They were cultivators from the Qingfeng Sect.

  The children lined up, passing one by one before a female Daoist. As each child passed, she would pce her hand on their head. Behind her, four other Daoists stood in formation, each holding a spinning top-like instrument in their hands.

  This was the Spirit Testing Formation, used to test the subject's Spirit Root.

  Each child underwent about ten minutes of testing to obtain retively accurate results.

  "No Spirit Root, next."

  "Four Element Spirit Root, next."

  "Five Element Spirit Root, next."

  About half of the dozen or so children had already undergone testing, with the best dispying only a Three Element Spirit Root.

  Spirit Root was an essential talent on the path of cultivation. Having no Spirit Root meant absolutely no chance or value in cultivation; I was barely able to sense spiritual energy. Those with Five Element or Four Element Spirit Roots had them, but they were too mixed. The absorption, transformation, and utilization of spiritual energy would conflict, with none done well. Their talent wasn't outstanding, making even Qi Condensation cultivation extremely difficult. Three-Element Spirit Root was considered mid-tier; with sufficient resources and personal effort, there was hope for Foundation Establishment.

  Dual Spirit Root could be considered genius by normal standards—Lu Qing himself had this. A single spirit root was extremely rare; the entire Flying Cloud State might not produce such a person in a hundred years. Even among Single Spirit Roots, there were Exotic Spirit Roots and the superior Heavenly Spirit Roots—the former referring to 'Thunder,' 'Frost,' 'Wind,' etc., while the tter were pure Five Elements Spirit Roots.

  The descendants of cultivators had far better innate talent than ordinary people. Perhaps only a few Five Element or Four Element Spirit Roots would appear in a city of a hundred thousand over the course of a decade. Yet among the Lu family's dozen or so children, at least half had Spirit Roots—that was an enormous difference. As a Golden Core cultivator, Lu Qing's descendants had excellent bloodlines.

  However, even among cultivator descendants, exceptional Spirit Roots were still rare.

  This was the "Qingfeng Sect disciple selection" mentioned by the two cn members guarding the secluded meditation chamber on the back mountain.

  While selecting disciples, they also helped test the children's Spirit Roots.

  In the past, the Lu cn had their own Spirit Testing Formation, but judging by the current situation, they seem to have lost this capability. Otherwise, the parents of children tested as having "no spirit root" wouldn't have looked so disappointed.

  Finally, a little boy about five or six years old produced a different result.

  "Water-Wood Dual Spirit Root!"

  With these words, all the Lu cn members in the hall broke into delighted smiles, especially a middle-aged man who excitedly clenched his fists—this must be his child.

  The boy still looked confused as the female Daoist said, "This child has outstanding talent. If we're accepting disciples, let him come with me to cultivate on the mountain."

  From the Lu cn, a middle-aged man stepped forward and cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you, Junior Sister Zhang. You've gone to excellent trouble this time."

  "No need for thanks, Senior Brother Zhaohe. Having a good disciple is also my fortune."

  Lu Qing silently observed this scene.

  The middle-aged man, Lu Zhaohe, was his seventh child, and this female cultivator named Zhang Shiman was a disciple of the Qingfeng Sect.

  Fifty years ago, there seemed to have been some romantic involvement between them.

  At the time, Lu Qing had been quite pleased about this. If Lu Zhaohe could lure a talented female cultivator from the sect, it would be beneficial.

  But before seeing any result, he had gone into closed-door meditation to try to save his life.

  Now it seemed they hadn't ended up together.

  The two exchanged a few pleasantries and then fell silent, appearing awkward with each other.

  Three more children were awaiting testing after this.

  After two encounters with No Spirit Root, only one little girl remained, who was just three years old and had likely recently learned to talk and walk.

  With one Dual Spirit Root already found among the dozen children, it was considered a great harvest, and no one paid much attention to her.

  However, the female Daoist didn't treat her carelessly. She pced her hand on the girl's head and quickly showed a surprised expression:

  "Gold-Fire Dual Spirit Root!"

