"Kid from the Five Elements Peak, why are you here?"
Jiang Li and Yin Qiu pulled the boat along. After paddling for a long time, they saw a white robe on the surface of the water holding a stack of Yin-Yang Bamboos and stabbing them into the water.
As he slowed down and approached, he realized that it was a wooden puppet with a frown on its face.
When it saw them arrive, the wooden puppet very humanely wiped away the nonexistent sweat on its face and spoke to them.
Jiang Li was delighted to see the familiar puppet and hear a familiar voice. He had met someone familiar.
"Elder Weng Sanqi, I am disciple Jiang Li, Senior Brother Yin Qiu helped to bring me here."
The wooden puppet scratched its head in bewilderment, "Jiang Li… I seem to have heard this name before…"
Jiang Li: …Turns out our relationship wasn't mutual.
"Elder, I have a dual-attribute spiritual root. You've given me pointers before." Jiang Li reminded him at the right time.
"Oh, right, right, right. I remember now. There really is such a Jiang Li. Did you take the mission alone? Didn't an elder lead the team?"
Elder Weng Sanqi might have drank too much wine while hugging the wine jar, and his mind was not looking too clear.
"Forget it, forget it. I'm short-handed right now. Hurry up and come over."
"Yin Qiu, you've worked hard to take care of the disciple of my Scripture Storage Valley. I'll praise you the next time I see your Uncle-Master."
The puppet waved his hand and politely gestured for them to leave.
Yin Qiu naturally saw through his intention and did not show any displeasure.
"Elder Weng, you're too polite. Yin Qiu will take his leave."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yin Qiu tossed the bamboo pole to Jiang Li, and then the flying sword, Red Sky Sword, on his back was unsheathed. The elegant white-clothed sword cultivator stepped on the flying sword and stood with his hands behind his back as he flew along the surface of the water, leaving behind only a single sentence.
"Junior Brother Jiang Li, let's fight another day~"
Standing with that graceful posture…
As the longsword pierced through the wind, its sharpness reached the peak!
This was truly Immortal Cultivation!
On the other hand, without Yin Qiu to maintain his balance on the small ship, Jiang Li immediately started to lean left and right. A thick and thin bamboo pole was swung around by him like a balance beam.
If not for Elder Weng Sanqi who controlled the wooden puppet to step on the small boat, Jiang Li would probably have fallen into the water to enjoy the fish bites again.
"Speak. Now that he's gone, what did you want to tell me earlier with that subtle expression?"
Who said that Elder Weng Sanqi was drunk? Wasn't he very perceptive and meticulous?
"Elder, we've discovered something!" Jiang Li said seriously.
He tried his best to use simple and clear words to talk about the two thousand children with spiritual root aptitude.
"You're saying that there are more than two thousand children who had been tested positive for their spiritual root aptitude?" Elder Weng Sanqi also became serious.
More than two thousand people with spiritual root aptitude were equivalent to the number of disciples recruited in three or four Immortal Ascension Assemblies.
It could directly increase the number of outer sect disciples by a quarter.
To the Scripture Storage Valley, which had less than 300 years of history, it was already quite a good harvest.
But that was not the point.
The main point was, why did this group of children all have spiritual root aptitude?
Was this related to their coma?
Was it some special method that could allow mortals to have spiritual roots?
No, that was impossible! This idea was too bold…
Elder Weng Sanqi subconsciously denied this guess. After all, countless cultivators and mortals had tried to alter their destinies since ancient times, but they had all failed!
Even if one could really alter their fate and create spiritual roots, it would definitely be an extremely rare case. It was impossible for it to be produced on such a large scale!
However, even if that was not the case… even if one took ten thousand steps back and treated this kind of coma as only a special phenomenon, it was still a large-scale phenomenon that targeted those with spiritual root aptitude.
As long as they understood this phenomenon and the Scripture Storage Valley mastered this method, they could easily test their spiritual roots on a large scale and no longer need to rely on others!
Think about it, with such an advantage, the Scripture Storage Valley could easily loot a large number of disciples in the Great Mountain Region!
In time, when the next generation of disciples matured, the Scripture Storage Valley would definitely become the number one Immortal Sect of the Great Mountain Region!
As such, to the Scripture Storage Valley, the matters in the capital of the Southern Seal Kingdom were much more important than the Golden Core zombie demon!
"Elder Weng, there are seven outer sect disciples with me on this mission. They are still in the capital city, protecting the news from being leaked."
"However, their strength is limited. There are too many rogue cultivators gathered because of the birth of the demon. I'm afraid they won't be able to last long."
"It's precisely because it will take too long to return to the sect and report this that we were afraid of an accident, so I followed that disciple all the way down here to seek help from the elders!"
Jiang Li did not say it out loud, but his face clearly wrote, "This disciple had gone through danger several times and had worked hard to get here. Elder, don't forget my contribution!"
"You've done very well! I'll immediately notify the sect about this news. You won't be missing any rewards. Come over to my side first."
Weng Sanqi was a shrewd person as well, so how could he not see through Jiang Li's thoughts? However, not only had Jiang Li rendered a meritorious service, he had even offered this merit to him. So what if he rewarded Jiang Li for this?
The frowning wooden puppet patted the small ship.
Jiang Li saw that it was as if an extremely thin thread was connected to the small ship.
In the next second, the small ship was pulled by a huge force and sped towards the river bank at a speed several times faster than before.
Jiang Li could not even stand steadily while holding the chain. His body lowered, and he almost squatted down to hug the small ship.
Bang!
Two minutes later, the long, thin, and long boat that was like a shuttle suddenly rushed to the river bank. After sliding for dozens of meters, it finally stopped in a simple shed.
In the shed, a short cultivator with grayish-white hair and a rosy complexion was holding a communication spirit stone and saying something.
Who else could it be but the Elder of the Mystic Gate Hall, Weng Sanqi?
Jiang Li did not speak and waited silently at the side.
"Jiang Li, come over and tell us everything."
Elder Weng Sanqi handed the communication spirit stone over.
Jiang Li grabbed the spirit stone and felt a voice in his ear.
"The sect's team has already set off. Now, tell me everything you know in detail. Don't leave out anything!"
The voice on the other side was extremely stern, and it did not say what the outcome would be if Jiang Li lied. After all, it would only be ten times worse than the worst situation Jiang Li could imagine.
Jiang Li cleared his throat and spoke about everything that he had seen and heard along the way without holding any opinions, including the yellowed and withered plants in the forest and the few groups of rogue cultivators that had attacked them in the city.
Jiang Li still did not understand the reason why plants turned yellow. It might be better to let the sect investigate it.
As for those rogue cultivators, hehe, they had to pay the price for being so bold.
"Very good. If you recall anything else, report it immediately. Follow Elder Weng for this period of time."
With that, he hung up.
Jiang Li did not know who the other party was, but from Elder Weng Sanqi's attitude, it was obvious that the other party was a higher-up with a greater position than him.