Therefore, under such harsh conditions, most small and medium-sized sects of cultivation were worried about the difficulty of recruiting disciples. After all, if a sect wants to develop, grow, and inherit, it cannot do without a large number of disciples. In the history of the cultivation world, some small sects failed to recruit disciples in time, leaving only a few people, or even directly breaking the inheritance, which made people sigh.

Faced with this embarrassing situation, some people with a heart began to study hard. Later, they were inspired by the blood inheritance of the demon race. They thought that since the demon race can inherit blood, then whether the "spiritual roots" of the human race can also be inherited. After a practical comparison in the later period, it was surprisingly found that after people with "spiritual roots" combined with each other, the probability of spiritual roots appearing in their offspring was indeed greatly increased.

Not only that, they also found that when two people with high-level spiritual root attributes combined with each other, their offspring would almost all have spiritual roots, and even higher spiritual root attributes. The offspring with dual spiritual root attributes, even the probability of mutant spiritual roots appearing is surprisingly high.

These discoveries have greatly excited those who are interested. Under their strong promotion, most cultivators will take the initiative to find people who are also cultivators to unite with each other. These people are commonly known as "Daoists". These "Daoists" naturally spare no effort to make their sects prosperous and have a large number of branches and leaves. In addition, most cultivators have a longer lifespan, so many sects have been inherited and developed.

Of course, some "Daoists" will also leave the sect and spread out, thus forming countless cultivation families. For the sake of the sect and their own families, these cultivation families are also willing to let their descendants continue to join the sect. In this way, both the sect and the family can continue to thrive, and as long as there is no major change, they can be passed on for a long time.

Chen Wenxuan led the way in front, sweating profusely, and spitting all over the place, talking to Xiao Han nonstop, very excited. After all, he hadn't spoken so happily in front of others for a long time. This feeling of being listened to attentively by others made him very satisfied.

Xiao Han followed behind and listened carefully, occasionally interrupting a few words. After all, it was impossible for these backward white people in the Western Regions to hear it, which also opened his eyes.

Although the distance from the cave to the spirit-testing platform mentioned by Chen Wenxuan was not close, due to the tight time, the two of them rushed as much as possible and arrived in just over a quarter of an hour. This made Xiao Han feel a little unhappy, because he was listening to Chen Wenxuan's talk excitedly, but then he thought about it and thought that he would have plenty of time to ask Chen Wenxuan about the matters of the cultivation world in the future, and he felt much more comfortable.

"Brother Xiao, we have arrived at the spirit-testing platform!" Chen Wenxuan's face flushed, raised his sleeves to wipe the sweat off his face, and said to Xiao Han excitedly.

"Thank you, Brother Chen." Xiao Han clasped his fists and said.

He was cold and reserved, and his face was a little stiff. He often had no expression change, unlike Chen Wenxuan who was open-minded. Therefore, even though he had been with Chen Wenxuan for more than 20 days and was quite familiar with him, he still spoke and behaved in a proper manner, even a little stiff, but Chen Wenxuan had long been accustomed to it and didn't care.

Xiao Han looked up and saw a huge circular platform in front of him. The platform was dark gray in color. In the center, there was a pillar as thick as an ordinary person's waist. It was dark brown, and it was hard to tell what material it was made of. The pillar was more than ten feet high and stood upright on the platform. It was integrated, and even gave people the illusion that the dark brown pillar grew out of the dark gray platform.

On the top of the pillar, a huge white disc was steadily supported. The disc was always flashing with a faint white light, and it was constantly releasing powerful Yuanli. Even though Xiao Han was far away at this moment, he could still feel the constant fluctuation of Yuanli.

But what was even more amazing was that above the edge of the white disc, nine groups of spheres of different colors were quietly floating. Each group of spheres had twelve spheres, and each sphere was not very big, even slightly smaller than an ordinary egg.

The pillars, discs, and spheres formed the spirit-testing platform, which seemed to be natural and connected as a whole, but in fact they were separated from each other. At a glance, the overall appearance was quite strange.

In addition to the conspicuous spirit-testing platform in the middle of the huge dark gray platform, there were eighteen black sandalwood chairs neatly arranged in the east direction. They were purple and gold in color, and each wooden chair was carved with dragons and phoenixes. They were made very exquisitely. The fifteen wooden chairs were placed in two rows, with five in the front and ten in the back.

At this moment, of the eighteen black sandalwood chairs, the twelve in the back were already full, and five of the six in the front were also occupied, with only the one in the middle still empty.

On the left and right sides of the spirit-testing platform in the middle of the platform stood a middle-aged man, one fat and one thin. The fat one had a big head and big ears, and the thin one had a pointed face and monkey cheeks. In front of the two middle-aged men, there was another middle-aged man standing upright, like a giant long sword directly inserted into the platform, with extraordinary momentum.

The entire huge dark gray platform was surrounded by a dark mass of disciples who came to watch. There were ordinary disciples who had just entered the sect, as well as disciples of the four sects. Of course, there were also new disciples waiting for the test. After all, the spirit root test was only held once a month in the sect, so it was also one of the sect's major events.

After a while...

It had been a long time since the expected time for the spirit root test, and there was already a lot of commotion among the people around the platform. Some disciples began to whisper, and there were even many complaints.

"What's going on? The time has passed, why hasn't it started yet?"

"Yes! It's been more than half an hour..."

