40: Chapter 40 Third-Grade Spiritual Root!

Time in the world of cultivation passed extremely quickly amidst the deep slumber of an infant.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this month, Su Yu spent the vast majority of his time with his eyes closed in deep sleep.

It was not that he was deliberately feigning it, but rather that the physiological limitations of his mortal flesh restricted his consciousness from remaining awake for long periods.

Today was the day of Su Yu's one-month celebration.

According to the ironclad rules set by the Qianlong Su Family, all family descendants were required to go to the Internal Affairs Hall on their one-month birthday for bone and blood spirit testing.

Early in the morning, Madam Liu changed into a simple yet elegant palace dress, wrapped Su Yu in a warm spirit-fox fur swaddle, and walked out of the courtyard accompanied by two maids.

Sixty years had passed.

The Qianlong Su Family of today had long since encompassed the entire Qingmu Market as their inner family city.

On the bluestone path leading to the Internal Affairs Hall, cultivators and servants wearing Su Family attire could be seen everywhere.

Arriving at the spacious plaza in front of the Internal Affairs Hall, dozens of women holding infants, along with accompanying family men, had already gathered there.

The Su Family had been propagating for sixty years, and their population base was massive.

Every month, there were quite a few infants reaching their one-month milestone.

Madam Liu held Su Yu and stood quietly at the edge of the crowd.

Although she was a concubine of the Ancestor Su Yuan, in the current Su Family, where rules were strict and factions were numerous, a concubine at the fifth level of Qi Refining was not enough to allow her to stand tall before this group of direct-line descendants and the wives of powerful elders.

Furthermore, the Ancestor Su Yuan had been in seclusion at the Ancestral Peak for years, and hadn't even shown his face when this youngest son was born.

In the eyes of many, this was a signal of falling out of favor.

In the center of the Internal Affairs Hall stood a spirit-testing bead crafted from a second-grade low-tier magical artifact.

The person responsible for the spirit testing was a Deacon Elder at Qi Refining Stage 8.

"Next, direct descendant of the second branch, son of Su Changming."

The Deacon Elder flipped through the roster, his voice calm.

A woman wearing a luxurious, embroidered long dress walked forward with a face full of arrogance, surrounded by several maids.

She was the mistress of the second branch.

The woman gently pressed the palm of the infant in her arms onto the crystal-clear spirit-testing bead.

The Deacon Elder cast a spell.

Inside the spirit-testing bead, there was initially dead silence.

A few breaths later, a faint glimmer, not particularly bright but undeniably real, slowly lit up at the bottom of the bead.

The glimmer climbed and finally stopped at the second mark on the bottom of the spirit-testing bead, the light mixed with some dim, impure colors.

"There is spirit light!"

The Deacon Elder straightened his expression and announced loudly: "Rank 8 Spirit Root!"

A gasp of air immediately echoed throughout the plaza.

Rank 8 Spirit Root!

Although it belonged to the same low-tier spirit root category, in such a remote foundation-establishment family, the ninth grade was the norm for the vast majority of people.

Being able to test for a Rank 8 Spirit Root meant that as long as this child cultivated step by step, they would at least be able to reach the late stage of Qi Refining in the future and become a powerful steward of the family.

"Congratulations, Second Madam!"

"The second branch has added another cultivation seedling, and with Rank 8 aptitude, they will surely achieve great things in the future."

Several stewards and female relatives from collateral branches immediately crowded forward, their faces filled with ingratiating and envious smiles.

At the bottom of the cultivation world, aptitude is status.

The Second Madam lifted her chin slightly, her eyes full of undisguised pride, and casually grabbed a handful of fragmented spirit stones to reward the servants nearby, fully displaying the extravagance of a direct-line mistress.

The testing continued.

For the next dozen or so infants, the spirit-testing bead showed no reaction at all; they had no spirit roots.

Occasionally, one would light up with a faint glow, but it was nothing more than the worst-quality ninth grade.

By contrast, the second branch infant who had tested for a Rank 8 Spirit Root stood out even more, drawing an endless stream of compliments from those around.

"Next, concubine of the Ancestor, son of Madam Liu."

