A few days later, his little brother also began cultivating an inner energy method. His little brother had always felt that a great hero could only look dashing with a sword, so he chose a sword technique as his martial skill.
Wang Hong took his little brother to Blacksmith Zhang's again to pick out a fine sword. Only then did the two brothers truly embark upon Martial Path Cultivation.
Then began their day-and-night cultivation. Anything that required time to ponder, contemplate, and comprehend was done inside the space. More than twenty times the time was enough for him to squander freely. Once he had fully grasped it, he would practice outside the space. He even slept inside the space, squeezing out every possible moment for training.
Spear thrusting had to be level and swift, straight out and straight back, with force reaching the spear tip. One had to make the spear thrust along a single line: the thrust like a hidden dragon emerging from the water, the withdrawal like a fierce tiger entering its den. Spear thrusts were divided into high level, middle level, and low level; the middle level was the essential method. Thus went the saying: "The middle-level spear, king among spears—its central point is hardest to guard against."
He had already become somewhat numb as he mechanically thrust his spear forward, yet his movements remained as precise as ever. Then he withdrew it and thrust again... Every basic movement was practiced two thousand times a day.
His little brother was also practicing a basic sword movement beside him, tedious and monotonous.
At the top of Qingyang Academy's tallest dean's building, inside a luxurious room, the dean—who normally enjoyed the reverence of every student, and before whom even the county magistrate had to yield three parts of courtesy—was now bent at the waist, his face piled with smiles as he stood below in fawning submission.
Above sat an old Daoist, with crane-white hair and a childlike face, three long strands of beard beneath his chin, and a spotless azure Daoist robe. He looked like an immortal descended to the mortal world.
This old Daoist truly was an immortal descended to the mortal world. He was a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator from the Tai Hao Sword Sect, sent to the mortal realm after accepting a sect mission to serve as a Guiding Envoy.
The task of a Guiding Envoy was simple: patrol the mortal realm and search for talented cultivation prospects with excellent spiritual root aptitudes for the sect.
The old Daoist had traveled the mortal realm for several years without encountering a single person of outstanding aptitude. Sect rules required at least Two Spiritual Roots for direct admission.
Of course, if he could find a disciple of exceptional aptitude for the sect, the reward would also be generous.
Two Spiritual Roots meant possessing only two spiritual roots. The cultivation world had the five elemental spiritual roots of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, as well as the three Mutated Spiritual Roots of ice, wind, and lightning, making eight kinds of spiritual roots in all.
Among mortals, those with spiritual roots were exceedingly rare. Even among those who had them, most possessed Four Spiritual Roots or Five Spiritual Roots. And among those with spiritual roots, the fewer the number, the better.
Those with all five elemental spiritual roots were generally called Waste Spiritual Roots. Their cultivation was extremely slow and consumed countless resources.
Those with Four Spiritual Roots were only slightly better than those with Five Spiritual Roots, and ordinary sects would not accept them either.
Cultivators in the cultivation world were still mainly those with Two Spiritual Roots or Three Spiritual Roots.
As for a single spiritual root, it appeared once in a thousand years and was also called a Heavenly Spiritual Root. So long as they did not perish unexpectedly along the way, they could easily cultivate to the Golden Core Stage.
When ordinary cultivators advanced in realm, they encountered all sorts of bottlenecks. Some remained stuck for months or years before breaking through; others required decades or centuries, while some could never break through in their entire lives.
Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators, however, faced no bottlenecks from Qi Refining to the Golden Core Stage. They did not even need Foundation Establishment Pills or Forming Golden Core Pills.
Therefore, for a sect to recruit a Heavenly Spiritual Root disciple was equivalent to reserving a Golden Core Stage cultivator in advance.
Today, as the old Daoist rode his sword over Qingyang Academy, the treasure in his robes unexpectedly reacted.
He immediately pulled out the Spirit Sensing Disc and formed several hand seals. A bright white radiance burst from the Spirit Sensing Disc.
