章 8: Spiritual Root Test
編集者: Atlas Studios
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Great Mountain Branch of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion. I am your guide to the cultivation world."
"I am the person-in-charge, Fu Zhong. I am also the most reputable businessman on this mountain. If you need anything in the future, please choose the Immortal Ascension Pavilion."
"Please follow me."
The group of youths got off the carriage and gathered together. A plump, short, and stout middle-aged man received them.
Fu Zhong was like a typical businessman. No matter who he faced, he would bow slightly and smile charmingly. However, if one really looked down on him because of this, they would definitely suffer greatly.
Jiang Li casually used appraisal on him.
As his strength increased, the danger level of those martial artists in the convoy had already changed to 'high'.
But in the case of Fu Zhong…
[Name: Fu Zhong, Gender: Male, Class: Cultivator, Level: Unknown, Danger Level: Extremely Dangerous!]
It was another bright red [Extremely Dangerous]. This meant that Jiang Li had no ability to resist in front of his opponent. He would not even have a chance to escape.
He was used to the indifference and arrogance of those martial artists and even the Immortal Cultivators leading their teams. This Fu Zhong clearly had the strength to easily crush them, but he could still maintain such an attitude. It could only be said that he was indeed a businessman.
Fu Zhong led everyone around and soon arrived at a spacious room.
It was similar to an indoor field in his previous life. However, it was built using wood and tenons. This was the powerful wisdom of people from ancient times.
The room was quite spacious, and the most eye-catching were ten small array formations arranged in a row.
[Name: Basic Spirit Testing Array]
[Type: Array Formation]
[Grade: High-Grade Yellow-Rank]
[Effect: Spirit Testing]
"Young masters and young ladies, listen to me. When you left your hometown, you were tested for having a spiritual root."
"Now, we have to go through a more detailed test to determine the level of everyone's spiritual root. This will determine how far you can walk on the path to immortality and how fast you can cultivate."
"Listen to what I have to say next. You only have one chance to test it."
Fu Zhong's voice was not loud, but everyone could hear him clearly.
The chaotic crowd quickly quieted down, and the sound of gulping could be heard clearly.
Even Jiang Li could not help but feel a little nervous. At this moment, he would see if he had the supreme talent of a Gary Stu or start with the lowest grade trash spiritual root. This was the moment that would decide his fate.
"When I call your names, come up one by one."
"Wang Ming, Han Ping, Li Baichen, Hu Feifei…"
The first ten people stepped forward and stood apart nervously.
"Come, sit on the mat of this array formation and sit cross-legged."
The ten teenagers followed his instructions. Some of them did not do well enough, and some of the assistants beside them went forward to make adjustments.
"Good. Now hold the glass bead in front of you and keep your palms on the side."
It was a translucent bead the size of a coconut. It looked heavy.
"Close your eyes and don't move. Hold the Spirit Testing Bead and don't let go no matter what. Remember, you can only come down when I tell you to!"
Seeing the boys and girls nod solemnly, Fu Zhong then nodded to his assistants standing by the array.
"Let's begin."
The assistants followed his instructions and took out a spirit stone, placing it on the hole in the array formation.
The next moment, the array formation lit up with a fluorescent light. The young men and women sitting on the meditation mats seemed to have been stimulated by something as they began to tremble slightly.
It was no wonder there was no second chance. Every test required one spirit stone. If there was a mistake, the Immortal Ascension Pavilion would not reimburse them.
After two to three minutes, Jiang Li noticed that the Spirit Testing Beads in their hands started to slowly light up.
The colors of the lights were all different. The speed at which they lit up varied as well.
About nine minutes later, before ten minutes passed, the Spirit Testing Bead in one of the youths' hands seemed to have reached its limit. It suddenly flashed and then extinguished.
"Li Baichen, high-grade Earth attribute spiritual root!"
The assistant beside him was clearly very happy. After shouting, he quickly carved out a wooden sign and hung it around the young man's neck.
Fu Zhong personally went up to help Li Baichen up and even helped him tidy up his clothes in a very friendly manner, causing the other party to feel a little overwhelmed.
"Little brother, your potential is not bad. When you choose a sect, you can consider our Immortal Ascension Pavilion."
Initially, Li Baichen did not have much of a presence in the convoy. He had been following Li Chao, who had died on the road, as a follower. After being beaten up by Jiang Li, he became even more obedient.
He did not expect that he would be tested to have a high-grade spiritual root. His face lit up with joy as he raised his head and stood proudly at the side.
Jiang Li noticed that the other party would glance at him from time to time. It was unknown what he was thinking about, but after being glared at by him, Li Baichen pretended to look away casually.
Needless to say, the other party was definitely considering revenge.
Apart from Li Baichen, the others' performance was obviously much worse.
Only two people managed to fill up the Spirit Testing Bead after twenty minutes. A medium-grade spiritual root tag was hung on them.
As for the remaining seven people, they were even worse off. After half an hour, which was also thirty minutes, the energy within the spirit stone was completely exhausted and the array formation was completely extinguished. The Spirit Testing Bead in their hands was still not filled.
