"An Earth Spirit Root!"

"It’s actually an Earth Spirit Root!"

"The ancestors be blessed! Our Cyan Cloud Sect has gained another genius with an Earth Spirit Root!"

The few Foundation Establishment Elders in charge of testing Spiritual Roots all had excited smiles on their faces.

A Celestial Pride with an Earth Spirit Root had an extremely high chance of forming a Golden Core, as long as nothing unexpected happened!

In front of the Mountain Gate, thousands of mortals were both shocked and envious, their gazes all fixed on that Celestial Pride.

She was a little girl of about six or seven, dressed in fine brocade clothes.

Aboard the Flying Ship, Zi Xi suddenly spoke.

"Her talent isn’t bad. She can become a disciple of my Purple Mist Sect."

As she spoke, she controlled the Flying Ship, causing it to descend slowly.

Clearly, she intended to recruit this genius with the Earth Spirit Root into the Purple Mist Sect.

Gu Qinghong’s face twitched, and he wished he could slap those joyfully exclaiming Foundation Establishment Elders below to death.

If those Elders had managed to recruit the little girl into the Cyan Cloud Sect in time, perhaps Zi Xi wouldn’t have had this sudden idea. But they were too busy celebrating and forgot what was important.

Although Gu Qinghong’s heart ached at the loss, he couldn’t stop her.

「A moment later.」

The Flying Ship landed before the Mountain Gate.

The crowd of mortals all bowed low, their faces filled with a mixture of fear and reverence.

"Greetings, Immortal!"

Zi Xi paid them no mind and flew before the little girl in brocade.

"Are you willing to join my Purple Mist Sect?"

"The Purple Mist Sect?"

The little girl wasn’t old, but her eyes held a cunning glint. She caught the shocked and helpless expressions on the faces of the Foundation Establishment Elders and realized the Purple Mist Sect was stronger than the Cyan Cloud Sect.

She immediately knelt and declared in a loud voice, "Greetings, Master!"

"You’re quite clever."

Zi Xi hadn’t originally planned to take a disciple, only to recruit her into the sect.

Seeing how clever and quick-witted she was, she changed her mind.

"Very well, you can be my Registered Disciple."

She gently raised her jade-like hand and sent a ray of Spiritual Light into the little girl’s Sea of Consciousness.

Then, she brought her onto the Flying Ship.

The Flying Ship didn’t take off again but remained quietly parked outside the Mountain Gate.

’Don’t tell me the Purple Mist Sect plans to take all the geniuses from this batch?’

Everyone thought to themselves.

Liang Chang and the other Cyan Cloud Sect Golden Core Masters were filled with helplessness. They didn’t dare to object and could only watch in silence.

Before the Mountain Gate, the mortals came forward one by one.

Most had no Spiritual Root.

A few had Spiritual Roots, but they were almost all Inferior or Low Grade Spirit Roots; even Middle Spirit Roots were rare.

’It’s already good for one genius to appear in a batch of mortals. There probably won’t be a second one.’

「Not long after.」

A little girl in tattered clothes, filthy from head to toe, walked up to the Spirit Testing Stone.

With her head bowed, she timidly extended a small hand and placed it on the Spirit Testing Stone.

「An instant later.」

The Spirit Testing Stone emitted a faint, colorful glow.

The Foundation Establishment Elder in charge of the test glanced at her and said flatly, "Low Grade Gold Spirit Root. Average talent, but you’re still young. You may join our Cyan Cloud..."

Before he could finish his sentence.

A figure suddenly appeared before his eyes.

He hurriedly clasped his hands in a salute. "Greetings, Elder Li!"

"Mm."

Li Chang’an nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the beggar-like little girl.

His voice was gentle as he asked, "Are you willing to enter my Changqing Mountain?"

Hearing this, everyone on the Flying Ship was a little surprised.

They knew that for all these years, Li Chang’an had neither descendants nor disciples, always focusing on his own path of cultivation.

All of Changqing Mountain was cold and deserted.

Why would he suddenly want to recruit disciples today?

Gu Qinghong frowned slightly and used an Illusion-Breaking Treasure to inspect the little girl.

’It really is a Low Grade Spirit Root. There’s nothing special about it.’

"Indeed. The little girl’s talent is very ordinary. Even if Daoist Li put all his effort into cultivating her, she would struggle to reach Core Formation. At most, she could reach the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment."

He Xiangfeng nodded slightly. He had also used an Illusion-Breaking Treasure.

It wasn’t just the two of them. The others also used their own methods, trying to see what was different about this little girl, but none of them found anything.

A trace of purple flashed through Zi Xi’s ethereal eyes, and she quickly retracted her gaze.

’A Low Grade Spirit Root. There’s no mistake.’

She hadn’t noticed anything unusual either and was also puzzled as to why Li Chang’an wanted to take the little girl.

With Li Chang’an’s current reputation, if he wanted to take a disciple, he only needed to say the word, and geniuses with Top Grade Spirit Roots would most likely come flocking to become his apprentice.

Little did they know that even if a genius with a Top Grade Spirit Root truly appeared, Li Chang’an couldn’t be bothered with them.

The reason he had taken a liking to this little girl was because of her constitution.

「Earlier.」

He had used his Stone Eye and discovered a silvery-white light inside the little girl’s body.

After that, he had quietly sent out wisps of his Divine Sense to enter the girl’s body. After searching several times, he found a silvery-white symbol.

’It should be a special kind of Spirit Body.’

Li Chang’an had always been very interested in the mysteries of Spirit Bodies.

Mu Xiaoxiao had a green symbol in her body, while Ye Mengxian had a gold one.

This little girl’s silvery-white symbol gave him a strange feeling, a sense of nihility, as if it were related to Void Power.

Worried that Zi Xi and the others would notice something was amiss, he hadn’t touched it, planning instead to first bring her to Changqing Mountain.

The little girl didn’t hesitate at all. She immediately knelt and, copying the Celestial Pride with the Earth Spirit Root from before, shouted.

"Greetings, Master!"

"I am not taking disciples. You can come to my Changqing Mountain and watch over the Library Pavilion."

Li Chang’an raised his hand and pointed, sending a ray of Spiritual Light flying into the little girl’s Sea of Consciousness.

This ray of Spiritual Light contained a Celestial Grade Technique, several Celestial Grade Magic arts, and a vast amount of Cultivation Insights.

A start like this was enough to make countless geniuses burn with envy.

Afterward, Li Chang’an took her and returned to the Flying Ship.

Gu Qinghong said to him, "Daoist Li, this old man has a descendant with a Top Grade Wood Spirit Root. If you have any intention of taking a disciple, I can have him become your apprentice."

"Daoist Gu, you misunderstand. I truly have no intention of taking a disciple."