Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 29: Wild Grass

Lost in thought, Li Zhirui was pulled back to reality by a chorus of astonished shouts. His gaze fixed, he saw three children standing within the Spirit Testing Array, each with a pillar of light above their heads.

”This is only the second activation of the array, right?” Li Zhirui, like everyone else, had not expected that among two hundred people, there would actually be four children with Spiritual Roots!

Although they all had either Three Spiritual Roots or Four Spiritual Roots, the addition of four clan members at once would still be a considerable enhancement to the familyʼs overall strength in a decade or so.

Li Zhirui and the others watched the next group of children being tested with great anticipation, only to be disappointed that none of them produced a light pillar, and neither did the groups that followed.

Possibly because the earlier results had raised everyoneʼs expectations too high, even fairly good outcomes felt disappointing.

”Let the last few dozen children enter the array,” Li Shiren said, no longer hopeful.

Li Zhiruiʼs gaze swept casually over the crowd and unexpectedly landed on two children who caught his attention.

One was a girl with an ordinary appearance, her little face cold, without the slightest hint of nervousness in her brows and eyes. The other was a girl carved from pink jade, her face beaming with bright smiles.

As soon as all the children had entered the array, it activated immediately. Various colors of Spirit Light began to dance around, and the blue Spirit Light, symbolizing the Water Spirit Root, rushed crazily toward the exquisitely beautiful little girl as if it had found its home.

”This…” Li Zhiruiʼs expression turned to one of slight surprise. If he remembered correctly, this was a phenomenon that indicated an extremely high purity of Spiritual Root.

But this little girl was not of a single Spiritual Root, for beside the blue pillar of light, there was also a very faint white one.

When Li Zhirui regained his composure and looked back at the array, another little girl caught his eye, one with light pillars of white, green, red, and yellow above her head, indicating she had the less desirable Four Spiritual Roots.

She seemed to understand what this meant, and her face dimmed for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. However, now there was a new hint of resolve in her eyes.

Witnessing this, Li Zhiruiʼs eyes revealed a hint of surprise, but it also made him more interested in this little girl.

In fact, compared to the Jinshui Dual Spirit Root prodigy that the other clan members valued, Li Zhirui favored this girl with Four Spiritual Roots even more.

It was not that Li Zhirui felt her emergence threatened his position in the family; after all, no matter how talented she was, she was currently just an ordinary person and would not begin cultivation until three years later.

But by then, Li Zhirui would, at the very least, be on the ninth level of Qi Cultivation, or possibly even launching an attempt to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. The age difference between them was too great, so there wouldnʼt be any real conflict.

This was just an inexplicable feeling without any apparent reason!

Perhaps his gaze had been too apparent, for it drew the attention of that little girl. When she realized it was Li Zhirui looking at her, she didnʼt panic at all. She calmly bowed slightly, then looked away.

Li Zhirui had only planned to watch the first round of testing before leaving, but now he was quite curious to learn the girlʼs name.

So, he followed the others to the main hall, and as a reserve senior, Li Zhirui was entitled to enter, unlike Li Zhihao and the others who could only stand outside and watch.

This year, there were six clan members found to have Spiritual Roots, twice as many as last year, and all the senior members were very happy and satisfied with this outcome.

Not to mention, among those six, there was a prodigy with extremely high purity in her Jinshui Dual Spiritual Roots!

”Letʼs test the Spiritual Root Purity first,” Li Shiqing took out the Spirit Measuring Ruler and summoned the girl with dual spiritual roots to step forward.

”Stretch out your hand,” Li Shiqing said gently.

The little girl did not demur and extended her hand graciously. Li Shiqing quickly pricked her fingertip to draw a drop of blood, which he placed onto the Spirit Measuring Ruler.

”Buzz—”

In an instant, the Spirit Measuring Ruler shone brightly, the blue Spirit Light rising rapidly, occupying the majority of the ruler.

”Water Spirit Root purity ninety-five, Metal Spirit Root purity five!” Even Li Shiqing, who had weathered many storms, shook slightly in his voice at this result.

