Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

When Gou An returned the lost stone to his home, Fatty looked at him with a hint of admiration.

When the woman who had lost her child saw that her child had returned safely, she immediately knelt down to thank Gou An and even wanted to give him all the money she had.

Gou An naturally didn't take the money; he simply took Fatty and left secretly.

After Gou An left, the woman held her child and gently said, "Shitou, you must remember your benefactor's face. If you ever meet him again, you must remember to repay his kindness!"

Little Stone nodded blankly: "I remember, my benefactor was a big yellow dog that could turn into a human."

"Pah! Pah! Pah!" The woman was so angry that she was about to hit the stone's mouth. "How could you speak of your benefactor like that?"

After being scolded by his mother, Little Stone could only shut his mouth, feeling very aggrieved: "That's just how it is!"

Seeing the child like this, the woman shook her head helplessly: "It seems I need to find a doctor to prescribe some calming medicine for you. You're even talking incoherently."

After leaving the town, Gou An continued to walk on the ground while riding his donkey, but he quickened his pace.

Ye Qingyang said that something big had happened recently, causing the entire Zhixuan Guard to be mobilized. I don't know what big thing he was talking about.

However, no matter what it is, I should keep a low profile, otherwise it would be troublesome if I encountered other Xuan Guards.

Therefore, Gou An concealed his demonic aura very well throughout the journey, without revealing it at all.

This time, Gou An only ate, drank, stayed, and traveled, and did not get involved in or care about anything else.

Sometimes, when passing through towns and villages, he would hear interesting rumors and encounter some excitement, but Gou An would not even glance at them.

After traveling for more than twenty days, Gou An finally saw a large city.

The city walls stand tall on the plain, like a majestic mountain.

The entire city was shrouded in a faintly visible protective array, indicating that the city lord could not possibly be an ordinary mortal.

According to the map, this city is called Luoqing City, and it is nearly 10,000 miles away from the Monster Mountain Range.

At Gou An's current pace, it will take at least another six months to complete the journey.

This world is undeniably vast.

Gou An originally didn't want to enter the city and planned to bypass it and continue on his way, but he learned an important message from other people he passed by.

The Divine Wind Sect, one of the Four Great Heavenly Sects, is selecting disciples in the city. Any child under the age of sixteen can participate.

Once one's spiritual root is determined, one can join the immortal sect.

Upon hearing this news, Gou An glanced at the bewildered chubby girl on the donkey's back, seemingly having found a place for her.

The Divine Wind Sect, one of the Four Great Heavenly Sects, has a profound foundation.

Fatty is able to go to this place to cultivate, so she must have no shortage of cultivation resources. She will surely go further in the future.

So Gou An led the donkey and pulled the fat girl towards the city gate.

On the way, Gou An asked Fatty, "Fatty, if this sect in the city that's selecting disciples is good, I'm going to send you there. What do you think?"

After hearing this, the chubby girl pouted and said, "Master, my name is Er Ya!"

"It's all about the same, don't worry about it!" Gou An said, "With your talent, once you go to this sect, you'll definitely be treated like a precious gem, and you'll never be short of food and drink."

"But I don't want to become a pig!" Fatty shook her head quickly.

"A precious gem, not a pig!" Gou An sighed, not wanting to explain too much to a three-year-old, so he changed the subject, saying, "Simply put, once you're chosen, we'll be separated."

Upon hearing this, Fatty was stunned.

It has been almost two months since she left home. Along the way, she has become familiar with Gou An and has developed a dependence on him.

Upon suddenly hearing that they were about to part ways, Fatty felt a pang of sadness, but she forced a smile and tried her best not to show it.

She thought for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Master, do you not want me anymore?"

"It's not that I don't want you!" Gou An could only patiently explain, "My abilities are limited, and it would be a waste of your talent to follow me. Only a large sect like the Divine Wind Sect can allow you to shine and provide you with a better future."

"Does Master think I've eaten too much?" Fatty asked, head bowed, looking aggrieved. "I can eat less in the future, please don't abandon me, Master!"

Seeing Fatty's reaction, Gou An didn't know how to explain.

It would be a waste to have Fatty following me around all the time.

Moreover, having a little girl constantly by his side would also affect his future actions.

Although he had the Palm Heaven Diagram, a small world that could hold people, most of the creatures inside were monsters, and the few human cultivators were all half-baked cultivators with Qi Refining cultivation.

I really don't feel comfortable sending Fatty in there just for convenience.

As for bringing it back to the City of Ten Thousand Demons, that was a last resort.

Gou An was also worried. If he really brought Fatty back to the City of Ten Thousand Demons, given Fatty's talent, it would be hard to guarantee that those great demons wouldn't have other ideas after hearing about it.

A human genius child with a Heavenly Rank spiritual root might be seen as a great tonic by them.

One of the four great sects is right in front of us. If we give up now, we might not have another chance like this for the rest of our journey.

Thinking of all this, Gou An patted Fatty's head and comforted her, "It's not that I don't want you, it's that you belong to a wider world and shouldn't just be a little follower who follows me."

Whether the chubby girl understood or not, she finally nodded and stopped talking.

The city gate of Luoqing City is very majestic, with two large doors that look like they were cast in steel and are extremely heavy.

