(Part 3) The Spirit Root Testing Assembly was due to begin at nine in the morning, but the crowd had gathered outside before seven.
No one could enter until it began.
At a quarter to nine, Gu Changhuan entered the grounds with his younger brother Gu Sheng, his father, and a rather attractive woman.
The tests themselves took place in the central Ascension Pavilion; the rest of the grounds were for waiting.
That attractive woman was Gu Sheng’s biological mother, a concubine of Gu Shan.
They had come here naturally to test whether Gu Sheng possessed spirit roots.
Originally, Gu Changhuan intended to wait until the conclusion of the assembly before bringing his younger brother to test his spirit roots, thus sparing him the fatigue of waiting.
His intentions were well-meaning, but when Gu Sheng’s mother heard the news, she suspected that Gu Changhuan was intentionally trying to block the boy from being tested.
“My son is so clever.
He must have spiritual roots!
Young Master Huan is afraid my son will threaten his position if he tests positive.
How vicious—and toward his own brother!” she thought bitterly.
After pacing back and forth in her courtyard in agitation, she finally steeled her resolve, ran to Gu Shan, and wept bitterly.
Gu Shan’s heart softened, and he did not scold her.
Even so, word eventually reached Gu Changhuan.
Though unangered, he found it both exasperating and absurd, merely sighing that the woman severely underestimated his own magnanimity and the clan’s strict rules.
The Gu Clan enforced severe regulations: no one was permitted to obstruct eligible children from testing their spirit roots by any means whatsoever.
Violators would be struck from the clan genealogy, mortals would be banished from clan territory, and cultivators would have their cultivation crippled.
Under such harsh punishments, no one in the Gu Clan had dared transgress in the hundreds of years since its founding.
Nevertheless, Gu Changhuan still brought Gu Sheng to the assembly.
To prevent the concubine from causing further trouble, he simply allowed her to accompany them.
“Greetings, Uncle Shiyuan, Uncle Shichang.
I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you yesterday, Uncle Shichang.” “Changhuan, there is no need for such formalities,” Gu Shichang said hastily, stepping forward to lift him up.
“You have grown quite a bit in just over a year!” Having lived in Jade Clear Town for several years, he was well acquainted with Gu Changhuan.
Gu Shan and the others also saluted Gu Shiyuan and Gu Shichang.
Although Gu Shan and Gu Shiyuan belonged to the same generation, the boundary between immortals and mortals remained, and the two elders were considerably older.
Gu Sheng and his mother prudently kept their silence throughout.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Gu Changhuan stated the purpose of their visit.
“So you’re Changhuan’s younger brother!
Come here to Uncle Shiyuan.
Gu Sheng—a fine name.” Gu Shiyuan beckoned Gu Sheng closer and produced a Spirit-Testing Ruler.
Following instructions, Gu Sheng placed his hand upon the ruler.
Gu Shan and the boy’s mother held their breaths, flushing red with tension as though they were the ones undergoing the test.
Gu Shichang glanced at Gu Sheng, then at Gu Shan and the woman beside him, and offered an enigmatic smile.
After a few breaths, the Spirit-Testing Ruler remained entirely unresponsive.
Several more breaths passed, yet the ruler stayed dark, showing no sign of illumination.
Gu Shan was disappointed.
Gu Sheng’s mother looked utterly crushed, her face ashen.
Gu Sheng looked anxiously at his parents and drew his head down between his shoulders.
Gu Changhuan felt neither joy nor sorrow.
“Father, please take my brother and his mother home.
I’ll stay and see whether I can help.” Gu Shiyuan maintained a detached expression, while Gu Shichang offered a few words of comfort.
“Brother Gu Shan, having even one child with spirit roots already surpasses many in the clan.
Spirit roots are ordained by heaven and cannot be forced.” Gu Shan replied briefly, then left the Ascension Pavilion with Gu Sheng and his concubine.
Just then, it was nine o’clock.
“It is time to begin.
Hopefully, we will see more children born with spirit roots today,” Gu Shiyuan said, stepping out of the room first, followed by Gu Shichang and Gu Changhuan.
The grounds were now busy with children waiting in batches of thirty, each under an adult’s supervision and divided into groups of three for testing.
Their parents and relatives had to remain outside.
