Wang Yu, waste Spiritual Root, eliminated!"

"Next!"

The surrounding commoners, hearing the Immortal Envoy's judgment, cast sympathetic looks at the young man on the stage, but their private discussions were quite different.

"This must be a Wang Family descendant."

"He has a good appearance, but no fate to join an Immortal Sect."

"How can Spiritual Root Aptitude be equated with looks? I think the Wang Family has done too many wicked things, and this is their just deserts!"

"You can't just say things like that. Young Master Yu is different from those other wastrels; he has never bullied commoners."

"Heh... just a piece of trash, why aren't you getting down!"

This last sentence was not spoken by a bystander.

It was said by a young man standing outside the queue, dressed in fine clothes, with a handsome face, a jade pendant at his waist, and a landscape ink fan tapping his palm, his face full of arrogance.

His name is Wang Wu, and he is Wang Yu's cousin. He is sixteen years old, but he had his Spiritual Root tested earlier and has Dual Spiritual Roots Aptitude, a Genius with the hope of reaching Foundation Establishment.

Their fathers are brothers and both hope to inherit the position of the next Family Head. The struggle between the fathers extended to their children, causing the animosity between the two.

Wang Yu clenched his fists, said nothing more, and turned to leave the spiritual testing platform.

Even though he hadn't expected to be some kind of Genius, he also hadn't expected to be a waste Spiritual Root. With this Aptitude, let alone Foundation Establishment, it would be a problem to even break through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

Since transmigrating from his mother's womb and comprehending the mystery within, he has been in this great era of cultivation for sixteen years, possessing a magical "cheat" by his side, called --- 【placement slot】!

As the name suggests, it can place things.

But physical objects cannot be placed inside. For the past sixteen years, he has placed books such as "Thousand Character Classic", "Eight Methods of Yong Character", "Detailed Explanation of Human Meridians", "Wonderful Scroll of Qihuang", and so on.

As long as he roughly flips through a book once, he can place it in the 【placement slot】. The effect is equivalent to another him, constantly studying, pondering the content, and practicing.

Never tired, never stopping!

For example, after placing the "Thousand Character Classic" for several days, he understood it thoroughly. Even if his main body did nothing, he recognized many characters.

This function would undoubtedly save a lot of time in cultivation, but Immortal Sects have their own rules for accepting Disciples.

The Shihu City where the Wang Family is located is under the jurisdiction of the Lingjiu Sect. Every year, suitable-aged youths in the city have their Spiritual Roots tested and officially step onto the path of cultivation at sixteen.

In this world, everyone has Spiritual Roots, which are divided into six grades from top to bottom.

Single Spiritual Root, also known as Heavenly Spiritual Root, is the primary Aptitude below the Spiritual Body. It guarantees reaching the Core Formation stage and is rarely seen even once in a hundred years.

Dual Spiritual Roots, also known as Upper Grade Spiritual Roots, have a high probability of reaching Foundation Establishment. They are good material, relatively rare.

Three Spiritual Roots, also known as Middle Grade Spiritual Roots, are the Spiritual Root Aptitude of most Cultivators in this world. With cultivation techniques, they can generally reach the Great Perfection of Qi Refining before their lifespan ends.

Four Spiritual Roots belong to Lower Grade Spiritual Roots, also called "miscellaneous Spiritual Roots". Their Aptitude is poor, and it is difficult for them to reach Foundation Establishment in their lifetime.

Five Spiritual Roots are the waste Spiritual Roots that Wang Yu possesses. It is difficult to even refine spiritual energy, and it is hard to break through the fourth layer of Qi Refining in this life.

The last grade is "fragmented Spiritual Roots", unable to sense spiritual energy, meaning they are Mortals unable to cultivate.

There are certainly people in the world who can defy fate and change their destiny.

But he, Wang Yu, lost at the starting line. The Lingjiu Sect is not a top-tier Immortal Sect, but they will not accept Disciples with waste Spiritual Root Aptitude; they don't have that many resources to cultivate them.

Even if they were recruited as laborers, four Spiritual Roots would be the first choice.

And Wang Wu's Dual Spiritual Roots Aptitude means that as soon as he enters the Lingjiu Sect, he will become a Foundation Establishment seed, receiving preferential resources. The struggle for the Family Head position has already been lost.

The spiritual testing platform was set up in the City Lord's Mansion square. Wang Yu left without looking back. Some friends who used to have a good relationship with him all turned away, not even daring to say hello. This is reality.

Human relationships are fickle, and the world's ways change in an instant.

Wang Family Courtyard.

Wang Yu pushed the door open and looked somewhat guiltily at his father, who was offering incense before his mother's memorial tablet.

