Ten days passed by in a flash.
In the past ten days, the number of people on Immortal-Welcoming Flat has increased by several percent. At a glance, there are probably three to four thousand people. Qin Tiexin works as usual every day, moving goods, setting up stages, and organizing the venue. Steward Hu becomes more and more satisfied with him, and occasionally gives him an extra half bowl of meat or a piece of sugar cake.
Lu Ming also helped with the work, but mostly doing odd jobs. The young man was diligent with his hands and feet and had a sweet mouth. He quickly became familiar with several outer disciples and was able to get a lot of information.
"Big Brother Qin, I heard that Spirit Root is divided into ten percent in total." Lu Ming said while wiping the table, "If the single attribute reaches ten, it is the best 'Earth Spirit Root'. If it exceeds ten... then it is the rare 'Heaven Spirit Root'!"
Qin Tiexin was fixing the railings of the last wooden platform when he heard the words.
"I also heard that last year, there was a person with 80% single attribute who was directly accepted as a direct disciple by the elders of the inner sect!" Lu Ming's eyes lit up, "If only I had 80% or 90% success..."
"Yes." Qin Tiexin said.
Lu Ming scratched his head and smiled, "Borrowing Big Brother Qin's lucky words."
***
In the early morning of the tenth day, before dawn, Immortal-Welcoming Flat was already packed with people.
Qin Tiexin was assigned to maintain order in the team - Steward Hu said he was tall and strong, and he could calm down the situation just by standing there. In fact, the job was not tiring, just standing next to the team to prevent anyone from cutting in or arguing.
At exactly 1 o'clock in the morning, a bell rang from the direction of the mountain gate.
"Dang--Dang--Dang--"
The bell rang nine times, each sound long and deep, echoing in the mountains. The originally noisy ground gradually became quiet, and everyone looked up to the mountain gate.
I saw the clouds and mist shrouding the mountain gate slowly dissipating, revealing a colorful long bridge, extending from the mountain gate to the center of Immortal-Welcoming Flat. The bridge body seemed virtual and real, and was full of colors.
Seven people walked off the bridge.
The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a dark blue robe, with the Flowing Cloud pattern embroidered with gold thread on the cuffs. He had a majestic face, and when his eyes swept over the people on the ground, everyone felt their hearts tightening, as if they were pressed by something.
The six people behind are all young people in their twenties, wearing light blue clothes, with long swords on their waists, and their auras are calm.
The middle-aged man in blue robes walked to the central high platform and said, "I am Flowing Cloud Sect, the deacon of the outer sect, Zhao Heng. Today I am opening the mountain sect to accept disciples. There are three rules: 1. No noise and fighting are strictly prohibited; 2. Tests are conducted in order and no unauthorized actions are allowed; 3. Once the results are out, no entanglement is allowed."
The sound is not loud, but it reaches everyone's ears clearly.
"Now, for the first level, test Spirit Root."
He waved his hand, and six disciples in blue carried a huge jade onto the high platform. The jade was milky white, about five feet high, three feet wide, and its surface was as smooth as a mirror.
"This is Spirit-Appraising Stone." Deacon Zhao continued, "Everyone lined up and pressed their right hands on the stone surface. Spirit Root attributes need to exceed 10% to appear.
More than 80% of single attributes are qualified for Single Spirit Root.
If the sum of the two attributes is greater than eight, Dual Spirit Root is qualified.
If the sum of the three attributes is greater than eight, Triple Spirit Root is qualified.
Four Spirit Root, Five Spirit Roots--The road to Qi training is blocked, those who are willing to stay, the talent of Body Refining is to be tested.
Those whose total value of Spirit Root is less than 50% are the same as those who have no Spirit Root. They can go home on their own and don't miss the time."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a commotion in the crowd.
"If you don't achieve 50%, you have to go home directly?"
"Then if I've been gone for three months, wouldn't it be in vain..."