When the Deacon Elder read this name, his tone paused slightly, and there was a hint of respect in his expression, though not much.

After all, the Ancestor had too many offspring.

Su Yuan kept firmly in mind his father's teaching from back then: "Many children, many blessings; propagate the bloodline."

Over these sixty years, he had taken in many wives and concubines, and his descendants had branched out and spread, with their number already exceeding one hundred.

But behind this frantic propagation lay Su Yuan's extreme anxiety.

The Qianlong Su Family appeared prosperous, but in reality, it was all being propped up by him alone.

Back then, besides himself, the one with the best aptitude in the family was the child left behind by his eldest brother, Su Cheng.

Elder Su Changxun, who had a Seventh-grade Spirit Root!

The family exhausted all resources to cultivate him, and Elder Su Changxun did not disappoint, cultivating all the way to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

But when facing the life-and-death barrier of foundation establishment, he retreated.

These sixty years in Qingmu Market had been too comfortable.

Under the protection of Su Yuan's wings, the family descendants had not experienced the despair of the escape from Black Wind Valley back then, nor did they have that "succeed or die" determination.

Without the protection of a foundation establishment pill, attempting foundation establishment without a pill was a life-or-death gamble with nine deaths for every life.

After passing the sixty-year-old blood energy red line, Elder Su Changxun's physical functions began to decline, and he completely lost the qualification to risk his life, so he could only become a powerful Deacon Elder in the Internal Affairs Hall and live out his remaining years in peace.

This incident gave Su Yuan a great stimulus.

He finally realized that in a comfortable family environment, it was very difficult to force out another madman like he had been back then, who dared to gamble his life.

If he wanted the family to produce another foundation establishment cultivator, there were only two ways.

Either go out into the cutthroat world of cultivation and snatch a genuine foundation establishment pill.

Or, give birth to an unparalleled genius whose aptitude far exceeded the seventh grade and who could cross the natural chasm with a very high probability based on their own innate root.

Therefore, for these sixty years, Su Yuan had been constantly reproducing, as if engaging in a high-stakes gamble with no hope in sight.

Madam Liu was just a very ordinary chip in this high-stakes gamble.

Precisely because of this, the Deacon Elder had long been accustomed to the results of the Ancestor's offspring testing as Rank 8, ninth grade, or even mortal, and his mindset had long since become numb.

Madam Liu took a deep breath, hugged Su Yu tightly in her arms, and braving the disparaging or casual gazes of those around her, walked to the spirit-testing platform.

She carefully lifted Su Yu's small, fair hand and pressed it against the surface of the spirit-testing bead.

The Deacon Elder skillfully cast a spell.

In the swaddle, Su Yu quietly opened his eyes, looking at the familiar spirit-testing bead in front of him.

He did not struggle with infant instincts, but simply let the spell draw out the spirit root phenomenon from within his body.

The next breath.

"Hum —"

An extremely dull yet seemingly tangible trembling sound suddenly spread across the plaza of the Internal Affairs Hall.

Inside the spirit-testing bead, there was no process of slow climbing.

A mass of extremely pure, blinding white light without any impurities instantly filled every corner of the spirit-testing bead with an extremely overbearing posture.

The light was too intense.

The crowd that had originally been fawning over the second branch mistress was subconsciously blinded by this intense light, and they all raised their hands to block it.

"Crack."

An extremely crisp cracking sound rang out across the quiet plaza.

The surface of the spirit-testing bead, crafted from a second-grade low-tier magical artifact, had actually cracked, unable to withstand this terrifying spirit root resonance.

The Deacon Elder was stunned.

He maintained the posture of casting the spell, his whole body frozen in place, staring fixedly at the spirit-testing bead that was on the verge of shattering.

His Adam's apple rolled with difficulty, and his legs uncontrollably went weak.

"Thump."

This Deacon Elder at Qi Refining Stage 8 fell directly to the ground.

Pointing at the pure white spirit light that had broken through all the scale limits, his voice, due to extreme shock, distorted into a sharp roar.

"Third, Third-Grade..."

"Top-grade, Third-Grade Spiritual Root!!!"