Luo Hu glared resentfully at Li Guanqi, then strode into the teleportation formation.
Of the more than three thousand hopeful disciples waiting to ascend the mountain, only eighteen hundred were left to proceed to Mount Tianzi!
Now, everyone waited with flushed excitement for the upcoming test.
By this time, Li Guanqi also understood that how much of the talisman had burned made no difference at all.
Just like Li Sheng'an, who had only a fingernail-sized scrap of yellow talisman paper left in his hand, yet had still passed the first trial.
This trial—hardly even a true bottleneck—merely tested the candidates' character and resolve.
Within the span of two shichen, even if one rested for the time it took an incense stick to burn, as long as one did not give up, it was entirely possible to finish.
In the end, this trial simply tested everyone's perseverance.
Along the way, many were buzzing with discussion over what had just happened.
A disciple with dual-attribute true spiritual roots of wood feeding fire—and they turned him away just like that!
It seemed the Great Xia Sword Sect truly was an unusual sect.
Had it been any other sect, they surely would have fought over taking Luo Hu as an apprentice; he might even have become an alchemist.
Besides, the gap between ordinary mixed true roots and a wood-fire true root was immense.
These were mutually generating spiritual roots, boasting a cultivation speed second only to single-attribute heavenly spiritual roots.
Yet the Great Xia Sword Sect's conduct made many disciples of commoner background feel a sense of "fairness!"
Indeed, fairness!
Just as Zhou Zhi had said, the Great Xia Sword Sect was not the kind of sect that judged candidates solely by spiritual roots and background.
Yet doing so also inevitably turned away many gifted candidates.
Standing side by side with Zhou Zhi, Jiang Su murmured with a chuckle, "Every year brings something like this, haha."
Zhou Zhi's expression was resolute. In a deep voice, he replied, "That is why, though our Great Xia Sword Sect may not have vast numbers, our sect is deeply united!"
"It's called keeping the essence and discarding the dregs."
Li Guanqi did not notice that in the crowd, a jade-faced youth kept glancing toward him.
Before long, Li Guanqi snapped his head toward the space behind him, yet detected nothing amiss.
Li Sheng'an was beaming with joy when he caught Li Guanqi frowning.
"Hm? What's wrong, Guanqi?"
Li Guanqi's brow relaxed, and he gave a faint smile. "Nothing. Just felt like someone's been watching me."
Li Sheng'an, who had been clutching the hem of Li Guanqi's robe, startled. "Ah? You can see?"
The youth grinned and pointed at his eyes.
"I can't. I'm truly blind."
Li Sheng'an nodded half-believingly, then could not help sighing.
"I wonder if my three-attribute mixed roots can pass the spiritual root test."
Hearing this, Li Guanqi asked, "Why? Is it that difficult?"
At those words, even Lin Dong nearby couldn't help chiming in, "Do you really know nothing about this?"
Li Guanqi shrugged. He had only occasionally heard his grandfather mention such things.
Back then, he was playful and had only absorbed bits and pieces without truly understanding.
Besides, he didn't even know if he had spiritual roots; Su Xuan had never told him.
Whenever he asked, Su Xuan had only smiled faintly without saying much.
Yet Li Guanqi had no idea what he was about to witness during this spiritual root test.
It would also expose secrets of the cultivation world to everyone present!
When the crowd arrived at Mount Tianzi, the elders of each peak within the sect were already waiting.
Emblazoned on the sect banner was a large character for "Xia," flanked on both sides by longswords.
Across the thousand-zhang square stood eight spirit-testing platforms.
Upon each platform rested a transparent crystal orb.
Li Guanqi opened his mind's eye. Seeing the many otherworldly, Daoist-robed elders atop the high platform, he was slightly taken aback.
He had not expected the sect admissions to receive such serious attention.
Perhaps sensing Li Guanqi's confusion, Li Sheng'an softly explained, "Don't think it's too grand a fuss."
"When some sects hold their grand recruitments, even their sect masters attend in person."
"The prime seeds of cultivation unearthed in this test will definitely be fought over by the various elders!"
"Some geniuses might even skip the outer sect trials and enter the inner sect directly!"
"Tsk, tsk. If someone gets into the inner sect right away, their resources will be countless times better than in the outer sect."
Yet Li Guanqi noticed an old man resting with eyes closed behind the elders.
The old man's face was deeply lined, with sunken eye sockets, a hooked nose, somewhat thin lips, and a goatee on his chin.
His plain grey robes seemed entirely out of place, yet made him look exceptionally stern.
A single glance at him was enough to make one feel as though they had committed a guilty deed.
This man was none other than the Great Xia Sword Sect's Disciplinary Arbiter, Qin Xian, already at the middle Nascent Soul stage!
Guided by the Sword Sect disciples, the more than one thousand people formed into eight queues.
The ground of the entire square trembled faintly, and immediately after, a barrier of azure light abruptly rose!
The old man on the high platform suddenly opened his eyes!
Boom!
Reining in his aura, the old man swept a sharp gaze across the crowd below and said in a heavy voice, "I am the sect's Disciplinary Arbiter, Qin Xian!"
"Now, let the spiritual root test begin!"
The subsequent testing brought joy to some and grief to others.
Even to enter the outer sect of the Great Xia Sword Sect as a handyman disciple, the minimum requirement was three-attribute mixed spiritual roots!
Three-attribute spiritual roots were already beyond what other sects would accept.
Disciples possessing such roots cultivated several times slower than those with dual-attribute true spiritual roots.
Even with considerable resources poured into them, whether they could ever break through Qi Refinement in a lifetime remained an unknown.
After testing nearly several dozen people, aside from a few three- or four-attribute pseudo spiritual roots, there were even those who possessed no spiritual roots at all.