  The cmor rose again—another Dual Spirit Root!

  The little girl smiled at the female Daoist, looking adorable and pretty.

  The female cultivator bent down and also smiled, gently pinching the little girl's tender cheek.

  Lu Zhaohe had a thought and seized the opportunity to say, "Junior Sister Zhang, this child has a Dual Spirit Root. Why not accept her as well?"

  Before Zhang Shiman could speak, a blue-robed Daoist behind her spoke up.

  "Inappropriate. The Lu cn only has one spot this time."

  Lu Zhaohe faced him coldly: "Zhao Pinggu, this is Junior Sister Zhang accepting disciples; it's none of your business. Why are you interfering?"

  This Zhao Pinggu was indeed a sect cultivator, but his surname was Zhao.

  The Zhao cn posed a formidable threat to the Lu cn.

  Zhao Pinggu wasn't supposed to be one of the five people originally designated by Qingfeng Sect to select disciples from the Lu cn.

  He clearly intended to sabotage this situation with his arrival.

  The Zhao and Lu families had always had poor retions. In recent years, there was even a blood feud between them.

  "Lu Weiwen is the fifth generation of our Lu cn with a Dual Spirit Root. If Junior Sister Zhang is willing to accept her as a disciple, what right do you have to object, Zhao Pinggu?" Lu Zhaohe's words carried anger.

  "That's incorrect." Zhao Pinggu said with a smile, "She indeed has a Dual Spirit Root, but even among Dual Spirit Roots, there are differences in quality."

  "This child has a Gold-Fire Dual Spirit Root, and it appears to be primarily gold with secondary fire. Fire overcomes gold, so when cultivating gold-based techniques, the fire spirit root would only have a counterproductive effect, greatly reducing the efficiency of gold-based cultivation. If she primarily cultivated fire-based techniques, it might work, but this child's Fire Spirit Root within her Dual Spirit Root is retively weak, creating a serious imbance. Her efficiency in cultivating fire-based techniques might be worse than that of a child with a Three Element Spirit Root."

  "With such a Dual Spirit Root, what qualifications does she have for our Qingfeng Sect to make an exception and accept her?"

  After this speech, Zhang Shiman also hesitated.

  Qingfeng Sect was always strict in accepting disciples.

  A Dual Spirit Root was certainly excellent, and since she had come at the Lu cn's request and received substantial gifts for taking disciples, if there were two good candidates, taking both wouldn't be a problem.

  But Zhao Pinggu's argument was also very reasonable.

  Her expression became conflicted.

  Lu Zhaohe didn't know what to say either. Zhao Pinggu wasn't making things up; everything he said was true. Lu Weiwen appeared to have a Dual Spirit Root, but due to the attribute imbance, she could be considered among the lowest quality Dual Spirit Roots.

  Compared to the boy named Lu Wen'en, who had been tested earlier, Lu Weiwen's unbanced Gold-Fire Dual Spirit Root was far inferior to his Water-Wood Spirit Root.

  Water nourishes wood; the Water Spirit Root not only wouldn't interfere but would actually enhance the effect, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

  The atmosphere suddenly grew cold.

  Floating in mid-air, undetectable to anyone, Lu Qing now called up the 'Family Rise System' panel. Under the popution section, he selected details, and on the list, he saw Lu Weiwen's detailed information.

  [Name: Lu Weiwen]

  [Age: 3 years old]

  [Parents: Lu Mingsi, Fang Ziwe

  [Status: Healthy]

  [Realm: Mortal]

  [Talent: Gold-Fire Dual Spirit Root]

  ...

  After a brief look, he backed out and found the exchange interface.

  Among the many options, he found one:

  [Two-Star Talent Type, Enhance Spirit Root]

  Can be used on a single cn member under fifteen years old to enhance their Spirit Root talent once. Each cn member can only receive one Spirit Root enhancement, with a maximum enhancement to Three Element Spirit Root. Those with Dual Spirit Roots can receive Spirit Root optimization. This item has no effect on those with Dual Spirit Roots or higher.