Time flowed like water, and the night passed in the blink of an eye.
Early the next morning, three powerful Demon Suppressing Guards arrived at Great Desolation Village.
The leader was a capable woman clad in a dark green dress with a long saber hanging from her waist.
As the one who had personally slain the black tiger, Ye Lin was naturally summoned for questioning right away.
After he briefly explained the sequence of events, placing heavy emphasis on how he and Xu Qing’an had worked together to slay the black tiger, both he and Xu Qing’an received rewards from the guard.
The reward consisted of two hundred taels of silver and a Qi Gathering Pill that could assist in Qi Condensation.
“Very well. Seeing that the two of you could work together to slay a second-layer Qi Condensation Stage dark creature, your talents must be quite excellent, and your cultivation must have reached at least the great perfection of the Body Tempering Realm.”
“We came here today not only to look into the matter of the black tiger, but more importantly, to represent the academy in testing the Spiritual Roots of everyone in Great Desolation Village who is at least eighteen years old.”
“The others who meet the testing criteria will be here soon, so the two of you should test first.”
After presenting the rewards, seeing Ye Lin and Xu Qing’an about to turn and leave, the woman named Jiang Ningzhi suddenly spoke up.
Having said that, with a casual wave of her hand, an ancient grey stone monument about dozens of zhang high and carved with mysterious runes appeared before them.
Seeing this, neither Ye Lin nor Xu Qing’an dawdled. After exchanging a glance, they stepped forward one after another and pressed their hands against the ancient stone monument.
Weng!
Ye Lin was the first to be tested. Once he pressed his hand against it, the stone monument immediately lit up with seven colors of light, though the glow was somewhat dim.
“Mid-grade... seven-element mixed Spiritual Root?”
Seeing this, the few people present couldn't help but rub their eyes, clearly finding it hard to believe.
Especially Xu Qing’an. He had thought Ye Lin's talent was at least Saint-grade to begin with, as only that could explain his terrifying cultivation speed, which was neck-and-neck with his own.
But he never expected Ye Lin to throw such a massive curveball. Not only was his talent a pitiful Mid-grade, but it was also a seven-element mixed Spiritual Root, which was notoriously difficult to cultivate!
“How is this possible?” Xu Qing’an couldn't wrap his head around it.
But seeing that Ye Lin had already calmly stepped away from the stone monument, he could only suppress his confusion and step forward to begin his own test.
Boom!
The moment his hand touched the stone monument, a beam of golden light instantly shot up into the sky from it.
As soon as the golden light appeared, it enveloped everything within a radius of ten thousand li.
Within the light, a massive humanoid phantom holding a long spear stood between heaven and earth, bearing the sun and moon upon its shoulders, looking incomparably majestic and domineering.
“Golden... This physical constitution phenomenon is actually a Saint-grade talent, one in a million?”
Seeing this soaring golden light and the fleeting phantom phenomenon, Jiang Ningzhi, who had just been disappointed by Ye Lin's awakening of only a Mid-grade mixed Spiritual Root, was instantly dumbfounded.
This was a Saint-grade genius, a prodigy that only legendary top-tier clans and sects were worthy of possessing! Not a single one could be found in the entire history of the Tianyuan Dynasty.
“This matter has gone beyond my control. I must contact Grandfather Principal first.”
Knowing how precious a Saint-grade genius was, Jiang Ningzhi quickly recovered her senses, pulled out a mysterious jade pendant, and crushed it.
To possess a jade token that could directly contact the Principal of the Tianyuan Dynasty's Cultivation Academy, her identity was likely not simple.
To the side, seeing Xu Qing’an test as having a Saint-grade talent, Ye Lin wasn't particularly surprised.
After all, he was currently only semi-cheating (since he hadn't equipped the Desolate Ancient Dao Pagoda yet, hence the term "semi-cheating"), yet Xu Qing’an was still able to keep pace with his cultivation speed.
Yesterday, this guy had beaten the black tiger into whimpering using nothing but his bare iron fists despite the gap in cultivation. With such a record, it would be strange if he didn't possess a heaven-defying talent.
