiyang Peak, seeing that the others had all made their selections, finally spoke unhurriedly: “Since you’ve all settled things, then that last boy surnamed Yue will go to my peak. I originally wanted to take Yan Mingchuan as well, but with his ice-water dual spiritual root, I’ll pass. I’ll only take one. As for the other disciples you fancy, pick freely, no need to ask me.”
The other elders all knew that Elder Xiao Zhenyu was the one who hated trouble the most, and taking disciples was, to him, a troublesome affair.
“Ice-water mutated dual spiritual root?!” Fang Zhiran was stunned upon hearing this, his eyes filled with shock and delight. “This is a mutated dual spiritual root constitution rarely seen in a thousand years! The last one with such talent… seems to have been only Xiao Mu. I wonder if the Sect Master is still taking disciples now.”
“The Sect Master is currently in seclusion and certainly won’t take disciples. So, who wants this good child with the dual spiritual root?”
“I want him!” Fang Zhiran raised his hand without hesitation, his tone full of certainty: “With this aptitude, if he doesn’t cultivate the sword path, it would be an absolute waste of heaven’s gift?!”
Hearing his words, and seeing that the mutated spiritual root was indeed unsuitable for alchemy, talisman drawing, or formation cultivation, and that Elder Chiyang Peak only took one disciple, the others all expressed their agreement: “Alright, then it’s settled!”
Meanwhile, Gu Er and the others had no idea that they had already been quietly claimed by a group of elders like heads of cabbage, “one for you, one for me.”
…
The spirit herbs grew on a small island at the center of the cold pool.
The water of this cold pool was freezing, and the surroundings were barren, with only spirit herbs, cold-resistant spiritual plants, growing here.
At the bottom of the pool slumbered a thousand-year-old flood dragon. It would occasionally surface, but most of the time, it lay quietly dormant in the depths, rising only when hungry to nibble on the spirit herbs before sinking back into slumber.
A group of children arrived at the cold pool, gazing at the unreachable spirit herbs, their brows furrowed and faces troubled.
Among them, a little girl with a ponytail stomped her foot and said anxiously, “The water here is so cold, how are we supposed to get across? If we swim over, won’t we freeze into ice cubes?”
“No way? That would freeze us to death! It’s so cold, I can’t take it anymore.”
The child behind Gu Er hugged their own body, curling into a ball.
“I can’t do it either. I’m getting out of here.” One child said, then quickly ran out of the cave to bask in the sun and warm up.
“Hey, you’re leaving? Then who’s going to pick the spirit herbs for us later?” a kid from the same group shouted.
“Whoever wants to can go. I’m not going, it’s too cold.”
“Get lost then, you’re kicked out of the group.”
A slightly chubby boy scratched his head, his eyes darting around, and said, “How about we find some branches and build a raft? But the area around here is bare, there aren’t any branches.”
Another child crossed their arms and frowned in analysis: “Even if we had a raft, there might be dangers in the cold pool. If it capsizes, we’d be in big trouble.”
Just as everyone was chattering away, debating heatedly without a clue, Zhong Daochen stepped forward. He had a fire spiritual root, giving him a natural resistance to cold water.
Moreover, since he had drawn qi into his body, he had never stopped cultivating. Now at the second level of Qi Refining, tasks like collecting spirit herbs were a piece of cake for him.
Zhong Daochen gathered the spiritual energy of his cultivation into his feet, and a faint red glow enveloped his body, warding off the chill. With a loud shout, he leaped high like a bolt of red lightning, arcing through the air, and landed steadily on the central island.
“Oh my god, he’s amazing!” Some children in the cave exclaimed in surprise.
“As expected of the young city lord of Jinling City.”
He quickly plucked the spirit herbs, then used his movement technique to return to the shore.
The crowd swarmed around him, their eyes filled with envy and admiration, showering him with praise.
“Young Master Zhong, you’re incredible.”
“As expected of a fire spiritual root.”
“Exactly, exactly. These spirit herbs aren’t easy to pick, but Daochen handled it in one go.”
