Chapter 2: Single Spiritual Root

A single, devastating thought consumed the minds of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou: they were utterly undone, having foolishly plotted their deception right before the proctor's eyes.

The eldest sister, Yun Zhi, seemed entirely oblivious to their scheme, offering only a passing glance before turning her gaze away to commence the trials.

It was readily apparent that she held immense authority among the disciples of the Seeking Dao Sect, commanding absolute and unquestioned obedience.

These disciples, who would be celebrated as absolute titans and paragons of talent in the outside world, obeyed her every word without a moment's hesitation or sloth, illustrating her exalted status.

"The skeletal root is the primordial gate upon the path to immortality; without it, no amount of resources can forge a cultivator. The first trial tests the root. Step forward in turn, and let those who lack confidence quietly depart."

Not a single soul stirred to leave.

Those who journeyed to the Seeking Dao Sect possessed a keen awareness of their own faculties, with few being so reckless as Lu Yang, who had merely come to try his luck because the sect happened to be near his home.

This initial sorting was designed precisely to filter out those who failed to meet the sect's rigorous standards yet hoped to slip through the gates by deceit.

Ordinarily, a colossal and unmistakable testing stone would be employed for such a task, but the empty expanse before the sect indicated that they had no intention of relying on such a device.

A disciple named Dai Bufan sat at the very front; his particular cultivation method allowed his spiritual energy to circulate through another's body, revealing their root, their techniques, and their fatal weaknesses, granting him a peerless advantage in battle.

Like an ancient physician reading a pulse, he placed two fingers upon a wrist and immediately discerned the exact nature of the applicant's skeletal root.

"A triple root of gold, water, and fire? It will suffice. Pass through."

"A dual root of water and fire. Quite excellent."

"A dual root of water and wood, though your foundation was once grievously damaged. You must have suffered a terrible trauma at the age of twelve, which should have left a permanent blight, yet your destiny prevailed; you encountered a master of profound benevolence who healed you with exquisite artistry, completely restoring your foundation."

The young man was struck with awe, astonished by the sheer precision of the diagnosis: "In my twelfth year, my mother passed, and my stepmother seized absolute power. Fearing my presence would threaten her own son's inheritance, she conspired against me. I fell into a deep coma, and when I awoke, I was entirely whole. My father told me a passing master had saved my life and departed without leaving a name."

As the young man moved on, the other disciples stepped forward to congratulate Dai Bufan on his spiritual advancement: "To deduce the entire tapestry of past events from a mere touch of the pulse, as though you witnessed it yourself! Senior Brother Dai's cultivation has truly reached new heights; this demands celebration!"

Dai Bufan replied with utter nonchalance: "Oh, it is nothing. I was that passing master. I was merely in a hurry that day and forgot to leave my name after saving him."

"..."

Even as they spoke, Dai Bufan waved away the next applicant: "Eighteen years of age. You have exceeded the limit. Return home."

A young monk of endearing countenance, guided by an elder monk, stepped before Dai Bufan and bowed with meticulous reverence.

Dai Bufan cast a brief look and casually shoved the boy back toward the elder: "What business does a novice from the Hanging Temple have here? You bear the brand of your temple's abbot within you. Begone, return to your sanctuary."

"I recall the Hanging Temple is one of the five great immortal sects?" Lu Yang murmured softly to Meng Jingzhou.

Meng Jingzhou nodded, his expression turning grave: "The Hanging Temple possesses the fewest disciples among the five great sects. At its lowest, it held only the abbot and a single pupil, and even at its peak, the number never exceeded ten. This young monk has yet to begin true cultivation, yet he is already a chosen disciple; his Buddhist nature must be unfathomably deep."

He watched the young novice being led away by his senior brother, as though facing a mortal foe: "I once believed that I alone would reign supreme over the future cultivation world, but it seems there are indeed those qualified to be my rivals."

Lu Yang could only wonder where Meng Jingzhou derived such boundless confidence: "Are you not even the slightest bit worried that Lady Yun Zhi will cast us out?"

"What is there to fear? Have you never read the popular chronicles? The great sects are always blind to genius, casting out the brilliant youth under false pretenses. The young genius views this as a profound humiliation, steels his resolve, encounters endless miraculous fortunes, soars to the heavens, and becomes a being the great sect must look down upon—ah, no, look up to."

