Yu Xian immediately raised his hands high.
Imitating the disciple ceremony taught by the village's only old scholar to the children, he bowed respectfully and said, "Disciple thanks the senior for the guidance!"
"Rise."
Quan Dao waved his hand indifferently.
Whoosh!
The wind and snow scattered, and a slender object, about two zhang long, appeared out of thin air in the courtyard. It floated motionlessly, shimmering with a faint tri-colored glow.
"Get on."
Quan Dao stepped into the air and walked to the front of the boat.
"Yes."
Yu Xian walked over and, with a leap, boarded the boat as well.
Quan Dao's expression was cold.
He was actually very reluctant to come this time.
Today was supposed to be the last day, and after the New Year, the promise would expire.
By then, the Ascension Token would naturally return.
But unexpectedly, the Ascension Token gave him a sense of awakening in the last two hours!
Cultivators take promises seriously, as breaking them could leave a heart demon, greatly hindering future cultivation.
Especially since this was a promise from the White Cloud Sect.
He could only come with anger in his heart to fulfill the promise.
His anger stemmed from two reasons: one, the promise itself; and two, the fact that a spot for the Ascension Token was wasted!
Later, when he brings this child back to the White Cloud Sect to test his spiritual root and bone, if they are excellent, it would be a different matter. If they are trash, he would just toss him aside!
"Let's go."
Quan Dao thought indifferently, uttering just one word.
In an instant, the long boat soared into the sky, flying hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, like a meteor falling in reverse, turning into a streak of light and disappearing into the horizon.
Yu Xian sat obediently inside the boat, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the immense speed, his chest tight for quite a while until the speed finally stabilized, allowing him to gradually recover.
He couldn't help but stick his head out to look around.
The earth was hazy, the mountains rugged, growing ever smaller.
As for Great Elm Village, and even the entire Annan County, they had long disappeared, no longer visible.
Yu Xian silently watched for a while, then retracted his head, slowly closing his eyes, waiting for the unknown to come.
***
The long boat was extremely fast, but even at such speed, it still took nearly four hours before it began to slow down.
Ahead, a massive mountain, the likes of which Yu Xian had never seen, stood before him!
Under the moonlight, the mountain towered into the clouds, majestic and grand, surrounded by countless white clouds, with various wondrous lights occasionally appearing.
This was the White Cloud Sect!
"We're here."
The long boat landed before the mountain gate of the White Cloud Sect. Quan Dao waved his hand to collect the boat and said indifferently, "Follow me."
Yu Xian hurriedly followed.
"Greetings, Elder Quan!"
"Salutations, Elder Quan!"
"Disciple greets Elder Quan!"
As they walked, various disciples they passed, regardless of age, all stopped to bow and speak respectfully upon seeing Quan Dao.
Clearly, Quan Dao held a high status within the White Cloud Sect.
Quan Dao ignored them, continuing forward, quickly bringing Yu Xian to a grand hall.
"Senior Brother Wang! Are you cultivating?"
The grand hall was quite empty, and as soon as Quan Dao entered, he called out.
"Even if I were, you would have woken me up! Aren't you afraid of disturbing my cultivation and causing me to go mad!?"
A slightly aged voice responded, and an old man with a displeased expression emerged from a side hall.
Quan Dao waved his hand and said, "Let's not chat idly. Come, test this child's spiritual root and bone."
As the old man approached, his figure became clear, revealing a hideous and terrifying face before Yu Xian!
The old man had no eyebrows, and his entire face seemed to have been slapped by a bear, covered in scars, extremely frightening!
His triangular eyes gleamed with a cold light as he glanced at Yu Xian, approaching while saying, "Oh? Did you find a promising seedling? Bringing him here to test his spiritual root and bone before the sect's disciple recruitment time?"
Yu Xian felt a chill under the old man's gaze, more terrifying than being stared at by a tiger in the mountains. He forced himself to stand still despite his fear.
"It should be decent. Use the testing stone to check."
Quan Dao nodded with a faint smile, his gaze gradually becoming serious. To awaken the Ascension Token, the spiritual root and bone must be good!
In the world of cultivation, perseverance, intelligence, comprehension, and willpower can all be considered talents.
But the most important of all is always the spiritual root and bone!
Without a good spiritual root and bone, even possessing all other talents, the path of cultivation would be extremely rugged and difficult, possibly leading to an early demise.
However, with a good spiritual root and bone, even if all other talents are mediocre, one could still reach a considerable realm!
Perhaps there are exceptions, like a strong cultivator with poor spiritual root and bone who reaches a high realm through other talents.
But such cases are extremely rare.
In the world of cultivation, spiritual root and bone are the primary criteria for selection!
"Kid, if you caught Elder Quan's eye, you must be a rough gem."
The old man looked at Yu Xian, revealing a terrifying smile, and with a wave of his hand, a five-colored stone appeared before Yu Xian.
"Place your palm on the stone."
Yu Xian looked at the giant stone before him and placed his hand on it.
The stone immediately emitted a dim green light, flickering continuously.
Quan Dao's faint smile froze instantly.
The old man's smile vanished, replaced by displeasure as he said, "Junior Brother Quan, a low-grade Wood Spiritual Root, and you made such a fuss to bring him here to test his spiritual root? Your judgment isn't great."