Zhong Daochen looked at the spirit herbs in his hand, a smug smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he said confidently, “These spirit herbs are no trouble at all.”
Just then, a thick layer of ice suddenly extended from the side, spreading like a bridge toward the central island.
Yan Mingchuan stood on the bridge, walking calmly step by step toward the spirit herbs. After picking them, the ice beneath his feet rapidly retracted, carrying him back to the shore.
…
Senior Sister Qiao had given them three shichen (six hours) to collect enough herbs within that time.
After three shichen, all the children would be sent out of the Ghost Spirit Valley. The senior brothers and sisters would then count the spirit herbs and rank the groups into first, second, and third place.
In truth, this grouping method was unfair, the strength between groups was highly uneven, but the cultivation world had always had an unspoken rule: luck is also part of one’s strength.
If you were fortunate enough to be grouped with a strong member, those children were basically guaranteed a win. But if you lacked ability and ended up in an equally weak group, then that group’s children would have no chance with the Lingyun Sect.
Gu Er watched as they all picked their spirit herbs, then turned to the ones beside her: “Big shots, who among you is going to pick the herbs?”
The child in purple glanced at her and said, “Sister, aren’t you going?”
Gu Er let out a dry laugh: “If you all go, then I naturally don’t have to. Sister Yao, you’re the one who invited me, so you have to take responsibility for me. You’re so strong, you must have a way to get over there.”
Gu Er truly had no intention of going to the central island. She was a useless waste to begin with, and had originally planned to ride on the male lead’s coattails to pass.
But since the big shot Zhao Yao had invited her to team up, she’d leave the dangerous and exhausting task of picking spirit herbs to those capable.
Zhao Yao didn’t hesitate at all. With the lightness of a swallow, she leaped in one bound to the central island, ready to collect the spirit herbs.
Gu Er stood on the shore, watching with full attention.
Unexpectedly, the children behind her, eager to pick the herbs, began shoving each other, sparking a small commotion.
Gu Er, standing near the water’s edge, suddenly felt a powerful force slam into her from behind!
She had no time to react. Her foot slipped, her body lost balance in an instant, and she tumbled into the pool. Before she could even cry out, she was swept up by the surging waves and dragged down into the icy depths of the cold pool.
“Damn it! I shouldn’t have stood so close to the edge!” Gu Er’s heart raced in panic. The freezing water engulfed her in an instant. Instinctively, she tried to call for help, but only inhaled a mouthful of bone-chilling water, and a suffocating sensation overwhelmed her.
[Host!] The system’s voice rang out urgently in her mind, but it couldn’t stop her downward descent.
Meanwhile, in the great hall, several sect masters stared at the mystic mirror, observing everything happening in the valley, naturally including the scene of Gu Er being shoved into the water by the crowded throng. However, this caused no concern.
The thousand-year flood dragon had resided at Lingyun Sect for over a millennium, possessing a gentle and friendly temperament. It was especially kind to newly inducted junior disciples of the sect, showing them great care. Just like the child who had accidentally been jostled into the pond, the flood dragon would protect her as well.
“Perfect, let’s see how the closed-door disciples we’ve just selected will perform,” Fang Zhiran said with keen interest.
The other elders nodded in agreement. In their view, this single incident alone might reveal the true character of these children.
In Ghost Valley, watching Gu Er tumble into the pond, the children on the shore were thrown into chaos, screams rising one after another.
Only a few remained relatively calm, shouting that they should go save her.
“I can swim! Let me try to pull that little sister out!” A boy of about thirteen on the shore said as he began to strip off his clothes. The chill in the cave was almost unbearable, yet he insisted on jumping into the pond.
A little girl in yellow clothes beside him reached out and grabbed him to stop him: “Brother, calm down! The water’s so cold, if you jump in, you’ll freeze to death! And this pond is so vast, how could you possibly find her?!”
“But,” The boy’s brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with anxiety and reluctance. “That little sister is in mortal danger right now. We can’t just stand by and watch her drown, can we?”