Chapter 3: Spiritual Root Enhancement
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
They were cultivators from the Qingfeng Sect.
One by one, the children lined up and walked past a female cultivator. The female cultivator would touch the top of the child's head whenever they walked by her. Behind her, four other cultivators created an array. Each of them held a piece of equipment that spun like a top.
That was the Spirit Detection Array. It could detect the Spiritual Roots of the person being tested.
Every child was tested for roughly ten minutes before they could come up with an accurate result.
"No Spiritual Roots. Next."
"Four Spiritual Roots. Next."
"Five Spiritual Roots. Next."
Nearly half of the dozen children were tested within a short period. The best of them only had three Spiritual Roots.
Spiritual Roots represent the necessary talent that was needed on the path of cultivation. A person without Spiritual Roots did not have the chance or the value of cultivation. They could not sense Spiritual Energy. In that sense, even though people with five or four Spiritual Roots did possess Spiritual Roots, their Spiritual Roots were too messy. It would conflict with their absorption, conversion, and usage of Spiritual Energy. They would not be able to excel in any of those areas. Their talent was not exceptional, and they would find it difficult to train when they were in the Qi Refining Stage. A person with three Spiritual Roots was considered average. With enough resources and hard work, they had a chance to reach the Foundation Building Stage.
After that, a person with Double Spiritual Roots could be classified as a genius. Lu Qing was one of those so-called geniuses. A person with a Single Spiritual Root was rare. There might not be a person like that in the Feiyun State for a hundred years. There were two types of people with a Single Spiritual Root—Strange Spiritual Roots and, the best, Heavenly Spiritual Roots. The former referred to elements like "lightning,""frost," and "wind," while the Heavenly Spiritual Root had one of the five basic elements.
The talent of a cultivator's descendant was far greater than that of an average person. In a city with 10,000 people, there might not even be many people with five or four Spiritual Roots in ten years. On the other hand, out of the dozen children in the Lu Clan, at least half of them had some number of Spiritual Roots. That was a massive difference. Since Lu Qing was a Golden Core cultivator, the bloodline of his descendants must be decent.
However, it was not easy to find someone with exceptional Spiritual Roots, even amongst descendants of cultivators.
This was the "Qingfeng Sect disciple selection" that his two clansmen who were guarding the training room at the back of the mountain were talking about.
While they selected their disciple, they also helped to detect the Spiritual Roots of the other children.
In the past, the Lu Clan also had a Spirit Detection Array. However, as it looked like now, it seemed that the Lu Clan had lost that ability. Otherwise, the parents of the children who were detected to have no Spiritual Roots would not be so disappointed and upset.
Finally, a small boy who looked five or six years old had a result that was different from the rest.
"Water–Wood Double Spiritual Roots!"
When these words rang out, every member of the Lu Clan who was present in the hall broke into a smile. This was especially so for a middle-aged man. He clenched his fists and brought it in front of him in excitement. That boy must be his child.
The small boy was still in a daze. The female cultivator said, "This child has decent talent. If I have to take in a disciple today, let this boy head up to the mountain with me to train."
A middle-aged man walked out from the side of the Lu Clan and brought his hands together and then said, "Thank you, Junior Sister Zhang. It's been hard on you."
"You need not thank me, Senior Brother Chaohe. It is also a good thing that I took in a good disciple."
Lu Qing looked at this scene silently.
The middle-aged man in front of him, Lu Chaohe, was his seventh child. The female cultivator was Zhang Shiman. She was a cultivator from the Qingfeng Sect.
The two of them seemed to have feelings for each other 50 years ago.
Back then, Lu Qing had been optimistic about their chances. It was a good thing if Lu Chaohe managed to snatch over a decently talented female cultivator from the sect.
Unfortunately, he went into closed-door training before he saw the results of their relationship.
Now it seemed like they did not get together.
The two of them exchanged formalities and then stopped talking. They seemed to be a little restrained with each other.
There were still three children waiting to be tested.
After two consecutive children without Spiritual Roots, there was only one little girl left. She was about three years old. It seemed like she had just learned to speak and walk.
Detecting a person with Double Spiritual Roots out of a dozen children was already a considerable achievement. No one seemed to care about her.
However, the female cultivator did not brush the little girl off. She placed her hand on her head and then quickly revealed a shocked expression.
