109: Support and Hope

By the time Yue Wudao and his son finished their family reunion, it was already broad daylight, the time having advanced to the next morning.

Yue Henglong’s Martial Dao Aptitude was only average, and burdened by national affairs, he was barely over fifty years old, yet he looked much older than Yue Wudao; however, his ability to govern Yue Country so well showed his competence.

Yue Wudao explained their intentions, and Yue Henglong naturally cooperated enthusiastically. On the second day’s morning court, he directly announced a political decree: a nationwide census of infants, and a ban on abandoning or drowning infants across the country.

Thanks to Yue Henglong’s skilled governance, the current Yue Country was much stronger than the former Qian Country. As the saying goes, when the granaries are full, people know etiquette. In this era, with fewer displaced people, many infants were born; however, finding Immortal Seeds was still not easy.

Individuals with Spiritual Roots were innately weak here; even without natural disasters or wars, they would naturally die young and find it difficult to grow up.

Therefore, the order Yue Wudao issued was to require the decree to be distributed to all prefectures, followed by statistics on infants who were sickly and frail.

If the symptoms matched, they would investigate. Even relying only on martial arts, with their current strength, traveling between prefectures would only take a day or two.

As for those not screened, that was left to fate.

After all, the number of spots for crossing realms was also limited.

Two days after the decree was issued, Chen Cuo and the others waited for the results to be compiled.

However, while waiting for the situation to be compiled, everyone was not idle. Since they were in the capital city, they naturally started their investigation from within the city, thoroughly checking everyone, from high-ranking officials to peddlers. Anyone with similar circumstances was personally visited for inspection.

Chen Cuo indeed found one: Xue Lengning, the daughter of Xue Renchen, the current Minister of Rites.

When this girl was born, her mother died in childbirth, and after her birth, she had always been in poor health, suffering from chronic illness.

Now three years old, she still struggled to speak and walk normally, and many famous doctors had seen her but were helpless.

Given this, the few people traveled overnight. After entering the Xue Family and diagnosing her, it was confirmed that her Spiritual Root was bestowed by heaven, but she lacked Innate Spiritual Qi. Without Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to supplement and nourish her Spiritual Root, the Spiritual Root compensated with her own vital essence, naturally leading to her weak and frail condition.

If Xue Renchen hadn’t constantly used ginseng, fleeceflower root, and similar items to sustain his daughter’s life, Xue Lengning would probably have died prematurely.

After discovering this, the few people brought Xue Lengning back to the imperial palace and supplemented her Origin Qi with their own spiritual food.

Yue Henglong even promoted Xue Renchen to Right Prime Minister.

“What choice should this girl make?” Huang Chenyi said.

White Egret was using True Qi to nourish Xue Lengning’s body. After coaxing her to sleep, she placed a Spirit Testing Talisman on her forehead. Xue Lengning’s brows furrowed slightly, and she let out a soft hum.

The Spirit Testing Talisman was a Talisman used to test Spiritual Roots. It could be activated with just a wisp of True Qi and had almost no backlash.

The Talisman displayed two colors: deep yellow and vibrant red, both of High Grade quality. “High Grade Fire-Earth True Spiritual Root!”

A single Spiritual Root of Medium Grade or above is a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Two types are True Spiritual Roots, and three types can also be called True Spiritual Roots, but their quality needs to reach Medium Grade or above.

Spiritual Roots are divided into High, Medium, and Low Grades, referring to their affinity with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Those with High Grade Spiritual Roots can always absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi inadvertently. However, due to the unique nature of this place, they fail to absorb Spiritual Qi, instead depleting their own Innate Origin Qi.

In the Jueling Realm, the number of Immortal Seeds born is greater than in the outside world, but finding them truly requires a significant Opportunity.

Now that they had encountered one, neither White Egret nor Huang Chenyi had any reason to easily let it go.

White Egret wanted to ask Chen Cuo for his opinion, but still said first, “What are your thoughts, Fellow Daoist Huang?”

