I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

The elders' eyes burned with fervor, yet they remained remarkably quiet.

Those with divine-level spiritual roots will inevitably be sent to the main peak to be personally taught; they have no chance of competing for them.

Only the twelfth elder leaned down and whispered in Song Yao's ear, his smile radiant: "Little girl, you are truly a treasure."

Song Yao: "..."

baby?

Her?

Last time, when the Twelfth Elder was frightened by the toad and chased after her to beat her up, he clearly called her a heartless monster.

But now is not the time to think about that.

Song Yao glanced at the spiritual root, then at the eager elders around her, and swallowed hard.

No.

How did her wood spirit root also reach the god-level max stage?

She had been tested before and it was clearly only around the Heavenly level, which is why she abandoned the Wood Spiritual Root and devoted herself to cultivating the Metal Spiritual Root.

Could it be that because her metal spiritual root was sealed and she reshaped her body, her wood spiritual root underwent a second development?

If it's god-level...

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

What is the main peak?

This is the headquarters of all the evil deeds she committed in her past life!

Everyone hates her deeply; isn't she courting death?

-

At the outermost edge of the crowd, a figure stood quietly.

Jiang Jin stood in the corner, and the disciples who had been surrounding him, chatting and flattering him, now all rushed forward.

Whispers arose from all directions: "God-level max rank... that's a whole major rank higher than Heaven-level..."

"From now on, he'll definitely be a direct disciple, right? The head of the sect will definitely come to personally accept him as a disciple!"

"Compared to others, a Heavenly-grade Golden Spiritual Root really isn't all that great, is it?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. Being at the Heavenly level is pretty impressive, okay?"

"..."

Jiang Jin lowered his eyes, the smile on his lips vanished without him noticing, and the hand in his sleeve slowly clenched.

The knuckles are turning white.

He took a deep breath and was about to turn around when a voice rang out from the crowd: "No, no, this isn't a divine-level spiritual root, it's still a heavenly-level spiritual root, isn't it?"

Jiang Jin paused and turned to look.

The speaker was an elderly monk from the Enforcement Hall who was in charge of the spirit-testing platform.

He squeezed to the front of the crowd, leaning over to stare at the lingering light on the spirit-testing platform, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

"Look here—"

He reached out and touched a thin line on the edge of the spirit testing platform. "The peak value is clearly at the Heaven level, not the God level, and it's only at the third level of the Heaven level, still a little short of the maximum level."

The third elder was the first to approach, squinting his old eyes for a long time before asking, "Hmm?"

The old cultivator pointed to the patterns and explained, "The Spirit Testing Platform has been used for eight hundred years, so it's bound to have some old problems. That beam of light was too strong just now, blurring the markings that show the rank. You see, the actual position is here."

Everyone turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

On the edge of the spirit testing platform, there is a row of dense engravings, ranging from "Yellow Level 1" to "God Level Max Level".

At this moment, the cursor representing the grade of the spiritual root was positioned between "Heavenly Grade 3" and "Heavenly Grade Max Grade".

Not god-level.

"Heavenly Rank 3?" someone muttered softly. "Isn't that a rank lower than Jiang Jin?"

"Jiang Jin is at the maximum Heavenly Rank, but he's definitely a bit short of the third Heavenly Rank..."

"But that light was terrifying! It was even brighter than Jiang Jin's!"

"The spirit-testing platform is malfunctioning. As the old man said, it's a 300-year-old relic, it's bound to have some erratic behavior."

"That's true, not everyone can be as perverted as Song Yao."

"..."

Whispers arose, and the Twelfth Elder and Yu Jing simultaneously frowned.

They were standing close together, and they clearly saw the peak reach its highest point just now. How did it suddenly become the Heavenly level again?

Did I misread it?

I wanted to take another look, but the hand on the spirit-testing platform had already been quickly withdrawn.

Song Yao's forehead was covered in sweat, her heart was pounding like a drum, and her face was so pale that she looked like she was about to collapse at any moment.

She had just tried the Concealing Breath Technique that her master had taught her a long time ago, but unfortunately, the level of this technique was too high, and she had no spiritual power at all. At best, she could only suppress the level of her spiritual root to the Heavenly level.

However, after looking around and seeing that the elders were not very interested, Song Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

No need to be his personal mentor anymore.

congratulations.

-

The test ended in the evening.

All disciples below the Heavenly level have completed their apprenticeships. Those who were not chosen have remained in the outer courtyard. There are a total of five disciples above the Heavenly level, who are yet to be assigned.

Of these five people, apart from Jiang Jin and Song Yao, the rest were all sent by various powerful families, clearly all eyeing the position of personal disciple.

Unfortunately, a jade slip arrived.

The elder stroked his beard and slowly relayed the message: "The sect leader is currently in seclusion and has no time to take on disciples. Each of you should find a master who suits your taste."

Song Yao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense all day, finally settled back into place.

I feel at ease now.

I feel completely at ease.

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

She almost burst out laughing on the spot.

Fortunately, she still retained her rationality and only smiled slightly.

Halfway down the bend, I caught a glimpse of the person beside me out of the corner of my eye.

Jiang Jin stood beside her.

Unlike other overpowered male protagonists, Jiang Jin has a more refined and clean-cut appearance; in modern times, he would be a typical sunny and cheerful college student.

He was frowning slightly, clearly unable to manage a smile.

Song Yao silently withdrew her gaze, a question mark appearing above her head.

That's not how it's written in the book.

Although Jiang Jin in the book also started with a Heaven-level max-grade spiritual root, because his golden spiritual root was so suitable for being a sword cultivator, he was personally taken in as a closed-door disciple by the hall master, enjoying immense prestige and envied by others.

Why is the sect leader in seclusion now?

They're even giving up on such a precious disciple?

It can't be because of her, can it?

The system once said that the original owner only had a Xuan-level full-grade spiritual root, and should not have been able to be personally taught, but because of the entrustment of an old friend, the hall master made an exception and accepted him as a disciple.

After she transmigrated into the body of the original owner, her spiritual root became terrifyingly strong.

The system explained that she was naturally gifted, and when combined with other talents, she became even more uncontrollable.

Because she has a divine-level spiritual root, the hall master looks down on those with a heavenly-level spiritual root?

That sounded a bit narcissistic, so Song Yao shook her head and didn't think about it anymore.

Anyway, she had already completed her mission, and nothing else mattered to her.

-

The subsequent selection process was extremely tense.

Among them, Jiang Jin, who is at the Heavenly Rank and at the maximum level, is the most sought-after, and almost every elder has extended an olive branch to him.

The young man remained silent for a moment, then looked past the eagerly expectant elders in front of him and fell on the pale figure in the corner.

Xie Zhou stood alone at the edge of the platform, the bustling surroundings seemingly separated from him by an invisible barrier, his aura faint and distant.

Jiang Jin paused for a moment, as if making a decision, then 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?"

A sudden silence fell over the platform.

The smiles on the faces of the elders froze.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

In front of so many elders, a newly initiated disciple ignored the olive branch offered to him and instead went to ask a personal disciple for advice.

What does this mean?

It's obvious they look down on them.