Heaven rewards diligence: Survive until you reach immortality in the newbie village!

Under the old locust tree at the entrance of Matongli Village, there was a great deal of noise.

As Chen Mo followed behind village chief Wang Laoshuan through the crowd, he immediately spotted three figures who stood out from the surrounding coarse linen clothes.

Two young men and one middle-aged man, dressed in flowing Taoist robes, exuded an extraordinary air.

The middle-aged man, dressed in a moon-white robe, with a refined and shrewd face, and holding a whisk, was none other than Xuanming Zhenren, who had come from Tianxuan Sect to recruit disciples.

"Little Brother Mo!"

A clear, childlike voice rang out, and a little girl of about twelve or thirteen years old with pigtails emerged from the crowd and ran happily to Chen Mo.

This is Xiu'er, the granddaughter of Old Lin's family at the east end of the village. This time, the seedling was found to have a "once-in-a-century" water-attribute celestial spiritual root.

"Xiuer, congratulations!"

Chen Mo reached out and rubbed the little girl's head, a gentle smile on his face as usual.

Xiuer's face flushed slightly, but her eyes sparkled:

"Little Mo, you're here to have your spiritual roots tested too? I wish we could both go to the immortal sects!"

"laugh--"

A sneer, undisguised, came from the side.

Chen Mo didn't need to turn around to know who it was: Sun Dafu, the only son of the wealthy Sun family in the west of the village.

That chubby boy who was spoiled rotten from a young age and ran rampant in the village.

At this moment, the chubby boy was surrounded by a group of servants and fawning villagers, his nose in the air, acting as if he were the best in the world.

The feud between the two dates back four years.

At that time, Chen Mo witnessed Sun Dafu and a few henchmen bullying the daughter of Old Yang, who sold tofu in the village.

Without saying a word, they pinned the chubby boy down in a mud pit at the village entrance and beat him up.

From then on, Sun Dafu would treat Chen Mo like a demon, but he couldn't beat him and could only grit his teeth in secret.

How could someone like this be allowed into the immortal realm?

The requirements for accepting disciples at Tianxuan Sect are quite unique.

Chen Mo muttered to himself, but maintained his harmless appearance on his face.

His gaze lingered more on that Xuanming Zhenren.

With his Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation and the effect of the maxed-out [Aura Concealment (Residual)], he could vaguely sense that the two young disciples were at the Qi Refining Level 8 or 9.

And the aura of this Xuanming Zhenren...

Unfathomable, at least at the Foundation Establishment stage or above.

"Xiao Mo, you've finally arrived!"

Wang Laoshuan pulled Chen Mo to stand before Master Xuanming, a smile plastered on his face.

"Real person, this is Chen Mo, the last child of school age in our village."

Master Xuanming glanced over indifferently.

In that instant, Chen Mo felt a faint divine sense sweep over him, very light and quick, like a spring breeze brushing across the water.

The five-colored vortex in his dantian suddenly slowed down, and the [Aura Concealment (Residual)] was activated to its maximum.

He locked all spiritual energy fluctuations deep within his body, revealing only the most ordinary qi and blood of a healthy teenager.

"Um."

Master Xuanming simply nodded slightly and spoke to a male disciple beside him who was wearing a blue Taoist robe.

"Zhou Han, get him tested."

The disciple named Zhou Han was in his early twenties, with a cold and stern face, and an expression that carried the usual reserve and aloofness of disciples from immortal sects.

He took out a fist-sized, perfectly round, light blue crystal ball and said to Chen Mo, "Hold this and relax your mind."

Chen Mo accepted the crystal ball as instructed.

It felt slightly cool to the touch, its texture resembling jade but not quite. The instant his fingers touched the sphere, a line of semi-transparent text suddenly appeared before his eyes:

【Spirit Detector Orb (Standard)】

[Rank: Low-level Magical Artifact]

[Effect: Roughly detects the attributes and strength of spiritual roots]

[Note: This product is mass-produced by the Tianxuan Sect; the error rate is approximately ±15%]

Chen Mo's heart stirred.

For eighteen years, this system has never actively identified external objects, except for issuing tasks and settling rewards. Today is the first time.

He remained expressionless, merely examining the beads in his hand with curiosity, like a country boy who had never seen the world before.

"Concentrate!"

Zhou Han gave a low shout, made a hand seal, and sent a pale blue spiritual light into the Spirit Probing Pearl.

hum-

The bead suddenly lit up.

It was not a single ray of light, but a mixture of five colors: red, blue, yellow, white, and black, reflecting each other.

Its brightness was several times more dazzling than the azure radiance of Xiuer's test and the earthy yellow glow of Sun Dafu's test!

The multicolored light was so dazzling that many villagers instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.

"So bright!"

"It's even brighter than Xiu'er's and Young Master Sun's! Could it be that Xiao Mo's aptitude is better?"

"Didn't the immortal just say that Xiu'er is a once-in-a-century genius?"

