397: Chapter 398 Elder Ye is truly a kind and benevolent person!

"Everyone, there is no need to be nervous. Regardless of whether you have a Spiritual Root or not, the Ye family will treat everyone with courtesy.

Those with a Spiritual Root may enter the Ye family's outer sect to Cultivate, where they will be taught by the teachers of the clan; if you do not have a Spiritual Root, we will not blame you, and you may return home as usual.

The Ye family will never judge your worth based on the quality of your Spiritual Root, so please rest assured."

These words were taught to him by Ye Changge in advance. As he spoke them now, his enunciation was clear and round, and he possessed quite a bit of the Young Lord's bearing.

The parents off the stage, whose palms had been sweating with nervousness, clearly relaxed significantly upon hearing this.

Ye Pingan nodded slightly, lowered his head, and opened the first page of the booklet: "The first one, Ye Xiaoqiu."

As his voice fell, a little girl in the front row of the crowd, wearing her hair in double buns, walked out timidly.

She was about eight or nine years old, wearing a faded floral cloth skirt. Her face was round, her eyes were large, and at this moment, she was so nervous that fine beads of sweat had appeared on the tip of her nose.

She looked back behind her—a young woman in a cyan dress stood in the crowd. She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with delicate features. She was one of the maids that Ye Changge had redeemed from Baifang Tower in White Bird Market several years ago. Her surname was Chen, and everyone called her Mother Chen.

Seeing her daughter look back, Mother Chen quickly squeezed out a smile, nodded vigorously at her, and silently mouthed the words: "Xiaoqiu, come on."

Ye Xiaoqiu bit her lower lip, took a deep breath, turned around, and trotted up to the Spiritual Testing Platform.

The Spiritual Testing Platform was over a zhang high. It was nothing for an adult, but for an eight or nine-year-old girl, it was still a bit steep.

She climbed up using both hands and feet, causing a ripple of good-natured chuckles among the onlookers.

She stood before the white jade Spiritual Testing Pillar, looking up at the stone pillar that was much taller than her. She looked back at her mother off the stage, and as if to cheer herself on, she gave a heavy "Mn," then reached out her small hand and pressed it onto the smooth jade surface of the Spiritual Testing Pillar.

A warm, smooth sensation came from her palm.

She held her breath.

A few breaths passed.

The Spiritual Testing Pillar remained motionless.

Another few breaths passed.

The pillar still showed no reaction. No spiritual light lit up, the pillar did not change color, and not even a faint hum was emitted. It was so quiet that it seemed like just an ordinary stone pillar.

The crowd below gradually quieted down.

The anticipation on everyone's faces slowly turned into disappointment and sympathy.

Ye Pingan looked at the completely unresponsive Spiritual Testing Pillar and sighed inwardly, but he still tried to maintain a steady tone as he announced loudly: "Ye Xiaoqiu, no Spiritual Root."

As his voice fell, Ye Xiaoqiu's hand was still pressed against the pillar, not letting go.

She stood there blankly, the color slowly draining from her little face.

Then, her eyes suddenly turned red.

"...Mother..."

She let out a small, choked sound, but bit her lip tightly, not daring to cry out loud. Only large teardrops rolled down her cheeks.

Although Ye Xiaoqiu was young, she had grown up at the foot of Longmai Mountain, where she was constantly surrounded by terms like "Cultivate," "Spiritual Root," "Foundation Establishment," and "Core Formation."

She certainly understood—no Spiritual Root meant she could not Cultivate.

She couldn't Cultivate, so she couldn't fly through the sky or burrow into the earth like her father, couldn't patrol with a sword like those disciples in green shirts, and couldn't... make her mother proud of her.

The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. Tears fell in torrents, but she still bit her lip, refusing to make a single sound.

Seeing her daughter in this state, how could Mother Chen endure it?

Her eyes reddened, and she didn't care about decorum anymore. She rushed up to the Spiritual Testing Platform and pulled Ye Xiaoqiu into her arms: "It's okay, it's okay. Xiaoqiu, don't cry, don't cry... What does it matter if you don't have a Spiritual Root? You can still live well without a Spiritual Root, can't you?"

"But, but Mother..." Ye Xiaoqiu buried herself in her arms and choked out muffledly, "Xiaoqiu wants to, wants to be like those big brothers and sisters... holding swords, flying around..."

"Silly girl," Mother Chen hugged her tightly, her voice also a bit choked, but she tried her best to smile and said, "If we can't fly around, we can just keep our feet on the ground.

There is a large Spirit Medicine field behind Longmai Mountain. How about we go plant Spirit Medicine in the future? The Spirit Medicine we grow can also help those Cultivators, so that counts as being a part of the Cultivation world too."

Just then, a gentle voice came from the crowd: "Xiaoqiu, stop crying."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw two figures, who had arrived at the side of the Spiritual Testing Platform at some unknown time.

The man was dressed in a black robe, with a tall and straight posture and a face like jade. Between his brows, there was a natural air of gentleness and majesty. The woman was in a water-blue palace dress with her hair tied up in a high bun, her appearance gentle and beautiful. It was none other than Ye Changge and Lu Shiyin.

The two stood side by side. They did not deliberately release any Spiritual Pressure, but the natural aura of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator still caused the surrounding air to slightly congeal.

The crowd spontaneously cleared a path, and everyone bowed in salute: "Greetings, Ancestor Ye! Greetings, Lady Lu!"

Ye Changge nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the little girl on the stage whose eyes were red from crying, and his heart couldn't help but soften.

He stepped forward, reached out, took Ye Xiaoqiu from Mother Chen's arms, and gently picked her up.

Ye Xiaoqiu was held in Ye Changge's arms. She was stunned at first, then cried even harder, her tears wetting a small patch of Ye Changge's lapel: "Dad, Daddy... Xiaoqiu doesn't have a Spiritual Root... Wuwu..."

Ye Changge gently patted her back and said in a gentle voice: "Who said that you can't Cultivate without a Spiritual Root?"

Ye Xiaoqiu's crying paused, and she looked up at him with teary eyes, sobbing.

Ye Changge smiled and tapped her little nose: "Does Xiaoqiu know? In this world, besides the Dao of Immortality, there is also the Dao of Martial Arts. The Dao of Martial Arts does not require a Spiritual Root, only Qi, blood, and physique. As long as you are willing to endure hardship and put in the effort, you can still train to have great skills."

"Really?" Ye Xiaoqiu's eyes still had tears in them, but she looked at him with sparkling eyes.

"Of course it's true." Ye Changge bounced her up a little to make her sit more securely. "That Spirit Herb Garden behind the Ye family's mountain is just lacking a little manager who can run and jump and is also careful. If Xiaoqiu is willing, you can help Daddy look after that herb garden in the future. When those Spirit Medicines grow up and are refined into Medicinal Pills, wouldn't that be a big help?"

He paused, then smiled and said: "Besides, does not having a Spiritual Root mean one cannot be happy? Xiaoqiu likes to smile, and the way you look when you smile is much better-looking than those Cultivators who are always stiff-faced while they Cultivate."

Ye Xiaoqiu was amused by him and broke into a smile through her tears. Although there were still tear drops hanging on her face, she finally laughed.

The onlookers saw this scene and sighed in low voices: "Ancestor Ye is truly a benevolent person..." "That's why the Ye family is able to prosper."

Lu Shiyin stood by Ye Changge's side, watching the gentle way her husband treated the little girl, and a faint smile couldn't help but tug at the corners of her lips.

She softly transmitted her voice: "My husband is certainly good at coaxing children."