Failed Enhancement? No, the Heavenly Spirit Root Descends!

Reinforcement Failed? No, a Heavenly Spiritual Root Descended! [Ding! Reinforcement begins...]

[Reinforcement failed!]

[Prompt: Consumed materials (metal spiritual root, wood spiritual root, water spiritual root, earth spiritual root) have been destroyed!]

The mechanical voice echoed in Zhao Hao's mind.

Every word was like a giant hammer, smashing his last shred of hope to pieces.

He had lost the gamble.

Not only had he failed to reinforce his fire spiritual root, now there was only one "frail beyond endurance" low-grade fire spiritual root left in his body.

His end would probably be even more miserable than being directly refined into a corpse. If he had known, he should have used that 20% chance to destroy one spiritual root first, preserved his little life, and entered the sect before anything else.

Zhao Hao's limbs went cold and stiff. He could no longer even smell the dense reek of blood around him.

"Next."

The deacon's utterly emotionless voice rang out.

It was like the final summons to death before the Hall of King Yama.

The last youth standing in front of Zhao Hao walked forward, and the spirit-testing stone lit up with three colors.

The deacon's expression eased slightly as he waved a hand. A disciple immediately stepped forward and led that three-spiritual-root youth, who could not hide his joy, off to the other side.

Now, on the path across the square leading to the spirit-testing stone, the person at the very front was Zhao Hao.

Every gaze focused on him.

The black-robed deacon's deathly gray eyes nailed themselves firmly to Zhao Hao.

He slightly raised his withered hand, black qi coiling around his palm, ready to take a life at any moment.

"What are you dawdling for! Get up there!"

The demonic sect disciple behind him shoved him hard.

Zhao Hao staggered, his body pitching forward, and his palm pressed instinctively onto the cold, rough spirit-testing stone.

As if accepting his fate, he closed his eyes.

So be it.

At least, compared with dying from overwork in a rental apartment, dying in a world of immortal cultivation could count as a novel experience.

One breath.

Two breaths.

The imagined agony of his soul being torn apart did not come.

The square was deathly silent, as if even the sinister wind had stopped.

Just as Zhao Hao thought he was already dead, that even his sense of pain had vanished, a dazzling red light abruptly erupted from the place where his palm touched the spirit-testing stone!

Bzz—!

That red was pure to the extreme, without the slightest hint of any other color.

The entire gloomy square was instantly shrouded in that domineering crimson.

A layer of blood-colored radiance was reflected on everyone's faces, and those black soul-summoning banners now looked, shockingly, like festive red cloth.

The black-robed deacon, who had been about to slam his palm down, had his entire arm freeze abruptly in midair.

In his sunken eye sockets, his two eyeballs bulged round, nearly popping out.

In the depths of his deathly gray pupils, flames of shock ignited.

How was this possible?!

He stared fixedly at the spirit-testing stone, waiting, waiting for a second and third color to appear after that red.

However, ten breaths passed.

Twenty breaths passed.

The crimson light on the spirit-testing stone remained steady, pure, and aloof.

Only... the brightness of this light seemed much dimmer than the "heavenly spiritual root" phenomenon recorded in the sect's ancient texts.

That thought merely flashed through the deacon's mind before it was drowned by towering wild joy.

So what if it was dim?

Perhaps it was because this brat's body was weak!

Maybe he would even develop a second time later.

This pure color was absolutely a fire-attribute heavenly spiritual root, one in ten thousand!

He had struck it rich!

This time, he had truly struck it rich!

Discovering a disciple with a heavenly spiritual root—the resources exchanged for that contribution would be enough for him to cultivate all the way from his current Foundation Establishment Early Stage to Foundation Establishment Late Stage!

One had to understand that disciples of Devil Dao Sects like them were already rats crossing the street in the outside world.

Even the clan forces within the territory governed by the Extreme Yin Sect were mostly unwilling to send their clan's children to the Extreme Yin Sect to cultivate demonic arts.

