Chapter 9: The Use of the Jade Token

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Fu Zhong sighed and paused for a while before continuing.

“Little brother, I won’t hide it from you. In those sects, top-grade spiritual roots can directly enter the inner sect. As for the outer sect, the treatment of high-grade spiritual root disciples is often much better than medium-grade spiritual root disciples.”

“How about this, Little Brother Jiang Li? I, Fu Zhong, only feel pity for you. If you can convince your friends to stay in the Immortal Ascension Pavilion, I will make the decision to give you the treatment of a high-grade spiritual root disciple. How about it?”

Jiang Li was stunned, and then he glanced at Yan Hong before he cupped his hands and bowed to Fu Zhong.

“Thank you for your offer, Senior Fu… I’ll try my best.” He lowered his voice as he spoke the second half of his sentence, as if he really wanted to persuade Yan Hong to stay.

Fu Zhong was obviously very satisfied. His already small eyes narrowed into thin lines.

Jiang Li glanced at the wooden sign hanging on his body and smiled before Yan Hong stood together.

From the Scaled Demon incident, he could see that the Immortal Ascension Pavilion was most likely involved in human trafficking.

He and the other soon-to-be cultivators were similar to the Scaled Demons. They were products that could bring these people benefits.

However, this Fu Zhong’s genuine attitude made him feel much more at ease.

It could be seen that Spiritual Roots above the medium-grade were attractive to the Immortal Ascension Pavilion and other sects.

However, even though he was in their territory, the other party did not force these newbies with potential to join him. Instead, he used such a tactful method to persuade them.

This meant that there must be some kind of rule restricting them, preventing them from doing whatever they wanted to the helpless kids.

The greatest possibility was the other sects in this region.

These cultivators were all elites who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years.

Even if it was just for convenience, the job of finding and recruiting Immortal Cultivators was handed over to the more professional Immortal Ascension Pavilion.

It was impossible for them to not set sufficient restrictions. Otherwise, every time they recruited disciples, the best disciples would be taken away by the Immortal Ascension Pavilion. In less than a hundred years, the entire cultivation world would be ruled by the Immortal Ascension Pavilion.

Very quickly, half an hour had passed. The Spirit Testing Array had exhausted its energy and was extinguished. Among the remaining eight people, not a single one was able to fill up the Spirit Testing Bead.

What was worth mentioning was that among the eight people, Yan Fengyue, who was also the woman responsible for the original Jiang Li’s death due to his peeping, had a lonely expression on her delicate mixed-blood face. The assistant beside her casually hung a wooden sign with a low-grade spiritual root.

Jiang Li also glanced at her. At this moment, the other party was holding onto the wooden tablet tightly, and her gaze was intentionally or unintentionally sweeping towards them. No one knew what she was thinking.

She thought that she was a great genius and had been sought after by countless people since she was young. After she tested her spiritual root aptitude, she thought that she was going to reach the peak of her life. She did not expect to have a low-grade spiritual root.

On the other hand, Jiang Li, Yan Hong, and Li Baichen, whom she had looked down upon previously, possessed talents that far surpassed hers.

This made her so jealous that she was going crazy, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could only accept reality as she started to plan for the future.

“Yan Hong and Jiang Li have a very good relationship. One of them has a high-grade spiritual root while the other has a dual-attribute medium-grade spiritual root. If they work together, they will be a very strong group among this group of people.”

“Yan Hong and I are both from the royal bloodline of the Great Goose Kingdom. Jiang Li tried to woo me before. Although he was beaten up because of me, he can’t blame me for that. As long as Yan Hong speaks up for me, I can act pitiful and make him fall in love with me again.”

“If I can join them, with the help of Yan Hong and that idiot Jiang Li, perhaps in the future…”

Actually, Yan Fengyue was not the only one who had such thoughts.

After the results of the spiritual root test were out, the unstable group structure in the convoy had already collapsed.

None of them were fools. They each had their own thoughts and considerations. With several high-grade spiritual roots as the core, it would not be long before a new group was formed.

After waiting for a long time, the aptitude test for more than 200 people finally ended.

Including Jiang Li, there were only nineteen people with medium-grade spiritual roots and five with high-grade spiritual roots. There was not a single top-grade spiritual root among them.

The cruel elimination of the cultivation world had begun from this first step.

“Alright, all of you have completed the test and know the attributes and grades of your spiritual roots.”

“Now, all those with medium-grade and above spiritual roots, as well as those who have our Immortal Ascension Pavilion jade tokens, follow me. We will head to the Immortal Ascension Assembly shortly.”

“As for the others, stay where you are. There are other arrangements for you.”

Upon hearing this, nearly half of the young men and women present quickly stood behind Fu Zhong. Most of them wore embroidered clothes, while a few wore plain clothes. They were the children who had previously been tested to possess spiritual roots at medium-grade or above.

And on the spot, there were over a hundred uneasy children left behind. All of them wore rough hemp clothes, and it was obvious that their family did not have the ability to exchange for that kind of jade token.

‘Could it be…’ Jiang Li and Yan Hong looked at each other, both having some guesses.

“I’ll go ask.”

Yan Hong seemed to have suddenly thought of something. After saying that, he went to Fu Zhong, who was walking at the front, and said something.

Both of them had round and chubby faces. When put together, it was strangely interesting.

It was probably because of Yan Hong’s high-grade spiritual root that Fu Zhong told him many things. He only left after bringing them into a lounge.

It was said that they would have to take another form of transportation to the venue of the Immortal Ascension Assembly. They would also have to wait for the people from the other carriages to test their spiritual roots before they set off together.

Fortunately, there was a large amount of exquisite food placed in the lounge. Everyone had been exhausted from the long journey, and after arriving, they had been tested for several hours in a row. Now, they were tired and hungry. They cheered and ate.

The few people with high-grade spiritual roots had a tacit understanding and sat separately at several long tables. The others chose the dining table to sit at based on their own considerations. To them, this showed which person they chose to join.

However, there was a small problem with Jiang Li and Yan Hong.

“Brother, I know the details behind the jade token now.”

“Tell me about it.”

Although Jiang Li already had his own guesses, it was naturally best if he could obtain confirmation.

“At that time, the cultivator who tested us for Spiritual Roots told us that no matter which sect we went to, this jade token would allow us to be exempted from two years of labor. This saying is neither correct nor accurate enough.”

“This is just an ordinary jade token. It will be useless in any other sect!”

“To be precise, this jade token can exempt you from two years of labor if you join the Immortal Ascension Pavilion!”