Bamboo Mound

Upon hearing this, Lin Tiezhu was overjoyed. After discussing it with Ning Chang, he left the classroom.

Ning Chang then began to teach the children normally.

.......

The next day, Ning Chang entered the classroom and found that the children who were supposed to be attending the class were gone, replaced by almost the entire purchasing team.

Ning Chang had agreed with them that the children and the purchasing team would take turns teaching, but the purchasing team would mainly focus on arithmetic.

.......

And so, a year passed quickly, and Ning Chang had long since gotten used to life in the village.

But parting was inevitable, and Ning longed to leave her own legend in the immortal realm.

Early that morning, Ning Chang sat in the purchasing team's car, turned around and waved. The village entrance was filled with villagers from Lintou Village, with children standing at the front. Everyone's face was etched with reluctance.

Ning Chang dared not look any longer, turned around, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and closed her eyes to rest.

That year, he was nineteen, in the prime of his life.

........

Around noon, Ning Chang parted ways with the purchasing team at the city gate.

He carried a cloth bag on his back, which contained some dried meat and travel expenses.

Stepping into the city, he found himself once again standing in the bustling marketplace, a place he hadn't visited in a long time, which reminded him of the market days in his hometown.

Although it's not as lively as this place, it's the hometown he can never return to!

Throughout the year, Ning Chang would occasionally come to Chang Le City for a stroll, but none of them were as lively as this time.

Various shouts and calls rose and fell, and the streets were teeming with people.

"It must be because the Qingyun Sect is recruiting today."

Ning Chang withdrew his gaze and followed the crowded flow of people to the square in the city center.

I learned from Village Chief Lin that the Qingyun Sect would test spiritual roots and recruit disciples in that square.

Chang Le City is quite large, and with its not-so-smooth roads, it wasn't until noon that Ning Chang reached the square.

Ning Chang arrived at the center of the square and saw a huge stone platform with a crystal-clear stone on it.

Many young men and women stood below the stone platform; they were all there to take the test.

Ning stood at the back of the line, waiting for her chance.

Looking up at the stone platform, one can see various colors of light flashing across it from time to time.

At the same time, accompanied by joyful shouts, the old man beside the stone would also shout loudly.

"A mid-grade wood spirit root!"

"High-quality golden spiritual root!"

........

Those who were found to have spiritual roots would wait on the other side of the stone platform, guided by disciples of the Qingyun Sect.

Meanwhile, those who failed to make the stone light up could only lament and walk back to the crowd in disappointment.

The group moved forward quickly. Most of them were ordinary people without spiritual roots. The majority of those tested had low-grade spiritual roots, followed by mid-grade, with only a handful having high-grade spiritual roots.

Ning Chang had high hopes, partly because of his own spiritual root, and partly because in the novels he read in his original world, the system either bound him when he first transmigrated or when he awakened or tested his talent.

If it wasn't there when I first transmigrated, then I can only rely on this test of my spiritual roots.

However, Ning Chang was not discouraged even without the system, as his achievements from childhood to adulthood were never obtained by relying on others.

As long as he has spiritual roots, Ning Chang is confident that with his talent, he will not be forgotten by the crowd!

The procession moved slowly and stopped frequently, and after about half an hour, it was finally his turn.

Ning Chang walked up to the stone platform and looked at the stone used to test spiritual roots.

The stone was as smooth as grease and as white as reeds, and it was so flawless that it was probably comparable to the finest Hetian jade!

Taking a step closer to the stone, Ning Chang placed his hand on it, closed his eyes, and awaited the voice that would suddenly appear in his mind.

Outside, a moment after Ning Chang placed his hand on the stone, a red light flashed from the stone, reaching straight into the sky, and then the entire stone platform began to shine.

"A top-grade fire elemental root!"

The elder in charge of the test exclaimed in surprise. He had originally come to preside over the spiritual root test on behalf of the second elder of the Qingyun Sect.

He thought that there wouldn't be another top-quality spiritual root like last year, but another top-quality one appeared, and it was the same fire-type spiritual root as his. This directly touched his heart of appreciating talent.

It should be noted that although he is the Grand Elder of the Qingyun Sect, he does not yet have a single disciple who can hold his own.

"It seems the second elder is destined not to have this good fortune!" The second elder has a disciple with a mid-grade golden spiritual root, whose talent is quite remarkable, even among the true disciples of the elders!

Ning Chang closed his eyes and waited... Five seconds later, there was still no sound in his mind.

Knowing that it was pointless, Ning Chang reluctantly opened his eyes.

In an instant, the overwhelming red light almost blinded him!

After a while, Ning Chang noticed that the old man who had been sitting to the side was now standing next to him.

“Child, I am Duan Kun, the Grand Elder of the Qingyun Sect.”

"Would you be willing to become my disciple?" The Grand Elder looked at Ning Chang with a smile, a hint of expectation flashing in his eyes.

Ning Chang was stunned for a moment before he remembered that when he closed his eyes, there seemed to be a voice outside shouting "top-notch!"

Seeing the overwhelming red light he had just witnessed, Ning Chang was overjoyed.

He bowed to the Grand Elder and said, "This disciple is willing!"

People around them cast envious glances; to be a disciple of the Grand Elder of the Qingyun Sect was undoubtedly extremely fortunate.

The Grand Elder laughed heartily and helped Ning Chang up. "Good disciple, from this day forward, you are a member of my Qingyun Sect. Your master will teach you diligently so that you may become a talent as soon as possible."

"Now I can finally hold my head high among those old guys," the elder thought to himself.

But he quickly came to his senses and, realizing that the spiritual root test was still in progress, told Ning Chang to wait under the stone platform.

No one noticed that after Ning Chang stepped off the stone platform, a glimmer of blue light flashed at the bottom of the fading red light.

Ning Chang calmed his excited heart, stepped down from the stone platform, and walked towards the group of people who had chosen to join the sect.

Indeed, after their spiritual roots were detected, some people did not choose to join the Qingyun Sect, but instead disappeared into the crowd like ordinary people.

Seeing Ning Chang walk this way, the prospective disciples of the Qingyun Sect all showed expressions of envy, mixed with a few traces of jealousy.

Ning Chang adopted a cold, expressionless face and stood in a corner of the crowd, which made some people who were about to approach him stop in their tracks.

Ning Chang neither likes nor is good at much communication, and his experience over the past twelve years has taught him that as long as he is "aloof," he can avoid a lot of trouble.

The test continued, and the line in front of the stone platform was still very long. The stone occasionally flashed with light, but no more soaring light rose like Ning Chang's. Ning Chang simply closed his eyes to rest.

The testing ended close to evening, and the noisy crowd had mostly dispersed.

The Grand Elder put away the stone and the stone platform, his gaze sweeping over the crowd who had chosen to become disciples of the Qingyun Sect.

Upon noticing Ning Chang's presence, he nodded, withdrew his gaze, and shouted.

"Rise!" He summoned a broadsword, which grew longer in the wind and quickly covered half the square.

Then, the crowd was lifted up by an invisible force, eliciting a chorus of "Wow!"

In the end, everyone landed steadily on the giant sword.

The elder shouted again, "Hold on tight!"

The giant sword then began to move rapidly, flying towards the mountain gate of the Qingyun Sect.