The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

The hundreds of cultivators standing beside the arena looked at Yang Qingyuan with envy in their eyes.

Seeing this, the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the other six major sects, who were hiding in the shadows, all said, "Yellow Maple Valley really got lucky."

"The Ascension Ceremony hasn't even ended yet, and they've already found a disciple with a unique spiritual root."

The Yan siblings were also taken aback by what they saw.

"A lightning spiritual root!" Yan Nanfei's heart tightened, and he exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? A random cultivator I met on the roadside actually has such talent?!"

His younger sister, Yan Nanjiao, also frowned, somewhat regretting that she had provoked Yang Qingyuan earlier.

Han Li had already heard Wan Xiaoshan introduce spiritual roots back in Tai Nan Valley, so he was greatly shocked and said to Yang Qingyuan, "So Fellow Daoist Yang is a genius with a different spiritual root. No wonder you are confident in joining Huangfeng Valley."

He hadn't yet tested his spiritual root, and his mind was racing with thoughts, wondering to himself, "I wonder how my aptitude is?"

"Yellow Maple Valley must have methods to test spiritual roots. After successfully joining Yellow Maple Valley, we might as well have it tested."

"Perhaps it's also due to exceptional talent."

Thinking of this, Han Li took out a dark token from his pocket, presented it to Uncle Wang with both hands, and said, "Immortal Master Wang, I, Han Li, have come to pay my respects to Huangfeng Valley with the Ascension Token."

"An Ascension Token?!" Uncle Wang was visibly stunned when he saw the token, then reached out and took it in his hand to examine it, muttering, "It really is an Ascension Token."

"Yellow Maple Valley has not received an Ascension Order for hundreds of years."

"What's going on today? Everything seems to have come together at once."

"According to the rules of the Seven Great Sects, Han Li, you are now a disciple of our Yellow Maple Valley. Stand behind your Senior Brother Yang Qingyuan."

Upon hearing this, Wan Xiaoshan was genuinely happy for the two of them and chuckled, "Great, you were right."

"So that Brother Yang and Brother Han can look after each other in Yellow Maple Valley in the future."

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Han." Yang Qingyuan cupped his hands in greeting and said, "We should visit each other more often in Huangfeng Valley in the future."

Han Li nodded repeatedly, beaming with joy.

The hundreds of independent cultivators standing nearby were too shocked to speak.

"What's going on? Wasn't it said that joining Yellow Maple Valley was very difficult?"

"How come two people have already become disciples of Yellow Maple Valley before the competition has even started?"

The Yan siblings, who were watching from a distance, exchanged bewildered glances.

"What's going on? Two random cultivators I just met on the roadside can join Yellow Maple Valley?"

Yan Nanjiao, considering the bigger picture, turned to her elder brother and said, "Brother, didn't you want to join Yellow Maple Valley?"

"But you've already made enemies with those two, and you might run into trouble if you enter Yellow Maple Valley in the future."

"It's alright," Yan Nanfei replied with a straight face. "As long as our Yan family patriarch is still alive, they won't dare to do anything to me."

At the same time, unable to contain his curiosity, Han Li asked his Uncle Wang, "Uncle Wang, I haven't had my spiritual root tested yet. May I ask where in Huangfeng Valley one can have it tested?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang pondered for a moment and said, "There is a special place in the sect to test spiritual roots. You can take the test as soon as you return to the sect."

"However, the fact that we were able to recruit Junior Nephew Yang, a cultivator with the lightning spiritual root, means that today is a good day."

"I'll make an exception this time and use one of my own spirit-sensing talismans to check on you."

"Maybe it will bring double happiness."

Upon hearing this, Han Li was overjoyed and quickly bowed in greeting.

Uncle Wang then took out a colorful talisman and muttered incantations.

The talisman then transformed into a ray of light, disappearing into Han Li's body, and subsequently reflecting four colors: cyan, blue, red, and yellow.

"A pseudo-spiritual root with the four attributes of wood, water, fire, and earth." Upon seeing this, Uncle Wang's lips twitched slightly, and he sighed, "It seems I was overthinking things."

"How could two people with such unique spiritual roots appear at once?"

"A spirit-sensing talisman was wasted."