With that, the old man waved his hand, collected the testing stone, shook his head, and turned back to the side hall.
"Low-grade Wood Spiritual Root."
Quan Dao stood there, his face alternating between green and white. After a moment, he turned to Yu Xian with disgust and said, "Such trash aptitude, and it awakened the Ascension Token? What a waste of a spot! You are only fit to cultivate in the Outer Sect. Your Ascension Token spot will be given to a true genius!"
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".
Yu Xian pressed his lips together, saying nothing.
He was originally a mortal, and it was his mother who used her spirit and life to shape his spiritual root and bone!
This is not just a spiritual root and bone; it is his mother's life!
It is by no means trash!
But Yu Xian kept these thoughts to himself, holding them in his heart.
Seeing Yu Xian lower his head in silence, seemingly with a stubborn intent.
Quan Dao's disgust deepened, and he sneered, "Let's go. Since you're here at the White Cloud Sect, I can't just send you away. You can go to the Hundred Mines Workshop to cultivate."
The White Cloud Sect's Outer Sect has six workshops.
Spirit Herb Workshop.
Spirit Beast Feeding Workshop.
Law Enforcement Workshop.
Alchemy Workshop.
Weapon Forging Workshop.
Hundred Mines Workshop.
Tens of thousands of Outer Sect disciples of the White Cloud Sect cultivate and work in these six workshops, providing countless resources for the Inner Sect disciples and elders!
The seemingly carefree world of cultivation is actually strictly hierarchical!
And the Hundred Mines Workshop, where Quan Dao wants Yu Xian to go, as the name suggests, is where the White Cloud Sect's mines are located.
A great sect needs to support many Inner Sect disciples, elders, grand elders, and the sect master, so it naturally requires countless resources.
The Spirit Herb Workshop grows herbs.
The Spirit Beast Feeding Workshop raises spirit beasts.
The Alchemy Workshop refines elixirs.
The Weapon Forging Workshop forges materials.
The Hundred Mines Workshop, naturally, mines various veins and spirit stone veins!
Likewise, the Hundred Mines Workshop is the most laborious place, and few Outer Sect disciples of the White Cloud Sect want to go there.
But without power, influence, or background, and without anyone to look after them, many Outer Sect disciples naturally can only go to the Hundred Mines Workshop, working hard to mine spirit stones while diligently cultivating the sect's teachings.
Yu Xian understood from Quan Dao's disdainful gaze that the Hundred Mines Workshop was probably not a good place.
But he had no choice now.
So Yu Xian nodded and said, "Thank you, senior."
Quan Dao's lips curled into a cold smile.
This waste probably doesn't even know what kind of place he's going to, right?
Turning with his hands behind his back, Quan Dao led Yu Xian out of the Spiritual Root Testing Hall and headed straight for the Hundred Mines Workshop's grand hall.
The Hundred Mines Workshop's grand hall was bustling, with various disciples returning from the teleportation array and others heading to different mining veins.
"Oh, Elder Quan!"
As soon as Quan Dao entered the grand hall with Yu Xian, a middle-aged man hurried over, full of flattery, "What brings you here tonight?"
Quan Dao said indifferently, "I'm bringing you someone."
The middle-aged man naturally saw Yu Xian and immediately bowed with a smile, "Elder Quan personally bringing someone to the Hundred Mines Workshop, I will naturally take care of him. Rest assured, Elder Quan..."
"Dare you show favoritism!?"
Quan Dao suddenly shouted, startling the man into a shock, and said coldly, "I have no relation to him. Just arrange things as usual!"
The man's eyes darted, and he quickly smiled, "Yes, yes, I understand, I understand."
"What do you understand?"
Quan Dao looked at the man and said, "Remember, I have no relation to him. He's in your hands now."
With that, Quan Dao snorted coldly, turned with his hands behind his back, and left.
The man frowned, watching Quan Dao leave the hall, then turned to Yu Xian, his expression calming down.
Elder Quan's words should be taken at face value!
And with an emotional undertone, at face value!
It seems this kid angered Elder Quan, which is why he was sent here.
The man's eyes flickered for a moment, then he said with a fake smile, "What's your name?"
Yu Xian looked at the man, neither humble nor arrogant, and said, "Disciple's name is Yu Xian."
"Mm, Yu Xian."
The man nodded and said indifferently, "The Hundred Mines Workshop doesn't force disciples to work; it's all voluntary. The more you mine, the more spirit stones you earn. If you find a top-grade mine, there are various rewards. Do you understand?"
"Disciple understands."
"Good that you understand."
The man said proudly, "Come, follow me to receive your items, basic techniques, and then head to the mines to earn spirit stones for cultivation! Let me tell you, the Hundred Mines Workshop produces more Foundation Establishment experts each year than all the other workshops combined!"
Outer Sect disciples who reach Foundation Establishment can become Inner Sect disciples!
Yu Xian followed the man to the Internal Affairs Pavilion of the Hundred Mines Workshop, received a package, and was then assigned to a side room to live.
The man clearly didn't care much for him, casually giving a few instructions, saying that a steward would find him tomorrow, and then quickly left.
The shabby side room had only a wooden bed.
Yu Xian sat on the bed, taking a deep breath.
From entering the White Cloud Sect until now, it had been almost two hours of chaos, and he was finally settled for the moment.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan