A Spirit Boat roared through the clouds.
Two extraordinary-looking young disciples of the Lingxiao Sect stood at the bow, while seven or eight youths stood behind them.
Most of the youths were pale and afraid to look down.
Chen Changming was among them.
After he demonstrated the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade, the Lingxiao Sect disciples' suspicions were dispelled, and they brought him aboard the Spirit Boat.
Over the next few days, the Spirit Boat landed at more than a dozen villages, gathering six or seven youths with spirit roots.
The spirit roots of these youths were generally poor. The most outstanding among them was a youth with a mid-grade yellow-tier water spirit root.
During these days spent alongside the two Lingxiao Sect disciples, Chen Changming had gained a better understanding of spirit roots.
Spirit roots were divided into four tiers: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.
Heaven-tier was the best, and Yellow-tier the worst. Each tier was further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.
Spirit roots came in many attributes, such as metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, rain, lightning, and thunder. The fewer spirit roots one had, the better one's aptitude for cultivation; the more one had, the worse it was.
Fewer spirit roots meant less interference, faster cultivation, and more powerful spells. Thus, a single spirit root was the ideal spirit root coveted by countless cultivators.
But this was not an absolute rule.
Throughout the long history of cultivation, there had been people with three or four high-tier spirit roots. But the odds of this were terrifyingly low—even lower than the odds of a Heavenly Spirit Root appearing—so later generations simply disregarded this possibility.
Mixed spirit roots fell below Yellow-tier. Like discarded scraps, they were not even ranked.
In the eyes of cultivators, those with multiple mixed spirit roots were the trash among trash, not worth mentioning at all.
Unfortunately, Chen Changming had precisely this kind of trash spirit root.
"Hahaha..." A hearty laugh rang out, followed by a Spirit Boat packed with people speeding toward them.
"Junior Brother Zhao, Junior Brother Yu, how was your harvest this trip?"
As the boat drew near, a burly young man at its bow clasped his hands and asked with a grin.
The Zhao disciple on Chen Changming's Spirit Boat shook his head with a bitter smile. "The best was only a mid-grade Yellow-tier..."
"And the worst?"
The burly young man asked again.
"The worst had a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root!" the Zhao disciple said emphatically, then shot Chen Changming a glare.
The burly young man glanced at Chen Changming and couldn't help laughing. "Then you really had rotten luck, Junior Brother."
The Zhao disciple shrugged, his expression helpless.
There was nothing he could do about it. It all came down to luck. Who could blame them when the regions they were responsible for had let them down?
"Oh? So that's the trash with a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root? Come out and take a few steps, so your young master can have a look!"
A youth in brocade robes darted out from behind the burly young man. He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes with a grin. "This is a rare sight. They say it's even rarer than a Heavenly Spirit Root! Heh..."
Everyone burst into laughter.
All the youths on that Spirit Boat eagerly looked toward the boat opposite them, as if they were determined to drag that trash out into the open!
The Zhao disciple's expression changed.
Seeing the situation getting out of hand, the burly young man quickly lowered his voice. "Junior Brother Zhao, Shi Kelang has an upper-grade Earth-tier fire spirit root..."
The Zhao and Yu disciples changed expressions at the same time.
An Earth-tier single spirit root was unquestionably a mark of genius in the Lingxiao Sect.
Though everyone knew that a Heavenly Spirit Root was the best in the world, there wasn't even a single person with one among all the major sects of the entire Yue Kingdom!
In the cultivation world of the Yue Kingdom, an Earth-tier single spirit root was already an unparalleled talent!
Zhao and Yu fell silent. They deliberately pretended not to hear Shi Kelang's taunts. Fortunately, the burly young man reacted quickly and piloted the Spirit Boat away, defusing the awkward situation.
A cold glint flashed in Chen Changming's eyes.
He had memorized Shi Kelang's face. If he ever got the chance, he would repay today's humiliation tenfold.