"Metal–Fire Double Spiritual Roots!"
Bustling voices rang out once again. There was another person with Double Spiritual Roots.
The little girl smiled at the female cultivator. She was beautiful and adorable.
The female cultivator lowered her head and smiled as she pinched the little girl's tender cheeks.
Lu Chaohe had a thought. He seized the opportunity and said, "Junior Sister Zhang, this child also has Double Spiritual Roots. Why don't you take her in too?"
Zhang Shiman had not said anything when a green-robed cultivator behind her spoke.
"That's inappropriate. There's only one spot for the Lu Clan this time."
Lu Chaohe met him with an icy expression. "Zhao Pinggu, Junior Sister Zhang is the one accepting disciples. This has nothing to do with you. Why are you interrupting?"
Zhao Pinggu was a cultivator from the Qingfeng Sect. However, his surname was also Zhao.
The Zhao Clan was the eternal rival of the Lu Clan.
Zhao Pinggu had not been one of the five people the Qingfeng Sect chose to come to the Lu Clan to pick out disciples.
He had clearly come to sabotage the situation.
Both of these clans—the Zhao and Lu—had never been on good terms. In recent years, their hatred for each other had deepened.
"Lu Weiwen is a fifth-generation member of the Lu Clan, and she has Double Spiritual Roots. If Junior Sister Zhang is willing to accept her as her disciple, who are you, Zhao Pinggu, to say anything about it?" Lu Chaohe had a hint of fury in his tone.
"There's a mistake with that statement," Zhao Pinggu said with a smile. "She does have Double Spiritual Roots. You're right about that. However, there are different grades of Double Spiritual Roots."
"This child has Metal–Fire Double Spiritual Roots, and it looks like it is metal first and fire second. Fire counters metal. When cultivating Metal Elemental Techniques, a fire Spiritual Root would only have an opposing effect. It would greatly reduce the efficiency of the cultivation of Metal Elemental Techniques. She could cultivate Fire Elemental Techniques, but it just so happens that the fire Spiritual Root of her Double Spiritual Roots is relatively weaker. There is a severe imbalance. Her efficiency in cultivating Fire Elemental Techniques might not even be as good as a child with three Spiritual Roots."
"What right does a person with Double Spiritual Roots like that have for the Qingfeng Sect to make an exception and take her in?"
Zhang Shiman also became a little hesitant when those words were said.
The disciple selection process of the Qingfeng Sect had always been strict.
Double Spiritual Roots were naturally a good thing. She had also come as a response to the Lu Clan's request and had accepted a considerable amount of gifts for her mentorship. It would be all right for her to take in two children with good potential.
However, what Zhao Pinggu said was also logical.
She had a conflicted expression.
Lu Chaohe did not know what to say, since Zhao Pinggu was not making things up. That was the truth. Lu Wenwei might seem like she also had Double Spiritual Roots, but the elements were imbalanced. She could be said to have the lowest grade of Double Spiritual Roots.
Compared to the little boy, whose name was Lu Wenen, who had taken the Spirit Detection earlier, Lu Wenwei's imbalanced Metal–Fire Double Spiritual Roots was far more inferior than his Water–Wood Double Spiritual Roots.
Water boosts wood. Not only would the water Spiritual Root not cause trouble, but also it came with a boosting effect that increased the efficiency of his training.
The situation became cold.
Lu Qing, who was floating in the air and was undetectable by the people present in the hall, called up the interface of the "Clan Developmental System." He tapped on the details of the "Population" tab and took a look at Lu Wenwei's detailed information from within the name list.
[Name: Lu Wenwei]
[Age: 3]
[Parents: Lu Mingsi, Fang Ziwei]
[Status: Healthy]
[Level: Mortal]
[Talent: Metal–Fire Double Spiritual Roots]
******
He exited the page after taking a cursory glance and then went to the "Exchange" tab.
He found an option out of the many choices he had.
[Level Two Talent type: Spiritual Root Enhancement]
[This can be used on a clansman below the age of 15 to improve their Spiritual Root. Each clansman is limited to one Spiritual Root Enhancement, with three Spiritual Roots being the highest the enhancement can go. People with Double Spiritual Roots will have their Spiritual Roots optimized. This option does not affect people with better talents than Double Spiritual Roots.]
[50 Karma]
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone