Chapter 2: Spiritual Roots

The next day, Ye Qingxuan woke up at the crack of dawn.

Just as he stepped out of his room, he found his parents already waiting for him in the courtyard.

Ye Qingxuan was taken aback and asked

"Father, Mother, why are you up so early?"

Seeing his son standing there stunned, Father Ye stepped forward and gave him a slap on the head

"You brat, today is the day of your spiritual root test. How could your mother and I not wake up early? Let's go! It’s going to be crowded today!"

With that, he led Mother Ye and headed out of the house first.

Although he claimed not to care whether his son had spiritual roots, it concerned his son's future after all; how could Father Ye not take it seriously?

Looking at his parents, a wave of emotion washed over Ye Qingxuan, and he hurriedly followed in their footsteps.

The annual spiritual root testing assembly of the Ye Clan Immortal City was a grand event for the entire Ye clan, and naturally, it was extremely lively.

By now, the wide streets of the city were already packed with people.

With tens of millions of people in the Ye family, the number of twelve-year-old clansmen testing their spiritual roots each year basically exceeded one hundred thousand.

To improve efficiency, there was naturally more than one testing location.

Throughout the entire Ye Clan Immortal City, there were over a hundred testing sites.

For this purpose, the Ye family had directly mobilized two hundred immortal-cultivating clansmen, with two assigned to each testing point.

When the testing began, Ye Qingxuan had already lined up at one of the points.

As for Father Ye and Mother Ye, they were waiting outside the perimeter!

In a vast square, a group of boys and girls stood in a long line, chattering incessantly, their faces flushed with excitement.

At the front were two young men wearing the Ye clan robes, with green leaves embroidered on their collars.

Ye Qingxuan stood in the middle of the line, frowning slightly at the noisy environment around him.

At this moment, one of the two men at the front spoke up

"Silence."

Instantly, the voice suppressed all the chatter in the square.

Seeing that the scene had quieted down, the man continued

"My name is Ye Yonglun. I will be testing your spiritual roots today. Come one by one, do not disrupt the order. Violators will be severely punished."

The final words carried a stern tone.

The people in the square shrank back, and only a sparse, scattered response followed.

Hearing the name Ye Yonglun, Ye Qingxuan understood

"The 'Yong' generation? A clansman from the previous generation?"

The Ye family had been passed down for ten thousand years. To ensure an orderly succession and facilitate management, all Ye clansmen who stepped onto the path of immortality had always followed a twelve-character sequence for their generation names: Yu, Wen, Huan, Jing, Rui, Yong, Qing, Zhao, Xi, Shi, Xu, and Chang.

However, this was not strictly about seniority, but simply a way to divide generations by the century.

The twelve characters rotated every hundred years, one cycle per twelve characters.

The Ye Yonglun who had just spoken was from the previous generation, the "Yong" generation.

Moreover, many commoners within the Immortal City also spontaneously adopted this naming convention.

While Ye Qingxuan was deep in thought, Ye Yonglun at the front ignored the sparse response from the crowd.

He took out a colorful bead and spoke again

"The spiritual root test officially begins. First one, come up."

Immediately, a chubby little boy walked up nimbly, looking at Ye Yonglun with great nervousness.

Seeing the nervous boy in front of him, Ye Yonglun’s cold face remained expressionless as he said

"Place your hand on this bead and just relax your body."

Hearing this, the boy carefully reached out and placed his hand on the bead in Ye Yonglun's palm.

But after a long while, the bead showed no reaction at all.

Thus, Ye Yonglun said

"No spiritual root. Next."

The boy was stunned, and a moment later, he left the line with a dejected face.

Time passed, and the testing speed was not slow. Soon, a hundred people had been tested, but so far, not a single person possessed a spiritual root.

Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan, who had been full of confidence, could not help but feel anxious.

"No spiritual root. Next."

Ye Yonglun’s cold voice rang out again, and the remaining boys and girls in the square began to tremble.

One after another, just as it was about to be Ye Qingxuan's turn, a dazzling five-colored light suddenly erupted from the front.

Looking at the spirit-testing bead emitting five-colored light in his hand, a look of excitement and surprise appeared in Ye Yonglun's eyes. He hadn't expected such a harvest; the contribution points he would gain from this would be enough for him to cultivate in peace for a long time.

Thinking of this, a smile squeezed onto Ye Yonglun’s stern face. He looked at the uneasy boy before him with a hint of gentleness and asked softly

"Child, what is your name?"

