Ling Shan (Seeking Collections, Seeking Recommendation Votes)

This child needed to be sent to the clan mountain, where the clan's second-order Spirit Root Testing Array could determine what kind of spirit root he possessed and which one was dominant.

This would also make things more convenient. When children with spirit roots later chose their primary cultivation techniques, they could avoid many detours.

Most independent cultivators in the Cultivation World lacked a Spirit Root Testing Array and did not know which of their spirit roots was dominant. They cultivated techniques at random, causing many independent cultivators with excellent talent to delay their Dao Paths.

It was very unfortunate that, after a full Three Breaths, the child still failed to trigger the black Spirit Root Testing Stone.

Ling Pengyun's brows furrowed slightly, disappointment showing on his face.

"Step down. You have no spirit root," Ling Pengyun said helplessly.

The child was rather innocent. He nodded, then skipped happily out of the Ancestral Hall and ran back to his parents, shouting that he wanted to go home and eat candy.

The second to enter the Ancestral Hall was a little girl who looked like a porcelain doll. Like the boy before her, she was immensely curious about Ling Pengyun, but she was more timid and did not dare ask aloud.

"Put your hand on this little table," Ling Pengyun said as usual.

He felt her bones to determine her age. Once he confirmed that she was of the proper age, he placed the Spirit Root Testing Stone in her hand.

After Three Breaths passed, the Spirit Root Testing Stone still showed no reaction.

After that, one child after another entered the Ancestral Hall to have their spirit roots tested.

At first, Ling Pengyun had been full of anticipation, hoping Azure Stone Village would produce a child with a spirit root. Once that child grew up years later, they could alleviate the Ling Clan's shortage of manpower somewhat.

But as time passed, more than two hundred children were tested without a single one possessing a spirit root. He gradually grew numb.

It was not until dusk, while testing the arm of the third-to-last little boy, that the Spirit Root Testing Stone finally reacted.

"Eh!"

"A spirit root!"

Ling Pengyun's eyes lit up, delight appearing on his face. To ensure there was nothing wrong with the Spirit Root Testing Stone, he took it from the boy's hand, infused it with spiritual power again, and placed it back in the child's hand.

Only after seeing that it still reacted did he believe it.

I thought Azure Stone Village would suffer a total rout this year. Who would have thought there would actually be one child with a spirit root? Ling Pengyun rejoiced inwardly.

Azure Stone Village did not have many people. Ling Pengyun was already satisfied that it had produced one child with a spirit root.

"What is your name?" Ling Pengyun softly asked the somewhat introverted little boy.

"Reporting to Immortal Elder, my name is Ling Shan. Shan as in mountain peak," the little boy replied shyly, his voice extremely soft.

"You and I are both of the Ling Clan's Peng Generation. You may call me Eighth Brother from now on." Ling Pengyun pulled the child to his side and smiled.

Afterward, he called over the final two children having their spirit roots tested that year one by one and tested them with the Spirit Root Testing Stone. The stone showed no reaction, and the answer was obvious: neither of them had a spirit root.

Ling Pengyun did not mind. After all, Ling Shan already possessed a spirit root; he simply did not know what kind it was yet.

The Spirit Root Test Assembly ended. The Azure Stone Mountain Village residents waiting outside the Ancestral Hall had all noticed that Ling Shan, who had entered the hall early on, had not come back out. They secretly guessed that Ling Shan likely possessed "Immortal Fate."

Ling Dong, the Village Chief, was also overjoyed. This meant that Azure Stone Village would gain another cultivator with a voice in the Ling Clan, and it also meant that the Ling Clan behind them had grown a little stronger.

Not long afterward, Ling Pengyun emerged from the Ancestral Hall holding Ling Shan's small hand and announced that Ling Shan possessed Immortal Fate. He would return to the Ling Clan's mountain to cultivate in the future.

He then sought out Ling Shan's parents and informed them that within three days, an Immortal Elder from the clan mountain would come to take Ling Shan there to seek his Dao Path. Ling Shan might not be able to return home for years, so he told them to spend these days keeping him company.

Although Ling Shan's parents were overjoyed that their son possessed Immortal Fate, hearing that he might not return home for years left them deeply reluctant to part with him. Still, they understood that this was their child's opportunity. As parents, they should let their child spread his wings rather than imprison him at their side.

Only two days later, an elder of the Yun Generation arrived in Azure Stone Mountain Village atop an Immortal Spirit Crane, bringing a child with him.

Ling Pengyun had already heard the Immortal Spirit Crane's distinctive cry and climbed to the mountaintop ahead of time.

When he saw the face of the person riding atop the Immortal Spirit Crane, he cupped his hands in greeting and politely asked,

"Great Ancestor, is the little boy behind you one who possesses a spirit root?"

Ling Yunhui jumped down from the Immortal Spirit Crane with the little boy and said with a smile, "That's right. He is a child found to possess a spirit root in Xia Zhi Town's test this year. Counting generations, he should be of the Peng Generation like you, so he is your clan younger brother!"

Then Ling Yunhui led out the somewhat shy little boy hiding behind him and introduced him. "Little Qing, this is your Eighth Brother, Ling Pengyun!"

"Pengyun, this is Ling Qing. Once he returns to the clan and receives his generation name, he will be called Ling Pengqing!"

After they had introduced each other, Ling Yunhui asked, "Pengyun, did Azure Stone Village find anyone with a spirit root this year?"

"Yes!" Ling Pengyun answered with a smile.

Upon hearing this answer, the smile on Ling Yunhui's face grew even broader. He hurriedly asked where the child with the spirit root was.

Ling Pengyun did not put on airs. He led Ling Yunhui to Ling Shan's home in Azure Stone Village.

To confirm whether Ling Shan truly possessed a spirit root, Ling Yunhui tested him once more with the Spirit Root Testing Stone. Seeing that it did indeed react—the mark of one possessing a spirit root—Ling Yunhui said joyfully,

"He truly has a spirit root. Pengyun, your fortune was quite good this time. In this newly established Azure Stone Village of barely more than three thousand people, you actually found someone with a spirit root. Once this batch of children returns to the clan and the clan's Spirit Root Testing Array determines their exact spirit roots, you will certainly be rewarded with a handsome sum of spirit stones!"

The clan rewarded those stationed at Low-Order Spirit Veins who found people with spirit roots in the villages and towns established around those veins. The rewards varied according to the spirit roots discovered.

"Great Ancestor, you praise me too highly. How is this my fortune? It is this little fellow Ling Shan's own fortune. I merely happened upon it. These clansmen born in the mortal world do not have easy beginnings. Half of the spirit stones the clan rewards me for finding Ling Shan, this clansman with a spirit root, should be given to Ling Shan," Ling Pengyun said.

Ling Yunhui was greatly pleased by Ling Pengyun's conduct. Most Ling Clan members stationed at Low-Order Spirit Veins acted the same way after finding those with spirit roots in mortal villages and towns. It could be considered lending them a helping hand.

Afterward, Ling Yunhong told Ling Pengyun some bad news.

At the end of last year, Ling Ruguo had traveled through the spirit veins across An Yang County to collect mature spirit plants. On his way back to the clan, he encountered danger. Although he killed the Qi Training Middle Stage Peng bird that ambushed him, his cultivation also collapsed rapidly because of that battle.

By the time Ling Ruguo returned to the clan, barely a tenth of his cultivation remained. He had fallen to the Early-Stage Qi Training realm, and now even needed a walking stick to support himself.

Within two years, he feared he would...