Fu Zhong could not be bothered to say anything to them. His assistants distributed the "low-grade" and "inferior-grade" wooden tablets according to the amount of spiritual qi in the Spirit Testing Bead.
From the attitude of the people around them, they clearly realized that something was wrong. Their lack of aptitude would make their future cultivation path full of hurdles.
All of them stood at the side with ugly expressions.
After a few more rounds of testing, Jiang Li had roughly concluded the criteria for judging different spiritual roots based on his observations.
Excluding some unique physiques that were rarely seen in the world, the cultivation world roughly divided spiritual roots into five grades.
Top-grade spiritual root: Fill the Spirit Testing Bead within three minutes.
High-grade spiritual root: Fill the Spirit Testing Bead within ten minutes.
Medium-grade spiritual root: Fill the Spirit Testing Bead within 30 minutes.
Low-grade spiritual root: Fill the Spirit Testing Bead by at least one-third within 30 minutes.
Inferior-grade spiritual root: Fill the Spirit Testing Bead by less than one-third within 30 minutes.
According to the attitude of the members of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion, there was a huge gap between each grade.
Apart from that, there were also spiritual roots with dual attributes and even multiple attributes. Although this talent could not be compared to higher-grade spiritual roots that could accelerate cultivation, it was still very useful to cultivators.
He waited for two more rounds of testing.
"Cai Dezhong, Gu Zhiping, Qiao Jiaju, Yan Fengyue, Yan Hong… Jiang Li."
It was finally his turn!
Now that things had come to this, even Jiang Li felt as if he had returned to the time when he was checking the results of his college entrance examination. He felt even more nervous than that.
After all, one could work hard during the college entrance examination. This aptitude test was completely up to fate.
Yan Hong, who was beside him, was not any better. His teeth were chattering nervously.
They went forward together and lined up to sit on the meditation mat according to Fu Zhong's instructions.
Only then did Jiang Li have a chance to observe the formation patterns on the ground at a close distance.
The lines were interwoven with each other in an extremely mysterious manner. There seemed to be a special pattern between the lines, but the feeling was very strange and hard to comprehend. After looking at it for a moment, he felt the world spinning before his eyes. He quickly closed his eyes and slowly regained his senses.
"Hold up the Spirit Testing Bead, face your palms together!"
Jiang Li did not care about anything else and hurriedly did as he was told.
The semi-transparent Spirit Testing Bead was warm and not heavy, as if it was not completely solid.
After closing his eyes and waiting for a moment, he suddenly felt that the air around him seemed to have become clear. As he breathed, a cold aura flowed into his pores and circulated around his body.
He now knew why everyone who sat on it was trembling all over. This kind of stimulation that came from within the body was indeed hard to suppress.
However, he soon realized that the cold aura was attracted by something and surged towards his palms.
Without a doubt, it was the Spirit Testing Bead.
It turned out that the Spirit Testing Ceremony used an array formation to draw out the spiritual qi within the spirit stone, transfer it into the person's body, and finally visualize it in the Spirit Testing Bead.
According to each person's spiritual root, the speed at which they absorbed spiritual qi would be vastly different. These differences would be completely reflected in the Spirit Testing Bead.
But with his speed, was he fast or slow?
Jiang Li had no way of determining this. He could only use his consciousness to guide and see if he could make the flow of spiritual qi faster.
Slowly, spots of fluorescent light appeared in his pitch-black vision. As the fluorescent lights gathered together, they became clearer and brighter.
In the end, a scene was formed before Jiang Li.
A cold and round moon hung in the sky. Under the faint moonlight, there was an ancient tree with lush leaves standing quietly.
"Yan Hong, high-grade Water attribute spiritual root!"
At this moment, an assistant announced loudly.
After that, Yan Hong laughed arrogantly.
"Haha, I am indeed a genius! Jiang Li, don't be afraid, I'll protect you in the future!"
Jiang Li closed his eyes and could imagine the other party's smug expression.
He pursed his lips and cursed the fatty in his heart.
Before he could count to a hundred, another announcement sounded.
"Jiang Li, medium-grade Yin and Wood dual-attribute spiritual root!"
Jiang Li opened his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. He was already satisfied with this outcome.
Although it was a medium-grade spiritual root, he was only two minutes slower than Yan Hong in filling up the bead. It was the best among the medium-grade spiritual roots.
Moreover, he had a dual-attribute spiritual root which could give him more points. His aptitude could already surpass 90% of the people in the cultivation world.
At this moment, Fu Zhong, who had just finished speaking with Yan Hong, also had his eyes lit up. He immediately ran to Jiang Li's side and helped him up with his chubby hands.
"Young man, your name is Jiang Li, right? Not bad! You look talented and definitely have a bright future."
"It's such a pity. You're only a few breaths away from having a high-grade spiritual root, but rules are rules. If you exceed the time limit, you can only be considered a medium-grade spiritual root. I can't help you either. Besides, you have a dual-attribute spiritual root. What a pity."
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