The villagers whispered among themselves, and Wang Laoshuan's face showed a look of surprise.

However, Zhou Han frowned. He stared at the multicolored, incredibly bright but utterly lacking in depth light, a barely perceptible hint of disdain flashing in his eyes, and said loudly:

"A mixed spiritual root of the five elements, with balanced attributes and a decent affinity for spiritual energy... barely enough to enter the Dao."

The commotion abruptly stopped.

Although the villagers did not understand what the Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Roots meant, they could barely grasp the meaning of the five words "entering the Dao".

Compared to Zhou Han's previous enthusiasm when he praised Xiu'er as a once-in-a-century talent and Sun Dafu as having excellent earth elemental roots and a promising future, the difference is too great.

The joy on Wang Laoshuan's face froze, turning into worry.

Xiuer opened her mouth slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but then she saw the Xuanming Zhenren, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly open his eyes.

She glanced at Chen Mo briefly, then looked at Xiu'er, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

Chen Mo understood.

A pseudo-spiritual root of the five elements, and even a balanced one at that, is universally recognized in the cultivation world as utterly useless.

The fact that the Spirit Detector Bead is so bright is precisely because the five attributes interfere with each other, resulting in low efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy, far inferior to a pure spiritual root with a single attribute.

He had already learned this knowledge from "Common Sense of Cultivation (Fragment)" which was a reward for completing a certain daily task.

A hint of disappointment flashed across his face, but it quickly turned into relief. He handed the Spirit-Detecting Pearl back to Zhou Han and said in a low voice:

"Thank you... thank you, Immortal Master."

In that very instant of passing and receiving, something unexpected happened!

The spot where Chen Mo's fingertip touched the Spirit-Detecting Pearl suddenly emitted a strange suction force!

It wasn't about absorbing spiritual energy, but rather it felt like it touched upon some deeper level of resonance.

Inside Chen Mo's dantian, the five-colored vortex that had been slowly rotating for eighteen years after cultivating the "Basic Qi Induction Technique" trembled slightly out of control!

Although it was only for a moment, and so faint that even Zhou Han, who was right next to him, did not notice it, Xuanming Zhenren, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and shot his gaze like lightning towards the spirit-detecting pearl in Chen Mo's hand!

Just as the Spirit Detecting Pearl, which should have dimmed, shone with an extremely faint yet incredibly pure chaotic light at its core the very last moment before leaving Chen Mo's hand!

The halo flashed by so quickly it seemed like an illusion. If it weren't for Master Xuanming's profound cultivation and keen senses, he probably would have missed it.

"Um?"

Master Xuanming let out a soft exclamation.

Zhou Han was taken aback: "Martial Uncle?"

Master Xuanming waved his hand, his gaze falling on Chen Mo again, this time with scrutiny and a hint of doubt.

He scanned Chen Mo's entire body with his divine sense again, and it was still that faint fluctuation of the five spiritual roots that was almost negligible.

His spiritual energy level was still barely at the first level of Qi Refining, and he was still... a piece of trash.

Was that just...an illusion?

Or is there something wrong with this Spirit Detecting Pearl?

Master Xuanming frowned inwardly.

But the boy in front of me clearly has the most ordinary mixed spiritual root of the five elements.

Well, perhaps this standard ritual implement has become somewhat unstable after being used for a long time.

Master Xuanming suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, withdrew his gaze, and regained his composure.

However, at this very moment—

"Ding!"

In Chen Mo's mind, a system notification suddenly sounded, but it wasn't a task completion notification; instead, it was an unprecedented notification with a mysterious rhythm:

[The exclusive cultivation technique "Returning to the Origin of the Hidden Dragon," with a compatibility rate of 99.7%, has met the activation requirements!]

[Activation Requirements: Being in an environment possessing a "Spirit Detection Pearl" type magical artifact, and being detected as having a "balanced five elements pseudo-spiritual root" aptitude.]

[Activate the inheritance immediately? (Note: Upon activation, you will directly obtain the complete Qi Refining Chapter of the "Returning Dragon to Origin Technique")]

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat!

Exclusive cultivation technique!

99.7% compatibility!

He had lived in this toilet-filled village for eighteen years, and the system had rewarded him with quite a few cultivation techniques and other items.

However, most of them are common books like "Basic Qi-Gathering Technique" and "Qi-Condensing Method," and the best one is only an incomplete "Five Elements Qi-Gathering Technique," with a compatibility of only 67%.

And this "Returning Dragon to Origin Technique" is extraordinary just from its name!

"Hibernating Dragon," "Return to Origin"... these are practically tailor-made divine skills for him to cultivate his survival skills!

More importantly, the activation condition is so simple—it only requires being detected by the Spirit Detection Bead as having a pseudo-spiritual root of the five elements.

In other words, regardless of whether he goes to the immortal sect or not, as long as he completes this spiritual root test, he will receive it!

choose!

Now all you need to do is select activation!

Chen Moqiang suppressed his excitement and subtly activated his mind: "Activate!"