4 Chapter 3 Clearly an Honest Person_1

"...Why does the slang name sound more formal than the scientific name?" Lu Yang muttered quietly from behind.

"Because the first Pure Yang Spirit Root elder called his spirit root 'Single Body Spiritual Root'." Yun Zhi's cultivation level was unfathomable. Lu Yang's mutterings were as clear to her as if he were speaking directly into her ear.

Yun Zhi paused, then continued: "In the Cultivation World, there's a custom of respecting the old single body elders."

It seemed that repeating this fact somehow strengthened her point.

Meng Jingzhou passed the first round with ease and was followed by Lu Yang.

"Hmm?! Another Single Spiritual Root?!" Dai Bufan's pupils slightly contracted. Just moments ago, he had complained about not encountering a single one, and now he had found two in a row.

"I'm a Single Spiritual Root?" Lu Yang pointed at himself, feeling his heart pound. He believed he must be hearing things, the corners of his lips curling into a smile involuntarily.

"Yes, you have a mutated Single Spiritual Root, the Sword Spirit Root." Dai Bufan nodded affirmatively. He had never been wrong in identifying Spirit Roots.

A Sword Spirit Root, innately filled with sword energy, invincible and the most aggressive!

Eldest Senior Sister Yun Zhi glanced at Lu Yang in mild surprise. She had casually agreed to travel by carriage, not expecting to find two top-tier cultivation talents in her company.

The onlookers' eyes grew even more eager as they began to consider which young girls would be a suitable match for Lu Yang. They were keen to abduct him and marry him into their respective families as a promising son-in-law.

Unlike Meng Jingzhou, who had the backing of the Meng Family, Lu Yang was obviously a commoner with no support.

Extremely gifted, and without any influences to back him— he was simply the perfect candidate for a political marriage.

The most critical part was that he could get married and have children!

Feeling the peculiar gazes directed at him, Lu Yang quickly moved on to the second round.

Behind Dai Bufan was a bamboo forest, where the second test took place.

"So, what's your Spirit Root?" Meng Jingzhou quickly recovered from the shock of having a Single Body Spiritual Root, eagerly asking Lu Yang.

Having a Single Body Spiritual Root doesn't matter, the path to Immortality is littered with dry bones, women are but seductive skeletons, he did not need a fairy by his side!

On the contrary, Lu Yang, although he was able to pass the first round and assumed there would only be a single cultivation talent like him, he imagined that Lu Yang's talent was at most on a Dual Spiritual Root level.

As a Single Spiritual Root prodigy, he felt the need to show concern for average talents.

"A Sword Spirit Root."

"Damn."

"Hm?" Lu Yang was utterly confused.

Another half day passed and those who were lined up in the back gradually entered the second round. Dai Bufan eliminated those with insufficient Spirit Root qualities.

From the discussions happening at the back, it seemed that several unique individuals had appeared. Before they could inquire about the specific details, Eldest Senior Sister Yun Zhi appeared before them, casually announcing "the second round will now begin", before immediately disappearing, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

A thick fog slowly rose, like smoke, like waves, flowing like water, seemingly veiling everything inside the bamboo forest.

The crowd instinctively tried to struggle, but to no avail, they felt powerless and their consciousness gradually sank.

This was the Illusion Bamboo Grove, integrated into the Grand Protective Array of the sect, it was beyond their resistance.

Yun Zhi easily drew a circle, dispersing the fog and creating a space. The Seek Dao Sect disciples stood behind her.

Dai Bufan chuckled: "Being trapped in the Illusion Bamboo Grove, they will forget their identities, forget about the tests, forget everything and show their true reactions. I wonder how many people will be able to pass the second round."

"I hope more of them can pass, there are several promising talents in this batch. It would be a pity if they were to fail at the second round."

Yun Zhi had still not eliminated Meng Jingzhou and Lu Yang from the test, but that was because Meng Jingzhou's test question was not from this year, but from twenty years ago.

"I wonder which Elder is responsible for selling that."

"Junior Brother Dai, who do you think will pass the second round?"

"Naturally, it's that Ancient Barbarian. The Ancient Barbarians are renowned for their simplicity and sincerity, no doubt about that."

"Those Single Body Spiritual Root and Sword Spiritual Root guys look pretty good too, they look like honest people."

Yun Zhi recalled the scene inside the carriage where Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were discussing how to cheat. She couldn't help but feel that they seemed rather dishonest.

...

"Where am I?" The robust man from the Ancient Barbarian tribe, known as Man Gu, looked around in confusion, forgetting what had just happened.

He was gripping an old axe, standing by a river with shimmering, exquisite light waves.

Man Gu's hand slipped, causing the old axe to fall into the river. Just as Man Gu was about to retrieve it, he saw bubbles emerging from the river. As the bubbles became bigger and more numerous, it turned into a spring creating a fairy-like figure surrounded by three different axes.

"Young man, I am the River Spirit. Which axe did you drop? The old one, the spiritual Open Mountain Axe, or the immortal Open Heaven Axe?"

The spiritual Open Mountain Axe and the immortal Open Heaven Axe were extremely famous in the Central Continent. Even a talentless mortal, if in possession of either of these axes, could rise to great power and prominence in the world.

Man Gu blurted out, "The old axe."

The River Spirit cracked a smile: "You are truly an honest young man. Therefore, all three axes shall be given to you."

Man Gu passed the second round.

"You see, I told you that Man Gu would definitely pass the second round. Let's see how the Single Body Spiritual Root and Sword Spirit Root guys choose." Dai Bufan eagerly continued to observe.

The second round was a test of honesty. The criterion for passing was obtaining all three axes.

The River Spirit was not an illusion. He was born from a river circling the bamboo forest, a spirited creature.

He had made countless incarnations, entering illusions, and testing people.

The River Spirit liked honest people. The only way to pass the second round was to honestly answer the River Spirit's question and be gifted with the three axes.

...

"Hm? How did the axe fall into the river?" Lu Yang was a little puzzled. He felt like an unknown force had compelled him to drop the axe.

The River Spirit reappeared and kindly inquired: "Young man, I am the River Spirit. Which axe did you drop? The old one, the spiritual Open Mountain Axe, or the immortal Open Heaven Axe?"

Lu Yang squatted down, looking from one axe to the next. Then he looked up at the River Spirit as if he was an idiot, with a pitiful expression "Two of these axes are yours, and you don't even know which two they are, and yet you're asking me?"

The River Spirit's smile faltered, he didn't know what to say. He was forced to agree with Lu Yang "Indeed, I don't know which two axes are mine."

Lu Yang looked at him suspiciously: "If I choose an axe, you better not suddenly recover your memory and remember which two axes are yours."

"Absolutely not." The River Spirit vowed.

"Let me see all three axes."

The River Spirit handed all three axes to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang promptly threw all of them back into the river: "Can you ask your question again?"

As if conditioned, the River Spirit asked: "Did you drop the old axe, the spiritual Open Mountain Axe, or the immortal Open Heaven Axe?"

Lu Yang broke into a smile: "I dropped all of them."

The River Spirit: "....."

The River Spirit gritted his teeth: "You are indeed an honest young man, all three axes are yours."