In contrast to Ye Lin's calm and unruffled demeanor, Xu Qing’an felt an itch in his heart. He desperately wanted to know how Ye Lin, with a mere Mid-grade seven-element mixed Spiritual Root, could cultivate so quickly.
“This young man must possess an immense secret.”
At this moment, the mysterious woman's voice suddenly echoed in his ears.
Hearing this, Xu Qing’an was momentarily stunned before shaking his head in understanding.
“Every cultivator has their own secrets. Just like myself, I don't want others to pry into mine. I'm sure he... is the same.”
With this thought, Xu Qing’an suppressed his curiosity and stood to the side to wait.
Meanwhile, within the space of the fiery red jade pendant, all of Xu Qing’an's behavior was observed by the mysterious woman.
“Faced with another's shocking secret, he feels no jealousy, harbors no wicked thoughts of robbery, and doesn't pry excessively.”
“He knows when to advance or retreat and possesses a broad mind. He is truly a promising youth!” the mysterious woman murmured softly with satisfaction.
Since taking him as her disciple, she had actually worried that because Xu Qing’an came from a rural village, gaining power all of a sudden might make him arrogant and supercilious.
But after these few days of observation, she found that aside from becoming more confident, nothing else about this youth had changed.
He was still diligent and hardworking, still resilient in character, still simple and low-profile, and still minded his own business.
She was naturally very surprised by such behavior.
At the same time, she had to admit that she had been somewhat subjective. A person's noble qualities had no absolute correlation with whether they were born in a rural village or a great clan.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just then, accompanied by a series of rumbles, an incredibly luxurious and massive flying vessel arrived above Great Desolation Village in the blink of an eye.
In the next instant, three figures with terrifying auras descended like streams of light, arriving right in front of Jiang Ningzhi.
“Where is he? Where is the genius with the Saint-grade talent?”
As soon as the three appeared, the leader—a white-haired but highly elegant old man dressed in a light green robe—eagerly spoke.
He was the current Principal of the Tianyuan Dynasty's Cultivation Academy, a Golden Core cultivator, Jiang Lingyuan.
“Grandfather, he is the Saint-grade genius I spoke of.” Seeing her grandfather speak, Jiang Ningzhi immediately pointed to Xu Qing’an.
“Hahaha! Good child, you are indeed a fine talent with an imposing bearing!”
“Come, return to the academy with us first to speak in detail.”
As soon as Jiang Ningzhi finished speaking, Jiang Lingyuan and the other two old men all smiled and showered Xu Qing’an with praise.
Then, the three of them took the somewhat dumbfounded Xu Qing’an and directly transformed into streams of light, returning to the flying vessel above.
As for the other young people, the three big shots didn't spare them a single glance.
“Little Ningzhi, hurry back to the academy once you finish the testing. You have made a great contribution this time, and the main academy will definitely reward you handsomely.”
Sending a secret voice transmission to Jiang Ningzhi, Jiang Lingyuan immediately activated the flying vessel and departed.
Truly, they came and went in a flash. Yet in such a short span of time, a massive chasm had opened between Xu Qing’an's life and the lives of everyone else present, save for Ye Lin.
“The testing shall continue!”
Watching the flying vessel depart, Jiang Ningzhi suppressed the joy in her heart and had the eligible young men and women continue their Spiritual Root testing.
After half a quarter of an hour, the testing was complete. Aside from Ye Lin and Xu Qing’an at the beginning, there were fifteen people in total, but only three were successfully detected to possess Spiritual Roots.
Furthermore, all of them had low-grade mixed Spiritual Roots with four or more elements.
Jiang Ningzhi and the others weren't disappointed by this, as discovering Xu Qing’an with his Saint-grade talent was already a massive windfall for them.
“I will give you fifteen minutes to pack your things.” Casually storing the testing stone monument into her storage ring, Jiang Ningzhi spoke calmly.
Hearing this, the others bid reluctant farewells to their families, while Ye Lin went back to toss everything he needed to take into his storage bag.
“Goodbye!” He waved his hand at the wooden cabin and courtyard where he had stayed for several days.
Fifteen minutes flew by in an instant. He and the other youths boarded a small flying vessel and flew away from Great Desolation Village along with Jiang Ningzhi and her companions.
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