Born with immortal seed

Chapter 31 Spirit Induction Ritual
At the foot of Hanxiu Peak.

Bai Zichen had just returned from the mine yesterday when he received a message that he was to be in charge of this year's spirit-summoning matters.

One spirit summoning session yields fifty family contribution points.

This is clearly special treatment; in previous years, the maximum contribution for a Spirit Guide was only ten points.

Spirit Guides, as the name suggests, are responsible for finding eligible children with spiritual roots in the Bai family's mortal town.

This job may seem ordinary, but it is crucial to the Bai family's future.

For a family to grow stronger, it must have a continuous stream of dedication. Searching for immortal seedlings is a crucial matter for the inheritance of cultivation families and even sects.

Some radical cultivation families have even established a rule that rewards a certain number of spirit stones for each descendant born with spiritual roots, in order to quickly increase the number of immortal seedlings.

"I never expected the clan to assign the two of us to this mission together. It's been three years since we last met after returning from Qingfeng Sect..."

The girl before me has changed quite a bit from the one in my memory; she now possesses a striking resemblance to a woman of unparalleled beauty.

“Brother Chen is the unicorn of the Bai family, a Foundation Establishment seed on which everyone has placed high hopes, so of course he should concentrate on cultivation.”

Bai Ling smiled, her beautiful eyes curving into crescent moons.

"My talent is no match for Brother Chen's. After switching to the Taiyin Suyun Xuanshui True Art, it took me almost half a year to master just the water and thunder spells that come with the technique."

"If I had Chen-ge'er's superior comprehension, I estimate it would only take one or two months."

Bai Zichen was slightly taken aback, then realized that the superior comprehension was a data he had made up when he left the Five Mountains Temple.

At that time, in order not to expose his suspected spirit form, he raised the score of his magical talent and comprehension on the inheritance stone tablet by one level.

"Is this woman trying to sarcastic me...? I focused on cultivation for three years, and now someone has caught up with my cultivation level."

Bai Zichen's current spiritual strength is basically close to that of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, so Bai Ling's background is no secret to him.

His magical power far surpasses that of other cultivators of the same level within the clan, which must be due to the effects of the Taiyin Suyun Xuanshui True Technique.

The light shone brightly from his chest, indicating that he was wearing a powerful magical artifact.

"The spirit-summoning ceremony only lasts three days. Which town should we head to first?"

The Bai family, numbering in the tens of thousands, mainly gathered in three places: Shangbai Town, Xiabai Town, and Hutou Town.

In addition, there are scattered villages and manors where the managers will take children of appropriate age to the three towns to participate in the spirit-guiding ceremony.

"Tiger Head Town is the closest. With this, we can get there in half a day at most."

With a flick of her sleeve, Bai Linggong sent down a cluster of pink peach blossoms, which grew to several feet in size.

"Peach Blossom Pocket!"

Bai Zichen recognized it at a glance; it was this flying artifact that he had used to travel to the Five Sacred Mountains Temple.

"That's right. My master gave me the Peach Blossom Pouch. With my current magical power, it shouldn't be a problem for me to fly hundreds of miles with it."

"The Third Elder really dotes on you... He even provided you with a flying artifact."

Bai Zichen sat on the peach blossom pod, unable to suppress a hint of envy, for this was a flying magical artifact he had longed for for a long time.

Tiger Head Town is situated between two valleys. Thanks to its fertile land, with the help of the family's cultivators, tens of thousands of acres of farmland have been cultivated, which can easily support the Bai family's mortals.

The original central area had only about a hundred households, but it gradually expanded and now has the beginnings of a town, with bluestone paved roads and expanding outwards layer by layer.

Without exorbitant taxes, natural disasters, or man-made calamities, and aside from the rare occasional wandering monsters, the lives of the Bai clan's mortals were already quite happy.

After the peach blossom flew into Tiger Head Town, the townspeople who witnessed it bowed deeply, their faces showing respect and admiration.

When Bai Zichen and Bai Ling landed at the town hall of Hutou Town, a Bai family cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining was already waiting with several mortals. Upon seeing the two, they hurriedly came up to pay their respects.

"My name is Bai Youfu, and I am the guardian immortal master of this town."

Bai Youfu looked to be over fifty years old. His Taoist robe was stained with oil and had several patches, and he looked utterly destitute.

The Bai family assigned a family cultivator to each of their three towns to oversee and manage the area, primarily to prevent attacks by demonic beasts that could cause too many casualties among mortals.

This task often takes at least five years, and only cultivators who have no hope of cultivation and have the fewest connections within their clan will accept it.

"Are you two the spirit guides for this event? Your beauty and grace are truly divine!"

Bai Ling was too lazy to listen to this person's flattery. She took out her family token, verified her identity, and walked gracefully towards the square set up in front of the town hall.

The place was already packed with thousands of people, all there to witness whether a lucky person would emerge this year, achieving a meteoric rise to power and forever separating from the mortal world.

"Is everyone here? Hurry up and get the eligible children up for the test. We still have to go to the other two towns."

Bai Zichen lagged behind, giving Bai Youfu face: "Brother, why don't we go and wait for the results together, and see how many new cultivators Tiger Head Town can add to the clan this year?"

"Good! Good! May I ask this young man's name... So young, yet possessing such cultivation. Compared to him, my decades of cultivation have been wasted!"

Bai Youfu quickly followed, bowing low and acting subservient.

At such a young age, he's already at the fifth level of Qi Refining and can even travel in a flying magical artifact. It's obvious he's one of the most valued and promising members of the clan. Who knows, next time we meet, he might be an elder, able to decide my fate with a single word. How could I not seize the opportunity to curry favor with him?

The mayor of Tiger Head Town was a middle-aged man with a plump appearance, dressed in silk and satin. He waved his hand to let a row of children step forward one by one.

"Greetings, Immortal Master..."

More than thirty anxious children kowtowed vigorously to the immortal masters sitting in the center of the square.

They were all children around ten years old, beginning to understand things and vaguely knowing that everything in the town was bestowed by the Immortal Master. They also knew that as long as they passed the test, they could become an Immortal Master revered by thousands, allowing themselves and their families to embark on a different path.

Bai Zichen took out an old, compass-like magical artifact and had the town mayor place it on the table.

"As usual, prick your finger and let the blood drip onto the compass, which will then show whether you possess spiritual roots."

Bai Zichen yawned lightly. In fact, with his spiritual sense comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could complete the spiritual root test in a short time as long as these children stood in front of him.

The first boy to come up had his hair tied in a topknot and wore exquisitely handmade clothes. Then, the mortal town mayor nervously cut his finger with a knife, squeezed out a drop of blood, and then stared intently at the compass, not looking away for a second. He must be a close descendant of the town.

"No spiritual root, next!"

The blood droplet spun around and was quickly absorbed by the compass without any change.

Seeing that the ordinary town mayor was reluctant to let the boy off the stage, Bai Youfu coughed lightly, raising his voice slightly.

Although he usually takes good care of himself, acting like a local tyrant, if Bai Youfu were to lose face in front of the clan's dignitaries, he wouldn't mind finding a way to replace him with a town mayor next year.

(End of this chapter)