Chapter 1: When the father suffers humiliation, the son will surely avenge him

  Half an hour later.

  Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

  A sharp whistling sound cut through the air as three men in their twenties, with pale faces and cold expressions, descended from flying swords and landed before the Xiao family's grand hall.

  "Where is Xiaojia's residence? We have been ordered to come here and quickly bring the person over."

  These three people have a cold and arrogant expression, and their bones reveal an aura of superiority. Their eyes occasionally sweep over the crowd, as if watching ants.

  Hearing the commotion, Xiao Wenting hastily led a group of people from the Xiao family to welcome them out. With a humble expression, he said: "Three immortal masters have come from afar, please go to the main hall and sit for a moment, and have a cup of tea."

  Xiao Chen clenched his fists tightly in the dark, vowing to himself that he must become a powerful immortal master and make his parents proud.

  "No need for that. We were ordered to come here and take away the young man who participated in the Tianshang Gate test. We will leave immediately." A young man, seemingly the leader, frowned and said coldly.

  "Yes! Yes!" Xiao Wenting didn't dare to hesitate for a moment and quickly nodded in response.

  "Quickly!" The three young men muttered to themselves, suddenly stretching out their hands and pointing at the flying swords under their feet. The volume of the flying swords suddenly surged, each one large enough for several people to stand on.

  "Come up one by one and stand firm, don't be afraid."

  The young men of the Xiao family watched as the three immortal masters flew on their swords, and were even more able to make them suddenly enlarge in mid-air. Naturally, they were filled with reverence and hastily lined up one by one to walk onto the giant sword and stand at attention.

  "Rise!"

  After everyone came up, the three young men didn't greet anyone, and the flying sword suddenly rose from the ground and shot towards the distant horizon, disappearing in an instant.

  Xiao Fu's eyes watched Xiao Chen leave, the suppressed injury suddenly erupted, his face instantly turned pale, and he stumbled out.

  "Head of the clan, that Xiao Chen may have our Xiao family's blood in him, but he's never been on the same wavelength as us. How could you agree to let him participate in the Tianshen Gate? What if this kid gets lucky and becomes a Xian Master? We've offended them before, so wouldn't we be making things uncomfortable for ourselves in the future?" After Xiao Fu left, Xiao Wenbin said with some resentment.

  Xiao Wenting chuckled, "Third brother, rest assured. Xiao Chen's physical quality is extremely poor and his clothes are short-lived, how could he possibly be chosen by the immortal master? You can rest easy."

  In his heart, the most likely to become a fairy master this time is only his son Xiao Lin. After all, he let him bring that thing this time...

  White clouds are trampled underfoot, strong gusts of wind come head-on, blowing so hard that one's eyes can't be opened.

  Xiao Chen stood on the last man's flying sword, only feeling a whirring wind sound by his ear, his hands clenched into fists, strongly enduring not to reveal a frightened expression.

  The man who manipulated the flying sword in flight let out a light hum, his eyes turned around on his face, and a few points of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

  "Ah!"

  The wind suddenly became more intense, and from the physical sensation, they felt that they were rapidly descending at this moment. A moment later, the man's cold voice came again, "We're here, you can get off now."

  Xiao family's group of young men finally opened their eyes, only to find that they had already arrived at an unknown place.

  Xiao Chen stepped down from the flying sword, his eyes scanning around. This place was a mountain valley of several hundred meters in size, with dense trees and what seemed to be endless vitality, various rare flowers and grasses filled the air, which seemed to have a faint fragrance, looking like a paradise.

  At this moment, there were already dozens of young men and women in the valley, but at this moment, their eyes looking towards Xiao Chen and others had a hint of hostility.

  "Now that you're here, let's get in pairs quickly, the test is about to begin." In front of the crowd was a stone table, where a sturdy old man in his fifties sat with his eyes narrowed. The three young men who had brought Xiao Chen and the others bowed respectfully before turning to stand aside.

  Xiao Lin, as the eldest son of the Xiao family, had already secretly received a hint. At this moment, he saluted the old man and quickly arranged his followers in formation behind him.

  "Alright, one by one, come forward in order to take the test." The old man opened his eyes, and his piercing gaze seemed as if it could see through people's bodies, causing many of the young men to subconsciously lower their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

  "Let's start with Mei's family first."

  An old man's voice fell, and from the team on the far left, a 16- or 17-year-old boy immediately walked out. He was strong and powerful, with a pair of bright and spirited eyes. However, at this moment he was filled with anxiety, first saluting the old man before handing his hand over to him.

  The old man stretched out his hand and grasped it, and after a moment, he opened his eyes and said expressionlessly: "No spiritual root, go to the left and stand well."

  The young man heard this and suddenly seemed to have lost all his strength, walking listlessly to the empty space on the left.

  "Next!"

  Another young girl walked up cautiously and put her hand in the old man's hand.

  "Without spiritual roots, you'd better stand on the left side."

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  。。。。。

  The old man was quite fast, and in a short while, dozens of young men had already gone through half of the process, but not one person met the requirements.

  "Next!" The old man's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his face also showed a few points of impatience.

  This time it was a young girl who came out, 28 years old, with skin as white as snow, and a head of black hair that fell to her waist, like a fairy from a painting, accidentally fallen into the mortal world.

  "Ah, it's the Hime family! And there's Himeyuri dancing in her kimono... I didn't expect her to come today too!"