Possessing a High Grade Fire attribute Spiritual Root would undoubtedly make Artifact Refining and learning Artifact Refining twice as effective. Most of the Huang Family were Talisman cultivators, so Huang Chenyi was momentarily undecided. A Genius with a High Grade Fire-Earth True Spiritual Root was absolutely rare in the outside world, but here, if one was lucky enough, there might be Geniuses with even better Aptitude!

His main concern was not wanting to offend Chen Cuo. Instead, he turned to Yue Wudao and said, “This girl was found in Yue Du. What do you think, Brother Yue?”

Yue Wudao remained silent. As a Huang Family devotee, he naturally had to consider the Huang Family’s interests, both overtly and covertly, so he was quite conflicted for a moment…

“No need to contend. This girl is better off following Fellow Daoist Huang. Look!”

Chen Cuo suddenly spoke, pointing to Xue Lengning’s brow. A white rune instantly flashed there.

Although it was fleeting, with Chen Cuo’s guidance, everyone immediately noticed something was off. Huang Chenyi was even more incredulous, saying, “Talisman Spirit Affinity? Her Divine Soul is unusual!”

The trace of that rune was precisely the trajectory of the Spirit Testing Talisman White Egret had just used. Talismans embody the manifestation of the natural Dao. When White Egret used the Spirit Testing Talisman, Chen Cuo observed that Xue Lengning had passively imprinted a wisp of the rune, keeping it within her body.

He said, “I see this girl is a born Talisman Master Immortal Seed. She’s better off following Fellow Daoist Huang!”

“However, I see that this girl has an affinity with Old Brother Yue. How about letting her become Old Brother Yue’s disciple, Fellow Daoist Huang? What do you think?”

Huang Chenyi’s expression instantly darkened, as if he didn’t quite understand Chen Cuo’s meaning, but then he seemed to realize something and actually expressed his approval.

“Since that’s the case, let Brother Yue protect her. However, given this girl’s talent for Talisman Spirit Affinity, I think it’s best not to mention it in the Huang Family for now.”

After Huang Chenyi understood, he immediately instructed. His lineage only had four spots, but using one spot to build a good relationship with Chen Cuo was definitely not a loss.

White Egret was only slightly unwilling, but a forced melon isn’t sweet. Xue Lengning’s Talisman Dao Aptitude was good, and her future progress would definitely be excellent. Since Chen Cuo had already spoken, she was happy to do a favor.

Besides, Chen Cuo had also built a bridge between the Huang and Bai families, which was already not a loss.

For Xue Lengning to recover to normal, she would need to stay in Xueshan City for at least a year and a half to fully replenish her Origin Qi. Fortunately, the Immortal Seeds found are generally very young.

Cultivating a year or two later would not delay their Aptitude too much. Instead, healing the depletion of Qi and vital essence caused since childhood would be more beneficial for future development!

With Yue Wudao taking over Xue Lengning’s spirit replenishment work, Chen Cuo and White Egret were free. So, it was time to go home!

The Iron Eagle Gang’s renown was known to everyone in the entire Yue Country. People in Jianghu all spoke of its power.

Nearly thirty years had passed, and legends of Chen Cuo still circulated in Jianghu, saying that he was like a Divine Dragon, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, the number one martial arts expert in the world, far more influential than the former Martial Alliance!

It was also rumored that Chen Cuo and more than thirty beautiful women had retired from Jianghu, no longer bothering with worldly affairs.

Along the way, Chen Cuo heard several versions of “The Iron Eagle Chronicle.”

The Iron Eagle Gang’s main headquarters was now in Wuya Prefecture. A main city was barely enough to support a Gang.

As for the government, it could only turn a blind eye. Although Yue Henglong had reservations, he also knew that his own old father had gone with Chen Cuo to Great Snow Mountain to seek Immortality, so how could he take action against the powerful Iron Eagle Gang?

Moreover, according to rumors, the Iron Eagle Gang also had an Innate Expert.

So, as long as the Iron Eagle Gang did not interfere with court affairs, they would let it be!

When Chen Cuo heard this news, a glimmer of hope arose within him. He hoped the outcome would be as he expected.