Chapter 104

Facing Qin Fanfan’s puzzled gaze, Ye Qiao scratched her head and hesitated for a moment. “If I said I’m a top-grade spiritual root, would you believe it?”

Qin Fanfan put down the sword in his hand and looked at her with concern. “Oh, Xiao Qiao, did you get turned into a fool by the three realms?”

Ye Qiao was taken aback. “No, I didn’t.”

Although overuse might make her dizzy at times, she certainly wasn’t at the point of becoming a fool.

The two were clearly in a situation where one dared to ask, and the other dared to answer.

Wait a minute, she suddenly realized, “Are you taking me for a fool?”

Qin Fanfan felt a bit guilty from her question. He straightened his back and said, “Then why are you bringing this up?” He began to point at Ye Qiao, delivering his usual critique.

“Practice, of course. At your age, how can you not put in effort?”

Ye Qiao’s mouth twitched. She took a deep breath and said, “Forget it.” She decided to find her junior uncle.

Watching the young girl leave, Qin Fanfan hurriedly followed because he realized that Ye Qiao really didn’t seem to be joking.

Given her previous image of being a bit scatterbrained, Qin Fanfan shouted, immediately threw down his sword, and, with a knowledgeable and scholarly air, stroked his beard and said, “Xiao Qiao, I know about top-grade spiritual roots!”

Ye Qiao stopped in her tracks. Qin Fanfan smoothed his beard and clarified, “Above the top-grade, there’s the top-grade spiritual root. There was a saying in the cultivation world before, but such talents have become increasingly rare. Even the eight major families seldom see top-grade roots.”

“Nowadays, only the top-grade can directly become direct disciples.”

Top-grade spiritual roots are highly sought after.

Otherwise, Qin Fanfan wouldn’t have been so jealous when Yue Qingzong found a top-grade water spiritual root.

Ye Qiao nodded, understanding. “So, how much do you know about why top-grade spiritual roots need to grow?”

She had always thought that spiritual roots were fully developed from birth.

Qin Fanfan hesitated. “Let me go check the library.”

Don’t rush.

He wasn’t well-versed in this matter either.

After asking so many questions, it was Qin Fanfan’s turn to ask, “Ye Qiao, you’re really not joking? Top-grade spiritual roots, are they related to you?”

In the end, the cultivation world was still full of stubborn old-timers. Even after such a long time, if no sect had poached Ye Qiao, it was probably because they looked down on her spiritual roots. Qin Fanfan initially had no hope for Ye Qiao.

After all, it was a top-grade spiritual root.

Ye Qiao thought for a moment. “Can we test it with a testing stone?” She wasn’t sure. Anyone who had been a middle-grade spiritual root for so long would find it dreamy to suddenly be told it had changed to a different grade.

Qin Fanfan eagerly agreed, “Of course.”

Ye Qiao had been tested when she joined the outer sect, and her talent barely met the minimum standard.

Although she had no expectations, Ye Qiao never boasted. Qin Fanfan, impatient and in a rush, quickly ran to find the testing stone, leaving his sword behind.

When he hurriedly brought back the testing stone, Ye Qiao was almost asleep from waiting. Considering the previous test only showed a middle-grade result, Qin Fanfan specifically brought a higher-grade stone this time.

Typically, testing stones have a limit of top-grade, but this one’s limit was top-grade.

Ye Qiao had never seen a top-grade testing stone before, so she took a closer look and placed her hand on it.

“It’s fine even if it doesn’t work. Just stay calm, Xiao Qiao.”

Qin Fanfan was still trying to comfort her. Ye Qiao, somewhat speechless, said, “Can you stop pinching me?! It hurts!”

Qin Fanfan: “…”

Ye Qiao placed her hand on the stone, and the response was very slow. Qin Fanfan watched intently the entire time.

There was no response.

Qin Fanfan, seeing Ye Qiao’s calm expression, instinctively tried to comfort her. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not unusual,” he added, as it hadn’t been seen for a hundred years.

Ye Qiao, thoughtful, asked, “Master.”

“Does this flickering light count as a response?”

“Huh?” Flickering light?

Qin Fanfan looked down. Having been the sect leader for many years, he had seen countless geniuses test the stone. For example, Xue Yu, with his fire-type top-grade spiritual root, nearly blew up the stone.

Genius is indeed rare… but it can be quite destructive for the testing stone.

This was the first time Qin Fanfan had seen such a weak top-grade spiritual root. He swallowed his scream and watched as the purple light on the stone flickered faintly to the top and then quickly disappeared.

If you didn’t look closely, who would notice that this was a top-grade?

In their impression, top-grade should at least cause a bit of an explosion in the testing stone.