When Han Li heard that he had the worst pseudo-spiritual root and could not be compared with the lightning spiritual root at all, he felt extremely disappointed and frustrated.

"Alright, Junior Nephew Yang and Junior Nephew Han, you two come with me to the side and watch the battle," Uncle Wang instructed. "After the Ascension Ceremony concludes, I will lead everyone to Yellow Maple Valley."

"Yes." Han Li quickly recovered from his dejection and stood behind his Uncle Wang.

Yang Qingyuan responded, "Uncle-Master Wang, this disciple would like to attend the Ascension Ceremony and learn from other cultivators."

"What?!" Han Li, who was standing next to him, was incredulous to hear that Yang Qingyuan, who was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, actually wanted to engage in a magical duel.

Uncle Wang also glanced sideways, quite surprised.

But he quickly realized what was going on and asked, "You want a second Foundation Establishment Pill?"

Yang Qingyuan nodded and explained, "If I had two Foundation Establishment Pills, my Foundation Establishment would be a certainty."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang couldn't help but scrutinize Yang Qingyuan a few more times. Seeing that the other party only had the cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining, he frowned and said, "Your idea is good."

"If you have two Foundation Establishment Pills, you will probably be able to successfully establish your foundation in no time."

"The problem is that you're only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, which is far too weak."

"Once you step onto the arena, any cultivator you pick will be at a higher level than you."

"They don't care if you're a genius or not; they'll fight you to the death for a spot to join Yellow Maple Valley."

"What if you get seriously injured or die unexpectedly? Wouldn't that be counterproductive?"

"I'll take my uncle's advice and join the Yellow Maple Valley. Take the Foundation Establishment Pill first. If you fail to establish your foundation, then we can plan for a second one."

Yang Qingyuan, however, was very confident in his abilities. He cupped his hands slightly and said, "This disciple's mind is made up. I beg my master to grant my request."

Seeing this, Uncle Wang pondered for a moment, feeling very conflicted, and finally said, "Alright, since you've made up your mind, Uncle Wang won't try to persuade you any further."

"But I have a piece of advice for you: if you encounter a cultivator who has reached the tenth level of Qi Refining, surrender as soon as possible."

"As long as you surrender, I, your martial uncle, will immediately appear and stop the duel."

"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle-Master." Yang Qingyuan smiled and walked towards the Huangfeng Valley disciple who was distributing wooden slips.

Upon seeing this, the Qi Refining stage disciple quickly handed over a wooden slip and said with a smile, "I didn't expect Junior Brother Yang to have such outstanding talent. Please forgive me for my rudeness earlier."

"My name is Wu Feng. I usually work in the sect's training hall, where I teach new disciples basic spells."

"We were temporarily assigned the Ascension Ceremony because we were short-handed."

"Let's visit each other more often in the future."

"Here is your wooden slip, number one hundred."

Yang Qingyuan took the wooden slip and stood aside with Han Li and Wan Xiaoshan, waiting quietly.

About half an hour later, all the Qi Refining stage cultivators present had completed their draws.

One after another, cultivators took to the seven arenas to compete.

The arena has its own protective barrier, isolating the inside from the outside, so there is no need to worry about the fighting affecting others.

While waiting for his turn to go on stage, Yang Qingyuan observed the fighting on the Huangfeng Valley arena.

The Ascension Ceremony was indeed as cruel as the rumors said; every cultivator who participated was fighting for their lives to compete for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The first round of combat had barely begun when three rogue cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining were killed on the spot.

Among them, two cultivators at the twelfth level of Qi Refining even met, their luck being extremely bad.

In the end, it was the cultivator from a prestigious family who, with a top-grade flying sword, killed the other person who only possessed a high-grade magic weapon, and even took the storage bag from the corpse, thus successfully advancing to the next level.

An hour later, Wu Feng, a Qi Refining stage disciple of Huangfeng Valley, announced after the previous match ended, "Next match, number twenty-two versus number one hundred."

"Both sides may now take the stage."

Upon hearing the number, Wan Xiaoshan was immediately alarmed. "Number 22? Does that mean Brother Yang is going to face off against that guy Yan Nanfei?"

"This is bad."