Seclusion

The elders' eyes were burning with fervor, yet they were surprisingly quiet.

A God-grade spiritual root was bound to be sent to the main peak to become a personal disciple; they didn't stand a chance of competing for her.

Only the Twelfth Elder leaned down to Song Yao's ear, a brilliant smile on her face. “Little girl, you really are a treasure.”

Song Yao: “...”

A treasure?

Her?

The last time the Twelfth Elder was startled by a toad and chased her down to beat her, she had clearly called her a godforsaken brat.

But now was not the time to think about that.

Song Yao glanced at the spiritual root, then at the eager faces of the surrounding elders, and swallowed hard.

Wait, no.

How did her wood spiritual root also become a peak God-grade?

She had tested it before, and it was clearly only around Heaven-grade, which was why she had abandoned her wood spiritual root to focus entirely on cultivating her metal spiritual root.

Could it be because her metal spiritual root was sealed and she had reshaped her body, causing this wood spiritual root to undergo a second development?

If it was God-grade...

Wouldn't she be dragged to the main peak again to become a personal disciple?

What kind of place was the main peak?

The base of operations where she had committed countless misdeeds in her past life!

Everyone there held a deep-seated grudge against her. Wasn't this just seeking death?

...

On the very outskirts of the crowd, a figure stood quietly.

Jiang Jin stood in a corner. The disciples who had originally surrounded him to chat and flatter him had now all rushed to the front.

Discussions drifted in from all directions. “Peak God-grade... That's a whole major rank higher than Heaven-grade...”

“She'll definitely be a personal disciple from now on, right? The Hall Master will surely come to accept her as his disciple personally!”

“Compared to her, a Heaven-grade metal spiritual root seems... honestly, just average?”

“Shh, keep it down. Heaven-grade is still incredibly impressive, okay?”

“...”

Jiang Jin lowered his eyes. The smile on his lips had faded at some point, and the hand hidden in his sleeve slowly clenched into a fist.

His knuckles turned white.

He took a deep breath and was about to turn around when another voice rang out from the crowd. “Wait, that's not right. This isn't a God-grade spiritual root. It's still a Heaven-grade spiritual root, isn't it?”

Jiang Jin's steps halted, and he turned to look.

The speaker was an old cultivator from the Law Enforcement Hall who was specifically in charge of the spirit-testing platform.

He squeezed to the very front of the crowd, leaning down to stare at the fading light on the spirit-testing platform, his brow furrowed so deeply it could crush a fly.

“Look here—”

He pointed to a thin line on the edge of the spirit-testing platform. “The position where the peak stopped is clearly Heaven-grade, not God-grade. And it's only Heaven-grade third-tier, still a bit away from the peak tier.”

The Third Elder was the first to lean in, squinting his old eyes for a long moment. “Hmm?”

The old cultivator pointed at the groove and explained, “The spirit-testing platform has been in use for eight hundred years, so it inevitably has some old issues. The light just now was too strong, blurring the markings that show the grade. Look, the position where it actually settled is here.”

Everyone followed his finger to look in unison.

On the edge of the spirit-testing platform was a dense row of notches, ranging from Yellow-grade first-tier to peak God-grade.

At this moment, the light indicator representing the spiritual root's grade was resting on Heaven-grade third-tier.

It was not God-grade.

“Heaven-grade third-tier?” someone muttered softly. “Isn't that one tier lower than Jiang Jin?”

“Jiang Jin is peak Heaven-grade. Heaven-grade third-tier is indeed slightly inferior...”

“But that light just now was too terrifying, wasn't it? It was even brighter than Jiang Jin's!”

“The spirit-testing platform must have glitched. Didn't the old-timer say so? It's a three-hundred-year-old antique, so it's bound to act up occasionally.”

“True. It's not like everyone can be as freakish of a monster as Song Yao.”

“...”

As the whispers arose, the Twelfth Elder and Yu Jing both knitted their brows at the same time.

