Spirit Testing

Pill Workshop, early morning.

The bright sunlight made the bluestone slabs in the courtyard gleam.

In the spacious courtyard.

Several little children of varying heights stood in a neat row, looking spirited and alert.

The children's father, Tang Yijing, along with several young mothers, waited quietly to one side. Their eyes brimmed with anticipation, along with a touch of nervousness.

Before long.

A figure drew everyone's attention.

Huang Yueyang entered the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his steps unhurried.

In recent years.

Huang Wangyou had been driven by Chen Sheng to cultivate bitterly day and night.

Huang Yueyang had damaged his foundation in his youth. Now, at over ninety years old, his energy had grown increasingly depleted.

Unable to make progress in his study of Pill Formulas, he no longer clung to it. Instead, he turned to teaching the juniors and enjoying the comforts of family life.

Now, he was responsible for Spirit Testing the younger members of the household, as well as their daily Qi Refinement cultivation.

Huang Yueyang waved at the children.

"Come over one by one. Grandfather will test your Spirit Roots."

"Thank you, Grandfather!"

The children answered obediently in unison. Their childish voices carried a few traces of anticipation as well.

As they spoke.

Huang Yueyang took an item from his Storage Bag.

It was a palm-sized round disk carved entirely from smooth white jade, polished as bright as a mirror.

Mysterious, intricate runes were engraved around its edge, while a small depression lay at its center. This was the Dharma Artifact used to examine Spirit Roots—the Spirit Testing Disk.

"Wenlong, come here!"

Huang Yueyang called out the first name.

The testing soon began.

The first plump little boy, Tang Wenlong, stepped forward.

"Don't be afraid. It'll be over soon!"

Huang Yueyang bent down, took the child's slightly chubby hand, and quickly pricked his fingertip with a specially made slender Silver Needle.

A full, crimson bead of blood immediately welled up and dripped into the depression at the center of the Spirit Testing Disk.

Huang Yueyang formed a Hand Seal.

A stream of pure Mana flowed into the disk.

With a hum, the white jade disk immediately lit up with a soft glow.

Five pillars of light, each a different height, rose from the bottom of the disk.

Green, red, yellow, white, black!

The five-colored radiance flowed and shifted, corresponding to the Five Elements.

Everyone possessed Five Element attributes, but only upon reaching a certain mark could one become a Spirit Root.

At that moment, within the jade disk.

The five pillars of light all crouched low against the rim.

Even the tallest, the wood attribute, was only three inches high.

Huang Yueyang's gaze swept across the markings at the tops of the five pillars, and he gently shook his head.

"Metal one, water one, fire two, earth one, wood three. No Spirit Root!"

As soon as those words fell.

Plump Tang Wenlong immediately burst into tears, his tears rolling down at once.

"Waaah..."

"I want to learn alchemy from Grandfather..."

A trace of disappointment flashed through his mother's eyes, but she quickly accepted it. She hurried forward and gathered the child into her arms, wiping away his tears with a handkerchief.

Her own eyes had reddened, yet she still smiled as she coaxed him.

"We won't learn alchemy. Didn't you want to play with abacus beads? Mother will teach you accounting."

Huang Yueyang shook his head.

"Tang Wenbao, Tang Wenhu, come over."

The two children approached with nervous looks.

Before long.

Huang Yueyang obtained the results.

"Metal three, water one, wood two, fire one, earth one. No Spirit Root!"

"Fire three, wood one, metal two, water one, earth two. No Spirit Root!"

It was like icy rain pouring over their heads.

Another wave of crying broke out.

Beneath Huang Yueyang's calm expression, a trace of disappointment was hard to conceal as well.

Until the fourth child.

She was a little girl with bright eyes and twin pigtails.

"Come, Wen Ya!"

"Yes, Grandfather!"

The blood droplet fell. Within the jade disk.

A red pillar of light suddenly shot upward, climbing steadily and firmly crossing the line marked "ten"!

