Spirit Aperture

Li Tongya formed a hand seal and watched the fine, dense spirit rain drift down into the black earth. Pale-faced, he pondered, "The Spirit Rain Technique in this Spirit Plant Cultivation Method truly consumed an enormous amount. Even after cultivating the Bearing Light Wheel, I could barely cast it once. These spirit plants still need tending every day—there really aren't enough hands."

Li Xiangping and Li Tongya surveyed the spirit fields of the various villages, and all found them pitifully few. Li Jing Village's spirit fields were scattered in bits and pieces, but fortunately, its largest plot could barely accommodate ten White Essence Fruits.

Thus, Li Tongya had people build a small courtyard at the foot of the mountain, on what had once been wasteland. He usually cultivated and farmed there, with supplies delivered to him. It was quite pleasant.

Li Xiangping selected a spirit field in Jingyang Village and planted spirit rice there, prompting the people of Jingyang Village to prostrate themselves outside the courtyard every day. It was rather amusing.

Since he had yet to enter the Circulating Movement Wheel, Li Tongya closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for nearly half an hour before recovering his spiritual power. Checking the time, he found Li Yesheng and the others had already been waiting outside for quite a while.

When the wooden door creaked open, Li Yesheng hurriedly bowed and greeted him.

"The children from all the villages have arrived. Tongya Ge, shall we go now?"

"Mm."

Li Tongya answered softly, then slowly made his way toward the village entrance amid the eager smiles of Li Yesheng and the several men behind him.

Beneath the Great Locust Tree at the village entrance, thick with branches and leaves, the people sent by every village had all arrived. The stewards dispatched by the Li Clan led several notable figures from each village, followed by groups of children of all ages.

The stewards were fairly relaxed, standing beneath the locust tree in pairs and speaking in low voices. The villagers from outside villages appeared anxious and restrained; they did not dare speak, merely stood where they were. The children, infected by the mood, sat obediently on the ground one after another.

Chen Erniu had lately been riding high on the spring breeze, so delighted that he could not sleep at night. For generations, his family had clawed and rolled about in the dirt, and at last they had begun living like human beings.

When he learned that he had been assigned to manage Li Chuankou, Chen Erniu had fiercely kowtowed nine times before the Li Clan courtyard, then wept bitterly as he made a solemn vow to Old Man Li.

"Since the old master trusts me, I, Erniu, will make the villagers of Li Chuankou behave themselves!"

When he had fled here, the Li Clan had taken him in. When he married and bought land, the Li Clan had helped him. When his wife fell ill, the Li Clan had paid for her treatment. That debt of gratitude had already bound Chen Erniu firmly to the Li Clan's war chariot.

Besides, with towering profits laid before him, Chen Erniu would have dared swallow dog shit! It was only that he and Xu Wenshan had never gotten along since their days as tenants, and so the two villages often clashed. Only Ren Ping'an held a position above the fray among the three villages, managing his own village affairs alone every day.

"Steward Chen..."

An anxious call sounded beside him. Chen Erniu turned and saw that it was Chen Changhu, a villager who had come from Li Chuankou.

Li Chuankou was mostly made up of the Chen family. Chen Changhu was the eldest man of the clan and held considerable prestige in the countryside, so everyone had recommended him to lead the group.

"Will the Li Clan immortals truly accept the children of my Chen family?"

This old man, usually so composed and dignified, now gazed uneasily toward the village entrance and asked in a low voice.

"They said they need immortal affinity! They need that damn aperture thing! Any child from seven to thirteen—so long as one of your Chen family children has a spirit aperture, the Li Clan will take them all!"

Watching Chen Changhu nod again and again, Chen Erniu curled his lip. Yet inwardly, he was consumed with envy, bitterly hating that his two children were either too old and had missed their chance, or too young to come for testing yet.

"The immortal has arrived!"

Seeing Li Tongya appear at the village entrance, Chen Erniu hurried forward with a smile, thinking enviously, I wonder which child from these villages will obtain immortal affinity today.

Li Tongya lightly cupped his hands to Chen Erniu and smiled, then turned to Li Yesheng.

"Begin."

A wooden platform had long been erected beside the locust tree. Li Tongya sat upon it while those below began calling out names.

"Li Chuankou! Chen Lifu!"

A member of the Chen family led a trembling child forward. Li Tongya placed a hand on the child's shoulder and circulated his spiritual power through the child's body once. Then he waved his hand and said,

"Go down."

Hearing this, neither of them dared reply. They hurriedly descended, while a flicker of disappointment passed through Chen Changhu's eyes below.

"Next!"

Before long, everyone from Li Chuankou had gone down. Chen Changhu's expression was ugly as he looked at Chen Erniu with what seemed to be a pleading gaze.

Chen Erniu rolled his eyes and spread his hands, indicating that there was nothing he could do.

The weather in late autumn was cool. Even with so many people gathered beneath the tree at noon, it remained refreshing, yet the people from every village were sweating all over. Seeing that not a single person from Li Chuankou possessed immortal affinity, they secretly began beating drums in their hearts.

Li Tongya had long been mentally prepared for this scene. Those with spirit apertures were one in a thousand. If the children of these villages produced even one, they would have made back their investment; two would be a profit.

"Jingyang Village! Liu Rouxuan!"

As soon as the words fell, a girl who looked thirteen or fourteen stepped up. Her brows curved like crescents, her eyes were bright, and she bit her lip timidly.

Fourteen was already pressing against the upper age limit. Li Tongya shook his head helplessly and pretended not to notice, placing his left hand on the girl's shoulder as he circulated his spiritual power.

After it traveled once through the girl's meridians, Li Tongya gave a soft sound of surprise. Below, the Liu Shi clansmen from Jingyang Village could not help growing tense.

Within the girl's Qi Sea Acupoint, streams of qi flowed without cease, constantly pulsing around a transparent aperture, as though it were breathing on its own.

"Not bad."

Li Tongya opened his eyes, smiled at the girl, and said gently, "Stand behind me."

Liu Rouxuan stared blankly into Li Tongya's eyes, as though she had yet to recover from such immense good fortune. Only after several breaths did realization dawn on her, and she stepped behind Li Tongya with joy on her face.

The people of Jingyang Village below immediately erupted into an uproar, every face brimming with delight. Only because of Li Tongya did they refrain from cheering. Li Chuankou, meanwhile, was shrouded in lifeless gloom, while the remaining two villages grew even more uneasy.

Before long, Jingyang Village and Li Daokou had both finished testing. Sure enough, none of the rest possessed spirit apertures.

"Li Jing Village!"

Li Tongya's gaze swept low over the children below. Li Xuanxuan was naturally not among them. The child was only three years old, his body not even fully grown. At least until he was seven would they be able to tell whether he had a spirit aperture.

At last, it was the children of their own village. Li Yesheng raised an eyebrow and began calling names.

If Tongya Ge hadn't tested me long ago, I'd have wanted nothing more than to go up there and give it a try!

Li Yesheng called the names loudly as he thought bitterly to himself.

"Ye Qiuyang!"

Below, Ye Chengfu's entire body tensed. His legs went weak as his eyes fixed desperately upon the eight- or nine-year-old child on the platform. He kept consoling himself, My Ye family is still a sub-branch of the Li Clan, after all. There must be some immortal affinity in us...

Watching Li Tongya place his hand on Ye Qiuyang's shoulder, Ye Chengfu closed his eyes and simply dropped onto the sandy ground, listening blankly.