There were fully armed soldiers on duty at the city gate, and people entering the city were obediently queuing up to wait for the soldiers to check them.

Gou An's eyes flashed with golden light, revealing that these armored soldiers were all cultivators at the Qi Refining stage.

The one leading them was more powerful, probably at the Qi Sea stage.

When it was Gou An's turn, the guards didn't make things difficult for him. They simply checked Gou An's belongings and assumed that he, like the others, had brought his daughter to participate in the disciple selection, so they let him pass.

Upon entering the city, one finds it to be a very prosperous place.

The ground is paved with bluestone, the road is wide, and buildings stand on both sides. The street is full of shops and vendors, and people come and go, making it very lively.

"So, I guess I've finally made it to the city!"

Gou An, leading the donkey and accompanied by Fatty Ya, found it all quite novel.

Although Gou An had gone to Qianfeng City once before to retrieve spirit stones, it was because there was a selection process for disciples of the Tianxing Sect there.

However, compared to Luoqing City, this Qianfeng City is clearly not up to par.

Thinking of this, Gou An suddenly remembered Lai Pi.

This guy was rejected when he participated in the Tianxing Sect selection because he wasn't smart enough, but Fatty will definitely not be in the same situation this time.

I just wonder how Lai Pi is doing now?

I ran away as soon as I was slapped to save my life, and I don't know if that scoundrel is still alive.

If I were alive, what would I be like now?

Soon, Gou An brought Fatty to the central square of the city.

Hearing that there was a selection of immortal disciples here, many people from the surrounding area came, and the central square was packed with people.

All the eligible children, accompanied by their families, lined up one by one to have their spiritual talents tested.

Because there were so many people, several testing sites for spiritual roots were set up in the square, and the tests were conducted simultaneously.

Like the Tianxing Sect, every place where spiritual roots are tested has a huge rock several meters high used for measuring spiritual roots.

Each person takes turns touching the spirit-testing stone for a few breaths, and then they can see the specific level of their spiritual root appear on the stone.

What puzzled Gou An was that the Divine Wind Sect, as one of the four great sects, had very low requirements for recruiting disciples.

Anyone with a spiritual root can join a sect, even if it's only the lowest-grade human-level spiritual root.

As for the two qualities that Tianxing Sect wanted to see—comprehension and Dao heart—they were not displayed at all.

Even with the requirements lowered, only a handful of children were found to have spiritual roots.

Gou An first observed from outside and found that only about one in a hundred children could produce a human-level spiritual root. After observing for a long time, he couldn't even find a single earth-level one.

If we let Fatty test it now, wouldn't it shock everyone?

However, Gou An was not in a hurry, because he learned from the people around him that the selection of Shenfeng Sect disciples would last for a full ten days, and it was only the fifth day.

Gou An found a restaurant near the square, booked a private room on the second floor, and ordered a feast for Fatty.

Fatty saw these and ate with great relish.

Gou An, on the other hand, looked out of the window at the square.

After an unknown period of selection and testing of at least a thousand children, a single testing site finally detected a child with an Earth-rank spiritual root.

"A mid-grade Earth-rank spiritual root!" The Shenfeng Sect disciple in charge of recording the results announced loudly.

The child who was found to have a mid-grade Earth-rank spiritual root was a boy who looked to be in his early teens. He was also very surprised to see the result.

Immediately afterward, the elder of the Divine Wind Sect, who was sitting on the high platform, flew to the child's side, quickly reached out and grabbed the child's wrist, and probed the child's body with spiritual energy to examine him.

We were overjoyed to find that the tests were correct, the child's age was just right, and the child was healthy.

He quickly asked the boy, "What's your name?"

"My name is Meng Tianhe!" the boy replied.

"Meng Tianhe! What a fine name!" The elder patted the boy on the shoulder, his face full of satisfaction. "With your talent, you should enter the inner sect. After returning, you might even become a personal disciple of an elder!"

Although the boy didn't know what inner disciples or personal disciples were, he could tell that he was highly valued.

After the interlude, the subsequent disciple tests were all for children with human-level spiritual roots, with no more earth-level ones.

After the entire test was completed, out of more than two thousand children, only one Earth Rank and about ten Human Rank children were selected.

Those children who were not chosen naturally left Luoqing City with their families.

Some people are leaving, while others are just arriving.

Gou An waited for three days but did not arrange for Fatty to participate in the test. During these three days of testing, two more children with Earth-rank mortal spiritual roots appeared, along with several high-rank human-rank spiritual roots and about thirty human-rank spiritual roots. The probability of spiritual roots appearing was higher than before.

In total, about 10,000 children participated in the test, but not a single one with a Heavenly Rank Spiritual Root appeared.

Wait until the ninth day!

The number of children participating in the test has decreased significantly. Gou An knows it's time for Fatty to take the stage, but he doesn't simply have Fatty obediently line up.

Gou An observed that in the past few days, Shenfeng Sect has continued to have a large number of new disciples joining the sect for some unknown reason.

Gou An cannot so easily hand over such a genius child with a Heavenly Rank spiritual root to them.

We must seize this opportunity to gain some benefits!

It wasn't that I was greedy or seeking comfort; I just wanted to see if the Divine Wind Sect was willing to spend resources on Fatty.

We need to show our attitude!

Yes, that's right, that's how it is!

It's not that I'm greedy.