The Qilin Platform ordinarily served as a venue for sacrificial rites and celebratory ceremonies. Now that Yuntian Sect was recruiting disciples there, however, it was packed with people.
Several figures dressed in dark robes stood upon the platform. They did not appear particularly old, yet every one of them possessed the ethereal bearing of an immortal. Their very presence distinguished them from ordinary mortals.
The white-robed immortal among them was especially remarkable. Lin Chen needed only a single glance from afar to sense that this person’s cultivation was unfathomably profound.
This was the first time Lin Chen had seen genuine cultivators. Suddenly, he understood why everyone yearned to cultivate immortality.
Of course, Xue Yi did not count.
[Host, you’ll be even more powerful than them someday. Those three in dark robes are Foundation Establishment cultivators, while the man in white has only just entered the Golden Core realm. Once you reach the cultivation world, you’ll understand that they’re merely a few among countless ordinary cultivators.]
[And yet, any one of them could crush the current me to death with a single finger.]
Dabai: […]
Well, its Host really was terribly weak. The revolution had not yet succeeded; comrades must continue striving! No, wait. The revolution had not even begun.
[Then this System shall magnanimously share a piece of information with Host. That token you’re carrying belongs to the white-robed man on the platform.]
Lin Chen: “…”
What an extraordinary coincidence.
There truly were a great many people here. Apart from those standing on the raised platform, the applicants waiting below formed a queue that stretched like a great dragon.
Lin Chen bade Xue Yi farewell and was about to walk toward the end of the line when the youth stopped him.
Grinning, Xue Yi said, “Since fate brought us together, I might as well do you a little favor. See those two groups standing on the platform? The smaller group on the right has above-average aptitude. Even the least talented among them possesses three spiritual roots. If they successfully draw spiritual qi into their bodies, they’ll qualify as outer disciples at the very least.
“The larger group on the left consists of people with poorer aptitude—four or five spiritual roots. Unless they encounter some extraordinary opportunity, most of them will probably only become menial disciples.”
Dabai had already explained spiritual roots to Lin Chen.
Besides the five elemental spiritual roots, which could either reinforce or restrain one another, there were mutated spiritual roots, such as Lightning Spiritual Roots and Ice Spiritual Roots.
A single spiritual root was also known as a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
Heavenly Spiritual Roots were exceedingly rare. Even among a million cultivators, there might not be a single person who possessed one, much less a mutated spiritual root. Whenever such a talent appeared, the major sects would inevitably compete to recruit them.
Among those with dual spiritual roots, mutually reinforcing attributes could make cultivation twice as effective with half the effort. But when the two roots opposed one another, as with water and fire, the cultivator might be inferior even to someone with three ordinary spiritual roots—unless one attribute was sufficiently dominant.
Most cultivators in this world possessed three or four spiritual roots. As for those Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators whose names were widely known, every one of them was a formidable figure of the present age.
Lin Chen was puzzled. He and Xue Yi had only met once. Wasn’t the youth being rather excessively helpful?
“Don’t look at me like that,” Xue Yi said. “I’ll tell you the truth. That white-robed man up there is my Shizun. If you weren’t so good-looking, I wouldn’t bother helping you!”
Xue Yi was still young, and it was obvious at a glance that he had been raised in comfort and thoroughly spoiled. He was accustomed to getting his own way. But people like him tended to be straightforward. Perhaps he genuinely was simply enamored of beautiful faces.
Lin Chen did not know how Dabai had selected this body, but it did bear some resemblance to his original appearance. Having grown up accustomed to attracting attention, he naturally knew that he was not unattractive.
Seeing that Lin Chen still intended to refuse, Xue Yi continued, “Just look at that queue. If you actually join the end of it, you might not even get your turn today. Why not come up with me instead?”
Lin Chen could only marvel at the coincidence. The disciple of the man Grandpa Shu had once saved was now offering to help him in turn. It truly was a perfect illustration of the cycle of cause and effect.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
“If you join the sect, you’ll become my little Shidi! There’s no need to be so polite.”
Xue Yi turned toward the guards who had accompanied him. “I’ve reached the Qilin Platform. My sect is here to look after me, so you can return and report to Father.”
“Yes, Young City Lord.”
The leading guard bowed and departed with the others.
Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. He had known that Xue Yi’s background was extraordinary, but he had not expected him to be the Young City Lord.
[Dabai, will the Spiritual Root Testing Stone be able to detect my spiritual root?]
[Of course! This testing stone is a Profound-grade magical artifact. Not only can it identify spiritual roots, it can also determine bone age!]
