A male disciple removed his outer robe and shoes, leaving on only his undergarments.
He stood outside the pool and drew a deep breath.
It was clear that even the disciples of Ziyang Palace were exceedingly nervous.
The youth walked slowly into the pitch-black water.
Like a living thing, the dark water began to wrap around him from below, enveloping him entirely.
Three breaths later, with clear eyes and a mind free of stray thoughts, the youth leapt onto the altar.
The disciples of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Zixiao Pavilion turned to look at Li Guanqi, murderous intent occasionally flashing in their eyes.
Li Guanqi merely turned his head to meet their gazes, causing both groups to avert their eyes.
Li Guanqi softly spat two words.
"Useless trash."
Fury flared in the lead disciple of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect. Glaring fixedly at Li Guanqi, he sneered, "Humph! You merely killed a disciple of Ziyang Palace. What is there to be arrogant about?"
"When your spirit ruins test comes and you turn out to have nothing, let's see how smug you are then!"
Li Guanqi suddenly took a slow step toward the disciples of the two sects.
That single step frightened them into taking several hasty steps back.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly and looked at the disciple, asking softly, "What is your spiritual root?"
The man replied in a deep voice, "Humph! A wood-attribute heavenly spiritual root!"
Li Guanqi sneered and clicked his tongue softly. "Mm... quite impressive."
Hearing Li Guanqi say this, the man instantly regained his confidence and mocked, "What? Is your spiritual root not up to par?"
With an odd look on his face, Li Guanqi said with utter seriousness, "Are you an idiot...?"
"No way, right?"
"You actually don't know that I have a saint-grade spiritual root? A lightning-attribute one, at that?"
"Tsk, tsk. Your Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect is quite out of the loop. Don't tell me you're still relying on carrier pigeons?"
"Do you have to shout across mountaintops just to speak to people?"
Ignoring the man's expression—which looked as though he had just swallowed filth—Li Guanqi turned to Ye Feng and murmured, "In the future, whenever you run into people from the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Zixiao Pavilion, stay far away from them."
Ye Feng nodded with a deadpan expression. "Indeed. Weak strength, and their brains aren't much use either."
Listening to the two of them chime in together, the disciple of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect heaved with rage, his chest rising and falling violently.
The finger he pointed at Li Guanqi trembled slightly.
In the end, he spat out only one sentence: "I want to see if you can even awaken your spirit ruins!!"
Soon, a spine-chilling transformation took place on the disciple atop the altar!
As if falling into a deep slumber, the disciple's breathing grew long and steady.
Suddenly, a black dot appeared between his brows!
Moreover, the black dot expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, opening a fist-sized void right between the disciple's brows!
The sight sent chills down everyone's spines, yet the youth's aura did not change in the slightest, as though he was completely unaware of what was happening.
However, all anyone could see inside the black void was emptiness. Eventually, it slowly closed.
Not a trace was left between the youth's brows, and moments later, he opened his eyes.
His gaze was filled with confusion; he had no idea what had just occurred.
The youth walked down from the altar in disappointment, followed by the second and the third.
Fully a dozen were tested, and every single one saw the exact same result.
Li Guanqi also noticed that these Ziyang Palace disciples appeared slightly younger than himself.
Evidently, their talent was certainly not lacking, yet no artifact soul had been found in their spirit ruins.
Only then did Li Guanqi spot the fat man who had run the betting pool earlier among the crowd.
Tang Ru clearly sensed Li Guanqi's gaze and nodded at him with utmost courtesy.
Li Guanqi returned the nod slightly. Toward this fat man who had to go scrape together money to pay them, he bore no particular malice.
"There's one!! There's one!"
Everyone looked over at the shout and saw that an object actually resided within the black void between a tall young man's brows.
However, Song Ru let out a soft sigh, discovering that the item in the spirit ruins was merely a battered, broken stone.
It could hardly even be considered an artifact, making the result inevitably disappointing.
The last person from Ziyang Palace was that fat man.
After removing his outer robe, Tang Ru's massive belly could scarcely be contained by his undergarments.
Clasping his hands uneasily over his stomach, his ears flushed crimson with embarrassment.
Once the dust cleansing concluded, stepping onto the altar made the platform seem rather cramped.
Ye Feng teased, "Fat brother certainly looks prosperous~"
Tang Ru rolled his eyes in annoyance and snapped, "Get lost, this is called being blessed with good fortune!"
Soon after, the barrier closed. Tang Ru took several deep breaths before finally closing his eyes, his mind quickly settling into tranquility.
Only then did Li Guanqi realize that the fat man's talent was by no means weak.
*Hum—!*
Before long, the fat man's spirit ruins slightly cracked open. While others' were only the size of a fist, his continued to expand!
The Ziyang Palace elder clenched his fists, staring intently into the spirit ruins.
Seeing this, Li Nanting explained in a low voice, "Only a spirit ruins containing an artifact soul will grow larger."
"It seems this lad likely has an artifact soul after all."
*Hum—!*
The spirit ruins, which had been expanding slowly, abruptly swelled to the length of an arm amid the radiant glow of the nine stone pillars!
A rectangular object slowly emerged before everyone's eyes!
Everyone held their breath, gazing at the object through the hazy barrier.
Looking through his mind's eye, Li Guanqi discovered that it was actually a golden abacus!!
Faint patterns shimmered upon the abacus, and every bead was distinctly defined.
*Clack-clack, clack-clack!*
A crisp clatter rang out as the abacus beads flicked and shifted.
Six of the nine stone pillars on the altar burst with dazzling white radiance.
Then the pitch-black space of the spirit ruins vanished, leaving the abacus floating outside before burrowing between Tang Ru's brows!
Everyone held their breath, not daring to make the slightest sound to disturb him.
When Tang Ru opened his eyes, many caught the sharp gleam flashing within them.
The slight bloodshot cloudiness that had once tinged his eyes had vanished as well.
Song Ru burst into hearty laughter and declared loudly, "Good, good, good! A sixth-grade spirit ruins artifact soul!!"
The fat man also felt the connection in his heart. After putting his long robe back on, he mumbled under his breath, "Yesterday's recording crystals were a loss... If I'd made a few blurry ones to sell cheap, wouldn't I have made even more?"
"Sigh... why couldn't I think of that yesterday!"
Hearing his muttering, Li Guanqi could not help but chuckle inward. It seemed this fellow was truly cut out for business.
At this moment, the elder spoke softly: "Let us begin with the Great Xia Sword Sect."
Every disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect immediately fixed their eyes on Li Guanqi.
Li Nanting smiled and said, "Then you go up."
Li Guanqi nodded and took off his outer robe as well, yet he still did not set down the sword casket on his back.
The pitch-black pool water enveloped his body, yet it dared not draw near the sword casket at all.
A moment later, Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes and leapt onto the altar.
Chapter 72