Spirit Roots
"As everyone knows, spiritual roots are the first and most important hurdle on the path to immortality. Without spiritual roots, one can never embark on the path to immortality."
Senior Brother Chang briefly explained the situation.
The Qingwang Sect only holds an entrance examination once every ten years. Children within hundreds of miles of the mountain gate who intend to cultivate immortality have naturally had their aptitude roughly tested long ago. Those without spiritual roots obviously cannot expect to pass the test by deception.
Considering that the assessment is conducted only once every ten years, the age requirement is not very strict; anyone under the age of twenty can participate.
Of course, it wouldn't be accurate to say that those who participated in the entrance exam had extraordinary qualifications.
After all, true geniuses are born with extraordinary signs and are snapped up by the major immortal sects early on, so they don't need to participate in the entrance examination.
Soon, a disciple who had finished organizing the list followed behind Senior Brother Chang, looking at the list and calling out, "Ye Bufan, please step forward."
The first person called was a boy of about ten years old.
Lu Bai remembered that the boy was accompanied by an elder.
The boy named Ye Bufan was not intimidated at all and strode forward.
A murmur arose from below, and all eyes were focused on Ye Bufan.
Among the people present, many had clearly heard of the Ye Family; at least in the area surrounding Qingwang Sect, the Ye Family was quite famous.
Even the Qingwang Sect disciple in charge of calling out the names gave him a slight smile.
Ye Bufan was familiar with the entire testing process and proactively reached out to place his hand on the boulder.
Suddenly, a beam of red light shot out from the boulder, rising more than a meter high before stopping.
Seeing this, Senior Brother Chang's expression remained unchanged; he simply nodded and said slowly, "Fire Spiritual Root, above-the-top Profound Grade aptitude, not bad. Ye Bufan, is he? As expected of a member of the Ye Family."
No matter how composed he was, he was still a young man, and upon hearing Senior Brother Chang's words, Ye Bufan couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Fortunately, perhaps because of a reminder from his elders, he didn't do anything arrogant and instead bowed respectfully, saying, "I will need to listen to Senior Brother Chang's teachings in the future."
Senior Brother Chang hummed in agreement, then gently told him to step back.
Seeing this scene, the teenagers in the audience were all moved, and many of them even showed envy.
There's nothing we can do; aptitude is something that's determined at birth, and there's no way to force it.
The Qingwang Sect disciples beside the boulder did not pause and called out the next person's name.
"Ren Hongbo, please move forward."
"Fu Jinshu ..."
"Wei Peiling ..."
The testing was conducted quickly, with one group of teenagers stepping forward and then stepping back.
Compared to Ye Bufan at the beginning, the people who were tested later were all of average quality. The light rising from the boulders was mostly around half a meter, and some were so short that they could not be seen at all unless you looked closely.
Senior Brother Chang had anticipated this, and he appeared neither happy nor sad.
During this period, Lu Bai had been observing and listening to the discussions among the young people around him, and had gained a preliminary understanding of the qualifications involved.
Simply put, the attribute of a spiritual root is not very important; the attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, and even some mutated attributes are all irrelevant.
What truly matters is aptitude, or what could be described as the purity of one's spiritual roots.
The better one's aptitude, the smoother one's path to immortality will be.
To make it easier to distinguish, the immortal sects divide the aptitude of mortals into four categories Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, and Yellow.
Taking the Heaven Grade Qualities as an example, with this level of talent, one can easily sense spiritual energy by simply practicing a cultivation technique, and learning to breathe in and exhale spiritual energy is considered the beginning of Qi Refining.
However, for those with below-average aptitude like Yellow Grade, even with instruction, it would take years to sense spiritual energy.
The difference in aptitude between people is so exaggerated, even greater than the difference between a person and a dog.
Only a few hundred prospective disciples passed the first round of assessments, and soon more than half of them had been tested.
The remaining boys and girls grew increasingly nervous. In this atmosphere, to avoid feeling out of place, Lu Bai also slightly controlled his expression and managed not to unconsciously laugh.
"This... esteemed brother, my name is Shi Yu. May I ask your name?"
A slightly hoarse voice, clearly speaking in a strained tone, rang out beside Lu Bai.
Lu Bai casually turned to the side, immediately recognizing her as a woman disguised as a man. Too lazy to expose her, he politely replied, "My name is Lu Bai."
For some reason, Shi Yu seemed quite interested in Lu Bai and took the initiative to start a conversation. "Brother Lü, you seem very confident."
"I just didn't have high hopes; I was just trying my luck."
"Brother Lü, your words are far too hypocritical. Everyone here knows their own limitations. This second round of assessment is nothing more than a formality."
"I haven't had it tested, I'm not even sure if I have spiritual roots."
"Who doesn't know that if the test shows no spiritual root, one belongs to a lowly immortal sect?" Shi Yu was furious. What kind of talk is this, saying they haven't been tested? Who are they trying to fool?
Lu Bai spread his hands. "Then test me?"
At that moment, the Qingwang Sect disciple called out again, "Shi Qingyu, please step forward."
The next second, the girl who called herself Shi Yu's anger subsided, and she awkwardly ran to the boulder and reached out to touch it.
A deep blue light rose more than ten feet from the boulder, the most exaggerated display to date.
"Ice Spiritual Root with Earth-grade aptitude."
Senior Brother Chang's expression, which had remained expressionless, changed. He said in surprise, "Junior Sister Shi Qingyu, is that you? May I ask where you live? Please stay here with me for a moment, and I'll take you directly to see my master..."
After patiently waiting for Senior Brother Chang to finish exchanging pleasantries with the young girl, the Qingwang Sect disciple who was announcing names finally called out with great tact.
"Next, Lu Bai, please come forward."
Upon hearing his name, Lu Bai glanced around to make sure no one else shared the same name, then confidently walked towards the boulder.
He was also quite curious about what his qualifications were.
If this aspect depends on talent...
Lu Bai extended his right hand and placed his palm on the boulder.
The next second.
Buzz~~
The boulder, which was twice the height of a person, began to tremble slightly.
The entire boulder was gradually covered by the seeping white light. When it accumulated to a certain extent, the extremely dense white light burst forth as if it had exploded.
The light pierced through the clouds and shot straight into the sky, as if a white pillar had been erected between heaven and earth.
Within the white light, faint, intricate, and mysterious Dao Patterns shimmered.
In an instant, the celestial phenomena changed dramatically, as if all the clouds bowed their heads.
Centered on this dazzling white light, the surrounding clouds churned and gradually formed a massive vortex that stretched as far as the eye could see.
The Qingwang Sect disciples, standing in mid-air, were all speechless, their mouths agape. They were all in a daze, their minds blank, when the Dao Charm flowing in the darkness pressed them back to the ground.
Senior Brother Chang's eyes widened in shock, his face contorted with rage. "I'll test the fuck!"