Chapter 3: Testing Spirit Roots, What a Great Seed!

“Senior Brother, my name is Su Ruoxi, here is my token.” Su Ruoxi cursed internally, but her smile was as sweet as ever.

Ye Qingning glanced at Su Ruoxi in surprise.

Already on the gossip train? Truly love at first sight, huh?

No wonder he’s the male lead; he attracts attention wherever he goes.

But remember this: if you truly like someone, look a few more times, but don’t get carried away with thoughts; otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Female supporting roles are often like this, disappearing without a sound after a while.

Putting aside the plot for now, no matter how handsome the male lead is, a man with Ice Spirit Root is best left alone.

As the teleportation array activated, everyone followed the disciples of Penglai Sect and boarded the island.

Earlier, at the harbor, the group could barely see the island in the middle of the sea. But when they arrived at Penglai Island, they were in awe.

The entire sect was magnificent, enveloped by a shimmering dome of light. The dome radiated a faint golden glow.

Even though it was her second time here, Ye Qingning still showed a look of wonder. After all, Penglai Sect was famous for its mystery, and she never had the chance to visit it in her past life.

She quickly recognized the legendary defensive formation: the Qianyuan Xuantian Formation.

Despite being protected by a divine-level formation, Ye Qingning couldn’t help but reflect. In her previous life, even with this grand protective formation, the entire sect was still dragged into the whirlpool of spiritual energy, which was enough to show how terrifying the collapse of the ancient secret realm was.

Now that she was here, she had to do everything in her power to stop the tragedy from her past life. If she didn’t want to be wiped out again, she would need to proceed with caution.

After entering the sect, Ye Qingning and the others were led to the Spirit Light Hall.

The Spirit Light Hall was where new disciples tested their spirit roots.

“I heard that a new disciple tested with a perfect Ice Spirit Root yesterday. I’m sure you all must have tested your spirit roots before coming here. Those with bad talent shouldn’t crowd to the front and embarrass the noble families,” one of the elders said.

Su Ruoxi rolled her eyes and stood right at the front.

The “newcomers” she mentioned were the disciples who arrived the day before.

Penglai Sect didn’t just recruit noble family disciples, but also went out to find promising individuals with spiritual affinity. Those chosen by the sect elders were no less talented than the noble family disciples.

“New disciples, step forward to test your spirit roots!” an elder announced.

On the high platform, a round spirit root display plate lit up with colorful beams of light. Each color represented a different attribute of the spirit root.

The intensity of the light beam reflected the purity of the spirit root.

“Su Ruoxi, bone age sixteen, Gold Spirit Root, purity ninety-five, assigned to the Outer Sect Beast Garden, miscellaneous disciple. Next!”

A wave of surprise spread through the crowd.

“She’s nearly got a perfect single Gold Spirit Root! But she’s assigned to the Outer Sect Beast Garden as a miscellaneous disciple? Isn’t that a mistake?!”

“Yeah, a nearly perfect single root, and they assign her to the Beast Garden? Does that mean my double roots will be stuck doing chores?!”

Ye Qingning was also taken aback. Had she made the wrong choice? Would she end up doing menial tasks too? With her fragile body, she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

“SILENCE! If you’re dissatisfied with the assignment, you may leave immediately!” an elder’s stern voice rang out, causing everyone to be silent.

Su Ruoxi, although unhappy, kept quiet and stood aside, waiting to see where the others would be assigned. She was especially curious if Ye Qingning, the so-called “fake young lady,” would just leave.

…

Ye Qingning was the last to step up for the test.

Her heart was calm like still water.

After all, the first nine were all assigned to the Outer Sect doing menial tasks.

She naturally wouldn’t be an exception.

The test was a struggle. She almost wanted to sit down to catch her breath.

The white-haired elder furrowed his brows. Everyone else stepped forward energetically, but when it came to her, it seemed like she could barely make it up the platform.

Was this really a disciple from Penglai Sect? Why did they look like they belonged in a clinic instead?

“If your talent is poor, it’s better to send you back now before you waste our time,” the elder muttered to himself.

“Ye Qingning, bone age fourteen, Fire Spirit Root at full value, Lightning Spirit Root at ninety…” The elder stopped midway.

He was stunned by the two beams of light on the plate.

This sickly girl actually had both Fire and Lightning Spirit Roots?!

One was perfect, and the other had ninety percent purity!

While single spirit roots were usually considered the best, a Lightning Spirit Root with such high purity was truly a rare talent!

What a gem!

However, the elder carefully examined her again.

This was an excellent talent, but with her incomplete spiritual veins, even before she could temper her body with thunder, a single bolt could kill her.

Others only knew that Ye Qingning, the fake young lady, was no longer favored by the Ye family. They even talked for a long time on the flying boat about why she was the one brought to Penglai Sect.

They all wondered why the Ye family would send a fake daughter here instead of the real one.

Now, they seemed to understand. The Ye family likely hadn’t given up on Ye Qingning.

After all, a Lightning and Fire Spirit Root with such pure energy was something even the best single root couldn’t match.

But she had incomplete spiritual veins—either blocked or inherently damaged, which meant her cultivation speed would be slower than normal, and she might even be unable to establish a foundation. Cultivating might be a danger, and even living to twenty was an unlikely feat.

Although the Ye family sent her here, it seemed no one would be able to heal her. Even with the best talent, it would all be for nothing.

Ye Qingning saw that the elder remained silent, still staring at her. She decided to ask, “Elder, may I know where I’ve been assigned?”

The elder cleared his throat and, after a long pause, finally spoke, “You will go to the Outer Sect Spirit Herb Garden as a miscellaneous disciple. The residence for you and the others will be in the Outer Sect’s Initial Dao Courtyard.”

“Now, go to your assigned location and meet with the supervising elder to receive your disciple token and clothing.”

The group responded affirmatively, but Su Ruoxi was boiling with anger.

Why was the sickly girl assigned to the Spirit Herb Garden while she had to work with the beasts and clean up after them?!

It was infuriating. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became!

She had to come up with a plan. She would not allow that sickly girl to take her place in the Spirit Herb Garden!

…

Without anyone guiding them, whether they were going to the Beast Garden or the Spirit Herb Garden, they had to follow the directions provided by the guiding stones.

As Ye Qingning walked toward the Spirit Herb Garden, she was in a relatively good mood—if only she could ignore the weakness of her body, which forced her to lean against the wall as she walked.

The system, which seemed to be in a good mood, manifested as a small green bird that only Ye Qingning could see and perched on her head.

The system didn’t forget to give her a little lesson: “Ning Ning, the one in charge of the Spirit Herb Garden is the Taishang Elder of Penglai Sect.”

“This person is either in seclusion or refining pills, rarely visiting the garden. Usually, it’s his apprentice, Jiang Shaoling, who manages it.”

“Jiang Shaoling is his personal disciple, but he’s a bit of a temperamental guy. He doesn’t like weak women or sickly people like you.”

“Wait… I seem to recall you and Jiang Shaoling having some history in your past life?”