Er Ya, Heavenly Spirit Root

By afternoon, people began returning one after another.

"Come, come, have your Spiritual Roots tested."

Lu Xuanji called out to the villagers and set down a black stone at the village entrance. "Come, come, test your Spiritual Roots. As long as you have a Spiritual Root, your whole family will be exempt from grain taxes, and you'll receive a subsidy of ten shi of grain every year."

He kept calling out and hawking his offer, looking almost like he was running a pyramid scheme.

Some curious children stepped forward and touched the stone.

Lu Xuanji had the village chief maintain order and line everyone up for testing.

One child after another went up, but most of them had no Spiritual Roots.

"Can I do it too?"

Just then, an adult man spoke up.

Lu Xuanji looked at him, speechless. Uncle, you're already over thirty, and you still want to join the fun?

Still, he said, "You can."

The uncle stepped forward for the test, but the stone gave off no light.

"What a pity."

Lu Xuanji felt a slight pang of regret.

Several more uncles curiously touched it, but none of them made it light up.

Though it was within his expectations, he still felt faintly disappointed.

He began packing up the tea set, ready to leave.

"You little brat, I'll beat you to death!"

"Wuwuwu."

"Try running again!"

"Wuwuwu."

Just then, a thirteen-year-old girl came running past. Her clothes were ragged, and she fled in panic; behind her, a woman wielding a stick and chased after her as if she meant to kill her.

The woman quickly caught up and began striking the girl all over.

Bang! Bang!

The woman showed no mercy whatsoever.

The girl sobbed as she struggled where she stood, fear and terror filling her eyes, yet she refused to beg for mercy.

"Madam, be careful. You'll beat the child to death like this."

Lu Xuanji could not bear to watch any longer and spoke up.

"Who are you? Why are you meddling in other people's business..." The woman spoke fiercely, but when she saw Lu Xuanji dressed as an Immortal Master, her tone immediately softened. "Immortal Master, she is my family's child bride. This girl stole food. She has to be beaten."

"I didn't steal any food."

The girl said stubbornly.

Lu Xuanji was speechless.

In the mortal world, certain institutions of feudal society still remained.

Among mortals, women held very low status.

Many families drowned their baby girls because they could not afford to raise them.

Some families that could not afford daughters simply gave them away.

The girl would grow up in that household, then marry one of its boys when she came of age. This was called a child bride.

As for a mother-in-law beating her daughter-in-law, people considered that perfectly natural as well.

There was truly little he could interfere with in such matters.

"Girl, I see you haven't had your Spiritual Root tested. Come over and test it." Lu Xuanji said, "Any households with child brides or daughters, bring them out for testing too."

"What does a girl need testing for?"

"A girl wants to cultivate immortality?"

"A woman's virtue lies in having no talent."

"If men can't do it, how could women possibly manage?"

Some villagers muttered on and on, clearly dissatisfied with having the girls tested.

In large towns, many commoners had broad horizons and would send their daughters for testing. But in remote, backward villages, people were strongly resistant to testing girls.

Despite their resistance, some girls still came out for testing.

About fifteen girls came out and lined up for the test.

Lu Xuanji sat there absentmindedly, waiting to leave once it was over.

All of a sudden, the black stone lit up.

Lu Xuanji focused his gaze on it.

It was the very girl whose mother-in-law had beaten her with a stick. Her palm rested on the stone, and the black stone was shining.

"Not bad. You have a Spiritual Root. Stand to the side."

Lu Xuanji pointed casually, not particularly delighted.

She was probably another Five Spirit Root.

Then the other girls came forward for testing. None of the remaining fourteen had Spiritual Roots.

Not bad. At least it was not a total wipeout.

"Girl, come with me."

Lu Xuanji said lightly.

"No! She's my son's wife. She can't leave!" the mother-in-law cried.

"Haha."

Lu Xuanji laughed and handed her a certificate. "This is a certificate. With it, your family will be exempt from grain taxes. Not only that, you'll receive ten shi of grain every year. Tell me, would that grain be enough to find another wife for your son?"