"You know?"

"Yes."

Wang Chongwen bowed lightly before the incense table, inserted three sticks of incense into the censer, and said in a low voice.

"If Wang Wu were just a three Spiritual Root, I would still have the capital to contend, but he is a Dual Spiritual Root.

"The Lingjiu Sect will become his backing, and the City Lord's Mansion will also favor him. Pack your things and prepare to leave Shihu City."

Wang Yu couldn't help but say.

"Are you worried that Uncle will kill us?"

"He won't, Wang Wu will."

"..."

Wang Yu was silent for a moment.

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One's life cannot be entrusted to the benevolence of others. The struggle for the Family Head position is already fierce, and Wang Wu is unruly, often committing evil deeds such as riding horses to injure people and forcibly seizing commoners' daughters. There are also cases of Family servants being whipped to death. He is a notorious profligate young master in Shihu City.

Considering his performance today, it is within reason that he would settle scores if he gained power in the future.

"I understand. I will go pack my luggage now."

"No need to pack. The carriage is at the back gate and will take you to Qianqiu City to live out your life in peace."

"You're not leaving?"

"The Family elders will protect me. For a clan to prosper, how can it tolerate brothers killing each other? If you leave, my line will have no successor, and thus no threat to the position of Family Head."

Wang Yu fell silent again. Since his mother died in childbirth when giving birth to him, his relationship with Wang Chongwen had been very ordinary. Even though he had been known as a child prodigy since childhood, he had never received any praise.

Originally, he didn't care, but now that something had happened and a path had been arranged for him, he still felt a little moved.

Cultivation --- he will not give up!

"Father, I'm leaving."

"Okay, have a safe journey."

As the door closed, Wang Chongwen sighed deeply, opened his bloodshot eyes, and said softly to the memorial tablet.

"Rou'er, Yu'er has been exceptionally intelligent since he was a child. Even without cultivation Aptitude, he can live well. I hope he can live out his life peacefully in Qianqiu City and not be as useless as I am."

"It won't be long before I come to join you."

Wang Yu naturally did not know what happened in that room after he left, nor did he know that Wang Chongwen had already harbored the will to die, and the Aptitude test was just a fuse.

The spiritual testing was still ongoing, but Wang Yu had already boarded the carriage, preparing to travel far to Qianqiu City, away from the vortex of internal struggle within the Wang Family.

At the same time.

In a servant's room at the back gate of the Shihu City Lord's Mansion, a black-robed figure threatened in a hoarse voice.

"The Lingjiu Sect is just a third-rate force, its influence extending only to these dozen or so cities. The strongest person in the sect is only a Core Formation Cultivator. How can it compare to my Reverse Spirit Blood Sect?"

The Shihu City Lord's tone was cold and hard.

"The Lingjiu Sect is not as good as your Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, but this is Righteous territory. demon dao Cultivators are like rats crossing the street. If you want people, it's simple, buy them with spiritual stones.

"Ten spiritual stones for a five Spiritual Root, fifty spiritual stones for a four Spiritual Root. Three Spiritual Roots and above are not for sale."

The black-robed figure said somewhat angrily.

"Ten spiritual stones for a waste Spiritual Root? Why don't you just rob them!"

"Robbing? This price is already very generous."

The Shihu City Lord retorted.

"So what if they have a Waste Spiritual Root? Just throw them a quick Demonic Technique, squeeze them for twenty years, and the value created will be at least a thousand Spirit Stones. If you can't afford it, don't buy it; there are plenty of Demonic Sects that want them."

Upon hearing this, the black-robed man suddenly revealed a fawning smile.

"City Lord, don't be so hasty. It's our first transaction; you should at least let me feel out the bottom price.

"How about this: five Spirit Stones for a Waste Spiritual Root, forty Spirit Stones for a Mixed Spiritual Root. I'll take as many as your Shihu City has, how about that?"

The Shihu City Lord hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright, but your Reverse Spirit Blood Sect's Reversing Blood Pill, sell me one."

"No problem. If the City Lord can afford the price, I'll bring it next time."

"What's the price?"

"Five thousand Spirit Stones."

"We'll trade again during next year's Spiritual Root testing."

The Shihu City Lord was a Qi Training Great Perfection Cultivator. If not for Shihu City only having a Low Grade Rank One Spiritual Vein, he wouldn't have been the City Lord. Qi Refining Stage Cultivators have a lifespan of one hundred and fifty years.

He was already over ninety years old. If he sought Foundation Establishment after turning one hundred, there would be almost no hope of a Breakthrough.

