"What?"
Tu Fang's words startled everyone, including Long Chen.
His intuition told him that this serious old man was definitely a powerful expert.
Furthermore, he could also sense that this man was extremely upright and trustworthy. All of the others were trying to pull him into their sects, but only he had yet to say anything.
That had piqued Long Chen's curiosity. He wanted to know just what level that old man's sect had reached for him to say such a thing.
"Elder Tu, we know that your sect is special, but with Long Chen's talent, this…" Someone opened his mouth to voice his confusion.
Tu Fang looked straight at Long Chen. "With Long Chen's battle strength, it definitely would be no problem to enter my Xuantian Monastery[1], but without a Spirit Root and with a deathly silent Dantian, he won't receive any grooming there. So entering my sect would be worse than joining one of your sects."
"What?!" Those Elders were all shocked; without a Spirit Root, how was he cultivating?
"Little fellow, excuse me!" One of the Elders placed a hand on Long Chen's shoulder. Long Chen immediately realized how he had to act and didn't resist. He let the Elder's spiritual qi circulate once throughout his body.
After that, that old man still was unwilling and examined it a second time before slowly letting go of Long Chen and shaking his head helplessly to the others.
"He has no Spirit Root, not even the lowest quality one. It'd be impossible to change!" The old man sighed.
In an instant, all the excitement of the other Elders was extinguished. The news that Long Chen had no Spirit Root hit them like a basin of icy water.
All their previous promises were immediately voided. Let alone the sect's daughter, he wouldn't even be allowed to join their sects.
Long Chen bitterly smiled. Now it had become troublesome. First, they raised me high in the clouds, and now they're immediately letting me go. Are they trying to make me fall to my death?
"Senior, if I go to the Xuantian Monastery, what kind of treatment will I get?" asked Long Chen. Now he no longer had any hopes of becoming a core disciple. As long as they accepted him then it was fine.
From what he heard from the others, this Xuantian Monastery was definitely different than the rest of their sects. His intuition told him that entering the Xuantian Monastery was his best option.
"Right, this junior is also a Pill Adept!" added Long Chen hastily as a bargaining chip.
Hearing that he was a Pill Adept, some interests sparked in their eyes again.
"If you join my sect, I can give you an inner disciple spot," proposed one of them hesitatingly.
Although that person opened his mouth, no one else did. Within a sect, inner disciples had an extremely special status.
The sect would spend a great deal of resources on them each year. But if they wasted that much on a disciple without a Spirit Root, it still wouldn't be that worth it even if he was a Pill Adept.
Although a Pill Adept had a special status, they could still be hired with enough money or you could buy medicinal pills directly. That was much more cost-effective than giving a Pill Adept the position of an inner disciple. Although he was a Pill Adept, it wouldn't necessarily be worth it.
None of them were from small starter sects. Otherwise, they also wouldn't have the authority over this land.
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"Thank you senior for your kindness, but this little one greatly wishes to join the Xuantian Monastery." Long Chen respectfully declined.
That person nodded. Although Long Chen had declined, his words were extremely polite, letting him at least know that he wasn't someone who didn't appreciate other people's kindness.
Since Long Chen was so resolute, Tu Fang finally sighed, "The Xuantian Monastery accepts new disciples once every three years. If you really want to, I can give you a registration card for this."
Long Chen rejoiced. As long as he could join in, it would all be fine. He trusted that with his abilities, he definitely would be able to take the first place.
The larger a sect was, the greater their foundation and hidden trumps were. That was the most important thing for Long Chen. What he lacked the most at this moment was such an opportunity.
"Senior, can I have three invitations? After all, we are three," said Long Chen with some embarrassment.
"This friend of yours doesn't need an invitation. He can directly join the sect, even becoming a core disciple," said Tu Fang.
Long Chen's eyes widened with disbelief. Wilde just blankly looked at Long Chen, not understanding anything that was going on.
Not only him, but the other Elders were also shocked. The Xuantian Monastery's selection of disciples was extremely strict.
"His body is special. It's somewhat similar to a senior in my sect, and I think that the senior will definitely be delighted when he sees him," said Tu Fang.
"As for your other friend…"
"This junior sister can be a part of my Skywood Palace." The beautiful maiden who had never said anything up to this point finally opened her mouth.
That beautiful maiden walked up to Chu Yao and smiled. "Junior sister, come back with me to the Skywood Palace. Your talent can only be best groomed in my Skywood Palace."
Chu Yao was startled and shyly looked at Long Chen. She shook her head. "I don't want to part with Long Chen, so…"
That beautiful maiden glanced over Long Chen and shook her head. "Cultivators must treat cultivation as the most important thing. How can you waste your talent just for love? Little fellow, she is a rare wood cultivator. You wouldn't have the heart to waste her cultivation talent, right?"
That beautiful maiden treated Chu Yao extremely warmly, but that warmth didn't transfer to Long Chen.
Wood cultivator? What was that? Long Chen was puzzled, but when she said that confusing thing, the others had all gasped.
