Divine Transcendence

Chapter 2: Life and death are determined by fate

The whole team passed through the valley, the poisonous mist in front gradually dissipated, and the terrain began to narrow, forming a narrow passage like a gourd mouth.

From a distance, Yuan Ming saw a five or six zhang high bronze gate standing on the other side of the passage, with seven or eight armored guards holding weapons guarding beside it.

The bronze gate was engraved with dense patterns of green snakes coiled together, giving off an exotic atmosphere.

On both sides of the gate, there were green wolves over two zhang tall guarding, all with their backs arched, wearing specially made scale armor to tightly protect their necks and chests, looking extremely fierce.

As the group approached, the green wolves immediately bared their teeth, emitting a low, hoarse growl from their throats, crouching down with their muscles tense, ready to attack at any moment.

After being calmed down by the guards, the green wolves put away their aggressive appearance.

The leading naked man brought the group to the front, greeted the inside, and a heavy gear turning sound rang out. The heavy bronze gate slowly lifted up, opening a passage.

At this moment, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the sky, and a shadow flew over the heads of the people.

Yuan Ming looked up and saw a huge black eagle hovering with its wings spread in the air. After a turn, it swooped straight down towards the ground.

A strong wind swept up a large amount of smoke and dust, and a five-foot wingspan eagle with sharp claws flashing with cold light flew low over the heads of the people and then flew straight into the air, causing the people to exclaim.

Yuan Ming looked at the passage and sighed in his heart. The defense here was far more rigorous than he had imagined. Once he entered, it would be difficult to escape.

"As long as I’m alive, there will be a chance."

Yuan Ming squinted his eyes and continued to follow the team, walking along a two-zhang-wide passage for a while. The scenery suddenly opened up in front of them, and a green stone square with an unusually large area came into view.

Behind the square stood a magnificent circular palace, built entirely of blue stone, with a huge circular dome on top, looking like a huge fortress.

The palace extended on both sides, with scattered circular palaces of similar shapes. In the far distance, there was a towering mountain peak, where stone buildings could also be seen.

Roars of beasts came from behind the palace, with different tones, seemingly made by different types of beasts. More eagles flew up and down above the heads of the people, constantly chirping.Only a few people walked through the square, and when their eyes looked over here, the Nanchang men who escorted them would put their hands on their chests and bow in salute.

They did not stay here for long and were led to the left side of the square, eventually coming to a large hall where they stopped.

Yuan Ming looked up and saw that above the stone door in front of him, there were three crooked characters engraved in a worm-like script, similar to ghost drawings.

With a little thought, Yuan Ming recognized it as the common snake text in Nanchang.

And the meaning of those three characters was "Candle Spirit Hall."

At this time, an old man in a gray robe with a withered face walked out of the hall. His skin was slightly gray, and although he was tall, he seemed to be shrinking.

"There are quite a few people this time." The old man’s voice was hoarse.

"Elder Sa Ren, we’re lucky this time. There are a total of 137 people who can light up soul stones, and there should be a few with spiritual roots." The naked man bowed slightly and said with a smile.

"Hopefully. After I test their spiritual roots, you can go to the treasury to collect your reward." The old man nodded slightly.

"Thank you, Elder."

Sa Ren’s gaze swept over the group of Nanchang savages one by one, and when it fell on Yuan Ming, his brow furrowed slightly, seeming somewhat disgusted.

"Why is there still a person from the Central Plains?"

"Cough cough, we found him on the way and planned to draw his soul together. Unexpectedly, his soul is not weak and he passed the soul stone test. We didn’t dare to make a decision without permission, so we brought him back." The naked man explained quickly.

Yuan Ming’s heart sank slightly when he heard this. From their conversation, it seemed that the identity of a "Central Plains person" was not well received here.

"Take him in first and see what happens." Sa Ren ordered lightly.

The naked man and others led Yuan Ming and the group of Nanchang savages into the hall.