A Qi Refining Cultivator wishing to Break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage needed the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill. The highest grade Foundation Establishment Pill sold for over ten thousand Spirit Stones, with demand far outstripping supply, making it almost impossible for someone like him to acquire one.

The Reversing Blood Pill was also a type of Foundation Establishment Pill, but of a lower Rank, offering much less assistance, at most increasing the chance by twenty percent. Failure would result in death and the dissipation of one's Dao.

He still wanted to give it one more try.

Of course, without a Foundation Establishment Pill, a Cultivator could still attempt to Break through on their own, but successful cases were rare. Over time, those with the means would acquire a Foundation Establishment Spirit Pill for assistance.

After the two reached an agreement, over a dozen Qi Refining Cultivators from the City Lord's Mansion swarmed out, capturing all the promising candidates from today's Spiritual Root testing who met the transaction criteria.

...

Night.

The wheels rolled over the uneven, muddy ground, causing the prison cart to shake violently. It nearly overturned when rolling over a stone. The gaps in the iron bars were extremely small, allowing only fingers to pass through.

Listening to the chirping of cicadas and croaking of frogs, and the chattering of insects and kingfishers.

Wang Yu awoke from his stupor, vaguely remembering that after leaving the Wang family, he was stopped at the city gate. A black shadow blew a breath at him, and then he fell unconscious.

"This—"

Wang Wu? No, the Spiritual Root testing wasn't even over yet. How could he possibly command the Cultivators of the Lingjiu Sect?

Looking around, under the moonlight, Wang Yu found several people beside him who had also participated in the Spiritual Root testing during the day—Waste Spiritual Roots and Mixed Spiritual Roots, all here.

There were ten prison carts in total, with over a hundred people imprisoned, all weak and powerless, as if they had been drugged.

The scenery outside was very familiar to him, it was precisely the origin of Shihu City's name—the Shi Lake.

It was a popular place for the noble clans and aristocrats in the city to go for spring outings.

The prison cart procession was connected by iron chains, with a black-robed man at the very front, pulling the cart with a demonic horse that had scales and horns.

Upon reaching the lakeside, a special whistle with three long and one short note sounded. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen black-robed figures leaped out of the water, instantly surrounding the prison carts.

Some people who had woken up like Wang Yu spoke with trembling voices, clearly showing fear.

"Who are you people? This is Lingjiu Sect territory! Abducting cultivation seeds is against the law!"

"Hahahaha, idiots."

"Falling into the hands of my Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, and you still try to threaten us with the Lingjiu Sect? Utterly foolish."

Wang Yu's heart stirred. As far as he knew, the Lingjiu Sect was located within the Taihu Spiritual Domain, where the water system was well-developed, with abundant fertile land and billions of Mortals.

The entire Taihu Spiritual Domain was Righteous Path territory, ruled by Sects, with territories planned around Spiritual Veins.

And the Demonic Path was in another adjacent region, called the Red Kite Demon Region. It sounded a bit eerie, but in reality, it was also a good place with mountains, water, and vast fertile land.

Beyond that, it was not something he could learn by reading books.

The Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, by its name, was clearly a Demonic Path Sect. Abducting this group of people, who knew what they wanted to do? It certainly wouldn't be to take them as Disciples.

Two words—unworthy!

Even a Demonic Sect wouldn't cultivate Cultivators with Waste Spiritual Roots; he saw this very clearly.

No one spoke again. After this group of black-robed Demonic Cultivators gathered, they all released their Magical Artifacts. Black cloth banners rapidly expanded under the enhancement of spiritual power, lifting all the prison carts into the air.

The sudden change startled many people into gasping, each one like a frightened rabbit,huddled together and trembling.

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This was the Taihu Spiritual Domain, full of Righteous Path Cultivators everywhere. Flying so conspicuously through the sky was no different from a drop of dark ink on white paper.

The two regions were separated by numerous border passes and dangerous lands, forming a barrier difficult for many Cultivators to cross. Flying directly like this would certainly not pass.

The Lingjiu Sect was located on the eastern edge of the Taihu Spiritual Domain, close to the Red Kite Demon Region. The nearest border pass was called the Black Mountain Pass.

To the left was the perilous Kuye Swamp.

To the right was the demonic Black Mountain Demonic Forest.

The Cultivators responsible for guarding the Black Mountain Pass came from various Righteous Path Sects in the eastern Tai Lake area, and the Lingjiu Sect was just one of the most inconspicuous parts.

There were also many first-class forces: the Thunder Fire Temple, the Bi Yun Sect, and the Looking Moon Palace, three powerful Sects with Nascent Soul Immortal Masters.

Within the border pass, there were Core Formation Immortal Masters stationed year-round.