But no.

Nothing at all.

Just a faint flicker, then calm.

Ye Qiao also fell silent. Qin Fanfan pushed her onto a chair and said, “Calm down first. I’ll go get them for a meeting.”

Alright then.

So, the elders all came to watch her intensely.

It was like they were examining a giant panda.

Elder Zhao admitted that he had spoken loudly to Ye Qiao before. He was extremely pleased, saying, “To pick up a disciple and not discard them, after a year, they’ve turned into a genius. Hahaha.”

He truly was the wisest!

Elder Duan also came along. When he arrived, he patted Ye Qiao on the shoulder so hard she almost fell over. “I’ve always known you were capable.”

Ye Qiao: “…”

“Top-grade spiritual root, but it still needs to grow,” Qin Fanfan recalled another matter. “Is it possible that other top-grade spiritual roots are the same?”

But this possibility was largely ignored.

After all, in major sects, if one’s spiritual root is not up to par, they’re usually eliminated right away. Not everyone is like Ye Qiao.

Ye Qiao listened to their discussion, feeling a chill in her chest. So, the original owner had their spiritual root dug out because it was a top-grade?

A group of people couldn’t come to a conclusion, but improving Ye Qiao’s strength was an urgent matter.

Originally, there was no hope for the competition. After winning the team event, there were still individual matches to come. Now that a top-grade had been revealed, Ye Qiao thought the elders might be a bit gentler with her. However, she was soon taken away by Elder Duan to the back mountain.

On the back mountain, diligent disciples were training. When they saw Ye Qiao, a few instinctively wanted to greet her but turned around to see Elder Duan’s stern face.

Sorry for the disturbance.

“Since you’ve been down the mountain for so long, let’s test your skills.” Saying that, Elder Duan threw a ruthless punch towards her face.

Top-grade or not, training must continue. With the two secret realms over, it’s time for the individual matches. If her own strength didn’t improve, she’d be up against Golden Core cultivators in the individual matches. What could a Foundation Establishment cultivator do? Just rely on her speed?

“Pick a weapon from those on the rack to deal with me.”

Ye Qiao didn’t hesitate and took up the sword she was most comfortable with. After exchanging a few moves with Elder Duan, she found herself at a disadvantage in close combat. She immediately discarded the sword and picked up the heavy spiritual bow, pulling it to full draw and shooting straight ahead.

The girl’s movements were so fast that Elder Duan was slightly surprised and changed his approach.

This move was learned from the ghost cultivator, and using the spiritual bow correctly was taught by Miao Miao.

Ye Qiao shot several arrows, forcing Elder Duan to be momentarily hindered. Ultimately, the match ended with Elder Duan getting close and sweeping towards her abdomen, flipping Ye Qiao to the ground.

“Not bad,” he clapped his hands, quite surprised. “You can use a spiritual bow?”

Some exceptionally talented cultivators use other magical tools, such as fans or bows, in addition to swords.

Some disciples have fixed fighting styles and magical tools, for example, those with good swordsmanship only use swords.

Miao Miao used a vertical flute and was skilled in attack types, and the elders’ astonished reactions proved how difficult it is to master a type of magical tool.

Ye Qiao shrugged. “You should know that.”

“I’m the type who isn’t specialized but can handle a bit of everything.” There wasn’t much opportunity to interact with magical tools.

Having studied swordsmanship for only a year in the cultivation world, she couldn’t claim to be proficient, only familiar.

Elder Duan shook his head. He didn’t expect this child to be so modest. His tone became a bit stern: “If you were at the same level as those direct disciples, you might not necessarily lose.”

Although Ye Qiao was not proficient with the sword, her strongest skill was adapting to various techniques.

Moreover, Ye Qiao’s progress was astonishing. Her fighting style was evolving from sticking strictly to sword techniques to adapting based on her opponent’s moves.

This child learns too quickly. Elder Duan, who could initially easily knock her around, now found Ye Qiao capable of dodging several of his attacks and even counterattacking.

Ye Qiao blinked, feeling a bit embarrassed by the unexpected praise.

“Ye Qiao,” Elder Duan looked at her seriously, “Honestly, how many years have you been practicing swordsmanship?”

How can one remember everything but still be unfamiliar with the sword after several years?

Ye Qiao paused for a few seconds. She had been in the cultivation world for a year, not including the times she slacked off. Finally, she pondered for a moment and answered truthfully, “One year.”

“???”

One year?

One year!!?

The title seems odd. I have to go out tomorrow, so I’m trying to finish writing the 8,000 words today. I’ll post one chapter now, and there will be more later, but it might be late. Everyone, get some sleep first.