  "This girl is said to have been able to gather spiritual energy on her own at the age of ten, she must have a spiritual root in her body."

  "With spiritual roots, one can become a celestial master, what good fortune for Ji Yuewu."

  Xiao Chen listened to the soft murmurs of the young men, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, as if the only thing being tested here was the Linggen, otherwise even with excellent physical quality, it would not be qualified. Thinking of this, he felt a slight relief in his heart, if it were really testing physical quality, he might not have had any chance at all. However, looking at the thirty or so dejected young men on the left, his heart tightened again, this Linggen seemed to be something extremely rare.

  "Wood attribute spiritual root, excellent innate talent! Good! Good! Good!" The elderly man in charge of the test suddenly opened his eyes wide, with a few flashes of surprise and delight, laughing repeatedly.

  Xiao Chen's train of thought was interrupted, and when he looked up, he happened to see Ji Yuewu's face calm and collected as she withdrew her jade hand, her expression unruffled, seemingly not surprised at all.

  "You go stand on the right side first, and then follow me to see the leader." The old man was obviously in a very good mood, and his attitude towards Ji Yue was also extremely gentle.

  Ji Yuewu nodded slightly, and immediately walked to the right side under the envious eyes of the crowd. Her snow-white neck was held high, and her movements were as elegant as a fairy descending into the world.

  "Next one!" The old man seemed to have gained some spirit, and his voice also had a few more points of vitality.

  After nearly a quarter of an hour, except for the Xiao family, the young people from the other four major families had all finished their tests. Apart from Ji Yue Wu, there were two more who passed - a boy and a girl. However, judging from the elder's expressionless face, these two had average talent. Nevertheless, this was enough to make everyone envy them.

  "Next!"

  Xiao Lin, as the son of the tribe leader, naturally stood at the front of the team. Upon hearing this, he tidied up his clothes and bowed respectfully to the elder, then handed over his hands with great expectation.

  The old man didn't even look, grasped it and then closed his eyes, shook his head slightly after a moment, "No spiritual root, unqualified."

  Xiao Lin's face suddenly changed upon hearing this, but thinking of the secret thing his father had given him earlier, his face regained some color.

  "Master Xianshi, when I came from home, my father asked me to bring a gift for you. He also asked that you would kindly offer guidance in consideration of my filial piety." As he spoke, without waiting for the old man's refusal, he carefully pulled out a brocade package from his bosom.

  The old man heard the words and a hint of ridicule appeared at the corner of his mouth. He was a high-and-mighty cultivator, what could a mundane family bring to make him take notice? However, he still opened the cloth package, revealing a blackish thing that resembled a stone.

  "Good iron!" The old man's eyes suddenly burst out with a hint of spirit, he took it in his hand and examined it carefully for half a moment. His face was filled with even more joy, the purity of this iron exceeded his imagination, enough for him to refine a spiritual instrument that could be used until the late stage of building his foundation.

  "Hmph! I'll take this iron essence. Considering your filial piety, I'll accept you as a nominal disciple and have you follow me from now on. If you perform well, it's not impossible for you to become a true disciple." The old man nonchalantly stored the iron essence in his storage bag and said with narrowed eyes.

  "Disciple on record?" Xiao Lin was taken aback upon hearing this.

  "What's wrong, aren't you satisfied yet?" The old man said with a slightly gloomy face.

  "No, no, how dare you be so presumptuous! Disciple Xiao Lin, paying respects to the master!" Xiao Lin hastily bowed down.

  "Hmm, you'd better stand on the right side too." The old man nodded in satisfaction and said calmly.

  "Yes." Although he was a nominal disciple, Xiao Lin felt the envious glances from the crowd and his heart was slightly unhappy for an instant before he proudly walked to the right side and stood still.

  "Next!"

  。。。。

  。。。。

  "Next!"

  。。。。

  。。。。

  Soon, except for Xiao Chen, everyone else had finished testing, but except for Xiao Lin, not a single person possessed a spiritual root.

  "What ancient bloodline has been passed down for three hundred years without producing a spiritual root? I think next time we should propose to the sect master to cancel the Xiao family's qualification to participate in the Treading Immortal Gate." The old man muttered to himself, somewhat impatiently saying: "The last one."

  Xiao Chen was taken aback, but then he thought of himself as the last person, and his heart was filled with expectation as he walked over. Thinking of his father's hopeful eyes before he left, thinking of the humiliation his father had endured to get him this opportunity, his eyes suddenly became extremely determined.

  "It must be! It must be!"

  A moment later, the old man opened his eyes and looked at Xiao Chen coldly, saying: "No spiritual root, unqualified!"

  Like a thunderclap, Xiao Chen's face turned pale as he was shocked by the six cold words. He thought of his father's expectant look and his vision went black, almost falling to the ground. Under the gaze of the young men who were gloating over his misfortune, Xiao Chen returned to the back of the team in a daze, with only one sentence echoing in his mind: How can I explain this to Father?!

  His father was a proud man, this time in order to let him have the opportunity to participate in the Tuxi Gate, he did not hesitate to break his oath, and even endured endless humiliation, but as a result, he failed!

  PS: New book is out, need everyone's support, will fatten it up before slaughtering it later! Also feeling a bit down today, wrote for an entire morning and chatted with a friend on QQ, forgot to save, so sad, urgently need votes to comfort me...