However, the prisoners witnessed an extremely horrifying scene: this group of Demonic Cultivators from the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, led by a black-robed man who was only at the Qi Training Ninth Level.

After being stopped by a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the Black Mountain Pass, he smiled and showed a token, then offered a bag of Spirit Stones. Everyone stationed there seemed to turn a blind eye.

They just let them through!

They let them through!

Through!

No matter how the little rabbits cried and screamed, there was no reaction. Wang Yu's mood was heavy, feeling a sense of 'the wind whistles, the Yi River is cold'.

His past sixteen years, while not entirely smooth, had often brought joy. Now being abducted to the Red Kite Demon Region, he didn't know what fate awaited him. He could only pray he wasn't to be blood food for some evil creature.

Since leaving the Black Mountain Pass and fully entering the Red Kite Demon Region, everyone fell silent, their hearts heavy, with nothing to say.

The Demonic Cultivators responsible for escorting them distributed three large flatbreads and a bag of water daily, ensuring they wouldn't starve to death. Physiological excretion was supervised and handled when they stopped to recover their spiritual power.

They couldn't leave the line of sight. Several people tried to escape midway, but their legs were broken and they were thrown back into the prison cart, unable to get out again.

They could only excrete in the cart. Seeing this, Wang Yu reluctantly gave up his own little ideas. They flew like this for a full month.

The Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, they had arrived!

Wang Yu had never heard of this Sect's name before, but just looking at the scale of its mountain gate, his heart had already chilled by half. Nine giant mountains, like old tree roots, continuously twisted and undulated, soaring straight into the clouds.

There were large spaces between each mountain, connected by plank roads, iron chains, and cloud bridges. Pavilions, waterside structures, towers, and palaces were scattered artfully throughout the twisted peaks.

The center of the Nine Peaks was hollow, with a giant ritual-like object suspended within it.

At the twisted and colliding tops of the Nine Peaks was a blood pool, from which a nine-thousand-foot blood waterfall flowed down onto the ritual array, filling all the hollow patterns on it. At the center of the ritual array was a purplish-red palace.

It was extraordinarily grand and magnificent. At the base of the Nine Peaks, there were vast open spaces arranged with ancient buildings, almost none of which were constructed from ordinary bluestone and wood.

Golden bricks paved the ground, white walls were like snow, and there were carved Dragons and painted Phoenixes everywhere, all appearing exceptionally exquisite and elegant, completely different from the grim and terrifying image Wang Yu had imagined.

The Shi Lake City Lord's Mansion would be considered an ordinary building here.

Only the streaks of escaping light in the sky matched Wang Yu's stereotype; they were either rolling black mist or towering blood light.

The flying Magical Artifacts they controlled were varied: skull heads, spinal bone swords, yin corpse clouds, paper-man sedan chairs, coffin pillar of spiritual energys, and so on. A large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators traveled back and forth in the sky.

Qi Refining Cultivators were much simpler; they basically all used a piece of black cloth, which should be a standardized Magical Artifact uniformly issued by the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.

Wang Yu's heart burned with fervor. As long as he could get access to Cultivation Techniques, what did it matter if he was a Demonic Cultivator? He had no discrimination or preference for power; as long as it was useful, there was no difference.

Since the Demonic Cultivators had bribed the Cultivators stationed at Black Mountain Pass, he felt they wouldn't let them die directly; at the very least, they would have to create their due value.

There was no stop.

The black-robed Demonic Cultivator led them to the foot of the third peak from the left. The environment here was distinctly different from the base of the Nine Peaks and was enclosed, with Cultivators guarding everywhere.

“Brother Xu, you’re finally back. This time, you only brought a hundred people?”

Upon hearing this, the leading black-robed man finally took off his hood, revealing an old face crisscrossed with wrinkles.

“There’s no choice; the Spiritual Vein in Shi Lake City is too poor, so naturally, it produces far fewer Cultivation seeds. If we went to Qianqiu City, there would be at least five hundred Ling Nus.”

“Count them and take them all down.”

Ling Nu?

Unable to hear any more of the conversation, Wang Yu's cart was pulled to a group of stone houses. After their shackles were removed, they were released.

A plump, chubby middle-aged fat man spoke in a sinister tone.

“My surname is Duan; you can call me Manager Duan.

“From today onwards, you are Ling Nus of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. You cannot leave a single step until you have repaid your ‘purchase money.’

“If you perform well, it’s not impossible to shed your Ling Nu status and become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. Work hard.”

Manager Duan spoke for a while, explaining nothing, then left. Wang Yu's group of Mortals, who had not yet stepped into the threshold of Cultivation, were naturally powerless to resist.

