46: Chapter 46 There are so many geniuses

The flying boat landed steadily at the docking port outside Cangxuan City.

Su Yu walked off the deck with the flow of people.

The scene before him was so crowded that "a sea of people" felt like an understatement.

The vast bluestone plaza, which stretched beyond what the eye could see, was densely packed with young cultivators from all directions.

Today was the Cangxuan Sect's decennial grand ceremony for recruiting disciples.

As the only Nascent Soul sect governing this territory spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, the influence of the Cangxuan Sect was absolute.

Whether you were a direct descendant of an immortal cultivation family, royalty from some remote small country, or a rogue cultivator who had struck good fortune.

As long as you met the criteria, everyone could come here to knock on the Immortal Gate.

Directly in front of the plaza stood nine white jade spirit-testing pillars, each ten zhang tall.

Dozens of deacons wearing the white robes of the Cangxuan Sect stood before the spirit-testing pillars with stern expressions, maintaining order at the scene.

"Those with a bone age over twenty, step back."

"Those with below a Seventh-grade Spirit Root will not be tested and will not be accepted."

A deacon elder at the late Foundation Establishment stage hovered in mid-air, his voice wrapped in True Essence, echoing over the plaza like rolling thunder.

There was no room for negotiation; it was a cold, iron-clad rule.

Just these two rules alone instantly turned the faces of nearly half the people in the plaza ashen.

Many rogue cultivators and disciples from bottom-tier families who had traveled from afar burst into tears on the spot.

Some even knelt on the ground, begging bitterly for a chance to be an outer sect servant.

But the Cangxuan Sect's protecting disciples showed no mercy, directly casting spells to forcibly expel these unqualified people from the plaza.

In front of a Nascent Soul sect, without aptitude, one didn't even have the qualifications to sweep the floor here.

Su Yu stood in the long line, watching this scene calmly.

He thought of his younger sister, Su Yao, far away in the family.

Su Yao possessed a Sixth-grade Spirit Root.

In the Qianlong Su Family, she was the little princess surrounded by stars, and all the family's resources would be unconditionally tilted toward her.

But if she came to the Cangxuan Sect, according to the rules here, a Sixth-grade Spirit Root barely met the standard and could only enter the outer sect.

Outer sect disciples sounded glamorous, but in reality, they were bottom-tier cultivators who managed spiritual fields, raised spiritual beasts, and did dirty, exhausting work for the sect.

After a few years, they wouldn't even be able to squeeze out much time for proper cultivation.

Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.

Su Yu shook his head slightly in his heart.

Su Yuan not choosing to send Su Yao along was an extremely wise decision.

Talent, such a thing, needs an environment to be highlighted.

Being a top genius in a remote place and safely enjoying the foundation of a clan was far better than running to a big sect to serve tea and pour water for others.

The testing proceeded in an orderly manner.

The speed was fast.

Most people who passed the bone age screening saw the light of the Seventh-grade Spirit Root shine after placing their hands on the spirit-testing pillar.

These people were led aside by deacons with expressionless faces and issued wooden tokens for outer sect disciples.

Only when a Fourth or Fifth-grade Spirit Root occasionally appeared would a look of satisfaction appear on the deacon's face, leading them to the inner sect disciple area.

Su Yu stood in the middle of the line, his heart not panicked.

His aptitude in this lifetime was a genuine Third-Grade Spiritual Root of high quality.

He had originally thought that when he went up to test, that pure white Third-Grade Spiritual Root light would surely cause quite a stir in this plaza.

After all, in the Qingmu Market, a Third-Grade Spiritual Root was enough to make the entire family go crazy.

However, the reality soon dealt him a very realistic blow.

Just a few dozen positions ahead of Su Yu.

"Hum—!"

An extremely intense humming sound erupted from the central spirit-testing pillar.

Immediately after, a dazzling ray of light shot into the sky, even stirring the heaven and earth spiritual energy within a hundred zhang, forming a small spiritual energy vortex.

The entire plaza became instantly silent.

The late Foundation Establishment stage elder in mid-air, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, flashed, and landed in front of the boy being tested.

"Earthly Spiritual Root!"

The elder's voice was trembling.

As soon as these words were spoken, the plaza instantly exploded.

Earthly Spiritual Root.

In the classification of spiritual roots, First-Grade Spirit Root to 9th Grade Spiritual Root all fell within the standard of evaluation for Mortal.