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't you want to die? Don't you notice that the main seat in the east has been empty?" Someone immediately reminded the person who was speaking.

The person who was speaking glanced at the platform, and immediately shrank his neck like a turtle, broke out in a cold sweat, and asked in a low voice: "Brother, who will take the main seat this time?"

"You don't know this? It's that person..." Before the disciple who just reminded could speak, another disciple next to him, with a look of surprise on his face, spoke first.

"It's him!!!" The disciple who reacted immediately swallowed a handful of saliva.

Suddenly, the disciples around him took a breath of cold air at the same time. Although these disciples did not say the man's name from beginning to end, it was obvious that everyone knew who that person was.

Although there was some noise around the platform, it was extremely quiet on the platform. The fat and thin middle-aged men standing on the left and right sides of the spirit-testing platform did not move, and did not even blink, like two lifelike sculptures. The middle-aged man in front of him was still motionless like a long sword inserted into the platform. Moreover, at this moment, he had no intention of speaking. Only the corner of his eyes occasionally glanced at the empty position of the front row of wooden chairs in the east of the platform.

The reaction of the middle-aged men next to the spirit-testing platform was similar. The seventeen old men or middle-aged men sitting in the east of the platform also did not move, sitting upright. Everyone's eyes were looking in the same direction from time to time. Obviously, they were all waiting for the arrival of a person, and this person's identity was extraordinary.

"Brother Chen, why don't you start?" Xiao Han, who had been waiting until now, was a little puzzled, and looked at Chen Wenxuan and asked.

Chen Wenxuan obviously knew the truth. He immediately raised a finger and gently placed it on his lips, signaling Xiao Han to speak more quietly. At the same time, Chen Wenxuan pointed to the east of the platform and leaned close to Xiao Han's ear, saying in a low voice: "Brother Xiao, because everyone is waiting for someone to come."

Seeing Chen Wenxuan being so cautious, Xiao Han frowned and asked in confusion: "Who?"

Chen Wenxuan looked around like a thief, making sure that no one noticed them, and then leaned close to Xiao Han's ear and said a name in a voice that couldn't be any lower, saying: "Ge Qiuye."

"Who is Ge Qiuye? Is he scary?" Xiao Han asked, not knowing what was going on.

As soon as Xiao Han finished speaking, Chen Wenxuan nodded like crazy.

Suddenly, the noise around the platform stopped abruptly. Suddenly, there was no sound in the dark crowd in front of him. Xiao Han looked up to the east of the platform and found that there was an old man inexplicably in front of the front row of the main seat in the east.

The old man was not tall and slightly fat. His eyes and eyebrows were very thin. Especially when he smiled, they were like two thin lines drawn casually. Although his hair was gray and he looked about fifty or sixty years old, his skin was pink and tender, some of them were white and rosy, and even faintly shiny, just like the skin of a baby who had just been born.

"Haha... Brothers, am I late?" As soon as the old man appeared, a hearty laugh came, spreading around the silent platform.

However, when everyone present saw this old man suddenly appear, their faces suddenly changed, and they all smiled and greeted him. At the same time, they all stood up, bowed and saluted hurriedly, saying in unison: "Hello, Senior Brother Ge, we are too early!"

At this time, even the three middle-aged men standing next to the spirit-testing platform bowed and saluted from a distance.

As for the disciples around the high platform, their faces changed when they saw this person. In addition to bending down like a wave, they all dared not even breathe.

"Oh, hehe, I rushed so fast that I thought I was late!" The old man smiled and sat down on the main seat without any hesitation. Then he waved to everyone and said, "Hey, fellow apprentices, sit down too! Why are you standing all the time? Aren't you tired?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Brother Ge," everyone responded, and after thanking him, they sat down one after another.

While speaking, the old man glanced at the people present, the spirit-testing platform, and the high platform, and smiled, "Hehe, the spirit-root test is a major event for the sect, and it is also a good thing to be happy about. You don't need to be so tense. Just say whatever you want to say, and it's better to be lively. As long as it doesn't affect the spirit-testing..."

However, after the old man finished speaking, everyone looked at each other, but no one dared to speak first.

The old man put away his smile, his face suddenly darkened, and he said solemnly: "When I was not here, everyone was still talking and laughing. Could it be that I, Ge Qiuye, influenced you?"

It still worked. When the old man said this, everyone on and off the stage was stunned for a moment, and then they resumed the noise.

"Brother Chen, Ge Qiuye doesn't look like a sinister and cunning person on the surface! Why are people so afraid of him?" Xiao Han looked puzzled. Under the cover of the noise of the crowd, he approached Chen Wenxuan, leaned close to his ear, and asked in a low voice.

Chen Wenxuan was stunned for a moment, and whispered back: "Brother Xiao, you don't know that this old man Ge is smiling and amiable on the surface, but he is pretending. He is extremely narrow-minded and cruel. It is said that there are at least 800 people who died directly or indirectly at his hands."

"Gudong!"

After hearing this, Xiao Han inadvertently glanced at the old man on the high platform who was always smiling, and couldn't help swallowing a handful of saliva.

"Brother Xiao, do you know what this Ge Qiuye has a nickname?" While speaking, Chen Wenxuan looked around like a thief again, leaned close to Xiao Han, and asked in a low voice.

Xiao Han frowned and asked: "What?"

Chen Wenxuan raised a palm to block his mouth, and said four words in a voice that Xiao Han could hardly hear, saying: "Smiling Yama!"