Suddenly!
In the line next to Li Guanqi, the crystal orb in the palm of a little boy dressed in ragged hemp clothes suddenly blazed with brilliant halos of gold and blue!
The disciple conducting the test smiled and announced in a clear voice:
"Li Niu, bone age thirteen, true metal-water spiritual roots!"
"Eligible to enter Tianjin Peak or Tianshui Peak!"
"From this day forth, officially an outer sect disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect. His parents shall receive one hundred taels of gold and silver."
At last, a youth with true spiritual roots had appeared!
Furthermore, it was metal-water—metal generating water, but with metal as the dominant element!
On the spectator platform, a burly man in golden robes smiled toward the elder of Tianshui Peak not far away.
"Elder Lan, why not let our Tianjin Peak take this disciple?"
"He isn't a female cultivator anyway, so why not let us take the spotlight?"
The female elder in icy-blue robes snapped back, "Meng Linhai! You can have him—for five hundred spirit stones."
The Tianjin Peak elder named Meng Linhai let out a hearty laugh. With a wave of his hand, a storage pouch flew out.
"Done and done! I'll pay, alright? Just to secure good luck for the first prize, haha!"
The other elders also wore faint smiles.
Someone murmured, "I wonder how many heavenly spiritual roots will emerge from this batch of disciples."
No sooner had the words been spoken than someone chimed in, "Hard to say if there will be any. How could heavenly spiritual roots appear so easily?"
"Having a few true spiritual roots is already good enough. Heavenly spiritual roots are, if not one in ten thousand, rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."
Just then, the elder of Tianmu Peak said with a troubled frown, "Sigh... I wonder if I can pick out a few junior brothers for those brats under my tutelage this year."
"Why are wood-attribute spiritual roots so scarce!"
Hearing this, an old man who had been resting with closed eyes grew disgruntled.
Opening his eyes, he pointed right at the Tianmu Peak elder's nose and cursed, "You dare complain about poverty? At the very least, your Tianmu Peak received nearly twenty disciples in the last batch!"
"My Tianlei Peak hasn't had a single new disciple in three years! Three whole years!!"
"Do you have any idea what I've been through these past three years?!"
Li Guanqi was somewhat curious—why were the elders on the high platform arguing like that?
One scrawny old man seemed especially agitated...
On the testing platform, the boy named Li Niu was so overcome with emotion that tears welled in his eyes, and he squatted down, weeping uncontrollably.
He had never imagined that the day would truly come when he could step into an immortal sect and cultivate the Dao!
Afterward, the disciple was led away by disciples in sect robes. Li Guanqi noticed that the insignia on the accompanying disciples' chests differed slightly from the standard outer sect uniform.
On the chest was an embroidered mountain piercing the clouds, while the shoulder embroidery was golden. It seemed that was Tianjin Peak.
As the testing progressed, more and more disciples were selected.
Suddenly, a commotion rippled through the crowd.
Before one youth, the crystal orb erupted with a blinding golden radiance!
In the next instant, the elders of the eight peaks from the spectator platform appeared in midair.
"A metal heavenly spiritual root!"
The youth looked as though he had known this all along, showing little surprise on his face.
The elder of Tianjin Peak grinned so widely that the wrinkles on his face bunched together.
Flashing to the youth's side, he asked in a booming voice, "Hahaha, good lad! A heavenly spiritual root!"
"What is your name?"
The youth wore white robes. Handsome with sharply defined features, only his somewhat thin lips gave an impression of someone difficult to get along with.
The youth bowed to the burly man, then suddenly turned his head toward Li Guanqi, a playful sneer gracing his lips as he said softly:
"Replying to the Elder, this junior is named... Zhao Yuanlin!"
Li Guanqi, who had his head lowered, shuddered violently!
Meanwhile, the smile on Zhao Yuanlin's face only broadened.
Beaming with delight, Meng Linhai said, "Good, good, good! Henceforth you shall enter my Tianjin Peak and officially become an inner sect disciple. I can also take you as a core disciple under my wing. What do you say?"
As a Core Formation cultivator, Meng Linhai naturally had the authority to accept disciples under his personal tutelage.
Yet Zhao Yuanlin was proud and arrogant; a mere Core Formation elder of Tianjin Peak was not enough to tempt him.
His goal was to become a personal disciple of the Peak Master of Tianjin Peak!
Thus, Zhao Yuanlin merely smiled faintly without answering.
Meng Linhai simply laughed it off with a smile; geniuses often harbored lofty pride, which he could understand.
As for whether the Peak Master of Tianjin Peak would take a liking to him, that was another matter entirely.
Seeing that Zhao Yuanlin showed no intention of leaving immediately, Meng Linhai asked in some confusion, "What? You still want to watch here?"
A sharp glint flashed in the depths of Zhao Yuanlin's eyes as he replied loudly, "Of course. There is someone from my hometown here, and I'd like to see how he fares."
Meng Linhai did not think much of it, assuming it was a fellow townsman close to him whom he wished to look after within the sect in the future.
Such things were not uncommon in the sect, so he did not press further.
"Oh? On good terms?"
Yet Zhao Yuanlin's next words were like a boulder hurled into a placid lake.
A single stone stirring up a thousand waves!
"No, no, no. Someone who could trade his own elder sister's life for ten strings of copper coins—I can hardly claim to know him well."
"I am merely curious: would the Great Xia Sword Sect truly accept someone like that?"
The moment those words were spoken, every elder frowned!
Their gazes turned stern and severe. If someone were truly like that, then no matter how heaven-defying their talent might be, the Great Xia Sword Sect would never accept them!
In an instant, an uproar broke out among all the disciples who had yet to be tested!
Yet hearing those words, a glint of icy killing intent flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes!
Chapter 10