”Excellent, excellent!” Elders like Li Shilian and Li Shile had fewer reservations, their delight clearly visible as they laughed heartily, exuding particular excitement and elation.

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”With such purity of the Spiritual Root, it can already be considered a single Spiritual Root! Wonʼt her cultivation speed be almost as fast as that of the Heavenly Spiritual Root?”

The so-called Heavenly Spiritual Root is the name given to a single Spiritual Root with a purity reaching one hundred. It is said that cultivators with the Heavenly Spiritual Root encounter no bottlenecks before the Nascent Soul Stage.

In other words, as long as a cultivator of the Heavenly Spiritual Root does not fall midway, then they will inevitably become a Golden Core cultivator!

”Ahem!” Li Shiqing lightly coughed, quieting everyone down, so as not to scare these little children. Then he asked, ”Do you have a name?”

The little girl crisply answered, ”My name is Li Yingyue.”

”Then how about you change your name to Li Zhiyue, would that be alright?”

Perhaps because the girlʼs parents had already told her previously, she quickly accepted her new name.

”Zhiyue, you stand over to the side.” Li Shiqing then called over several other children, testing their Spiritual Root purity one by one.

Their Spiritual Root purities were all quite common, with main Spiritual Roots around forty to fifty, and there was no repeat of the surprise that Li Zhiyue had caused, but this was the norm.

”Child, step forward.” Finally, only the girl that Li Zhirui was interested in was left.

Upon hearing the command, the girl stepped forward and watched the droplets of blood fall onto the Spirit Measuring Ruler. A glint of hope flickered in her usually indifferent eyes.

Unfortunately for her, her Spiritual Root purity and talent were nothing remarkable.

”Metal Spiritual Root purity forty-two, Wood Spiritual Root purity twelve, Fire Spiritual Root purity thirty-six, Earth Spiritual Root purity ten.”

Li Shiqing still asked with a gentle voice, ”Child, what was your name before?”

”Li Xuan.”

Xuan? Li Zhiruiʼs eyebrows twitched slightly—did her parents really regard her as a wilderness weed?

However, perhaps it was this kind of living environment that had nurtured her current resilient nature, which could be considered a loss paired with a gain.

”Then from now on you shall be called Li Zhixuan, would that be alright?”

Li Zhirui suddenly spoke out, saying, ”The wind may bend the grass, but it does not break, from ultimate weakness comes strength.”

After speaking, Li Zhirui fixed his gaze on Li Zhixuan, asking, ”Have you remembered this?”

”I have remembered,” Li Zhixuan boldly lifted her head to look at Li Zhirui, a trace of confusion flickering in her eyes as she said, ”But I donʼt understand the meaning of these words.”

”Itʼs good that you remember, as for the meaning, you will come to understand it in time,” Li Zhirui did not explain further.

A hint of color appeared in the girlʼs eyes as she said, ”I have remembered it.”

Li Shiqing looked at Li Zhirui with surprise; he could tell that Li Zhirui admired Li Zhixuan, but for what reason, he was at a loss.

But the others had strange expressions on their faces; they thought that Li Zhirui suddenly speaking to Li Zhixuan was due to feeling threatened by the sudden emergence of Li Zhiyue.

But they hadnʼt considered why, even if Li Zhirui felt threatened, he would reach out to a little girl with such poor talent.

Li Zhirui took in everyoneʼs looks and reactions, but he was unperturbed and saw no need to be concerned.

”Shiren, you take Zhiyue and the others to the Spirit Wisdom Court,” Li Shiqing spoke up to break the awkward atmosphere in the hall.

The Spirit Wisdom Court was a place within the Li family specifically for nurturing children who had just discovered their Spiritual Roots and were not yet able to cultivate. Its name comes from the phrase ʼspiritual heart and intelligent nature,ʼ which also reflects the familyʼs expectations for these children.

”Alright,” Li Shiren stood up, leading the six children away.

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