Testing Spirit Roots (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

After watching Ling Ruguo ride the Immortal Spirit Crane away from Azure Stone Mountain and descend into the courtyard of a house in the central area of Azure Stone Village nearby, he finally withdrew his gaze.

Ling Pengyun looked at the three small bags of spirit plant seeds in his hand and said expectantly.

"Now that I have seeds for the second year and the spirit fields have been cleared out, I'll directly plant these seeds given by the clan. That way, they can absorb more spiritual energy and nourish themselves while growing, so that next year's harvest at the end of the year will be even greater."

"Adding the one hundred and ninety-eight spirit stones I earned this time, I now have two hundred and one spirit stones in my Storage Bag. Once this busy farming season is over, it'll be time to head to Cloud Mist Market and buy a Flying Magical Item!"

The one hundred and eighty-seven jin of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice he had received this year through his methods as a Spirit Plant Farmer could be sold for thirty-eight spirit stones.

This far exceeded the harvest he had anticipated. Yet this was merely his share from Yellow Jade Spirit Rice that had grown in the spirit fields for only eleven months. If the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice were allowed to remain in the Spirit Soil for a full twelve months, then perhaps next year, these two mu of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice could each yield a thousand jin of spirit rice per mu.

At that time, he would be able to receive two hundred jin of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice.

"The sky is already growing dark. If I delay any longer, night will fall."

Winter nights were often the coldest.

Though cultivators gathered great power within themselves, Ling Pengyun was only a Qi Refinement cultivator. His body had not yet undergone a qualitative transformation, and he would still feel cold when the weather turned chilly.

Of course, he could also circulate spiritual energy through his meridians to keep warm. That was precisely what he was doing now; otherwise, he would not be able to endure this deep winter.

Not to mention Ling Ruguo, whose lifespan was nearly exhausted, riding an Immortal Spirit Crane through the freezing wind high in the sky.

Ling Pengyun took the Spirit Hoe that he had used earlier to loosen the soil and had not yet returned to his Storage Bag. Across the six mu of spirit fields, he continuously dug small pits and buried the spirit plant seeds within them.

Digging these pits was not difficult, but it was extremely time-consuming.

As Ling Pengyun dug the small pits, he also infused the Spirit Hoe with spiritual energy, activating its "Vibration" function so that the blade would not damage the Spirit Soil in the spirit fields.

It was precisely because of this that the digging alone took several hours.

It was not until Xu Hour that he finished.

While planting the seeds, night fell. Ling Pengyun paused for a while to absorb Moonlight Power.

Afterward, Ling Pengyun cast Spirit Rain three times, nourishing the three types of spirit plant seeds that had just been placed into the Spirit Soil across the six mu of spirit fields, stimulating them to germinate more quickly.

By the time the Spirit Rain had been cast, it was already midnight.

Having first harvested spirit plants and then planted seeds, Ling Pengyun was somewhat tired. He did not linger any longer and returned to the cave halfway up the mountain.

As soon as Ling Pengyun entered the cave, he sat cross-legged on the Meditation Mat placed on the ground, circulated his cultivation technique, and refined the remaining medicinal power of the Yellow Sprout Pill within his body to advance his cultivation.

Besides Ling Pengyun, the cave also housed that Yellow-Feathered Sparrow, though it was currently sleeping soundly in a bird's nest.

Ever since winter began, the Yellow-Feathered Sparrow had entered hibernation due to its physical condition and fallen asleep.

Fortunately, it was not the only one. The insects outside were the same; once winter came, they no longer gnawed on the spirit plants growing atop the mountain. They had evidently all fallen asleep in their nests as well.

The next morning.

After speaking with his grandson through the night, Ling Ruguo arrived at Azure Stone Mountain as promised. After informing Ling Pengyun, he rode the Immortal Spirit Crane toward his next stop.

In the courtyard of a house in the center of Azure Stone Village.

Ling Dong watched the elderly figure riding the Immortal Spirit Crane depart into the sky, his expression filled with longing.

He was no fledgling, and he could see that his Ancestor Ling Ruguo did not have long to live.

"Ancestor..."

I'm not getting any younger either. It's time to find myself a wife!

"Spirit roots, the clan mountain!"

Ling Dong's face was filled with yearning, yet his eyes brimmed with unwillingness.

During his all-night talk with Ling Ruguo, what Ling Ruguo spoke of most was for him to take a wife, have a child with spirit roots as soon as possible, and allow their branch to return to the clan mountain.

Another three days passed.

The injuries suffered by Ling Pengyun's Natal Spirit Plant, the Thorn Vine, because of the Ink Cloud Poisonous Snake had fully recovered under Ling Pengyun's daily nourishment with spiritual energy.

From this day onward, he could once again use spiritual energy to nourish the Thorn Vine attached to his chest and advance its cultivation.

Time flew by, and the first day of the first month of the following year arrived.

This day was the first day of the year, and also the day when the mortal members of the Ling Clan tested their spirit roots.

On this day every year, Ling Clan cultivators stationed at the various spirit veins would descend to the villages built around those spirit veins and test the spirit roots of children between the ages of eight and ten.

Outside Azure Stone Mountain's Ancestral Hall, quite a number of people had gathered early.

Most had come to watch the spectacle, though there were also many parents who had brought their children to test their spirit roots.

The crowd chattered noisily, discussing who was most likely to possess spirit roots this time.

Dong! The sound of a bronze bell rang out from within the Ancestral Hall.

Once the bronze bell sounded, no one spoke another word, and silence returned to the surroundings.

Those children of the appropriate age were also guided by their parents into a long line outside the doors of the Ancestral Hall.

Ling Dong, the Village Chief, who had been standing by the entrance of the Ancestral Hall, saw that all the children in the village who were to test their spirit roots had arrived. He pushed open the doors and said to the crowd, "Si Hour has arrived. This year's children testing their spirit roots, enter the Ancestral Hall one by one!"

The child at the front of the long line curiously walked through the doors and entered the Ancestral Hall.

Seeing a small table inside the Ancestral Hall, with an extraordinary young man seated before it, the child asked innocently, "Are you the Immortal Elder who protects our Azure Stone Village?"

This young man was naturally Ling Pengyun, who had been stationed at Azure Stone Mountain year-round.

Ling Pengyun saw the innocent appearance of the child before him, bundled up tightly against the bitter cold of winter, and answered with a smile. "That's right. Put one hand on this small table!"

Upon hearing his response, the child's eyes brightened. According to his father, the Immortal Elder who protected their village might not be very old, but he was extremely powerful. He had once slaughtered a giant python three zhang long and as thick as a millstone.

He obediently placed his tender right hand on the small table. During this time, he kept studying Ling Pengyun, trying to see whether there was anything special about him.

Ling Pengyun did not mind the child's gaze. He placed a hand on the child's right arm and performed a minor spell, the Bone Reading Age Detection Technique.

Only after confirming that the child was indeed between eight and ten years old did Ling Pengyun pick up the pure-black, fist-sized Spirit Root Testing Stone from the small table, inject spiritual energy into it, and place it against the child's right hand.

If the child possessed spirit roots, the Spirit Root Testing Stone would emit light.

As for what kind of spirit roots the child possessed, that was beyond what this small Spirit Root Testing Stone could detect.