This item had been bestowed by the sect for Guiding Disciples to use. So long as an ordinary person with exceptional spiritual roots was nearby, the Formation Disk would automatically heat up.
With a sweep of his Spiritual Sense, the old Daoist quickly found the dean. He drifted directly down into the dean's room and explained his purpose.
The old dean was thrilled beyond measure. He had heard of Guiding Immortals before, but never imagined he would encounter one himself. Though the immortal had not come for him, being able to gain even a trace of Immortal Destiny was good enough.
Dong~ A bell rang throughout the entire academy. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the source. The academy bell did not ring casually; different numbers of chimes carried different meanings. Wang Hong and the others had been enrolled for over half a year, yet had never heard it ring.
Dong~
Dong~
After three bell chimes, everyone rushed toward the Central Grand Training Ground. The Central Grand Training Ground covered twenty mu and could hold over ten thousand people at once.
When Wang Hong arrived at the training ground, he saw that Zhang Tiemao from his squad had already arrived. He naturally took his place on Zhang Tiemao's right.
At this moment, the benefits of regular drills became apparent. Before even a quarter of an hour had passed, the Martial Arts Academy students had already formed up in their usual drill formation, a vast square array that stood silent and solemn with killing intent.
By contrast, the Civil Academy students on the other side milled about in twos and threes, crowded together in disorder—neither rows nor ranks, noisy and chaotic.
At this moment, the old dean respectfully accompanied an old man with the bearing of an immortal onto the high platform. From afar, they could see the old dean explaining something to him.
The immortal-looking elder took a metal disc from his robes. After gesturing and tapping at it for a moment, the metal disc actually flew up on its own and slowly circled above the crowd's heads.
Everyone watched in astonishment. The metal disc had no wings, nor was it a living creature that could dance through the air without falling. They had never seen anything so strange.
"Could this be the legendary Immortal Arts? Could that elder truly be one of the immortals from the legends?"
Some immediately fell to their knees in worship, while others believed it was merely some magic trick or hidden mechanism.
The elder had no mind to spare for the reactions below the platform. He focused entirely on controlling the Spirit Sensing Disc, which occasionally emitted a faint glow.
When Wang Hong saw the metal disc fly above his head, it too emitted a faint light. Once it flew away from him, the light vanished again.
After the disc had flown over the entire training ground once, it returned to the elder's hand.
The elder held the disc in one hand and made a grasping motion through the air with the other. Before the crowd could understand what was happening, one student among them seemed to be seized by an invisible giant hand and was snatched onto the high platform in an instant.
The elder repeatedly grasped through the air, plucking student after student onto the platform as though catching fish. Some of those taken up had imagined the elder would seize them and perform sinister magic upon them, and they trembled so badly their faces turned pale.
Others believed they had caught the immortal master's eye and would be accepted as disciples, ascending to the pinnacle of life from then on. They were smug with delight.
Wang Hong only felt his body tighten, then he rose into the air. Before he could even savor the sensation of flying, he had already landed atop the high platform.
Not long afterward, his little brother was also snatched up. Both brothers had been brought here, but whether it was a blessing or a curse, Wang Hong did not know. His heart felt somewhat uneasy.
They were not kept waiting long. After the elder had seized over a hundred people, he stopped and had them take turns stepping forward to touch the metal disc.
The first youth stepped forward and placed his hand on the disc. Green, red, yellow, white, and black light shone from it. The elder merely glanced at it before calling, "Next."
Then the next person placed his hand on it, and again it was five-colored light. Dozens were tested in succession, all showing four or five colors. The elder only glanced at each one before calling for the next. Only when someone produced merely three colors did the elder look at him a second time. Without saying anything more, he called for the next.
When it was Wang Hong's turn, green, red, yellow, and black light appeared—four colors. His little brother was next. The moment his little brother pressed his hand onto it, pure white light burst from the disc. The others' lights had only been about an inch long, while his little brother's stretched nearly a foot.
The elder had been leisurely stroking his long beard, but excitement now appeared on his face. His hand jerked so sharply that he tore out several beard hairs, yet he seemed utterly unaware.
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