"Chen Changming, you know how to keep the bigger picture in mind..." The Zhao disciple couldn't help praising the calm-looking youth.
After spending these past few days together, he had come to like this honest, steady, and down-to-earth youth.
Chen Changming smiled faintly.
In truth, he had long prepared himself for every possible scenario. After all, he had the most worthless spirit root in the world. If he joined a major sect like the Lingxiao Sect, he would inevitably be looked down on, mocked, neglected, cursed, suppressed... or even secretly harmed.
So he had prepared to scrape by in the Lingxiao Sect.
Before he had absolute strength, he wouldn't strike back against those who bullied him. But if he did strike, he would crush his enemies with the force of thunder, leaving no trace behind.
An hour later.
The Spirit Boat flew into the Lingxiao Sect and landed in a plaza atop a mountain.
As soon as Chen Changming got off, he heard the Zhao disciple instruct them, "Go wait on the eastern side. Chen Changming, you go to the west!"
"Immortal Master, why is he being treated differently?"
A youth asked curiously.
The Zhao disciple shrugged and watched Chen Changming walk away. With a helpless expression, he said, "Because the worst aptitudes are all over there..."
The youth immediately fell silent, his eyes turning sympathetic.
When Chen Changming joined the crowd on the western side, a fat youth came over with a grin. "Haha, another one's here. Brother, what kind of spirit root do you have?"
"What about you?"
Chen Changming smiled calmly.
The mountain-top plaza was enormous. There were hundreds of people on the eastern side, while the western side had only eighty or ninety.
Perhaps they already knew what their futures held. The people on the eastern side generally looked imposing and spirited, while those on the western side were far less lively.
"I have a water-and-fire mixed spirit root."
The fat youth scratched his head and smiled.
Chen Changming nodded and said slowly, "I have a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root."
At those words, everyone stared in shock.
"I never thought the legendary Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root really existed..."
The fat youth took two steps back, his face full of astonishment.
Ignoring everyone's reactions, Chen Changming chuckled. "Why wouldn't it? I've even seen one before."
"Haha, trash really does stick with trash!"
A wanton laugh of mockery rang out from the crowd on the eastern side, not far away.
Chen Changming closed his eyes and fell silent.
It was that Shi Kelang again. That guy relied on his talent to flout the rules. One day, he would repay him in kind, tenfold.
Seeing Chen Changming stand motionless like a block of wood, the people around him lost interest in mocking him and started chatting among themselves. The whole plaza was lively.
After they had waited for several hours, no more Immortal Boats descended.
By then, the plaza was already packed. Even the western side had gathered nearly two hundred people.
Next, the Lingxiao Sect's senior leaders all appeared, including the sect master, the peak masters, the elders, and other important figures. After a fierce scramble, they took away all the young talents from the eastern side.
As for Shi Kelang, the prodigy, he naturally became an inner disciple of Skyfire Peak.
"The road to immortality is long. Have you all come here to seek the Dao?"
An ethereal voice rang out. An old man in white floated in the air, gazing down at the youths remaining in the plaza.
He was an elder in charge of affairs.
After the Lingxiao Sect's senior leaders had finished selecting disciples, they all left. The fate of the youths with the poorest aptitudes was left to this elder.
"Immortal Master, we have indeed come to seek the Dao!"
A youth called out loudly.
"Good!"
The elder smiled faintly and waved his hand. A beam of light fell and transformed into an ancient tower of black and yellow.
"Your aptitudes are poor, but if your resolve is firm, you can still go farther along the road to immortality... This is the Heart Demon Tower, a place where you will be tested. If you can last an incense stick's worth of time inside, you may become an outer disciple of the Lingxiao Sect."
The elder pointed a finger.
The Heart Demon Tower trembled slightly, and all four of its gates opened at once.
Outer disciples?
So with the aptitude of a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, he could only scrape by as an outer disciple!
Chen Changming touched the token at his chest, sighed to himself, and was the first to step into the Heart Demon Tower.