The stone hall was extremely spacious, with bronze beast head-shaped chandeliers hanging on the walls, burning yellow flames that illuminated the entire hall.

At a glance, Yuan Ming saw a circular stone plate in the center of the hall, which looked like a grinding disc, but with uneven surfaces and many carved lines.

On the stone plate, there were eight Nanchang snake text symbols in different directions, each with the words: wood, fire, earth, gold, water, heaven, strange, and empty.

He didn’t understand what it meant, but guessed that it should be related to the spiritual roots mentioned earlier.

"You, go up there."Elder Sa Ren pointed at a burly savage with his hand and gestured towards the center of the stone plate.

The savage looked terrified and trembled all over, afraid to approach.

Without hesitation, Elder Sa Ren grabbed the savage’s back, causing him to stiffen and unable to move, like a little chick being lifted up and thrown onto the stone plate.

The other savages looked on in horror and fear.

Yuan Ming watched silently, his eyes wide open.

Elder Sa Ren forced the burly savage to sit down and then jumped off the stone plate. He gestured with his hands in front of him, and a blue light appeared on his palm. He waved his hand, and the blue light fell onto the savage on the stone plate.

The savage was immediately covered in blue light and screamed in terror.

However, there was no gruesome and bloody scene that followed. The blue light disappeared, and the "empty" character on the stone plate flashed white and then went out.

"No spiritual roots, go stand over there." Elder Sa Ren pointed to an empty space on the left side.

The burly savage was confused but dared not disobey the old man’s request and walked over.

Elder Sa Ren pointed to another savage who stepped onto the stone plate, but only the "empty" character flashed.

"No spiritual roots."

"None."

"None."

Seventeen or eighteen people in a row had no spiritual roots. Elder Sa Ren became somewhat disheartened and did not even bother to speak, just waving his hand.

The naked man looked at the savages standing on the empty space on the left side of the old man and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

Suddenly, Elder Sa Ren exclaimed in surprise.

A blue light fell on a slightly chubby young savage on the stone plate, and there seemed to be some spiritual light shining on him, seeping into the stone plate beneath him.

Immediately, a yellow, a green, and a red beam of light shone from the earth, wood, and fire characters on the stone plate.

"Three spiritual roots, not bad. Go stand on the right." Elder Sa Ren nodded slightly.

He then approached the savage, and his face softened with a few more gentle smiles, which startled the savage.

"Your turn." He then pointed to another savage with a noticeably larger head than the others.

Seeing that the selection process did not seem to have any major consequences, the others were less nervous.

The big-headed savage walked onto the stone plate and sat down, looking around curiously.At this moment, Elder Sa Ren once again struck a green light ball, and a blue light column, a green light column, a golden light column, and a red light column respectively lit up from the stone plate.

"Oh, another one! A water spirit root, a wood spirit root, a fire spirit root, and a gold spirit root. Having four spirit roots is too complicated. If the aptitude is not good, go stand on the right side first." The old man shook his head, but still let the big-headed wild man stand on the right side.

"Thank you, Elder." The big-headed wild man bowed to Elder Sa Ren and then walked towards the right side.

At this moment, even if the other wild people did not understand what spirit roots were, they inferred from the old man’s changing expression that having spirit roots was better than not having them.

In this way, one wild person after another walked onto the stone plate and underwent spirit root testing at the old man’s command.

After the big-headed wild man, more than twenty people in a row were also without spirit roots, and the old man’s body on the left side suddenly became crowded.

Elder Sa Ren’s face was obviously not good.

The naked man rubbed his hands and also appeared a little nervous.

They worked hard to run around and capture wild people who met the age requirements. How much reward they could get in the end was closely related to the spirit roots of these people.

Speaking of which, among mortals, those with spirit roots were already rare. Although these people had gone through a series of screenings, the probability of having spirit roots had greatly increased, but those without spirit roots still accounted for the majority. Even if they had spirit roots, the four spirit roots with poor aptitude still accounted for the majority.

