Chapter 78

The young man with the green birthmark wielded a broadsword with great speed, quickly flying to the platform at the top of the inverted peak. Here, flying swords continuously landed, each depositing a few people before swiftly taking off again. Those who were left behind were all here to pay homage to the mountain this time.

The disciples of Shujian Mountain practiced swordsmanship, and thus revered the sword, treating it as their second life, carefully nurturing it. The disciples seen on Shujian Mountain were mostly dressed in white robes and carried flying swords on their backs.

But this ordinary attire only served to highlight the extraordinary and transcendent aura of the Shujian Mountain disciples even more.

After placing Qin Feng and Daoist Qiu Huzi on the platform, the young man with the green birthmark turned and flew away, his urgent manner clearly indicating he was vying for another business opportunity.

"You two, come over and line up, one by one!"

Before Qin Feng could react, a harsh voice came, making his eardrums tingle. Turning his head, he saw a middle-aged steward with a long sword on his back, a stern and fierce expression, pointing at Qin Feng and Qiu Huzi and giving orders.

Qiu Huzi, being familiar with the routine, nodded and bowed, then walked toward a large crowd at the front, joining the queue at the end and patiently waiting.

Qin Feng also followed Qiu Huzi and joined the queue.

Taking the opportunity to look around while in line, Qin Feng noticed that there were indeed many people who had come to Shujian Mountain to pay homage. In just a short while, hundreds of people had arrived, and the number was still increasing.

Qin Feng, being tall, stood out in the crowd, with an unobstructed view. Qiu Huzi, being short, was on tiptoe, stretching his neck to look forward.

Qin Feng also looked forward.

Ahead was a huge stone, with a very peculiar shape—neither round nor square, with sharp edges. It was hard to describe, but the stone repeatedly emitted a five-colored light, which made Qin Feng suddenly realize what it was for.

It seemed to be testing the mystic roots.

To become a disciple of Shujian Mountain, one must at least possess mystic roots. Those without mystic roots would be directly expelled from the mountain.

However, Qin Feng observed carefully and found that among those who had come here, there seemed to be no one without mystic roots. There were only differences in the quality of their mystic roots. Moreover, these people who came to pay homage were at least at the Fifth Stage of the Mortal Qi Realm.

"I wonder if Huo Siyan is here?"

Qin Feng searched the crowd. There were too many people, and it took him a long time to finally spot Huo Siyan.

However, the place where Huo Siyan stood was completely different from where Qin Feng was standing.

In the vast square, the area where Qin Feng was was crowded, but the area where she was had only a few dozen people, occupying about one-fifth of the square. Some of these people were very old, some looked middle-aged, and some looked exceptionally young, but they all had unfathomable cultivation levels!

They were probably the elders of Shujian Mountain.

Huo Siyan was standing behind a middle-aged woman in palace attire, her head lowered, seemingly lost in thought. When Qin Feng's gaze reached her, Huo Siyan suddenly sensed something and looked up, her eyes widening in surprise when she recognized Qin Feng, clearly not expecting him to be at Shujian Mountain.

Qiu Huzi, who was in front, turned around at this moment, looked in the direction Qin Feng was staring, and asked with a twinkle in his eyes, "Brother Qin, did you run into an acquaintance?"

Earlier, on the flying sword, the two had chatted a bit and become familiar. Qin Feng had given Qiu Huzi a copy of the "Nine Transformations of Heavenly Fire," resolving their previous grievances. Qiu Huzi, being naturally friendly, had even started calling Qin Feng "brother." They had also exchanged names, and Qin Feng knew that Qiu Huzi's full name was Qiu Chujì, though he preferred to call him "Qiu Huzi."

"Um!" Qin Feng nodded. Qiu Huzi smiled mysteriously and asked, "Let me guess, your friend must have exceptional talent, right?"

Qin Feng raised an eyebrow and looked at Qiu Huzi.

"Haha, let me tell you, Brother Qin. The few people standing over there are all exceptionally talented, already favored by the elders of Shujian Mountain, and will be directly accepted as inner disciples, the pride of heaven." Qiu Huzi sighed, his tone filled with jealousy and envy as he explained to Qin Feng.

"Oh? Then what about us?"

"Open selection, of course. How can ordinary people compare to those pride of heaven? See that big stone up ahead? It's the Immortal Inquiry Stone. It will test our mystic root attributes. Those with three or more attributes will be directly accepted into the sect. After the elders select their disciples, they will personally help the disciples choose suitable flying swords from the Sword Burial Mountain, or even custom-make one for them."