"Junior sister, here is a piece of Earth Spirit Wood. Inject your source spiritual qi into it." That beautiful woman handed over a withered piece of wood that looked just like a short rolling pin.
Chu Yao received that withered wood with a bit of confusion. Seeing that everyone was closely watching, she became a bit nervous.
"Don't be afraid; I'm here. Try it," Long Chen gently comforted her.
Long Chen's voice caused Chu Yao to calm down. Closing her eyes, she made herself relax as much as possible. She slowly urged her Dantian's spiritual qi into the withered wood.
The 'source' spiritual qi was spiritual qi that came straight from the Dantian without passing through any acupuncture points. It was the purest kind of spiritual qi.
Chu Yao had only just begun when Long Chen and the others were all shocked by the change in the withered wood. A new shoot had mystically grown out of it.
That soft shoot slowly began to grow as she injected her source spiritual qi. When it grew to the size of three inches, a small flower blossomed from it.
A pleased smile appeared on that beautiful woman's face when she saw that small flower. This was all within her expectations.
The moment she had first seen Chu Yao, she had immediately sensed something since she was also a wood cultivator. She just didn't know how great her wood attribute energy was.
Seeing that a flower had blossomed, Chu Yao already had the qualifications to cultivate in wood attribute cultivation techniques. She had truly benefited this time, as wood cultivators were extremely rare, less than one in a million.
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Just as she was thinking about returning to the sect now, another soft shoot grew out of the withered wood, and a second flower bloomed.
Seeing that second flower, that beautiful woman's eyes immediately lit up, revealing her shock and excitement.
But that still wasn't the end. That soft shoot continued to grow, and a third flower bud quickly appeared.
"Cough, okay, your talent is not bad. Don't drain yourself. You should rest." That beautiful woman carefully pulled away Chu Yao's hand.
"Sister, I'm not tired, I can continue…"
"I know you can continue enduring for a while, but since it's your first time, it's not advisable to use that much of this kind of energy," said that woman solemnly.
"Yes, sister," assented Chu Yao.
"Junior sister, you really are pretty. My name is Hua Yu, and in the future you can call me sister Hua. With such a pretty junior sister coming, everyone will definitely be excited." Hua Yu was so pleased that she looked as if she had become younger.
"Congratulations Elder Hua. Your sect has grown once more," congratulated Tu Fang.
Tu Fang was extremely amicable with Hua Yu and had a great understanding of the Skywood Palace. It was extremely challenging for them to accept new disciples, and the birth of even a single new disciple was to be treasured greatly like one's own child.
"Hehe, thank you, thank you!" Hua Yu might normally do her best to remain calm and indifferent, but she was not able to conceal how excited she was now.
"Sister, I don't want to part with Long Chen." Chu Yao looked at Long Chen.
"Aiya, foolish sister, the Skywood Palace and the Xuantian Monastery are neighbors separated by just a single mountain, a stone throw's distance away. You can see each other whenever you want," smiled Hua Yu.
"Really?" asked Chu Yao.
"Of course. Would sister trick you? If you don't believe me, ask them. Am I telling the truth?" Hua Yu asked the other Elders.
"I'll testify that it really is separated by just a single mountain," swore one of the Elders solemnly.
"It truly is just a stone's throw's distance away," added another elder helpfully.
But for some reason, Long Chen sensed something odd between them. He was just about to say something when that beautiful woman walked up to Long Chen. She smiled and pulled against his arm, amicably saying, "Long Chen, if you really want the best for your junior sister, let her come to my Skywood Palace. You won't throw her away just from being separated a bit, right?"
"Senior…" Long Chen was startled by her intimate actions.
"What senior? Call me big sister. Calling me senior makes me feel old."
After saying that, her voice dropped to a whisper that could only be heard by the two of them. "Kid, if you don't accept, I'll have to humiliate you."
Long Chen strangely looked at that expert who was able to keep up on such a warm and tender face while threatening others so directly. He was silent for a moment.
"Long Chen, if Chu Yao doesn't go to the Skywood Palace to cultivate, it really would be a waste of such a talent." Tu Fang finally also couldn't help but give him some advice.
"Well, since you've already told us that it's just a single mountain apart, we can just see each other whenever we want," smiled Long Chen.
Only then did Hua Yu let go of Long Chen's arm and laughed, "Little brother truly is great! This is how a true man is!"
After praising him, she then gave Long Chen a glance. Kid, at least you aren't stupid.
Long Chen was speechless for a moment. Did all cultivators with high cultivation bases have something wrong with their brains? Or was it that the thoughts of experts were simply incomprehensible to novices?
In the end, Long Chen and Wilde decided to go to the Xuantian Monastery, while Chu Yao went to the Skywood Palace. They would leave in just a few days once all the details of the spirit stone mine were ironed out.
When Long Chen brought Chu Yao away, Hua Yu once more smiled like before and warned him quietly, "Kid, before Chu Yao reaches Xiantian[2], she must remain completely pure and untainted. If you dare mess around, I will cut you into dog food."
"…"