They were standing close and had clearly seen the peak surge to the absolute top just now. How had it turned into Heaven-grade in the blink of an eye?

Had they misseen?

They wanted to take another look, but the hand on the spirit-testing platform had already been quickly pulled away.

Beads of sweat formed on Song Yao's forehead, her heart pounding like a drum, and her entire face was so pale she looked as if she might pass out the next second.

Just now, she had tried using the Breath-Concealing Art her master had taught her long ago. Unfortunately, this technique's grade was too high, and since she had no spiritual energy at all, the absolute best she could do was suppress her spiritual root's grade to Heaven-grade.

However, looking around and seeing that the elders' interest had waned, Song Yao let out a sigh of relief.

She didn't have to become a personal disciple.

Truly a cause for celebration.

...

By the time the testing concluded, it was already evening.

All the disciples below Heaven-grade had finished choosing their masters. Those who weren't selected remained in the Outer Yard. There were five disciples in total at Heaven-grade and above, waiting to be assigned.

Among these five, other than Jiang Jin and Song Yao, the rest were sent by major prominent families, and they were clearly all eyeing the position of personal disciple.

But unfortunately, a jade slip arrived.

The Great Elder stroked his beard and slowly relayed, “The Hall Master is currently in seclusion and has no time to accept disciples. You may each find a master to your liking.”

Song Yao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense all day, finally returned to its place.

She felt completely at ease.

Utterly at ease.

No need to be a personal disciple, no need to go to the main peak.

She almost laughed out loud on the spot.

Fortunately, her rationality remained intact, and she only curled the corners of her lips.

Halfway through her smile, her peripheral vision caught the person beside her.

Jiang Jin was standing next to her.

Unlike other overpowered male protagonists, Jiang Jin looked rather delicate and clean-cut. In modern terms, he was the picture of a bright, cheerful college boy.

Right now, his brow was slightly furrowed, and he clearly couldn't bring himself to smile.

Song Yao silently withdrew her gaze, a question mark popping up over her head.

That wasn't how it was written in the book.

In the book, although Jiang Jin also started with a peak Heaven-grade spiritual root, because his metal spiritual root was highly suited for a sword cultivator, he was personally accepted by the Hall Master as a closed-door disciple, basking in boundless glory and earning everyone's envy.

Why was the Hall Master in seclusion now?

He didn't even want such a prized disciple anymore?

It couldn't possibly be because of her, right?

The system had once mentioned that the original host only had a peak Mysterious-grade spiritual root and shouldn't have been able to become a personal disciple, but due to a request from an old friend, the Hall Master made an exception and accepted her.

But after she transmigrated into the original host, her spiritual root became terrifyingly powerful.

The system's explanation was that she herself was exceptionally gifted, and when the two combined, it became even more uncontrollable.

Because she had a God-grade spiritual root, the Hall Master now looked down on Heaven-grade?

It seemed a bit narcissistic to think so. Song Yao shook her head and stopped overthinking it.

Anyway, her mission was already complete, and nothing else had anything to do with her.

...

The subsequent selection process was extremely intense.

Among them, Jiang Jin, with his peak Heaven-grade spiritual root, was the most sought-after. Almost every elder extended an olive branch to him.

The youth remained silent for a moment. His gaze bypassed the eagerly anticipating elders in front of him and landed on the moon-white figure in the corner.

Xie Zhou stood alone at the edge of the Fuguang Platform. The surrounding bustling atmosphere seemed to be separated from him by an invisible barrier, and his aura was aloof and distant.

Jiang Jin paused for a moment. Seemingly making up his mind, he bowed deeply to him, his clear voice carrying a hint of admiration. “Fourth Senior Brother, may this disciple follow you to cultivate on the main peak?”

The Fuguang Platform suddenly fell dead silent.

The smiles on the faces of several elders froze.

The atmosphere became a bit subtle.

In front of so many elders, a newly admitted disciple, instead of accepting the olive branches actively extended to him, chose to ask a personal disciple.

What did this mean?

He clearly looked down on them.