He Picked Up Another Genius

The start of the Hour of the Monkey was approaching.

Looking outside the mountain gate, there were no more children left. In the square, more than half of the spirit testing formations had not lit up for a long time.

This signaled that the spirit testing was coming to an end.

Just as Xu Xian and the various Elders were planning to move to the Heart Inquiry Pool to begin the second trial, the Heart Inquiry...

Before they could leave, a figure suddenly appeared in the distant sky, riding the wind.

With a few bounds, the figure landed in the center of the square.

"Peak Master Li?"

"It looks like Martial Uncle Li..."

Xu Xian looked up. The newcomer was none other than his 'good' Martial Nephew, Li Qingshan. Accompanying him was a young girl.

She was dressed in mountain clothes and had her hair tied in two braids.

Judging by her appearance, she seemed quite spirited.

Xu Xian subconsciously remarked, "Hmm... abducted another one?"

Lu Yuan looked slightly confused and couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by 'another'?"

Xu Xian gave Lu Yuan a faint, inscrutable glance.

It left Lu Yuan completely bewildered.

Li Qingshan gave a few instructions to the disciples conducting the spirit testing.

Then, with a leap, he arrived at the high platform and politely cupped his hands in greeting.

After greeting everyone, he stared intently at Lu Yuan, who was beside him...

He stared and stared...

And stared some more...

Lu Yuan was getting agitated by the gaze. He stood up abruptly, about to say something.

Unexpectedly, Li Qingshan spoke first.

"Thank you!"

Then, he plopped down into a seat.

Realizing what had happened, Lu Yuan's teeth itched with annoyance.

What a total dog.

Xu Xian clicked his tongue. "Not bad, you. You brought back another one?"

Li Qingshan rolled his eyes and said lazily, "Just picked her up on the way. Nothing worth mentioning."

Xu Xian scoffed, his eyes unable to hide his disdain.

However, since Li Qingshan was the one who had 'abducted' her, her spirit root probably wasn't bad.

He couldn't help but feel a bit of anticipation.

Shortly after Li Qingshan sat down, the light of the spirit testing formation swept over the girl.

A disciple turned to the high platform, his voice trembling slightly as he shouted loudly:

"Bone age: thirteen!"

"Wind-attribute!"

"Variant spirit root!"

Hearing this, the Elders all shuddered, gasping in shock.

"Sss—"

"It's actually wind-attribute?"

"A variant spirit root..."

The square instantly erupted into a clamor.

In this world, rare spirit roots were generally classified as either mutated spirit roots or variant spirit roots.

Mutated spirit roots were those derived from the foundation of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. For example, Xu Xian's sword spirit root was, in principle, evolved from the metal attribute.

Then there were variant spirit roots.

Attribute spirit roots that did not belong to the five elements were called variant spirit roots. These included lightning spirit roots, wind spirit roots, and even light spirit roots, dark spirit roots, and the extremely rare heaven spirit roots.

All of these were variant spirit roots.

In the Wendao Sword Sect, Lei Yunche's lightning spirit root was a variant spirit root.

To some extent, the rarity of mutated spirit roots and variant spirit roots was similar. However, in terms of raw power, variant spirit roots were often more domineering than mutated ones.

After all, no matter how rare a mutated spirit root was, it was still derived from the five elements. But variant spirit roots were different; they possessed an innate elemental advantage.

With a variant spirit root appearing—especially a wind-attribute one—the Elders' eyes were practically glowing.

To say they were salivating would not be an exaggeration.

As the testing was ending, the emergence of a variant spirit root was a cause for immense joy.

Even Xu Xian couldn't help but take a few extra looks at the child.

He thought of his senior brother, Yun Zheng, and his thoughts grew deep.

'Wind-attribute? Like Senior Brother?'

The surrounding Elders swarmed around Li Qingshan, their voices overlapping in endless praise.

"Truly rare! It's probably been a thousand years since our Wendao Sword Sect encountered a variant spirit root seedling, hasn't it?"

"Hmph, far more than that. Since I joined the sect, not a single variant spirit root has appeared."

"Brother Qingshan, I'm impressed! Fifteen years ago, you found the Little Junior Martial Uncle, and today you've brought back a wind-attribute girl. This luck of yours is truly unmatched."