"It should have been like this a long time ago. I don't have the talent to join in the fun."
The team began to move slowly, and everyone's face became a little more nervous.
The first one to go up was a boy of twelve or thirteen years old. His hands were shaking with nervousness. He pressed his hand on the jade stone. After a while, the jade stone showed no reaction.
The disciple who recorded it waited for five breaths and said loudly, "No Spirit Root response, next one."
The young man froze on the spot until he was asked to step down by his disciples, and then he walked to the left in a daze, his face ashen as death.
The second one was a dark-skinned young man. When he put his hand on it, the jade stone lit up with a very faint three-color light.
"Liu Ergou, fifteen years old, gold, two wood, one water, one, total value four, unqualified. Return home."
The young man opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but finally lowered his head and went down.
The test continued, and the cruel screening began. Out of every ten people, at least six or seven either had no Spirit Root, or the total value was less than 50%, and left the field sadly. Occasionally, if someone qualified, a burst of cheers would erupt on the right side, in stark contrast to the dead silence on the left.
"Wang Lin, thirteen years old, fire six and earth three, total value nine, Dual Spirit Root qualified!"
The young man named Wang Lin almost jumped up and staggered to the right. He was immediately surrounded by several people who had passed the exam first, and his face was filled with the ecstasy of surviving the disaster.
Then there was a girl. As soon as she put her hand on it, the jade stone lit up bright blue.
"Li Yun, fourteen years old, water attribute Single Spirit Root, purity eight, qualified!"
"80%! Single Spirit Root!"
"This girl has great fortune..."
The girl covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face, and her legs felt weak as she walked to the right.
Qin Tiexin stood by the team and watched, silently calculating in his mind. Nearly three hundred people were tested, and less than ten passed the test. The right side was sparse, and the left side had already left more than a hundred people - they were all eliminated directly and went home, and there were many who stayed to watch the fun.
It's Lu Ming's turn.
The young man took a deep breath and walked up to the high platform. He looked back at Qin Tiexin, who nodded towards him.
Lu Ming presses his hand on Spirit-Appraising Stone.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths--
The jade suddenly burst into dazzling blue light!
The light was pure, bright, almost dazzling, and reflected the entire high platform in cyan. The light continued to shine, but became more and more intense, and the cyan inside the jade was so rich that it seemed to drip out.
"This, this is..." the recording disciple's voice trembled.
Deacon Zhao stepped in front of the jade and looked carefully. A line of light words appeared on the surface of the jade: "Wood - Eleven".
"Ten... eleven percent?!" Deacon Zhao's voice changed, "The wood attribute is eleven percent...Heaven Spirit Root!"
The whole place was silent for a moment, and then exploded.
"Eleven? More than ten?!"
"Heaven Spirit Root! It's really Heaven Spirit Root!"
"I can actually see Heaven Spirit Root in my life..."
Deacon Zhao looked at Lu Ming, his eyes became extremely gentle, even with a hint of awe. "Child, what is your name? How old are you?"
"Lu, Lu Ming, fourteen years old." Lu Ming was a little at a loss.
"Okay, okay!" Deacon Zhao said two good words in a row, then turned to a disciple and said, "Submit the inner sect immediately, no... send the sect leader!"
The disciple responded, took out a talisman and shook it, and the talisman turned into a stream of light and flew towards the mountain gate.
Deacon Zhao looked at Lu Ming again, his tone as gentle as coaxing a child. "Lu Ming, Flowing Cloud Sect cannot keep your qualifications. I will personally send you to the superior sect, where you should go."
After saying that, he took out a palm-sized flying boat Law Artifact and threw it into the air. The flying boat grew in the wind and became three feet in size.
"Come up."
Lu Ming stepped onto the flying boat in a daze. Suddenly he remembered something, looked back at Qin Tiexin, and waved vigorously.
Qin Tiexin also waved to him.
The flying boat turned into a stream of light and disappeared deep into the mountain gate.
