Hunting for Treasures in the Mortal Realm

As dusk fell, only half of the children waiting in line remained on the square.

At this point, five disciples stood behind Wen Jingshu, three behind Shen Kuo, two behind Lu Hao, and four behind Zhao Miaomiao.

Although this probability could be considered high, none of them possessed excellent aptitude.

No, to be precise, there was Luo Yunting, but the others simply could not tell.

Cultivators could go without sleep or rest, but mortals could not.

According to custom, the children who had been tested to have spiritual roots, as well as those whose turns had not yet come, were allowed to find a place to rest.

Before Wen Jingshu had Luo Yunting take the other four children to rest, she handed him a storage bag that could be opened without spiritual energy:

“Divide the items inside among yourselves.”

Children who were tested to have spiritual roots would receive a sum of money. The higher the quality of their roots, the more silver they were given, which was mostly used to settle their families.

Luo Yunting took the storage bag, bowed to Wen Jingshu, and led the four children away.

This time, no one dared to show him disrespect again.

Looking at the people who had once bullied him and were now staring at him in terror and trepidation, Luo Yunting felt much of the pent-up frustration in his heart dissipate.

He had once overdrawn his lifespan to perceive that the result of this spiritual testing would be highly auspicious.

Although there had been a minor unexpected turn, the outcome was good overall.

He had obtained the protection of that immortal. Barring any accidents, his future path of cultivation would be smooth sailing.

He divided the items in the storage bag, kept his own portion, and then returned to his bedroom.

Zhaocai and Suyao had already been waiting there for a long time. Upon seeing Luo Yunting arrive, Zhaocai spat out a storage ring and a slip of paper from its mouth.

Luo Yunting took the slip of paper, scanned it rapidly, and said to Zhaocai,

“I understand. Could you wait an hour for me to handle some personal matters?”

Zhaocai was highly pleased with Luo Yunting's attitude. It raised its proud head, put its paws on its hips, and nodded.

Having received its approval, Luo Yunting did not dare to delay. He took a Rejuvenation Pill given by Wen Jingshu to restore his condition, swallowed a Fasting Pill, and hurriedly made a trip to the royal villa.

Before leaving for the cultivation world, he had to send his mother to a safe place.

As for where his mother would live in the future and who would look after her, Luo Yunting had already arranged everything long ago after predicting the highly auspicious outcome.

This trip to the villa was merely to see his mother one last time.

Perhaps... this meeting would be their final farewell...

Twenty-eight or twenty-nine-year-old Sun Xiujuan was pale with a head full of white hair. Her body was extremely frail; even the slightest movement would make her cough up blood.

Seeing his mother coughing up blood again, Luo Yunting hurriedly took out a Recovery Pill, broke off a quarter of it, and fed it to her.

“Mother, this is a divine medicine bestowed by the immortal. You will definitely get better after taking it.”

By this time, Sun Xiujuan was coughing too hard to speak. Luo Yunting directly popped the pill into her mouth. The pill melted the moment it entered her mouth. Sun Xiujuan felt a sudden wave of clarity wash over her entire body, and her excruciating chest pain instantly vanished.

With her condition improving, Sun Xiujuan said disapprovingly, “Divine medicine is hard to come by. Why did you give it to me?”

“My only reason for living is you. As long as you can enter the Immortal Realm, even if I die, I will close my eyes in peace.”

Tears welled in the young boy's eyes, but his gaze remained resolute. “Mother, I risked my life to get the chance to test my spiritual roots precisely to find divine medicine to cure your illness.”

“If your illness isn't cured, I won't be able to rest easy even if I follow the immortal into the Immortal Realm.”

“Besides, the immortal bestowed quite a lot of these pills.”

As Luo Yunting spoke, he took out all the pill bottles Wen Jingshu had given him.

Only then did Sun Xiujuan feel at ease.