"Martial Uncle Qingshan, don't keep it to yourself. Tell us, what's the secret?"

"..."

Li Qingshan sat upright, the corners of his mouth curled high. He gave Xu Xian a smug look and said in a light, airy tone:

"There's no secret. I just happened to run into her. As soon as this girl saw me, she started crying and begging to take me as her master, pleading for me to lead her on the path of cultivation. Seeing her sincerity and seeing that she was just a little girl, I showed great mercy and brought her back..."

Hearing this, the expressions of the crowd became quite complex.

Especially a few of the Elders.

They felt as if these words were strangely familiar, as if they had heard them somewhere before. They subconsciously looked at Xu Xian.

"Uh..."

"This..."

"Sounds so familiar..."

Xu Xian's mouth twitched. He had heard from Elder Qian that when Li Qingshan first brought him back, that was exactly what he had told everyone.

Good grief, fifteen years later, and he hadn't changed a single word.

Sincerity?

Showing great mercy?

Only a fool would believe him.

Li Qingshan pushed his luck and reminded Xu Xian, "Stop dazing off. Let's start the next trial."

Xu Xian gave him a disdainful look, stood up, and said, "Move to the Heart Inquiry Pool. Begin the Heart Inquiry."

The crowd followed the order.

As Xu Xian left, Lu Yuan followed. Li Qingshan flicked his sleeves, acting as proud as a rooster.

A few Elders whispered among themselves.

"He really struck dog-shit luck. Fifteen years ago, he picked up a Little Grand-Uncle with a sword spirit root, and today he picks up a variant spirit root."

"Exactly. Why can't I ever pick one up?"

"Look at how smug he is..."

"Let me tell you, if I could pick one up, I'd be even smugger. It's wind-attribute! If I remember correctly, Ancestor Yun Zheng was wind-attribute, wasn't he?"

"Who says he wasn't?"

"What's he so proud of? If he picks up another Martial Uncle for himself later, he'll be the one suffering."

"Hey, don't say that. It's actually possible! Haha!"

A group of old fellows gossiped behind his back to satisfy their jealousy.

Though they spoke that way, they were very happy in their hearts.

Especially since Ancestor Yun Zheng had fallen four years ago, and today they had gained another variant spirit root of the same wind-attribute.

Fate was truly a hard thing to predict.

Some secretly cheered, believing the heavens were looking down on them and Ancestor Yun Zheng was protecting them.

The reason they didn't speak too boldly was that there were still the Heart Inquiry and Sword Inquiry trials to go.

However...

Looking at the child's clothing, she was clearly a child from the mountains. Generally, their natures weren't too bad.

Moreover, since Li Qingshan had personally brought her back, he must have already vetted her in private.

This was fundamentally different from the children who came halfway to test their spirits.

So, it was practically a done deal.

The spirit testing area began to clear out. The children who had passed were taken to the front of the Heart Inquiry Forest to prepare.

The girl with the fire-attribute spirit root was named Tu Kongkong.

Naturally, she and the wind-attribute girl became the focus of the group, just as Xu Xian had been back then.

They were quite popular.

On the other side, Xu Xian and Lu Yuan flew toward the Heart Inquiry Pool. Li Qingshan caught up from behind, flying alongside them, looking incredibly smug.

He didn't forget to provoke Xu Xian. "What? Feeling annoyed?"

Xu Xian rolled his eyes and refused to admit it. "Heh, you're overthinking it."

Li Qingshan squinted and said casually, "Do you want to know where I picked that child up?"

Xu Xian curled his lip. "Not really."

Li Qingshan ignored him and answered his own question. "Her name is... Xia Chu Yi."

Xu Xian shuddered. He stumbled and nearly fell headfirst from the sky.

After steadying himself, he stared at Li Qingshan with wide, disbelieving eyes.

He asked urgently, "Xia Chu Yi? Which Xia Chu Yi?"

Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow and spat out three words.

"Take a guess."

With that, he soared away.

Xu Xian stared at his back, his throat bobbing. "Holy hell... you're literally abducting my entire family."

Lu Yuan, still somewhat oblivious, asked tentatively, "What... do you know that child?"

Xu Xian replied, "That's my elder sister's daughter."

"Huh?"

Xu Xian emphasized, "My biological sister."

Lu Yuan paused for a moment, then gave a thumbs-up.

"Incredible!"