As soon as Gu Shiyuan appeared, the noise both inside and outside the enclosure died down instantly.
Stroking his beard, he raised his voice.
“I hereby declare the Spirit Root Testing Assembly officially underway!
All children aged seven to ten may enter the Ascension Pavilion to test their spirit roots.
The rules remain unchanged from previous years: groups of three.
Without further ado, let the testing begin!” Gu Shiyuan returned to the pavilion.
He and Gu Shichang only needed to sit inside and record the results; Gu Changfeng and Gu Changyong would do the rest.
Gu Shiyuan was there to keep order.
Gu Changhuan, still only seven or eight, was merely watching.
At the entrance of the Ascension Pavilion, Gu Changfeng held a thick register in his hands.
“First batch, Jade Clear Town.
First three, go in; the rest, wait.” Gu Changfeng had checked all thirty names before calling them forward.
Three children entered quietly.
Three Spirit-Testing Rulers lay on a table in the hall.
Gu Changyong instructed them to place their hands on the instruments, and the children complied.
After five breaths, all three rulers remained completely inert.
Gu Changyong motioned for them to step outside.
“Next group!” Three more children entered, but the rulers continued to lie dormant without the slightest flicker of light.
“Next group!” “Next group!” The first batch was soon finished.
Not one child had spiritual roots.
Gu Changhuan looked at his two uncles, who were resting with their eyes closed.
He wanted to say something but kept silent.
Thirty children, and not one with spiritual roots.
That was just…
Soon, half the second batch had been tested too.
“Next group!” Three boys entered.
They were the last group of the second batch.
Three breaths later, the Spirit-Testing Ruler positioned in the center suddenly flared with green and brown light!
Gu Shiyuan and Gu Shichang snapped their eyes open, their faces turning ecstatic the moment they recognized the phenomenon!
It was an earth-wood dual spirit root!
The light on the ruler was still changing.
The brown stopped at four cun and seven fen, while the green continued to rise.
Past five cun, then six, the green light slowly settled at seven cun and one fen.
Everyone was astonished!
A main root measuring seven cun—exceptional even for someone with dual spiritual roots!
Gu Changyong was equally overjoyed.
He hastily re-examined the register in his hand.
“Your name is Gu Cheng, correct?
Congratulations!
Your spirit root aptitude is truly remarkable!” “Gu Cheng, a fine name!
But from now on, you shall be called Gu Changcheng!
I am Gu Shiyuan, your clan uncle; you may address me as the Twenty-Third Uncle henceforth.” Gu Shiyuan laughed pleasantly.
Bringing back a child with dual spiritual roots meant a larger reward from the clan.
A good relationship with the boy might also benefit him and his descendants.
Shrewd as ever, he had worked through these possibilities in an instant.
He called Gu Changcheng forward and handed him a jade pendant-style magical artifact.
“Take this welcoming gift from me.
You are not allowed to refuse!” Gu Shichang was pleased but did not stir.
He was old and had no descendants with spiritual roots.
Even a child with a Heavenly Spirit Root would offer little to someone spending his retirement among mortals.
Gu Changyong, by contrast, was happy for a simple reason: he knew that he could prosper only if the clan did.
Coming from a farming family, Gu Changcheng had never witnessed such a spectacle.
After offering a few hesitant declines, he nervously accepted the elder’s gift.
Gu Changhuan felt genuine delight as well.
This boy was now his junior clan brother, meaning he would no longer be the youngest cultivator on Emerald Maple Mountain!
After a brief flurry of excitement, the testing resumed.
Not long after the discovery of the dual spirit root, another child was found to possess a triple spirit root.
By the time the morning concluded, out of several hundred children tested, only two carried spirit roots.
Gu Changhuan felt a quiet sense of marvel, but Gu Shiyuan and the others were thoroughly satisfied.
Finding two was already a fine outcome, especially with a dual-spirit-root prodigy among them.
Gu Shiyuan instructed Gu Changyong to accompany the two children and announce the good news to their families.
Upon his arrival, Gu Changyong was met with profuse expressions of gratitude.
The parents’ overwhelming enthusiasm left even a cultivator like him feeling somewhat unsettled.
While he understood their profound joy, the sheer intensity of the reception was more than he cared to handle.