Heavenly Spirit Root!

Li Qingshan looked at the spirit-testing stone Ye Lingshuang handed over; the warm, smooth touch of the jade was both strange and familiar.

A century's worth of memories regarding spirit root testing surged into his mind.

A flash of complexity crossed his cloudy eyes—a mix of nostalgia for the past and a weary sigh for his own fate.

He was a hundred years old; to test again was merely to invite unnecessary sorrow.

He intended to politely decline, but seeing the expectation and pleading in Er Ya's large, sparkling eyes, the refusal stuck in his throat.

Fine, let us satisfy the child's wish.

His aged, withered hand, covered in wrinkles and liver spots, gripped the spirit-testing stone with a tremor that was difficult to detect.

At first, there was no reaction.

The spirit-testing stone remained as silent as a dead object, just as it had a century ago.

A sneer curled the corner of Zhang Ming's mouth, confirming his expectations, and Ye Lingshuang shook her head slightly, preparing to take the stone back.

However, just as Ye Lingshuang's fingertips were about to touch the stone and Li Qingshan was preparing to let go, it happened.

Hum!

A hum, far grander and clearer than the one produced during Er Ya's test, suddenly erupted!

The spirit-testing stone vibrated violently in Li Qingshan's hand, as if it were a star being awakened!

Immediately following, a beam of indescribable, pure cyan light shot straight into the sky!

The beam was not a single color; it contained a Dao aura that encompassed all things and evolved life, as if it were that primordial breath of clarity from when the world first opened!

It lacked the sharpness and agility of gold or blue, but possessed a vast, majestic, and ceaseless power!

The light pillar soared into the clouds, instantly reaching the astonishing height of nine feet and nine inches!

The entire Peach Blossom Village was shrouded in this pure and powerful cyan light; the falling peach blossoms seemed to stop in mid-air, stained with a layer of sacred radiance.

The villagers were stunned by this sudden miracle, kneeling to the ground one after another, muttering in awe.

"This... this..."

The sneer on Zhang Ming's face froze instantly; his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg. "Nine feet nine inches? Pure cyan Dao aura? This... this is the legendary Heaven-Grade Spirit Root?! And... it's a wood-attribute Heaven-Grade Spirit Root?"

For the first time, a violent fluctuation appeared on Ye Lingshuang's cold, elegant face, her beautiful eyes filled with unbelievable shock!

Her voice was suppressed, trembling slightly: "It really is a Heaven-Grade Spirit Root! The resonance... the resonance is at least eighty? How is this possible?! In a hundred-year-old mortal?"

The village entrance fell into a deathly silence, leaving only the lingering hum of the spirit-testing stone and the heaven-piercing, pure cyan light to silently proclaim a maddening truth.

This decrepit, hundred-year-old man possessed a top-tier talent that was one in a million in the cultivation world, a talent that would drive any sect to madness: a Heaven-Grade Spirit Root!

Li Qingshan himself was stunned.

He felt the warm, surging power coming from the spirit-testing stone in his hand; a sense of indescribable vitality seemed to be flowing along his arm, attempting to pour into his long-withered and decaying body.

However, this vitality hit his body like a thick, cracked, rotten wall; it could not penetrate deep inside and could only linger and dissipate on the very surface of his skin.

His heart was a mix of five flavors—shock, ecstasy, but above all, a sense of absurd bitterness.

"Heaven... Heaven-Grade Spirit Root?"

Li Qingshan muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and dry, as if he were chewing on a word that did not belong to him.

"Yes! A Heaven-Grade Spirit Root! Old man, you possess a once-in-ten-thousand-years Heaven-Grade Spirit Root!"

Zhang Ming was so excited he was incoherent; the way he looked at Li Qingshan had completely changed, filled with heat and agitation, as if he were looking at a rare, priceless treasure.

"You... you..."

Ye Lingshuang also recovered from her shock. Looking at Li Qingshan's aged, decaying face and sensing the nearly exhausted vitality within him, the surprise in her eyes was quickly replaced by a deep sense of pity.

That light was like an epiphyllum blooming—brilliant, but destined to be short-lived.

"It's a pity... it's too late..."

