“Alright, I’ll take you all up with me then!”
Looking at the almost damaged wheels and the drafty carriage, the Grand Elder’s heart softened after all.
He thought it was caused by his actions just now, but he didn’t know that it was Chen Sheng who, with quick eyes and hands, kicked them out just now.
“Thank you, Grand Elder! Grand Elder is mighty!”
Chen Sheng quickly cupped his hands, bowed deeply, and seeing Jiang Cheng about to stand up next to him, he slapped Jiang Cheng to the ground with a convenient hand, making him kowtow twice with a loud thud.
Jiang Cheng: ???
“Are you being polite?”
Jiang Cheng slapped Chen Sheng’s hand away, gritting his teeth.
“Don’t act like someone owes you something. Think about saving a day’s journey and avoiding sleeping outdoors tonight, and you’ll be happy!”
The Grand Elder waved his sleeve, and a small boat appeared. This small boat was initially only palm-sized, then slowly grew larger, finally becoming a flying boat about twenty to thirty meters long and five to six meters wide.
“It can fit roughly… Everyone, come up!”
Several Qingfeng Sect Disciples ran to the back of the first carriage, one by one grabbing the bewildered children who hadn't reacted to what was happening, leaping onto the flying boat, and then coming back down to grab the next one.
Within half a minute, two rows of children were seated on the flying boat’s deck, with several Disciples and the coachman standing, looking at the Grand Elder.
“Alas, you prodigal sons! Is the carriage not Sect property?! You just left it on the road like that?”
The Grand Elder had a look of disappointment, waving his hand. The horses and carriage rose into the air, finally landing steadily on the flying boat’s deck.
The Grand Elder took out his qiankun bag, shaking out dozens of Spirit Stones. The Spirit Stones disintegrated, and the pure Spiritual Qi within them merged into the flying boat. The flying boat immediately started to move, slowly lifting off the ground.
The children on the deck exclaimed in wonder, looking around in amazement.
“So amazing!”
“I heard Cultivator can even fly on swords!”
“Sword? How can such a small thing hold a person?”
“I don’t know.”
“We’ll be Cultivator too in the future, then we’ll know!”
Listening to these people chattering and dreaming about the future, Chen Sheng chuckled.
“They really think of themselves as Cultivator? Haven’t they even entered the Qingfeng Sect yet?”
“Normally, most of them would indeed be able to enter the Qingfeng Sect, but this year…”
Jiang Cheng leaned closer to him, smacking his lips.
“With such a Genius, I’m afraid the Grand Elder won’t even look at those with Low Grade Spiritual Roots!”
In fact, the final stage of selection each year was just a formality. Although the Grand Elder personally oversaw the selection, basically anyone who looked decent could successfully join the Qingfeng Sect.
But now…
Tsk!
The flying boat’s speed became faster and faster, and it soon ascended the mountain.
This section of the road was actually not far, taking about a full day by carriage, but by flying boat, it took less than ten minutes to arrive.
The Qingfeng Sect also had a mountain gate. What surprised An Chen was that this mountain gate was quite grand, a significant difference from the dilapidated community he had imagined.
Inside the mountain gate was a large plaza, paved with green bricks, appearing to be as large as two sports fields.
However, there was almost no one here, and An Chen didn’t know what such a large plaza was used for.
The flying boat stopped steadily in the center of the plaza. Several Disciples in white robes ran over, along with a middle-aged man in a blue robe, who seemed to be a level higher than the Disciples, at least a steward or something similar.
“Grand Elder.”
The blue-robed middle-aged man bowed.
“Didn’t we say to have them escorted up the mountain? Why did you personally go to pick them up?”
The Grand Elder floated down from the flying boat, puffing his beard.
“I wanted to!”
“…”
The middle-aged man opened his mouth, but was unable to speak.
“Grand Elder, let’s not be so willful… Who is this?”
He finally noticed there was still someone on the Grand Elder’s back.
An Chen remained silent, wanting to let go and get down from the Grand Elder’s back, but the Grand Elder held him with one hand behind his back. This hand was like an iron bar, impossible to pry open.
“This is your future Grand Elder!”
The Grand Elder laughed heartily, realizing that An Chen on his back wanted to get down, and only then did he let go.
“Um… I didn’t ask you just now, what’s your name again?”
“An Chen.”
“Good name, a very good name indeed! Hahaha! Sounds like a talented person just by hearing it!”
The middle-aged man’s face turned dark as he watched.
“You are the Grand Elder, you should…”
“He has a Superior Spiritual Root.”
“Oh my little ancestor!”
The middle-aged man almost knelt down.”
“Your Grand Elder is old, were you bothered by his bones? How about you come and rest on my back for a while?”
An Chen: “…”
Do the people of this Sect really like carrying others around so much?
“Go, go, go! You’re already at the Sect, where else do you want to carry him? Hurry and take him to complete the entrance procedures. I will now begin the Qingfeng Sect’s final assessment for this year. Once it’s done, I’ll personally take him to familiarize himself with the Sect!”
“Yes!”
The Grand Elder happily returned to the flying boat.
This final assessment was originally just a formality for him to check each one, then admit them into the Sect.
But now…
The Qingfeng Sect’s resources are limited. If the Sect takes in a Genius and wants to give him more resources, it must cut down on others’ resources.
So, it would be better to take in fewer people, and then the Cultivation resources for those people can directly be saved for the Sect’s precious treasure.
The Grand Elder grabbed each child’s arm, released his Divine Sense, poured in Spiritual Qi, and felt the strength of their Spiritual Roots.
One was worse than the other.
Although the Grand Elder himself only had a Medium Grade Spiritual Root, it was at least much better than these Low Grade Spiritual Roots.
Among them, many people’s Spiritual Roots were just barely at the level between Low Grade and unranked. If their Spiritual Roots developed any worse, these people wouldn’t be able to Cultivate at all.
Even if these people Cultivated, they might only reach Qi Refining Peak at most.
After going through them all, the Grand Elder felt stifled.
If it weren’t for An Chen, this year’s batch of children would be the worst quality batch.
Only that boy with the Medium Grade Spiritual Root was still acceptable; he might be able to push to the Late Stage or even Peak of Spirit Nurturing in the future.
The Grand Elder finished his examination and sighed.
“You, you, you, and you…”
The Grand Elder pointed out half of the people in a row, saying:
“You few are not suitable to join the Qingfeng Sect. You can choose to go down the mountain, or you can choose to become Utility Disciples. If you perform well in the future, you might even become official Disciples. Choose for yourselves!”
“Why?!”
Someone protested, shouting loudly.
They finally made it up the mountain, why were they being driven out again?
“Cultivation, you see, is very complex. It doesn’t just consider ability, but also Luck. Our Qingfeng Sect does not accept those with bad Luck!”