After the mother and son shared a few more intimate words, Luo Yunting finally said, “Mother, we cannot stay here any longer. Let me send you somewhere else.”

Sun Xiujuan knew Luo Yunting wanted her to escape the cage of the imperial palace forever, so she naturally had no objections.

In truth, she was an ordinary-looking village woman. The emperor had only forcibly abducted her into the palace because he discovered that one of her ancestors had been a State Preceptor capable of predicting the future, wanting her to give birth to a tool that could do the same.

Unfortunately, after Luo Yunting was born, he was no different from ordinary children. The emperor had only been trying his luck anyway, so when he saw that Luo Yunting was just an ordinary child, he lost interest in the mother and son.

It was not until Luo Yunting was five years old that he pointed at a maid who often bullied them and said:

“Mother, I feel like she's going to die tomorrow.”

Hearing Luo Yunting's words, the maid flew into a rage. Had Sun Xiujuan not held her back, the maid would have truly given him a beating.

The next day, that maid died a wrongful death due to palace intrigue.

Sun Xiujuan instantly realized that her son had indeed inherited their ancestor's Heavenly Oracle Spirit Constitution.

In this cutthroat imperial palace where people were swallowed whole, Sun Xiujuan had neither family nor background. Having an extraordinary child would only cause the child to die faster.

Recalling how their ancestor had missed the spiritual root testing, ultimately missing the optimal time for cultivation and being forced to remain in the mortal realm, Sun Xiujuan decided that Luo Yunting must also go test his spiritual roots.

Since her child had inherited the Heavenly Oracle Spirit Constitution, he would definitely have spiritual roots in his body!

After today, the mother and son could finally relax their nerves, which had been tightly strung for seven or eight years.

They had won the gamble!

Luo Yunting evaded the surveillance of the guards under the cover of night and successfully left the city.

Just as they left the city, the emperor's secret guards arrived. They had been ordered by the emperor to capture Sun Xiujuan to use her as leverage against Luo Yunting.

Unfortunately, the place was already empty.

Luo Yunting watched Sun Xiujuan's carriage fade into the distance for a long while before flipping himself onto Suyao's back. Carrying Zhaocai, the boy and the two beasts vanished into the moonlight.

The first task Wen Jingshu had given him was to take Zhaocai and search for treasures within the Zhou State.

With his special constitution, supplemented by Zhaocai's assistance and Suyao's speed, he would absolutely be able to turn the entire central continent upside down before Wen Jingshu finished recruiting disciples.

By the morning of the second day, all the children in the Zhou State who came for the spiritual root testing had completed their tests.

Seeing that no one else was left, Wen Jingshu took out the flying boat lent by the Qingyun Sect to mission disciples and took the lead, departing for the next location with her newly recruited disciples.

Seeing how decisively Wen Jingshu departed, the other three hurriedly followed with their respective disciples.

Tsk, could this 'Wu Zhuang' stop being so cold and arrogant? It made the Qingyun Sect look incredibly pretentious!

They were just recruiting disciples in the mortal realm; was there really a need for such a massive flying boat?

It also made the rest of them look so uncool by comparison!

Aside from the Zhou State, which had a large population and vast territory, the rest of the central continent consisted of small nations.

Since this was the mortal realm, after all, there was barely any spiritual energy, and very few children possessed spiritual roots. The four of them visited five locations in a row without seeing a single child with high aptitude.

However, this was within expectations, and none of them felt particularly discouraged.

Since they were two days ahead of their scheduled time for the next destination, Zhao Miaomiao suggested,

“I think the scenery here is quite nice. Why don't we rest for two days? These children must be quite tired from traveling continuously with us.”

Wen Jingshu was merely along for the ride anyway, with no motivation to find good prospects to exchange for more rewards, so she naturally had no objections.

In fact, if not for the baggage she was carrying, she would have preferred to meet up with Luo Yunting. Hunting for treasures in the mortal realm was far more interesting than recruiting disciples.