But Earthly Spiritual Root and Heavenly Spiritual Root were peerless constitutions that transcended the shackles of grade.

Such people, even if they didn't actively cultivate, would have their cultivation naturally increase, and there existed no bottlenecks before forming a Golden Core.

Before everyone had recovered from the shock of the Earthly Spiritual Root.

On another spirit-testing pillar, another burst of light, pure to the point of being blinding, erupted.

"First-Grade Spirit Root!"

"Bone age fourteen, Qi Refining Stage 8!"

The deacon's announcement made the plaza boil over once again.

In the next incense stick's time, it was as if a hornet's nest of geniuses had been poked.

Two more Second Grade Spiritual Roots and three more Third-Grade Spiritual Roots were tested in succession.

Su Yu stood in the line, watching the young men and women ahead who were personally picked up by high-level sect members.

He clutched his chest, feeling speechless in his heart.

Good heavens.

He had saved up three hundred Fate-Defying Points and poured them all into aptitude, thinking he could walk sideways in the sect assessment.

As a result, he was directly thrown into a top-tier lobby that was the top ten of the whole server.

Rarely seen geniuses were all gathered here on this plaza today.

However, Su Yu did not feel discouraged.

This was the Cangxuan Sect, a Nascent Soul sect governing a territory of hundreds of thousands of miles.

Immortal cultivation families, dynasties, and even attached small sects within a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles would send their top seedlings here.

This was like the highest institution of learning among Mortal.

Who among those standing here was not a peerless genius selected from a pile of dead people or from hundreds of millions of Mortal?

It was normal for there to be many geniuses.

If a dignified Nascent Soul sect, recruiting disciples once every ten years, couldn't even see a First-Grade Spirit Root or Second Grade Spiritual Root, then the sect wouldn't be far from closing down.

"Being able to rank in the top ten among this group of monsters is not a loss."

Su Yu made an extremely objective evaluation in his heart.

He was very content.

After all, in his previous life, he had struggled immensely even to get a bottom-tier 9th Grade Spiritual Root.

A Third-Grade Spiritual Root of high quality was already enough for him to steadily touch the threshold of the Golden Core Great Dao.

The line moved forward slowly.

Finally, it was Su Yu's turn.

He walked to the spirit-testing pillar with a steady gait, his expression calm, without a trace of nervousness.

He raised his hand and pressed his palm against the cold white jade pillar.

There was no obstruction.

"Hum—"

A burst of extremely pure white light instantly lit up on the spirit-testing pillar.

The light climbed and steadily stopped at the scale representing high quality, without a hint of impurity.

The deacon in charge of testing nodded and made a note in the roster.

"Third-Grade Spiritual Root."

The deacon's tone was still quite polite.

After all, a Third-Grade Spiritual Root was enough to directly enter the inner sect, and perhaps he could even become an inner sect elder in the future.

But with the Earthly Spiritual Root and First-Grade Spirit Root as pearls before him, the Third-Grade Spiritual Root clearly could no longer cause any earth-shattering sensation.

"Bone age, cultivation."

The deacon picked up a dharma mirror and shone it at Su Yu.

The next moment, the deacon's originally calm expression suddenly stiffened.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and activated the dharma mirror again to confirm.

Two lines of writing appeared clearly on the dharma mirror.

Bone age: 11.

Cultivation: Qi Refining 7th Layer.

"Eleven years old... late stage of Qi Refining?!"

The deacon gasped, his voice uncontrollably rising by eight octaves due to extreme astonishment.

At this, the deacons and elders who had originally calmed down turned their gazes over.

Even the presiding elder in mid-air cast a extremely sharp gaze.

A Third-Grade Spiritual Root was indeed not as good as a First-Grade Spirit Root or Earthly Spiritual Root.

But an eleven-year-old at the Qi Refining 7th Layer represented something completely different.

For an ordinary Third-Grade Spiritual Root, reaching the 4th or 5th layer of Qi Refining at eleven years old was already extremely diligent.

For this youth to have such progress, either his Comprehension Ability was terrifyingly high, and his understanding of cultivation techniques far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Or, his physical meridians were extremely wide, and his affinity for heaven and earth spiritual energy was ridiculously high.

Regardless of which one it was, it meant that this youth's actual combat power and potential were definitely not inferior to those geniuses with Second Grade Spiritual Roots or even First-Grade Spirit Roots.