Lu Yang remained silent for a moment before offering a gentle correction: "...But it seems Lady Yun Zhi has no need to falsely accuse us."

"True enough."

And with that, Meng Jingzhou finally succumbed to panic.

"The breath within you flows continuously, circulating of its own accord. Your attire suggests you do not hail from a clan of cultivators; did you perhaps consume an Azure Wood Immortal Fruit by chance in your youth? Pass through."

"Oh? Your constitution is rather intriguing." Dai Bufan placed his fingers upon a burly youth with bronze skin, his eyes instantly lighting up. "The bloodline of the ancient Barbarian Clan. It has been quite a long time since I last beheld one."

The youth was built like a mountain, his shaven head gleaming brightly as it reflected the brilliant sunlight. Judging by his visage, one might easily believe him to be twenty-five or six, yet Dai Bufan raised no objection regarding his age, proving he had not yet reached sixteen.

Lu Yang could only marvel silently at such prodigious physical development.

A low murmur rippled through the crowd; the ancient Barbarians were once capable of uprooting mountains and swallowing the sun and moon, reaching the absolute zenith of prosperity before vanishing into the long river of time.

The Central Continent had not seen a bearer of the Barbarian bloodline for an age, and most believed the lineage extinct, yet one had miraculously manifested here in the trials of the Seeking Dao Sect.

Dai Bufan stifled a yawn. He had already examined half the crowd, yet he had not encountered a single pure root; he wondered if they had all been plundered by rival sects.

Meng Jingzhou stepped forward with grand assurance. Dai Bufan harbored little expectation, but the moment his index and middle fingers touched the youth's wrist, his eyes widened into perfect circles, and he surged to his feet with a sudden start: "It is actually a single..."

Hearing Dai Bufan's sudden exclamation, a tempest of whispers erupted among the onlookers. A single spiritual root!

What did a single root signify? The bottlenecks of every realm would yield far more easily to them than to others, marking them as a guaranteed grand cultivator of the immortal path, destined to hold high office in court or rule over a vast domain as an independent sovereign in the wilderness!

Every gaze converged upon Meng Jingzhou with burning intensity; to forge a bond with such a figure early on offered nothing but boundless benefits.

The elders quickly whispered to their kin, commanding them to establish a firm friendship with Meng Jingzhou the moment they entered the sect.

A scion of the Meng family, a single root, and a disciple of the Seeking Dao Sect—these three identities combined ensured he would become a figure of immense authority within the sect, a legendary cultivator whose name would endure through the annals of history!

"A single-life spiritual root," Dai Bufan concluded, completing the full title, and an absolute silence fell over the grounds.

Meng Jingzhou flew into a towering rage. What manner of absurd thing was a single-life root? Did it mean he was destined to remain single for the rest of his days!

"My knowledge may be limited, but do not mock me!" The veins on Meng Jingzhou's forehead throbbed violently as he slammed his hand against the table in a display of profound fury.

"Junior Brother Dai, do not toy with others." A voice as ethereal as a celestial immortal drifted through the air as Yun Zhi materialized from a shroud of mist, casting a stern glare at Dai Bufan, who instinctively shrank back in guilt.

Meng Jingzhou finally calmed his raging thoughts. Indeed, Dai Bufan must have been spinning a cruel jest.

Yun Zhi then turned her gaze toward Meng Jingzhou: "However, Junior Brother Dai did not deceive you. You do possess a single-life root, which is its scholarly designation. It is simply that within the cultivation world, people are far more accustomed to its common name: the Pure Yang Root."

Meng Jingzhou froze into absolute silence.

He finally understood why the elders of his clan and his own parents had stubbornly withheld the truth of his root from him.

They had told him he would understand upon reaching the five great sects, but in truth, they were simply too embarrassed to utter the words themselves!

No wonder his parents had anxiously inquired, shortly after his root was tested, whether he would prefer a younger brother or a sister.

A mutated single root, the Pure Yang Root, forged of absolute rigidity and pure light, the ultimate nemesis of all specters and phantoms.

To maintain the virgin vessel of pure Yang meant one's cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds; to shatter it meant one's power would dissolve like water down a precipice.