Chapter 4. Qualification
Xu Ziqing saw on the big spot of light that there was a touch of blue light, extremely faint, as if it were an illusion, but when he looked carefully, it was really there.
Seeing this, the middle-aged supervisor was hesitant, and then he looked at the elder in the inner hall. The elder in the inner hall groaned for a moment and said, "Lower-low."
He was a little "stunned" in his heart, knowing that it was hopeless to return. Thinking of the various colored light beams he saw before, the more outstanding the qualifications, the brighter the color. His was only a light shimmer, which is far worse.
But now he not only had to stay, but also had the worst qualifications. One could only say his future was uncertain.
He secretly sighed, but since things ended smoothly, Xu Ziqing no longer thought about it.
Four or five more teenagers were tested to have the spiritual roots, of which one person had four spiritual roots, one thick and the others thin, and also received qualifications middle-low qualifications.
Therefore, of the 23 family members of the Xu branch family who came from Fenglin City this time, a total of six had spiritual roots, which was quite good. In particular, there was Xu Zishu and Xu Ziqian, who had four spiritual roots,1 both of whom had middle-low qualifications, which is rarely seen in the thinned branch family bloodlines.
More than a dozen children without spiritual roots were led out by another maid and went to the outer hall"s Jingwu Pavilion to find favor among martial art seekers. Those who were still unsuccessful were arranged to stay one night and sent back home the following morning.
Xu Ziqing and five others followed the inner hall elder out of Guanling Temple, to an empty swath of land behind. They watched as he whistled to the winds, and suddenly a bird of prey swooped down from the sky.
With it"s red head and white feathers, body over a hundred meters long2, open wings resembling white clouds, it raised its head to call, releasing a loud and clear sound that broke through the sky, majestic and domineering. From its appearance, it resembled a crane, but it was different from ordinary cranes with its dazzling gold long, sharp beak.
Xu Zishu"s young maiden mentality broke through upon seeing the bird, and she could not help whisper, "What a beautiful white crane!"
Instead of reprimanding her for talking out of line, the inner hall elder brushing his beard with a smile. "This is a golden beaked crane, which can travel ten million miles a day. Throughout Dengzhou, only my Xu family"s financial resources can support such spirit birds."
The golden-beaked crane was extraordinary. Not only flying extremely fast, but also extremely stable when carrying people. Moreover, the temperament was relatively tame. Except every year it needed to be fed one spiritual bead3; ordinary people cannot afford one. Even the wealthy Xu family could only raise ten in total.
After the spirit crane landed on the ground, it slowly lay down under a whistled command from the elder. The inner hall elder helped Xu Ziqing and others on, and their feet were a little unstable as they accustomed themselves to sitting on the back of the crane. Another whistle sounded, and the crane flew up into the air, straight into the clouds.
The wind hummed in his ears, clouds drifting right next to him, and Guanling Temple was already far underneath them. Xu Ziqing bowed his head and looked down to see that the ground was hundreds of meters below them.
About half a day in the bright skies, the crane descended, a pair of steel claws grasping the turf and stopped firmly.
The elder jumped abruptly, his figure fluttering without a smell of fireworks.4 This time, Xu Ziqing and six others had to come down by themselves, slowly climbing down after learning from the experience last time. Only Xu Zishu jumped down, her knees flexing slightly after landing to reduce the impact, and stood up firmly.
The elder gave Xu Zishu one more glance. Xu Zishu was not afraid as she looked at the elder and smiled playfully. There was a smile in his eyes, conveying his seemingly good impression of Xu Zishu as well. Naturally, this is also related to Xu Zishu"s own appearance and qualifications. If someone with low qualifications made a show in front of him, they will naturally be rebuked as "impulsive and useless."
Xu Ziqing now had the heart to observe the surrounding environment. There was a sprawling cascade of courtyards in front of them, numerous and uncountable, with each courtyard being much larger than any individual houses he had seen before. Farther beyond were countless fields, lakes, flowerbeds, meadows, and various gardens. On the left stood a lone peak thousands of meters high, surrounded by misty clouds, making it impossible to see the landscape, and also making one tremble from staring too long at it.
Obviously, it wasn"t just Xu Ziqing who was attracted by the lone peak. Several of the others were shocked and couldn"t move.
The elder Xu of the inner hall often shuttled new children with spiritual roots, and did not find the performance of the crowd unusual. He simply flung his wide sleeves and announced with pride: "The name of the mountain is called "Feijiu Mountain" and is where the outstanding students of our clan reside. Different cultivation bases correspond to differing cave mansion heights on the mountain. You have just entered the inner hall, and without knowing what your potential is, have no right to be on the mountain."
Feijiu Mountain was so magnificent that everyone has longed for it. All of them showed some disappointment on their faces upon learning they were unable to go up.
Xu Ziqing had the same expression, but other thoughts entered his heart. He always felt that the mountain was not so simple... There was some things unsaid in the elder"s words. However, after all, he was an elder. It was already quite belittling for him to pick up their group of immature children. How could he beg him for a detailed introduction? He"s afraid he"ll have to settle down first before slowly inquiring about it.