"Good, a good seedling."

An aged yet extremely deep voice suddenly sounded over the plaza.

An old man wearing a gray robe appeared beside the spirit-testing pillar, no one knew when.

There was no leakage of mana fluctuations from the old man, but the surrounding space was vaguely distorted because of his presence.

Golden Core Real Person!

The deacons immediately bowed respectfully.

The gray-robed old man ignored everyone, only looking at Su Yu with a gentle gaze.

"I am the Great Elder of the inner sect of the Cangxuan Sect."

"Are you willing to join my inner sect?"

This was not a question, but an extremely direct affirmation and acceptance.

Su Yu's expression remained normal, he cupped his hands, and performed a junior's salute very thoroughly.

"Disciple Su Yu pays respects to the Great Elder."

The gray-robed old man stroked his beard and laughed loudly, waving his large sleeve, and a gentle force lifted Su Yu up.

"Follow me."

...

Cangxuan Sect, Welcoming Peak.

This mountain peak floated in mid-air, with spiritual energy so dense it turned into rain.

Inside the main hall.

Including Su Yu, ten young men and women were standing in the center of the hall.

These ten people were the top ten with the best aptitude in this Cangxuan Sect opening ceremony.

One Earthly Spiritual Root, one First-Grade Spirit Root, three Second Grade Spiritual Roots, five Third-Grade Spiritual Roots.

Six men, four women.

The oldest was no more than fifteen, and the youngest was the eleven-year-old Su Yu.

The elder who brought them up had already left to process the admission roster.

Only the ten of them remained in the main hall for the time being.

In the storybooks of the cultivation world, the gathering of geniuses was often accompanied by arrogant provocations, cliché mockery, and illogical suppression.

But in this main hall, such things did not happen.

Those who could possess such heaven-defying aptitude mostly came from influential families or large forces with deep foundations.

From a young age, they had received extremely strict training in cultivation and education on clan interests.

They knew better than anyone.

Those who could stand in this room would all be the true core power layer of the Cangxuan Sect in the future.

Instead of making deadly enemies here for the sake of a few quick words, it was better to establish a good relationship as early as possible while everyone's status was the same and before grudges were formed.

In the cultivation world, having more friends was far better than having more enemies.

Geniuses often cherish each other.

"I am Chu Tiankuo, from the Donglin Chu Family."

The youth who tested the Earthly Spiritual Root broke the silence first.

He was fifteen, with a tall and upright figure, sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, without any haughty arrogance.

Instead, he cupped his hands at everyone in a very easygoing manner.

"In the future, while cultivating as fellow disciples, I hope for your care, fellow Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters, Junior Brothers, and Junior Sisters."

With someone taking the lead, the atmosphere in the main hall immediately became harmonious.

The girl who tested the First-Grade Spirit Root was wearing a light green long dress.

She had a pure and beautiful appearance, a gentle temperament, without a hint of coldness or arrogance, and she smiled back in return.

"I am Lin Wan'er, greetings to all fellow disciples."

Everyone announced their names one by one and greeted each other.

Everyone appeared very friendly.

When it was Su Yu's turn, the gazes of the other nine lingered on him for a moment without leaving a trace.

Eleven-year-old Qi Refining 7th Layer.

Among everyone present, Su Yu was the youngest, but his cultivation speed was second only to Chu Tiankuo, the Earthly Spiritual Root with the Ninth Level of Qi Refining.

This progress was enough to make everyone feel extremely strong respect in their hearts.

"I am Su Yu, from the Yue Kingdom."

Su Yu's tone was steady.

"Junior Brother Su's bone age and cultivation truly make us ashamed."

A youth with a Second Grade Spiritual Root sighed with a smile, his tone revealing a bit of sincere intention to befriend.

"Senior Brother, you flatter me; it is just a little bit of hard work and being fed a few more pills by the elders at home."

Su Yu responded with ease, and a few harmless pleasantries naturally dissolved this sharpness.

Ten top geniuses chatted happily in the main hall.

There was no intrigue, only a unique mutual appreciation and social interaction between geniuses.

Su Yu stood in the crowd, occasionally interjecting a word or two.

He looked at these fellow disciples around him, whose luck and aptitude were both dragons and phoenixes among people, and a faint smile flashed in his deep eyes.

The start of this lifetime was far more comfortable than he had imagined.