**[Bone age? Are you certain it only measures bone age?]
If it detected his true age, the cultivators might mistake him for someone who had seized another person’s body to be reborn. They might even destroy him on the spot.
[Don’t worry, Host. Only a Heaven-grade Spiritual Root Testing Stone can measure the age of a soul. And the only Heaven-grade testing stone in existence belongs to Tuoxian Sect in the Western Region.]
Xue Yi led Lin Chen directly through the crowd and onto the platform. The people around them turned to stare, speculating about the two boys’ identities.
Xue Yi’s luxurious clothing and noble appearance made it obvious that he was someone not to be offended. Lin Chen, meanwhile, wore clothes no different from those of an ordinary commoner, but his face alone was striking enough to make people hesitate before judging him.
“Shizun.”
Xue Yi bowed to the white-robed man, then pulled Lin Chen forward and gave his master a meaningful look.
“This is Lin Chen, a friend I just made. Shizun, why don’t you help examine his aptitude first?”
Xue Yi possessed dual Metal and Water Spiritual Roots, and his sect placed considerable importance upon him. He received far more cultivation resources than others his age, and his elders were exceptionally fond of him. That was why he dared to behave so freely.
The white-robed man’s Daoist title was Huaiyu. As a Golden Core cultivator, he immediately recognized the token Lin Chen carried as the one he had given away years ago.
Huaiyu Zhenren stroked Xue Yi’s head, but rather than answer his request, he asked, “Is everything well at home?”
Huaiyu Zhenren was in charge of this recruitment expedition, and as it happened, the destination was Shifang City. Xue Yi had pleaded and pestered until he was finally permitted to accompany them. Otherwise, what purpose could a mere Qi Refining cultivator like him possibly serve here? Was he supposed to be a decorative mascot?
“Everything’s fine.”
Having answered, Xue Yi immediately looked toward Lin Chen again, making his intentions perfectly obvious.
Huaiyu Zhenren tapped Xue Yi on the forehead with one finger, his tone faintly helpless.
“I truly don’t know what to do with you. But even if you hadn’t asked, your master would have helped him.”
With a slight lift of his hand, the token Lin Chen had been carrying flew into Huaiyu Zhenren’s palm.
“Since this Yuntian Token is in your possession, I presume that old acquaintance of mine has already passed away?”
The pressure emanating from a Golden Core Zhenren was nothing like that of a Qi Refining cultivator such as Xue Yi. Lin Chen endured the violent turbulence stirring within his soul and nodded.
Only then did Huaiyu Zhenren give him a second, more careful look. Neither servile nor arrogant. The boy possessed an excellent temperament. If he could enter Yuntian Sect, there would be no harm in accepting him as a disciple. He could consider it repayment for the kindness that had once saved his life.
In his youth, Huaiyu Zhenren had visited Shifang City while searching for an opportunity to form his Golden Core. Later, he had been pursued over a spiritual herb. His attackers had beaten him nearly to death, intending to kill him and seize his treasures. Had he not swallowed a False Death Pill, he would probably have perished on the spot.
Even after escaping that calamity, he had been utterly exhausted, his life hanging by a thread. Other people had passed by, but upon seeing him covered in blood, they had been too frightened even to approach.
It was Grandpa Shu, who happened to have come from Shifang Village to purchase supplies, who carried the bloodied cultivator to a medical clinic for treatment. Had his treatment been delayed another ten days or so, he might as well have gone straight into his next reincarnation.
The Spiritual Root Testing Stone resembled an ordinary piece of white jade. When someone possessing spiritual roots placed a hand upon it, the stone would display a corresponding color. If no change occurred, it meant the person lacked the aptitude to cultivate the Dao.
During the short time Lin Chen had been on the platform, he had already watched more than a dozen people undergo testing. Without exception, the stone had failed to respond.
Huaiyu Zhenren gestured for Lin Chen to step forward and take the test.
Understanding his meaning, Lin Chen raised his hand toward the testing stone. The white light slowly began to change. At last, it settled into a pale green.
Only one color had appeared. That could mean only one thing.
A Heavenly Spiritual Root.
Huaiyu Zhenren was profoundly astonished. He had been able to discern that Lin Chen possessed spiritual roots, but not what kind. Still, he was a Golden Core Zhenren. After his initial surprise, delight quickly took its place.
“Eight years old. A single Wood Spiritual Root. The color is exceptionally pale. We’ll have to test you again after returning to the sect to determine its precise grade.”
Most Wood Spiritual Roots Huaiyu Zhenren had encountered produced a deep green color. Lin Chen’s was extraordinarily faint. Even he could not make an accurate judgment.