Therefore, lacking a good source of disciples, the Extreme Yin Sect's disciples generally did not possess high aptitude.

Even the sect master, the number one figure of the Extreme Yin Sect—Old Ancestor Extreme Yin, who had already reached Golden Core perfection at this moment—possessed only dual-spirit-root aptitude.

The muscles on the steward's face twitched violently.

That face, as cold and stiff as a corpse's, twisted from the extreme change in expression, and he actually forced out a smile by sheer force. The angle at which the corners of his mouth split open was more chilling than crying.

His hand, frozen in midair, suddenly withdrew. Then, in a voice so sharp it seemed to tear, he cut through the silence of the square:

"Fire! It's fire!!"

"An utterly pure fire-attribute heavenly spirit root... without the slightest trace of impurity!"

It was as if he feared others would not believe it, and as if he were trying to convince himself.

His voice trembled even harder as he roared, "My, Jia Ren's, fortune has come!!"

The piercing roar echoed above the square.

Everyone was stunned by this heaven-shaking reversal.

The youths who had just been tested as having four spirit roots had eyes full of envy.

Those with three spirit roots, who had still felt a bit pleased with themselves just now, were even filled with jealousy.

As for those few Devil Dao Sect disciples who had previously taken pleasure in his misfortune, the way they looked at Zhao Hao now already carried a trace of awe.

"You... what is your name?"

The steward forcibly calmed his emotions and moved a little closer to Zhao Hao. His voice was dry, yet carried deliberate gentleness.

Zhao Hao was still standing there in a daze.

Enhancement failed... heavenly spirit root?

This system could even be played like this?

He answered blankly, "Zhao... Zhao Hao."

"Good! A good name!"

The steward nodded heavily. That hand that had just wanted to smash his skull to pieces now actually patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Zhao Hao, from this day onward, you are an inner disciple of my Extreme Yin Sect!"

As he spoke, his eyes shifted slightly, and a trace of meaning worth pondering appeared on his face.

"A disciple with heavenly spirit roots is a matter of great importance. We must create the highest-grade soul lamp and identity jade tablet for you."

"Relax for now. I need to take a wisp of your vital essence blood to seal and record it."

Without waiting for Zhao Hao to respond, the steward brought two fingers together like a sword. A black gleam flashed at his fingertips, too fast for its path to be seen, and lightly sliced Zhao Hao's fingertip.

Pain pricked his fingertip.

A drop of crimson blood flew uncontrollably from the wound and was caught steadily by the steward in an exquisite dark-green jade bottle.

The instant the stopper was put on, Zhao Hao's heart sank hard.

The feeling that something important was being clenched in someone else's hand made his whole body uncomfortable.

Vital essence blood?

To record identity, why would there be any need to treat me so differently from others?

This old thing probably has other designs, doesn't he?

An extremely high vigilance instantly rose in Zhao Hao's heart, but he did not dare let the slightest bit show on his face.

He merely put on an expression as if he had just recovered from his fright, with a bit of confusion and obedience, lowering his head without saying a word.

Before he had the strength to resist, even the slightest abnormal movement could invite a fatal disaster.

"Very good." The steward tucked the jade bottle into his robes in satisfaction, the smile on his face growing even more frightening.

"Come. This is not a place where you should stay. I will personally bring you to the inner sect to report."

"You few, continue testing the remaining people."

Jia Ren instructed the Devil Dao Sect disciples beside him.

After saying that, he turned and led the way for Zhao Hao, his attitude quite decent.

Zhao Hao lowered his head and silently followed behind.

Just as the two were about to leave the square and turn onto a quiet path leading deeper inside, Zhao Hao used the corner of his eye to glance at a piece of black rock nearby, polished as smooth as a mirror.

In the rock's reflection, the steward was lowering his head and looking at the dark-green jade bottle in his robes.

The corners of his mouth had split into an incomparably greedy arc.

That was not the joy of discovering a genius, nor the excitement of the sect's great rise.

That was the kind of... desire that seeped into the marrow when a jackal saw the plumpest prey.