Wild Dogs

"Where did this beggar come from? Get out of the way!"

"The immortal is coming soon, how can we let a little beggar like you pass by?"

In Fuyun Town, several burly constables drove Yang Fan and his group away.

After leaving the Xu family, Yang Fan didn't dare go directly to the town.

The news of the Xu family's violent deaths spread throughout the town early the next morning.

For a time, the town was filled with a sense of panic.

Although Xu Family Village was not as prosperous as Fuyun Town, it was still a large family. The fact that the entire family was wiped out overnight naturally made everyone feel insecure.

The constables in the town are patrolling much more diligently now.

Fearing being recognized, he hid in the nearby mountains until today when Qingyun Temple came down the mountain to recruit disciples, at which point he ran to the town.

"Meat buns, freshly steamed meat buns!"

Someone was calling out from the street, and smelling the aroma of meat buns, Xiao Hei poked his head out from his arms and stared at the bun stall over there.

"Hold on a bit, I'll buy it for you after we meet the immortal!"

Yang Fan swallowed hard.

He really wanted to eat steamed buns, but he knew that if a poor boy like himself suddenly produced a large sum of money, people would definitely be suspicious.

Fortunately, today, the people from Qingyun Temple will go down the mountain to recruit disciples.

After several tense days, Fuyun Town suddenly relaxed.

Many people from nearby villages and towns brought their children to the town, hoping to try their luck and see if they could be chosen by the immortals.

"Make way, all of you make way!"

Just then, a shout of cursing came from the side.

Yang Fan hurriedly turned his head and saw a horse-drawn carriage rushing in from outside the town.

Some of those who were slow to dodge were whipped hard by a young master in the carriage.

"A bunch of lowly lackeys, they don't even know to hide when they see me."

The arrogant young master shouted, and the person who had been whipped dared not speak out in anger.

Yang Fan quickly grabbed Xiao Hei and hid on the side of the street.

But he was just a child, and several strong men pushed him to the side of the carriage.

Upon seeing a little beggar standing by the roadside, the young master sneered and raised his whip to lash out at Yang Fan.

"Bah! An immortal is about to arrive in our Floating Cloud Town, and a beggar dares to come out and embarrass himself!"

Yang Fan could only raise his hand to block in his haste.

"Snapped!"

The whip lashed his arm, tearing his cotton-padded coat, and straw spilled out from inside.

"Haha, what a worthless life!"

The young master strode away, completely disregarding everyone else.

"Pah! Who do we have here? It's Liu Pan, the young master of the Liu family. He just bullies people because his family is powerful and influential."

Several people who had been whipped were cursing incessantly.

Yang Fan hurriedly stuffed the straw into his tattered cotton-padded coat, which was his only winter garment; if it got torn, it would be a real problem.

Just as everyone was talking, two streaks of light flashed across the sky.

Immediately afterwards, the previously noisy crowd fell silent.

"An immortal, a true immortal!"

Someone whispered, and then everyone knelt down in unison.

Even the usually arrogant and domineering constables obediently knelt down at this moment.

Yang Fan hurriedly knelt down with the crowd, carefully touching the Ascension Token in his arms.

He planned to take the Ascension Token and go there when the immortals started recruiting people.

A moment later, two figures appeared above the crowd.

The young man looked at the beautiful woman beside him and, seeing her frowning, offered a word of comfort.

"Junior Sister Xu, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Please accept our condolences. Besides, Senior Brother and the others have already gone to the Xu family to investigate. They should be able to catch the murderer."

This beautiful woman was none other than Xu Longyue, the eldest daughter of the Xu family.

Xu Longyue nodded and forced a smile.

"Senior brother, I know my limits. Let's select our disciples as soon as possible so we can go back and report."

The man nodded and looked down at the crowd.

"Spread out!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd below stirred and then retreated to make way for an open space.

Yang Fan was jostled around by the crowd, but fortunately, he was physically strong enough not to be knocked over.

After the crowd dispersed, the man waved.

Then a white jade-like table was placed in front of everyone.

On the white jade table sat a pure white stone, a spirit stone specifically used to examine spiritual roots.

"Alright, you all know why we're here, so I won't waste any more words."

"Those under the age of thirteen, come forward and press your feet on this spirit stone."

"As long as the spiritual root aptitude is qualified, our Qingyun Temple will accept them."

After speaking, the young man looked coldly at the crowd around him, without any expression.

The teenagers present looked excitedly at the white spirit stone, but for a moment no one dared to step forward.

"A bunch of cowards, I'll take over!"

Just then, Liu Pan, the young master from before, stepped out from the crowd.

He pressed his hand on the spirit stone, and immediately, the white spirit stone lit up with gold and red colors.

"Dual spiritual roots of metal and fire, passed!"