The general situation of the inner hall was explained to them as he took them to a side hall. This side hall also has an inner hall elder sitting inside to welcome them; he was one of the stewards of the and now it is one of the stewards of this "Feiling Pavilion".
The steward was short and chubby, and when he saw the elder, his smile was very affectionate: "Elder Zhang, are you here to a.s.sign the residences to the new children?"
Elder Zhang was not as polite to the steward and only nodded, saying, "There are six people in total. Two of them are middle-low, one is low, and three are low-low. Record it first."
The clerk hurriedly drew up a large booklet, which had records dating nearly ten years back. He opened the booklet and wrote the names and qualifications of their group of six. Then he took out a thumb-sized piece of jade, pressing it down on each of their names before closing the book.
The children saw the piece of jade flow faintly white as it pressed on their names, and were all very surprised, feeling the sense of being next to immortals growing larger.
The steward laughed and said, "Done."
Elder Zhang brought Xu Zishu and the slightly more qualified boy with four spiritual roots forward and said, "I will take them to the third courtyard first for training. Take the boy with low qualifications to the fourth courtyard to Fu Qing. The remaining three, just a.s.sign tasks depending on the situation. "
The steward pulled the child with the low four spiritual roots qualification to his side and replied to Elder Zhang: "Please rest a.s.sured, Elder Zhang, I will definitely do this little thing."
Xu Ziqing and the two with five spiritual roots were left there. The steward directly handed them over to a young yellow-faced young man who came out behind him, and then left with the other child.
The remaining three all had the lowest of low qualifications. Xu Ziqing had lived two lives and was naturally calmer, so he was better and only showed some tenseness on his face. But the other two, who were only in their teens, became scared when they saw that steward turn so indifferent. The future was unpredictable, and aside from fear, there was some sadness too.
Although the yellow-faced young man didn"t look good, he was unexpectedly good-natured. When he saw the three of them with ugly expressions, he smiled and said, "Don"t worry too much, the tasks will not be too burdensome when you first arrive."
One of the teenagers panicked and asked, "wh, what task?"
The yellow-faced young man"s tone wasvery mild: "I"ll first introduce you to the basics of our Xu family"s inner hall, and then we can talk about it. Listen carefully to what I"m going to say."
The three nodded again and again.
It turned out that as long as there is a spiritual root, he is eligible to enter the inner hall, but this is also divided into grades. The most special was Feijiu Mountain. Only those who have reached the third level of qi refinement were allowed to enter the mountain for cultivation. And for those who with superior qualifications, an exception could be made. The Xu family has existed for thousands of years, and there were no more than ten cases of first-cla.s.s talents, which shows how rare such a qualification is!
In addition to Feijiu Mountain, there are several courtyards for others to practice.
The eastern main courtyard is divided into four cla.s.ses. The first cla.s.s is called "first courtyard" for children with upper qualifications. The resources available included spiritual medicines, techniques, freedom, and elders" guidance, at a level above the other courtyards. The "second courtyard" followed, and was children with middle qualifications; and the resources were all slightly inferior to the first courtyard. By a.n.a.logy, the third court is for middle-lower qualifications, and the fourth court is for low qualifications.
As for lower-low children, they can only reside in the southern courtyard and mix with the servants. They can learn some exercises, but those are only the most shallow ones, and their status is inferior. Although they are not called servants in name, they are almost the same in actual status.
These children either receive tasks every month and are required to complete them by themselves to win resources, or do ch.o.r.es at one place for a long time to receive a small amount of fixed resources. Some also serve other children in the eastern courtyards - and sometimes manage to catch a good opportunity to learn and are able to catch the eyes of an elder after reaching third grade qi refinement to become a steward, which can also be regarded as a success.
If a well-qualified child is supported by the family, then a low-qualified child must support themselves.
But the current situation of qualified children wasn"t perfect; they also face great pressure. After one reaches qi refining, their lifespan will increase to two hundred years. However, if they cannot establish a foundation by then, their life force will be exhausted, and there is only death in the end.
For the long-term development of the Xu clan, there was also a rule that people in the courtyard can enter Feijiu Mountain if they reach third level of qi refinement by the age of 50. However, when one reaches 150, those who are below the fifth level will be transferred a senior manager or steward. Those who are between the fifth and eighth levels become Elders and work for the main family. Those above eighth level become Honored Elders and serve as a deterrent to other families, occasionally contributing to the family, and must continue to make efforts to break into the foundation stage.
Basically, if one hasn"t broken through by that age, the added responsibilities make it even more difficult to progress. Therefore, no one wants to be transformed into a steward or elder or something. They all want to get more resources to intensify their cultivation. Therefore, the compet.i.tion among those children is also very fierce.
Now there are three paths forward for the three new teens with the lowest qualification.
The yellow-faced youth smiled and asked them, "Now, what is your choice?"