“One color? Isn’t that a Heavenly Spiritual Root?”
“Just who is this person?”
Whispers spread through the crowd. Yuntian Sect had remained here for more than a month. Every day, if there weren’t ten thousand people lining up to have their spiritual roots tested, there were at least eight thousand. During that entire period, only two people had been found to possess dual spiritual roots. Even those with three spiritual roots had been few and far between. And now a Heavenly Spiritual Root had appeared?
[Host, you possess a supreme-grade Heavenly Spiritual Root of the Wood attribute! It’s gentle in nature and perfectly suited to cultivating this System’s techniques. We really are a match made in heaven!]
Dabai was so excited that its mechanical voice chattered incessantly inside Lin Chen’s head.
[Quiet down.]
Lin Chen himself was not particularly excited. The System had told him from the beginning that he possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Apart from securing entry into Yuntian Sect, the main purpose of this test had been to determine his attribute.
Xue Yi stared at Lin Chen, eyes wide with astonishment. The friend he’d practically picked up by the roadside was actually this extraordinary?
A Heavenly Spiritual Root! He wouldn’t have dared dream of possessing one. He had always considered himself outstanding within the sect because of his dual spiritual roots. Just how formidable would someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root become?
Huaiyu Zhenren quietly abandoned his earlier thought of taking Lin Chen as his disciple. For Xue Yi, who possessed dual spiritual roots, becoming his disciple had already been a fortunate opportunity. But someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root was beyond his aspirations. If the parent sect learned of this, it would probably send someone directly to claim the boy.
The three Foundation Establishment disciples were practically itching to abandon the applicants they were testing and come over to see what a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator looked like up close. Unfortunately, the appointed testing period had not yet ended. They could only crane their necks toward Lin Chen. Before the appearance of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, every trace of their formerly transcendent, immortal-like bearing had vanished.
Huaiyu Zhenren took out a storage pouch and handed it to Lin Chen.
“With your aptitude, you’ll be able to enter the inner sect without any assistance from me. Consider this a return gift for the token. Accept it.”
“Thank you, Zhenren.”
Lin Chen did not refuse. With this, a debt of cause and effect could be considered settled.
“To think I’d actually encounter someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root!”
Xue Yi excitedly threw an arm around Lin Chen’s shoulders. He wished he could fly back to the sect that very instant and boast about his discovery.
Lin Chen could only respond with a smile. He was, after all, just a child. There was no need to be quite so formal.
[Oh? So now you admit you’re a child? This System has never encountered anyone so shameless!]
[Shut up.]
[Nope! Let this System take a look at what’s inside that storage pouch. Five hundred low-grade spirit stones, Fasting Pills, Returning Yang Grass, a low-level defensive formation, a Yellow-grade weapon… Wow! There’s even a Foundation Establishment Pill! We’re rich, Host! We’re rich!]
That valuable?
Even Lin Chen was somewhat surprised. He was merely an uncultivated child with a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Was that truly enough for a Golden Core Zhenren to show him such generosity?
[Host, Heavenly Spiritual Roots are exceptionally promising cultivation talents. Even in the Qianyuan Great World, with its tens of billions of cultivators, there aren’t a hundred people who possess one.]
[And once someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root matures, they’re almost certain to become a powerful figure in their own right. Huaiyu Zhenren is basically an angel investor!]
[But Host mustn’t let the treasures and temptations of the cultivation world cloud your judgment. The Three Thousand Great Daos ultimately lead back to one’s true heart. If your resolve isn’t firm, you may easily fall into demonic cultivation!]
[And once you fall into the demonic path, your chances of attaining immortality are practically gone!]
[But with this System by your side, you’ll definitely become the ultimate healer!]
Lin Chen was rendered speechless. After all that talk, wasn’t the final sentence the real point?
Dabai chuckled mischievously before retreating quietly into Lin Chen’s sea of consciousness.
| 师弟 | shīdì | Junior male fellow disciple within a shared teacher’s lineage or sect. Junior status is generally determined by discipleship seniority, not necessarily by biological age. |
| 师尊 | shīzūn | An honored or revered master. A particularly respectful form of address for a teacher who transmits spiritual, martial, or cultivation teachings; it emphasizes reverence and the formal master–disciple relationship. |
| 真人 | zhēnrén | Literally “true person” or “perfected person.” A Daoist designation for someone who has attained spiritual realization and cultivated harmony with the Dao. In cultivation fiction, a respectful title for an accomplished cultivator; the cultivation realm associated with it depends on the setting. |