"Yes!"

The mother-in-law happily accepted the certificate.

Turning around, Lu Xuanji asked, "Girl, what is your name?"

"Er Ya."

"That is your childhood name. What is your proper name?"

"I don't have a proper name."

"Forget it. I'll give you one." Lu Xuanji frowned, intending to name the girl, but no good name came to mind for the moment. What could he do? He was terrible at naming things.

"Sir, are you going to make me your wife?"

The little girl asked.

"Haha, if you want to be my wife, you need to have at least a Triple Spirit Root." Lu Xuanji declared domineeringly.

"Little girl, let's go."

As he spoke, he took a wooden horse from his storage pouch.

He channeled his true qi, and the wooden horse immediately grew larger.

The wooden horse stood about one and a half meters tall and two meters wide, looking imposing and extraordinary.

Lu Xuanji stepped forward, lifted the little girl onto it, held the child in his arms, and activated the wooden horse. It broke into a run at fifty meters per second, racing into the distance and leaving behind only the villagers' cries of astonishment.

"Ahhh!"

The little girl cried out, seeming somewhat frightened yet also delighted.

The wooden horse was a low-grade Artifact Talisman, costing only ten spirit stones.

About half an hour later, they arrived at Danyang County.

The wooden horse stopped and shrank back down. Lu Xuanji put it into his storage pouch.

"Do you like it?"

Lu Xuanji asked with a smile.

"I like it," the little girl said.

"Once you become an Immortal Master, you can buy a wooden horse too."

Lu Xuanji gave her a head pat and led the little girl into the county city.

Danyang County was guarded by a Qi Refining Layer 9 cultivator. Some other cultivators from the family held various official posts in the county city and maintained order within it.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the northern compound of the county city.

Four children already lived in the compound. Now there was one more.

Once the testing was finished, the children with Spiritual Roots would be taken to Ziyang Mountain.

"Er Ya, let's test your Spiritual Root attributes."

Inside a small black room, Lu Xuanji called her over for an attribute test. Eight glowing spheres sat on the table, representing Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Thunder, and Ice.

Er Ya was slightly nervous as she placed her palm on the Metal sphere.

But after Ten Breaths, the sphere did not light up.

Seeing that the sphere had not lit up, Er Ya thought her results were terrible. She grew so nervous that she was about to cry. "Am I very bad?"

"No, you're not bad. Continue."

Lu Xuanji smiled.

The golden sphere had not lit up, which proved that Er Ya was at least a Quadruple Spirit Root.

Er Ya placed her palm on the Wood sphere and held it there for Ten Breaths, but it still did not light up. Thinking she was terrible, she truly began to cry this time.

Drip!

Drip!

Lu Xuanji did not smile, but inwardly he was delighted.

This girl was at least a Triple Spirit Root.

Not bad, not bad. A Triple Spirit Root was qualified to become my wife.

Next, she pressed her hand onto the third sphere, which still did not light up.

Er Ya cried even harder.

Not bad. This was a Dual Spirit Root.

"Damn... a Dual Spirit Root."

Lu Xuanji's thoughts were in turmoil.

Over the Lu Clan's thousand-year history, only three Dual Spirit Roots had been born.

Dual Spirit Roots were also known as Purple Mansion seeds.

Among ten Dual Spirit Root cultivators, five would enter the Purple Mansion Realm.

Er Ya then pressed her hand onto the Fire attribute sphere, and it lit up brightly.

Seeing the glowing sphere, a faint smile appeared on her face.

"It seems you have Fire and Earth attributes. If Fire is primary and Earth is secondary, you are among the better Dual Spirit Roots; if Earth is primary and Fire as secondary, you are comparatively weaker among Dual Spirit Roots." Lu Xuanji assessed. But even the weakest Dual Spirit Root was still a Dual Spirit Root.

Er Ya placed her palm on the last sphere, but it did not light up.

Lu Xuanji was stunned.

A Heavenly Spirit Root.