Soon, the children of the appropriate age in the village were lined up.
Seeing this, the woman waved her bare hand, and an exquisite desk appeared out of thin air. Under everyone's astonished gaze, she took out a fist-sized milky white stone and placed it on the desk.
"Let's begin. Place your hand on the stone and count to five. If the stone glows, it means you have a spiritual root and possess Immortal aptitude, and you can come with me to the Luo Yu Sect."
"You, step forward."
The first child in the line walked forward and placed his hand on the stone as required.
"This is my Xiao Hua, Xiao Hua, you can do it..." Beside him, the child's Mother waved excitedly. Seeing this, the Village Chief quickly came over to stop her from yelling. "Quiet, everyone quiet, don't disturb the Immortal."
Hearing this, the child's Mother quickly covered her mouth and stopped making noise, but her excited and hopeful eyes showed her tension at this moment.
Unfortunately, after counting to five, the stone on the desk showed no change.
"Not qualified, next." The woman spoke calmly, as if she had expected this.
Seeing this, the child named Xiao Hua was instantly at a loss. He stood rooted to the spot, tears welling up in his eyes. The Village Chief, quick-witted, quickly pulled him to his Mother's side.
"Mother..."
Tears immediately burst from Xiao Hua's eyes.
"It's okay, Xiao Hua be good, we won't learn that Immortal technique, we'll stay in the village. Tonight, Mother will make you your favorite braised pork..." Xiao Hua's Mother comforted her child. Although she felt disappointed, she couldn't let the child see it.
Soon, one child after another underwent the test, but without exception, the stone on the desk remained motionless, showing no change at all. The child named Xiao Hua had long since stopped crying. Seeing so many people like him, he didn't feel embarrassed at all now.
"It's glowing, it's glowing..."
Suddenly, a gasp came from somewhere unknown. Everyone looked and saw the milky white stone on the desk emitting a faint glow.
Everyone dared not breathe and stared intently at the child in front of the desk.
The woman in white seemed a little surprised. She tilted her head and looked at the young boy in front of her before speaking: "What is your name?"
"Replying, replying to the Immortal, my name is Wang Feng." The young boy bit his finger, feeling uneasy but not very excited.
"Haha, isn't that my good-for-nothing brat..." A scruffy-bearded Middle-aged Man laughed excitedly.
"Little brother, little brother, he actually succeeded..." Beside the Middle-aged Man, Wang Tong stared blankly.
"Wang Feng, qualified." The woman nodded and pointed beside her. "Stand next to me."
Wang Feng, however, shook his head repeatedly: "I, I... I don't, I don't want to Cultivation. I want to pass the imperial examinations and become a high official."
The woman was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment.
It was hard enough to find a child with a spiritual root, yet he refused Cultivation? Someone actually refused Cultivation?
Saying this, Wang Feng ran towards his father, causing everyone to burst into laughter. Wang Fu, who was behind in the line, knew that Wang Tong's younger brother had his own aspirations; he genuinely wanted to become a high official. As for Cultivation... Wang Feng had scoffed at the stories of Immortals he had told before.
He seemed to think the imperial court was the greatest, and Immortals came second.
"Brat, if you dare come back, I'll break your legs." Wang Feng's father immediately took off his shoe and threw it at Wang Feng, who was running back.
Wang Feng only paused for a moment before continuing to run back.
Wang Feng's father finally couldn't help himself. He took a few large strides, grabbed Wang Feng's arm, and slapped him on the butt with a "slap," making Wang Tong's eyelids twitch.
Wang Tong felt both annoyed and amused, as well as deeply envious.
He didn't succeed, but his younger brother, who didn't want to Cultivation, did succeed. Fate truly plays tricks.
In the end, Wang Feng succumbed to his father's tyrannical authority and stood crying not far from the woman in white.
Even the usually aloof woman in white was left between laughter and tears by this. It wasn't her first time testing the spiritual roots of mortals, but she found such a scene and such a little devil interesting, as it was the first time she had encountered them.
"Continue." She shook her head, almost failing to maintain her dignified posture as an Immortal.
Nearly thirty children of the appropriate age in Wutong Village had already gone through, leaving only a few at the back of the line.
"Xiao Pang, do you think we can succeed!" Wang Fu looked at the few people left ahead of him, feeling incredibly nervous.
"Fu Ge, you have to be confident." The Village Chief's Xiao Pang was easygoing and stout. "As long as you dare to think it, you will succeed."
Wang Fu rubbed his forehead and gave a wry smile.
Soon, it was Xiao Pang's turn.
Next was Wang Fu himself. He watched as Xiao Pang placed his plump hand on the pure white stone, so nervous that his palms were sweating.
Buzz!
The stone glowed.
"It's glowing, it's glowing! It's glowing again!" The villagers, who had been watching intently, were the first to notice.
"Village Chief, congratulations, Village Chief, your family is going to have an Immortal." Everyone naturally recognized the little Pang boy in front of the desk and congratulated the Village Chief one after another.
"Haha..." The Village Chief immediately laughed happily. "Not at all, not at all..." But he let out a heavy sigh in his heart. Earlier, seeing the second son of the Wang Family pass the test, his heart had been tightly clenched. If his own grandson didn't succeed, when the officials from the imperial court came later, his title as Village Chief might have to change hands.
"Fu Ge, look, I told you to be confident." Xiao Pang turned his head and looked at Wang Fu with a smile.
"Name?"
Hearing the beautiful Immortal's voice, Xiao Pang quickly turned his head. "Zhou Peng."
"Mm, qualified. Stand next to me." With the appearance of the second child possessing a spiritual root, the woman was no longer so surprised.
Those with spiritual roots are one in ten thousand. She had encountered ordinary county towns where not a single child had a spiritual root, and she had also encountered small mountain valleys where several children with spiritual roots appeared consecutively.
Spiritual roots are somewhat related to bloodline and region.
"Next one..."
Wang Fu took a deep breath and placed his palm on the stone. It was cold...
The time it took to count to five felt very long to Wang Fu.
He was incredibly nervous. It wasn't until the fifth count was finished that the white stone finally emitted a faint white light, truly faint.
"This, this... how is this counted?" Wang Fu looked nervously at this Immortal, whom he had never seen so beautiful before.
"If it glows, you pass."
Wang Fu felt this voice was the best sound in Wutong Village, no... the best sound in the entire county, the entire world.
"Thank you, thank you, Immortal."
He quickly stood next to Xiao Pang, his heart still pounding nonstop.
"Fu Ge, how does it feel?" Zhou Peng had a beaming smile.
"It feels great." Wang Fu really wanted to shout out to release the excitement in his heart. He knew that from this moment on, he also had a chance to be like the Immortals mentioned in the stories in the school books.
Slaying demons and devils, flying into the sky and Earth Escape.
Not far away, Wang Fu's father was even more excited, unable to close his mouth.
"Master Wang, congratulations, congratulations..."
"Haha..."
After a moment, the test ended. Apart from Wang Fu and the other two, no one else could make the stone on the desk glow.
The villagers looked at the relatives of the three children and offered their congratulations one after another.
The old Mr. from the school was also highly praised; the children in the village were all taught by him.
The old Mr. stroked his beard and smiled: "I was the one who gave these three children their names back then, and they have extraordinary meanings."
"What does the old Mr. say?"
"As the saying goes, 'A great roc rises with the wind in a day, soaring straight up ninety thousand li.'"
"Not bad, not bad. My boy is called Zhou Qi... It's a pity he wasn't chosen by the Immortal."
"Don't worry, if you can't seek Cultivation, you can still become an official and seek glory and wealth..."
...