"Is that so!" Qin Feng nodded and then asked, "What about those with four or five attributes?"

"Pending!" Qiu Huzi smiled slyly and said two words.

"Pending? What does that mean?"

Qin Feng didn't understand and continued to ask. Before coming to Shujian Mountain, his grandfather had already tested his mystic root attributes, which were five-colored mixed mystic roots. Therefore, Qin Feng was quite concerned about this issue.

"It means entering the second round, going to the Sword Burial Mountain to test the sword. If the sword test is successful and the identity is verified, one has the qualifications to become an outer disciple. If it fails, they will be expelled from the mountain."

"Test the sword?"

Qin Feng was taken aback but then understood.

Flying swords have spirits and often choose their masters autonomously. The better the cultivator's talent, the higher the chance of the flying sword recognizing them. Since the Shujian Mountain disciples' cultivation is entirely based on their flying swords, if a flying sword recognizes them, they can stay. If no flying sword recognizes them, they will be expelled.

By doing this, Shujian Mountain claims to give those paying homage a second chance, but Qin Feng knew that getting a flying sword to recognize them was extremely difficult. Out of a hundred people, it would be good if even one could get a flying sword to recognize them.

It seems that entering Shujian Mountain is not that easy.

While Qin Feng was pondering, a commotion in front of him caught his and Qiu Huzi's attention.

"Two attributes, two attributes, hahaha!"

A tall, thin young man in yellow clothes was laughing incoherently, clearly shocked by his mystic root attributes. Indeed, a two-attribute mystic root could be directly accepted as a disciple by the elders, a leap to the top. How could he not be happy?

"Congratulations, fellow daoist!"

"Congratulations, junior brother!"

Even the Shujian Mountain stewards, who had been cold-faced and responsible for the testing, suddenly became friendly, their expressions changing faster than turning a page. They quickly congratulated him and even changed their titles.

It was understandable. A two-attribute disciple was a very rare talent. After being accepted as an inner disciple by the elders, they would become a small expert within a few decades.

Sure enough, the young man was immediately taken as a disciple by a middle-aged, bearded elder. The yellow-robed disciple obediently stood behind him.

"Ah!"

This sigh came from Qiu Huzi, his face showing a mix of envy and eagerness to try.

Qiu Huzi's actions caught Qin Feng's attention, causing him to feel a bit puzzled.

Qiu Huzi had already come twice, clearly with poor talent and had been expelled from Shujian Mountain. Knowing he couldn't successfully join Shujian Mountain, why did he come back after ten years?

"Could his talent have changed? Could it be that the five-colored mixed mystic roots have turned into celestial mystic roots, as Grandfather said?"

Qin Feng shook his head. If that were the case, Qiu Huzi wouldn't be here, struggling with everyone else.

A strange guy, probably someone with a secret.

Qiu Huzi had piqued Qin Feng's interest.

The testing speed was decent, but there were many people. Out of the hundreds of people, only one had a two-attribute mystic root, three had three-attribute mystic roots, and the rest had four or five-attribute mixed mystic roots, with the majority being five-attribute.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, it was finally Qiu Huzi's turn in front of Qin Feng.

Under Qin Feng's watchful gaze, Qiu Huzi placed his hands on the Immortal Inquiry Stone. After a moment, the stone emitted a red light, followed by golden, green, yellow, and blue lights, all five colors, and each color was uneven, indicating the worst kind of five-attribute mixed mystic root.

"Five-attribute mixed mystic root, pending, next!"

The steward responsible for the testing didn't even bother to look up, directly calling Qin Feng forward.

Qiu Huzi, seemingly knowing the result, left the stone and joined the pending queue.

Then it was Qin Feng's turn. He placed his palm on the stone.

Five-colored mixed mystic root, exactly the same as what his grandfather had tested. However, a white-haired old man standing nearby, who happened to glance at Qin Feng's three equal attributes and two uneven attributes, showed a flash of surprise in his eyes, followed by a hint of regret.

Qin Feng looked in Huo Siyan's direction. At that moment, Huo Siyan had already turned her head away. Qin Feng didn't need to guess; he knew that her face must be filled with deep disappointment.

The bloodline soul was ruined, and the mystic root was just a five-colored mixed mystic root.

Physically and spiritually, he was a failure.

He was finally completely rejected in her heart...