The boy who had just tested his spiritual roots hesitated for a moment after hearing the question, then whispered

"My name is Ye Qingxiao."

Ye Yonglun nodded

"Good, stand by my side for now."

After saying this, Ye Yonglun looked at the crowd and announced

"Ye Qingxiao, five-element superior-grade spiritual root. Next."

Once announced, those in the square who had not yet been tested became instantly excited

"Wow! A five-element spiritual root! Amazing, let me rub off some of that luck, maybe I'll be next."

"Yeah! I'm envious. I don't have high demands, just a three-element middle-grade spiritual root would be enough."

"Hmph, keep dreaming. Three-element? You'd be lucky to have any spiritual root at all, and you're already picking and choosing?"

Even Ye Qingxuan was astonished. He hadn't expected that either there would be no spiritual roots, or a five-element one would appear right away.

One must know that in this world, spiritual roots were not like the web novels of Ye Qingxuan's past life, where more spiritual roots meant worse talent.

On the contrary, in the Earth Profound Realm, the more spiritual roots one had, the better their talent.

In the Earth Profound Realm, there were a total of twelve types of spiritual roots: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Space, Yin, Yang, Light, and Dark.

What is a spiritual root? The explanation in the Earth Profound Realm is

Only when the affinity between the universe within the human body and the corresponding elements of heaven and earth reaches 100% will a corresponding spiritual root be generated!

And what is spiritual energy?

Spiritual energy is an aggregate composed of all the elemental particles in the world.

Except for some special regions, most of the spiritual energy between heaven and earth contains all the elements of heaven and earth.

Therefore, the more spiritual roots one has, the greater the traction on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and naturally, the faster the cultivation speed.

According to the classification of the Earth Profound Realm

1-2 elements are inferior-grade, 2-4 elements are middle-grade, 5-6 elements are superior-grade, 7-8 elements are top-grade, 9-10 elements are Earth-grade, and 11-12 elements are Heaven-grade.

For the Ye family, a five-element superior-grade spiritual root was already a rare prodigy.

After Ye Qingxiao with the five-element spiritual root appeared, Ye Yonglun tested several more people, but none of them possessed spiritual roots.

This was like a bucket of cold water poured over the crowd, and they instantly calmed down.

Those with spiritual roots were one in a thousand; they were not so easy to come by.

"No spiritual root. Next."

Soon, it was Ye Qingxuan's turn.

Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath, walked up slowly, and placed his hand on the spirit-testing bead.

A moment later, under Ye Qingxuan's nervous gaze, the bead emitted a brown light.

Seeing this change, Ye Qingxuan felt a sudden sense of relief.

"What is your name?"

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan looked up at Ye Yonglun and said respectfully

"Reporting to Clan Uncle, this junior is Ye Qingxuan."

Seeing this, Ye Yonglun nodded slightly

"You also stand by my side."

Subsequently, Ye Yonglun announced

"Ye Qingxuan, single-element inferior-grade earth spiritual root. Next."

With the five-element spiritual root of Ye Qingxiao as a precedent, Ye Qingxuan's single-element inferior-grade spiritual root did not cause much of a stir.

The testing continued, but Ye Qingxuan no longer paid attention.

No matter how good someone else's was, it was theirs, not his.

Now that he had tested positive for a spiritual root, even if it was only an inferior-grade single-element earth spiritual root, he had at least obtained the ticket to step onto the path of immortal cultivation.

With his eternal lifespan, even if he had to grind slowly over time, he was confident that he could break through the bottlenecks of each realm and reach the peak of the immortal path.

"The spiritual root test is over. You may disperse!"

A voice pulled Ye Qingxuan's thoughts back.

It turned out that the spiritual root testing assembly had ended; after Ye Qingxuan, not a single person had tested positive for a spiritual root.

There were over a thousand people at this testing point, yet only Ye Qingxuan and Ye Qingxiao possessed spiritual roots.

After the testing concluded, Ye Yonglun put away the spirit-testing bead and looked at the two of them, saying

"I will give you three days. Three days from now, I will wait for you here to take you to the main branch at Cloud Mist Mountain to cultivate."

Cloud Mist Mountain was a spiritual mountain not far outside the Ye Clan Immortal City, where the true headquarters of the Ye family was located.

Hearing Ye Yonglun's words, Ye Qingxuan and Ye Qingxiao looked at each other and bowed in unison

"Yes, Clan Uncle."

(End of chapter)