The platform was quiet for a while, and then the discussion started again, even more lively than before.
"Heaven Spirit Root... Sent directly to the superior sect..."
"People are so irritating that I can't even pass Triple Spirit Root..."
"Don't think about it, that kind of qualification comes only once in a thousand years."
The test continued, but everyone's minds were obviously still on the scene just now. Then another Single Spirit Root appeared, with purity eight, and its light was relatively bright, but compared with Lu Ming and Heaven Spirit Root, it looked bleak.
The team advanced slowly.
Qin Tiexin watched as the number of people in front of him became less and less. There were about twenty people standing on the right side of the high platform, all with happy faces; and more people gathered in the open space in front of the stage - these were Four Spirit Root, Five Spirit Roots, the total value of Spirit Root exceeds 50%, but Qi Refining is not qualified enough, and is waiting to decide whether to participate in the Body Refining test.
It was finally his turn.
Qin Tiexin stepped onto the high platform and pressed his right hand on Spirit-Appraising Stone.
Jade is slightly cool and smooth to the touch.
After a while, the jade glowed—but very faintly. Five colors were mixed together: light gold, light green, gray blue, dark red, and earthy brown. They intertwined with each other and interfered with each other, making the light even dimmer.
Light characters appear on the surface of the jade. "Gold 2, Wood 2, Water 2, Fire 2, Earth 2".
The disciple who recorded it took a look and said loudly, "Qin Tiexin, nineteen years old, Five Spirit Roots, total value ten, each attribute is two. If you fail to practice Qi, you can leave it for testing Body Refining."
The sound came through clearly.
There were all kinds of looks from around, and most of them were numb - they had seen the shock of Heaven Spirit Root, and this kind of Five Spirit Roots really couldn't cause any trouble.
"Five Spirit Roots... still two."
"The total value is enough, but it's a pity that it's too spread out."
"It's useless, even Body Refining with this kind of qualification may not be able to get started."
Qin Tiexin took back his hand, with no expression on his face.
He had already expected this result.
He walked off the high platform and followed the instructions to the open space in front of the stage. About three hundred people had gathered there, all of them Four Spirit Root and Five Spirit Roots. The atmosphere was depressing. Some people were squatting on the ground in a daze, some were sobbing softly, and more people were confused - should they stay and try Body Refining, or should they just go home?
A disciple who looked like a steward walked to the open space and said loudly, "Your path to Qi training is over, but the Body Refining lineage of the sect can still be tried. Those who are willing to stay, follow me to test Body Refining's talent after the ceremony. Those who are unwilling can leave now."
The crowd was in commotion.
"Body Refining... I heard it was very painful."
"Bitterness is better than going home. My father said, don't go back if you can't enter the Immortal Sect."
"But Body Refining has no future, the most it can reach is Middle Stage of the Qi and Blood Realm..."
About two-quarters of an hour later, the crowd divided into two groups. About 150 people chose to stay and try Body Refining, while the rest turned around dejectedly and embarked on their way home.
Qin Tiexin stood among the remaining crowd and looked up at the high platform.
Deacon Zhao came back on stage and said loudly, "The Spirit Root test is over. There are twenty-four people who passed the test - two Single Spirit Root, seven Dual Spirit Root, and fifteen Triple Spirit Root. We will conduct the second concern test later."
He then looked at the more than 150 people in the audience. "As for you, follow Steward Wang to test Body Refining's talent. Remember, the road of Body Refining is even far more painful than Qi Refining. Take care of yourself."
Qin Tiexin followed the flow of people and followed that Steward Wang to the west.
He glanced back.
On the right side of the high platform, the twenty-four lucky people stood together, talking and laughing, their eyes full of longing for the future. And they, more than 150 people, walked silently in the dust, with an uncertain future.
The clouds and mist closed again, and the long rainbow bridge disappeared.
Qin Tiexin withdrew his gaze and strode to follow the team.