Following the order, he moved into Stone House number eighty-three.

Beds, tables, chairs, stools… all furniture was complete, and there was also a small partitioned toilet. The bedding and square pillows were made of good quality brocade, no worse than the Wang family's living standards.

Although the windows and doors could be opened, they were fitted with iron bars, allowing only hands to pass through, just like a prison.

Not long after.

A Reverse Spirit Blood Sect Disciple walked along the path, throwing a basketball-sized cloth bag into each stone house he passed. He soon reached Stone House number eighty-three, gave Wang Yu an identical item, and walked away without a word.

Opening the cloth bag.

The first things that caught his eye were food and a water skin. Twenty steamed buns were still warm. Having not eaten today, Wang Yu was already very hungry and ate five in one go.

The filling had both meat and vegetables, savory and palatable, with a rich flavor, and each was thin-skinned and generously filled, even better than those made by the pastry chefs in Shi Lake City.

This kind of treatment gave Wang Yu more expectations for the status of a Ling Nu. After all, they were Cultivators, even Demonic Cultivators were not the savage, blood-drinking monsters depicted in novels and biographies. Stereotypes must be avoided!

As long as there are people, there are desires. To put it more directly, Demonic Path Cultivators are actually a group of Cultivators who take extreme and shortcut paths. Their desires are stronger, and material enjoyment is more prominent than that of the Righteous Path, and they are not ashamed to express it.

Even the treatment of a Ling Nu was better than what most ordinary people experienced in their homes.

Besides today's food, there were also two books inside, one thin and one thick.

The thin one recorded a lot of common knowledge about the Cultivation world, explaining the rules here and what Ling Nus needed to do.

It also marked a “purchase money” target for everyone, upon achieving which, they could be transferred to become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.

Wang Yu pondered each point carefully, committing them deeply to memory.

First written were the rules of the Shiwu Area.

【One: Daily from Mao Shi to Si Shi (5 AM to 9 AM), for two hours, twenty Qi Refining Cultivators will be responsible for answering questions.】

Whether it was questions about Cultivation or illiteracy, all could be answered. This was also the only time slot Ling Nus could leave the stone houses daily.

【Two: After breaking through to Qi Refining First Layer, Ling Nus must consume their own Cultivation to condense one liang of spiritual sand each month and hand it over to any Manager in the Shiwu Area.】

This clause was the true value of Wang Yu and others.

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Spirit Stone are the essence of heaven and earth formed by the natural sedimentation of Spiritual Qi gathering places between heaven and earth. The higher the grade of the Spiritual Vein, the more likely it is to produce associated Spirit Stone ore veins.

There are four grades: Low, Middle, High, and Supreme grade, which are also the most widely circulated currency in the Cultivation world. Due to high consumption, the output from ore veins alone is far from sufficient.

Thus, the role of Ling Nu came into existence.

If a Cultivator is willing to damage their own Cultivation, they can also manually create Spirit Stone, essentially printing their own money.

Early-stage Qi Refining Cultivators can only condense . Each liang of spiritual sand is equivalent in price to one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

The Spiritual Qi, which is incredibly pure for Qi Refining Cultivators, appears impure and chaotic to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Therefore, the higher the level, the higher the price of the Spirit Stone.

【Three: Once a Ling Nu has repaid one hundred Spirit Stone of “purchase money,” they can apply at the Manager’s office to become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.】

The Spirit Stone referred to here are naturally Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Converting at the value of one liang of spiritual sand equaling one Spirit Stone, in the most ideal state, it would take 100 months to repay, over 8 years. If you add the time for learning and entering the Dao and Breakthrough, it would be at least 10 years.

“I won’t be able to pay it off until I’m 26…”

Closing the booklet containing a large amount of common knowledge about the Cultivation world, Wang Yu took a deep breath, exhaling it after a long time.

Although the living conditions were good, when it came to Spirit Stone and wealth, he didn't believe the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect would be so kind. Theoretically ten years, but in practice, it could take twenty years.

As for the other thick booklet, it was the Qi Refining Stage Cultivation Technique given by the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. It generously provided nine layers, allowing one to Cultivate up to Qi Refining Great Perfection.

This gave all Ling Nus a psychological comfort, as if to say, “We have high hopes for you.”

With the most desired item right before him, Wang Yu abandoned all unrealistic fantasies. This was the main base of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, where their sect gate was located. Even though the Shiwu Area was remote, there were many Cultivators stationed there.

The probability of escape was negligible. The only way out was to comply with the Blood Sect's rules and become an Outer Sect Disciple; only then would there be a possibility of freedom.

Even if it was just a pie, he had to strive for it and move forward; there was no other way!