A Single Word Resolves the Issue

The princess, hearing someone dare to rebuke her at such a moment, furrowed her brow deeply. She glanced towards the source of the voice, spotting a seemingly frail commoner girl—or rather, a refugee. Honestly, had these words been spoken moments earlier, the Seventh Princess would have immediately stepped forward to teach the girl a lesson.

This time, however, she refrained. Instead, her gaze swept over her surroundings, particularly settling on the disciples of the Luoshen Sect. Each of them was now regarding her with undisguised displeasure.

This hadn’t been the case moments ago. It was primarily Xue Linglong’s cutting remark: ‘You don’t hold the Luoshen Sect in any regard.’

The Seventh Princess dared not accept such an accusation. Even as a princess with powerful backing within the Luoshen Sect, she could not openly challenge its authority. Today was a momentous occasion for the Luoshen Sect, and moreover, Eternal Blossom Island, where the sect resided, was not part of the Chen Kingdom’s territory.

Her display of arrogance here was inherently problematic. While the Luoshen Sect disciples might have been reluctant to offend her, Xue Linglong’s words had already transformed into an arrow poised to strike.

Should she persist in scolding the young girl, the surrounding Luoshen Sect disciples would undoubtedly brand her a provocateur. Even if they remained silent for now, the incident would surely reach the sect’s higher echelons.

To say that a princess of the Chen Kingdom disrespected her nation’s sovereign sect, acting wantonly on such an important day for the Luoshen Sect, would carry immense repercussions.

Xue Linglong had perhaps halted the Seventh Princess, but she had also undoubtedly incurred her wrath.

“Your Highness, what should we do?” a guard whispered, approaching the Seventh Princess. “I suggest we let it go. It would be troublesome if you were to be sullied for the sake of a mere commoner.”

Royalty valued their reputation above all else. After weighing her options, the Seventh Princess ultimately waved her hand at her subordinates. Seeing her signal, the two guards immediately released the girl in the white dress.

After signaling their release, the Seventh Princess slowly walked towards Xue Linglong and Bai Lan. Her gaze first lingered on Xue Linglong, then flickered dismissively towards Bai Lan.

The woman remained silent, observing them both for a long moment. Afterward, she returned to the detection point to test her own spiritual root attributes.

One should never mistake her silence for indifference; on the contrary, it only highlighted the depth of her current fury. Soon, the spiritual root detection artifact glowed with a dual radiance of gold and crimson. This indicated that the Seventh Princess possessed excellent aptitude, having a dual spiritual root.

Among those with spiritual roots in this world, seventy percent possessed a single root, twenty percent a dual root, and the remaining ten percent possessed either multiple roots or rare roots. A single spiritual root denoted ordinary aptitude, unless it was a rare type, which was an entirely different matter. Dual spiritual roots signified excellent aptitude, while multiple roots indicated extraordinary talent, occurring with a similar rarity to rare spiritual roots.

However, if someone possessed multiple rare spiritual roots, their aptitude was simply superior.

In reality, spiritual roots were not the sole determinant of one’s aptitude; physique and bloodline also played crucial roles. Take Bai Lan, for instance: his unparalleled talent stemmed from a combination of bloodline, physique, and spiritual roots.

There would not be many in this world who could surpass his caliber of talent; at most, they could merely match it.

“A gold and fire dual spiritual root? Excellent aptitude, Your Highness. Here is your outer sect disciple token; you have passed the examination and may now become an outer sect disciple.”

The examining disciple, who had initially harbored considerable displeasure towards the Seventh Princess, was forced to suppress it upon witnessing her superior aptitude.

“Mm.” The Seventh Princess nodded. Following her, her six guards also stepped forward for examination; all possessed ordinary single spiritual roots, yet this still qualified them for outer sect entry.

Once all had been confirmed to pass, the Seventh Princess suddenly turned, a saccharine smile gracing her lips, and addressed Bai Lan and Xue Linglong.

“I hope you two can also pass the examination. Then, we shall be fellow disciples.”

The Seventh Princess’s tone was laced with sarcasm and thinly veiled malice. This remark was clearly a warning to them both, or rather, a sarcastic inversion of her true wishes. What she truly meant was: ‘I hope you two fail the examination, or else you’ll face my retribution.’

Upon seeing that the woman possessed a fire-attributed spiritual root, Bai Lan immediately understood her true nature. Those with fire-attributed spiritual roots typically had volatile tempers.

During the examination, the crimson glow had been more dominant than the gold, indicating a primary fire-attributed spiritual root. This woman was undoubtedly troublesome; her regal demeanor was merely a facade befitting a princess.

With her words delivered, the woman departed, quickly vanishing from sight. The girl who had nearly been dragged away and had her legs broken hurried over to Xue Linglong and Bai Lan, expressing her profound gratitude.

“Thank you both for speaking up and saving me just now,” the girl said, her face reflecting the relief of one who had narrowly escaped disaster. “Otherwise, I would have been finished.”

It was curious, however, why she addressed them as “both” rather than solely Xue Linglong. In truth, Bai Lan had not uttered a single word. The primary reason was that Xue Linglong stood very close to Bai Lan, and together, they appeared almost like sisters, a perfectly matched pair that naturally led others to associate them.

“Huh? It’s nothing,” Bai Lan mumbled, glancing at Xue Linglong, a twitch playing at the corner of his lips.

The girl nodded, then returned to her spot. She had companions, but not one of them had spoken up during that perilous moment. This greatly displeased the white-robed girl, realizing her own companions were less helpful than strangers.

Upon rejoining them, she let out a cold snort. It seemed their relationship was likely severed then and there, for trust between people was often a singular thing; once broken, it was incredibly difficult to rebuild.

The farce concluded, and the examination resumed. Next up was Xue Linglong.

Xue Linglong first offered Bai Lan a small smile, seemingly unconcerned that she had done anything wrong. Bai Lan, however, sighed. We haven’t even entered the outer sect yet, and trouble has already found us, he thought. While I’m not afraid, it’s certainly annoying.

“Come now, little girl, place your hand on the detector,” Senior Sister Wu said, smiling gently at Xue Linglong.

Xue Linglong’s actions had already earned the goodwill of the Luoshen Sect disciples. It was humbling for them to realize that the sect’s dignity required a mere young girl to uphold it.

“Mm.” Xue Linglong nodded, then placed her hand on the detector. Senior Sister Wu began to activate her spiritual power.

Swiftly, the detector began to glow. First, a brilliant sky-blue radiance emanated, signifying Xue Linglong possessed a water-attributed spiritual root, and one of exceptional purity.

Bai Lan, however, knew there was more to it. Xue Linglong’s Linglong Body had yet to awaken; once it did, her true potential would be entirely different.

“Such a pure water-attributed spiritual root! I’ve never seen one so luminous,” Senior Sister Wu exclaimed, a hint of surprise in her voice. Still, it was merely a water-attributed spiritual root.

“Congratulations, little girl, you’ve passed,” Senior Sister Wu said with a faint smile. “Your water-attributed spiritual root is qualified, and you may become an outer sect disciple.”

Xue Linglong immediately turned, beaming a radiant smile at Bai Lan. She knew her life was about to change dramatically in the coming days.

“Sister, I’ll wait for you over there,” Xue Linglong said, then walked away. “I believe you’ll pass too.”

She seemed to possess immense confidence in Bai Lan.

Bai Lan said nothing further, stepping forward directly. Without waiting for Senior Sister Wu to speak, he placed his hand on the detector and activated it himself by releasing his spiritual power.

This sight momentarily stunned Senior Sister Wu. She hadn’t even activated the detector yet, clearly, the person before her knew precisely how to use the device.