Ye Lingshuang's voice carried deep regret, like ice water dousing Zhang Ming's excitement. "At a hundred years old, your blood and qi are withered, your meridians are atrophied, and your sea of consciousness is murky... Even with a Heaven-Grade Spirit Root, what can you do? The process of drawing qi into the body alone would likely exhaust your remaining life force, let alone building a foundation or forming a core... How unfair is the Heavenly Dao, to reveal this heaven-defying talent only when you are at the end of your rope!"

Her words were like a dull knife, cutting open the cruel reality beneath that brilliant curtain of light.

Zhang Ming also calmed down instantly; the fanaticism on his face faded, leaving only deep regret and a sense of powerlessness.

Indeed, he was a hundred years old, his lifespan was nearly gone; even with a Heaven-Grade Spirit Root, it was difficult to go far on the path of cultivation.

"No! That's not true!"

Er Ya ignored all of this. She grabbed Ye Lingshuang's sleeve tightly, her small face covered in tears, her voice choked with sobs: "Fairy sister, I beg you! Grandpa Qingshan has a spirit root now, the best Heaven-Grade Spirit Root! Take him with you! Please!

He can definitely cultivate! He tells such good stories, he understands so many truths, he can definitely do it! Please! Take him with you, or I won't go either!"

Er Ya's tearful plea was filled with childish stubbornness, yet it was brimming with sincere emotion.

Looking at Er Ya's red, teary eyes, and then at Li Qingshan's expression—which was calm and carried a hint of acceptance toward his fate—Ye Lingshuang struggled internally.

If she brought back a hundred-year-old with a Heaven-Grade Spirit Root, what would the sect think?

This was almost certainly a futile investment.

However, Er Ya possessed a superior spiritual root and was the future hope of the sect; her attitude had to be taken into account.

Moreover, letting a Heaven-grade spiritual root drift away in the mortal world, even if he were destined to never achieve great things, seemed like a form of blasphemy against the Heavenly Dao.

In the end, Ye Lingshuang let out a soft sigh: "Very well. Li Qingshan, in consideration of Er Ya's sincere heart, and also for the sake of your... Heaven-grade spiritual root, I can take you back to the Spring Autumn Sect."

"Really?"

Er Ya looked up, pleasantly surprised.

"But, you must understand."

Ye Lingshuang looked at Li Qingshan with a stern gaze, "Sect resources are limited; it is impossible to invest too much in a... person in the twilight of his years. You can only enter as an outer sect disciple."

"Furthermore, the sect rules are strict, and outer sect disciples must perform menial labor. If your lifespan runs out while in the sect, do not harbor any resentment. Are you willing?"

Li Qingshan looked at the ethereal cultivator before him, looked at Er Ya who was crying like a tear-stained doll, and then looked at the awe-filled and complex gazes of the surrounding villagers.

A hundred years of wasted time, achieving nothing, he had thought he was already half-buried in the earth, yet at the very end of his life, he saw the immortal gate he had once dreamed of crack open just a sliver, even if that gap was narrow and filled with thorns.

A glimmer of light flashed through his cloudy eyes, only to return to calmness once more.

He smiled slightly, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out like dried orange peel, carrying an openness born from having weathered the vicissitudes of life: "This old man... is willing. Many thanks to the Immortal Fairy for granting this."

"Er Ya, thank you as well!"

Li Qingshan smiled and patted Er Ya's little head.

"That's wonderful! Grandpa Qingshan, we can go cultivate immortality together!"

Er Ya cheered and jumped, excitedly throwing herself into Li Qingshan's arms.

"Go say goodbye to your mother!"

Li Qingshan sighed softly.

Er Ya nodded obediently and ran into her mother's arms, both of them weeping bitterly.

The surrounding villagers were all filled with emotion.

Although Er Ya was able to cultivate immortality, they vaguely understood that the divide between immortals and mortals was vast; once she left, it would be difficult to meet again.

Just like that, amidst the complex and awe-filled gazes of the Peach Blossom Village villagers, Ye Lingshuang summoned a small spirit boat, carried Zhang Ming, Er Ya, and Li Qingshan, and transformed into a streak of light that soared into the sky, leaving the peaceful little mountain village behind.