If the aptitude of those wild people behind was also not good, the reward would be less important, and they would inevitably be scolded, and then continue to be sent out to catch people, with no time for cultivation.

"What are you standing there for? Go up." Elder Sa Ren looked at a young wild boy who looked young, and his tone was a little impatient.

The young man had thick eyebrows and big eyes. Although his figure was not inferior to those of the adult wild people, there was still a hint of greenness and childishness between his eyebrows and eyes.

He walked to the center of the stone plate and sat down, and the testing began again.

In the next moment, a green light column and a yellow light column respectively lit up from the corresponding wood and earth characters, and Elder Sa Ren’s face changed instantly.

"Double spirit roots, there is actually one with double spirit roots. This is enough to enter the inner door directly." The old man’s sudden ecstasy shocked everyone around him.

However, soon, the old man calmed down and said to the naked man named Hu Zha with great satisfaction, "Hu Zha, you have done a great job this time. You actually brought back a good seedling. This elder will reward you greatly."Hu Zha was so excited that he couldn’t speak, his eyes were hot as he looked at the bewildered teenager, wishing to hug and kiss him.

The fewer types of spiritual roots, the purer they are, and the faster the cultivation speed will be in the future. However, the single five-element spiritual root is too rare. It is already enough for them to be surprised by the appearance of a dual spiritual root.

Happiness came too suddenly!

With the example of the previous person, the rest of the wild people no longer had any anxiety on their faces. Instead, they seemed a bit eager to try, appearing somewhat noisy.

But the next sentence from Elder Sa Ren was like a bucket of cold water poured on their heads:

"Noisy! Those without spiritual roots, drag them out and kill them."

After speaking, he personally took the still dazed teenager off the stone plate and asked him a few questions with a gentle tone.

Hu Zha immediately took out the bell, waved his big hand, and several Southern Great Han men behind him stepped forward and dragged the group of wild people who had not yet reacted out of the hall.

Soon, screams came from outside.

This made the remaining people react. It turned out that those without spiritual roots would die. They no longer fought for it, but instead shrank back one by one, afraid to approach.

Yuan Ming’s heart sank even more. He had already figured out that this stone plate seemed to be some kind of device to test talent, and the result could not be artificially interfered with.

This also meant that his life and death could only depend on fate.

"Central Plains boy, you go first." At this moment, Elder Sa Ren pointed to Yuan Ming and said with an unquestionable tone.

Yuan Ming did not resist or struggle, and walked up to the stone plate and sat down calmly.

This scene made Elder Sa Ren’s eyes flash slightly, somewhat surprised.

Soon, he cast another spell, and a green light wrapped around Yuan Ming. He could feel a hot stream flowing into the stone plate under him.

Immediately afterwards, four light pillars of red, gold, blue, and green lit up around him.

"Five elements lacking earth... Heh heh, another pseudo-spiritual root." Sa Ren shook his head with a smile.

Yuan Ming’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

At this moment, Hu Zha, who had just returned from outside, asked, "Should we keep this one too...?"

"Four spiritual roots can still be a beast slave. The camps are short of manpower right now. Although he is from the Central Plains, let him stay for now." Elder Sa Ren’s indifferent words saved Yuan Ming’s life.

Yuan Ming was overjoyed and felt like he had escaped death.The test continued, and the vast majority of the wild people without spiritual roots were killed. The ones who survived, apart from one with three spiritual roots, all had four spiritual roots, not much different from Yuan Ming.

From the results of this test and the sporadic words of Elder Sa Ren, Yuan Ming deduced that having more spiritual roots was not necessarily better.

It seemed that having a heavenly spiritual root was the best, followed by different spiritual roots, and then single-element spiritual roots, such as fire spiritual root, water spiritual root, etc. Dual spiritual roots were slightly inferior, but still very rare and uncommon.

As for someone like him with four spiritual roots, they were considered inferior among spiritual roots and were regarded as pseudo spiritual roots.

At this moment, he still didn’t know what his identity as a Central Plains person with inferior spiritual roots meant for his future destiny.