The young man nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

I didn't expect to get two spiritual roots on my first try. This time it should be possible.

"Thank you, Immortal Master."

Liu Pan walked smugly to the side and gave everyone a provocative look.

With Liu Pan leading the way, more and more teenagers lined up and went up.

"We also need to test your spiritual roots."

Yang Fan nervously touched the Ascension Token in his pocket.

If he fails the spiritual root test and Qingyun Temple doesn't want him, then he's doomed.

The thought that the Gu worms might crawl out of his stomach made Yang Fan clench his fists nervously.

"Rejected!"

After Liu Pan passed the test, the others who pressed their hands on the spirit stone did not react at all.

This made the people behind them increasingly nervous.

After a while, a little boy timidly pressed his hand on the spirit stone, and then five colors lit up on the spirit stone.

The little boy immediately beamed with joy.

Liu Pan only had two types of spiritual roots, yet they were all accepted. Liu Pan himself had five types of spiritual roots, making him stronger than Liu Pan.

"Water, fire, earth, wood, metal, and mixed spiritual roots are not acceptable."

The young man spoke coldly, and the little boy was immediately filled with utter disappointment.

He wiped away his tears and was about to leave.

"Alright, Senior Brother Mo, let's take him in. The servants' hall is short of servants, so let's send him there."

Xu Longyue felt a pang of pity.

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Mo thought for a moment and nodded.

"Alright, you can come with us, but you can only work as a handyman in the servants' quarters."

The little boy was overjoyed and jumped for joy.

But when he glanced at the few remaining children, Senior Brother Mo's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

If there's only one dual-attribute spiritual root, then there will be far too few people to recruit this time.

"How come there isn't a single person with a Heavenly Spiritual Root?"

Liu Pan muttered impatiently.

Upon hearing this, Xu Longyue smiled.

"Heavenly spiritual roots are not so easy to come by; having two spiritual roots is already quite good."

Seeing that there were not many children left, Yang Fan gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

"Oh, so you little beggar want to join the immortal sect?"

Seeing that it was the little beggar he had beaten before, Liu Pan sneered.

Yang Fan ignored him and walked to the spirit stone.

Seeing Yang Fan's dirty appearance, Senior Brother Mo's eyes revealed a hint of disgust.

Although he looked down on ordinary people, he loathed beggars even more.

Seeing these beggars reminded him of the days when he begged before joining Qingyun Temple.

Yang Fan did not rush to take out the Ascension Token, but instead pressed it onto the spirit stone first.

If we can avoid using the Ascension Order, then we should.

Soon, a dazzling golden light shone on the spirit stone.

"It's actually a metal-attribute celestial spiritual root!"

Senior Brother Mo was overjoyed and was about to come over to personally greet Yang Fan.

"This kid is actually stronger than me!"

Seeing that the little beggar he had looked down upon actually possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root, Liu Pan was so angry that his teeth itched.

But a moment later, the light on the spirit stone turned into a bright green light.

"What, what's going on?!"

Senior Brother Mo looked at the spirit stone in surprise.

A moment later, the light on the spirit stone changed again, this time turning into a fiery red light.

"Could it be a mixed spiritual root of the five elements? But that doesn't make sense. A mixed spiritual root should be five colors, but the light on this spirit stone keeps changing."

After all five colors had changed, a look of disappointment flashed across Senior Brother Mo's eyes, who had been beaming with delight.

"I thought he was some kind of genius, but it turns out he just has a hidden spiritual root!"

"Senior Brother Mo, what is a hidden spiritual root?"

Xu Longyue asked Mo Shixiong curiously.

"The so-called hidden spiritual root refers to a special kind of spiritual root, which is even rarer than the heavenly spiritual root. I have only seen it in ancient books before."

"Although this spiritual root exists, it can also sense spiritual energy."

"But these spiritual roots are sometimes present and sometimes absent, making cultivation incredibly slow."

"Therefore, although their spiritual roots are comparable to those of a celestial spiritual root, they are actually the same as useless spiritual roots."

Looking at Yang Fan, Senior Brother Mo sneered.

"Even the one next to me with mixed five elements spiritual root is stronger than this useless spiritual root."

Seeing Yang Fan still standing there blankly, Senior Brother Mo waved his hand impatiently.

"Get down here! You didn't pass!"

Upon hearing that Yang Fan had failed, Liu Pan burst into laughter.

That's more like it. Why should a beggar stand with the eldest son of the Liu family?

"Get out of here right now!"

Seeing that Yang Fan was still standing there, Senior Brother Mo flicked his sleeves dismissively.

Although disappointed that he had failed, Yang Fan was mentally prepared.

He stepped forward and took out the token from his pocket.

"Two Immortal Masters, I possess an Ascension Token from Qingyun Temple. Please take a look!"