Huang Yueyang stroked his beard and nodded gently.

"Metal four, earth five, wood seven, water four, fire thirteen. Low-grade Fire Spiritual Root."

"Not bad!"

The moment those words were spoken, the child's mother covered her mouth, too excited to speak.

Sincere joy burst from Tang Yijing's eyes.

The little girl herself was somewhat bewildered, but seeing the joy on her parents' faces, she smiled happily as well.

Very soon.

A simple Spirit Testing ceremony came to an end.

There were seven children in total.

Among them, two had Low-grade Spiritual Roots.

One boy and one girl.

One Earth Spiritual Root and one Fire Spiritual Root.

Together with the three children with Low-grade Spiritual Roots who had appeared one after another over the past few years.

Tang Yijing had twenty-nine children.

He had already fathered five Immortal Seedlings.

That probability was truly not low!

Huang Yueyang looked at the entire large family. His gaze settled on Tang Yijing, and he patted his increasingly broad shoulder with satisfaction.

"Good! Yi Jing, you've worked hard these past years. You've spread the branches and grown the leaves—your contribution is no small one."

He took out two jade slips from his Storage Bag.

Both contained basic Hand Seals for drawing in Qi and breathing exercises.

"Have them memorize these thoroughly, then come find me in the rear courtyard tomorrow."

Tang Yijing accepted the jade slips and cupped his fists.

"This grandson understands."

Fire Room.

The doors and windows were tightly shut.

A fragrant Pill Qi filled the air.

After Chen Sheng's failed attempt at Foundation Establishment, he gradually recovered from his injuries.

Huang Wangyou had even taken special care of him for a time.

She had mainly been worried about Chen Sheng's state of mind. Anyone who had striven for decades only to fail would suffer a devastating blow, their will worn away.

However.

Chen Sheng's state of mind was more tranquil than before, even carrying the serenity of one who had seen through it all.

"If I fail in this life, there is still the next life!"

He completely gave up on the thought of reaching Foundation Establishment in This Life.

Especially after experiencing it personally once.

The gap was simply too obvious!

Chen Sheng shook his head.

"The higher realm is truly difficult!"

"With my aptitude and foundation, forcing an attempt would basically be courting death!"

"I still have plenty of good years ahead in This Life, and a hundred lifetimes of chances to seek the Dao. There's no need to go mad over a single opportunity."

He soon thought it through clearly.

He was only in his fifties, with several decades still remaining before the end of his lifespan.

Naturally, Chen Sheng had no intention of wasting his time away.

Having become an upper-grade alchemist, he had no further inheritance to study. He could only delve into the Huang Clan Secret Manual each day, and his Alchemy Skill progressed ever more slowly, with little chance of any breakthrough.

Barring the unexpected.

This was the pinnacle of This Life.

Chen Sheng could only shift his goal.

His attention gradually turned toward cultivating a first-rank top-grade fire-element Daoist technique.

"Crimson Flood Dragon Burning River Seal."

This was the Hand Seal Chen Sheng had bought at an auction many years ago. It combined offense and defense and was divided into three stages.

First stage: Crimson Scales Seal.

Second stage: Wave Breaking Seal.

Third stage: River-Burning Seal.

Once mastered, it would be a Trump Card on par with Sword Qi even at the Qi Refinement stage.

Few enemies could stand against it!

However, this technique was extremely difficult to cultivate.

Not only did it require one's control over Mana to reach an exceedingly profound realm, but one also had to open several entirely new meridians before the Hand Seal could be cast successfully.

Back then.

Chen Sheng had studied it for months without making progress. Not wishing to delay his Qi Refinement cultivation, he had set it aside on a high shelf.

Now, however, he had ample time to cultivate this Daoist technique.

Chen Sheng thought to himself.

"If my aptitude is ordinary, then I'll make up for it with time."

"I refuse to believe that—even if I have to grind away at it with time, I'll grind this technique into mastery."