The crowd slowly began to disperse.
Some parents looked relieved. Others hid their disappointment poorly. Children clustered together, comparing crystal colors and whispering guesses about who would be taken in by sects one day.
Lu Haotian walked a little behind the Lu Family group.
He didn't rush. He didn't drag his feet either. His steps were steady, like always.They reached the carriage area outside the City Lord's Office. Elders gathered in small groups nearby, their voices low but sharp.
"Five-element mortal root… what a waste."
"At least he has discipline."
"He won't go far."
Lu Haotian heard all of it.
He didn't react.
His maid did.
She puffed her cheeks and glared openly at the elders' backs, then quickly bowed her head when she realized what she was doing.
"That's rude," she muttered to herself.
Lu Haotian found that a little funny.
Back at the Lu Family estate, things changed quietly.
Not openly. Not officially.
But he felt it.
Resources meant for "talented children" might no longer reached his courtyard. Training schedules will list his name lower. Elders looking at him with disappointment.
The next morning
The news spread through the Lu Family early in the morning.
All children who had completed the spirit root test were to be allowed into the Lu Family Library to choose cultivation techniques suited to their roots.
the children who had passed the spirit root test gathered outside the tall stone building. The library stood quietly, dark wood and aged stone giving off a sense of pressure even before anyone entered. This was not a place for noise or play.
No servants were allowed inside.
Lu Haotian stood among the other children, hands behind his back, face calm. Without his maid beside him
This alone made many of the younger children uneasy. Some clutched their sleeves. Others whispered nervously to one another. Lu Haotian stood among them, hands at his sides, posture straight looking calm but deep inside him he is nervous.
Elder Lu Mingyuan stepped forward.
"You have all been tested," he said flatly. "From today onward, your path begins."
He pointed toward the library doors.
"Each of you may take two things. One qi circulation method to guide breathing, posture, and to improve your cultivationduring the qi Condensation stage. One combat technique suitable for practice without qi."Do not be greedy. Mortal-grade techniques only. Earth-grade techniques are not for you. Earth-grade techniques belong to the clan and will only be given if the elders decide you deserve them." Although he said so there were no earth grade techniques in the first floor of the library instead they are placed on the second floor protected by a tier 3 array can only be accessed through the old patriarch.
Some children stiffened at those words.
Everyone knew what that meant.
Earth-grade techniques were treasures. Even within the Lu Family, only true prodigies were given access to them. Geniuses like Lu Chenfeng and his twin sister. Heirs. Talents. The ones the elders placed their hopes on.
For the rest of them, mortal grade was all they could touch for now.
The library doors opened.
Inside, the library smelled of aged paper and wood. The scrolls and booklets were arranged neatly on long shelves. There were no jade slips here, only physical texts, many copied countless times over generations.
An invisible pressure reminded everyone that time was limited.
Most children rushed toward the shelves that matched their spirit roots.
"These are cultivation techniques for Qi Condensation, make sure you choose a technique that has a corresponding technique for foundation establishment, although ou are not there yet. What you take today lays the foundation, if not it will be difficult to change it or look for subsequent technique ."
Several children visibly disappointed.
Lu Haotian moved toward the section marked Qi Circulation Methods.
These were qi techniques. They help sense, gather, refine, circulate, and apply qi.
He browsed quietly.
Most of the booklets focused on a single element. Earth-based methods emphasized strength and endurance. Fire-based ones pushed the body harder, faster, rougher.
Lu Haotian skipped them and went to the section of techniques with no attribute.
With five mixed mortal roots, leaning too much toward any element would only make things worse. He started checking the non attribute Circulation method.
Moonlight circulation technique, can only be practiced when the moon is out.
Purple qi circulation technique, can only be praticed early morning when the first rays of the sun shun, he saw more but they all had limitation.
Near the corner of the shelf, he saw a thin and unremarkable, lay a gray booklet. Veiled mist technique.
He flipped through it slowly.
The writing was plain. The explanations even plainer.The cultivator actively draws qi enters the body like soft, invisible mist that quietly covers a valley. The mist spreads gently, then slowly settles and condenses into tiny drops of pure qi which is refined by the spirit root then settles in the dantian.
He could feel it this scripture might be better for him.
"This is ok" he thought to himself