Starting From A Fisherman To Cultivate Immortality And Live Forever

Chapter 25: The Advantage is Mine!

"Abnormal! Too abnormal!"

"This data is not right!"

After reviewing all the records related to the Ascension Ceremony in Jinque City, Su Ping fell into contemplation.

He didn't think things would improve much in the next two days either.

On the first day of the Ascension Ceremony, the number of people tested is usually the highest, and the number of qualified individuals is also expected to be the highest!

Using the detection array, if one doesn't dawdle, a test can be completed every five to ten seconds.

Although it seems like it would take a long time to test so many people, the purpose of the detection array is to check if there are any spiritual root reactions among those standing in the inner circle.

Therefore, there are established rules for testing spiritual roots.

Seed players cultivated by prestigious families, such as the City Lord's Manor's Qilin'er, the Ji family's daughter, or other adopted children who have undergone early Qi Refining, can be tested individually.

Non-core branch descendants are tested in groups of ten.

Those qualified to live in Jinque City are mostly tested in groups of twenty.

Those outside the city are tested in groups of thirty, and it's not surprising to see groups of forty or fifty people from more distant places.

The lucky farmer's child was discovered in a group of thirty.

Then, multiple tests were conducted on these thirty people, leading to the final one-on-one test.

"Did the evil cultivators make a move against those with spiritual roots?"

"But how did they determine that the other party had spiritual roots without the array? It's impossible for the Immortal Sect and the City Lord's Manor to not have heard any news if there was a massacre!"

"And those confirmed seed players who were discovered in towns outside, they were all adopted and heavily protected by prestigious families, and the City Lord's Manor would have them registered."

Su Ping frowned slightly, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. He had the maid fetch Jihu.

Jihu was considered half of Su Ping's confidant in Jinque City.

He was also one of the high-ranking figures here, a top figure among the local powerhouses.

Su Ping obtained a large number of case files from Jihu.

"Recently, has the infant mortality rate been slightly higher?"

After examining them, Su Ping asked in a low voice, expressing his doubts.

Jihu was slightly taken aback and nodded.

"It is indeed a bit higher compared to before, but many of those towns underreported it every year. Maybe the constables sent last year were more diligent, so the actual reports increased?"

Su Ping didn't answer after hearing this.

He knew that Jihu's explanation was normal in a place like Jinque City.

Even in the city, the City Lord's Manor might not be able to find out exactly how many people died or went missing this year.

Many times, when it came to missing persons cases, the policy was to give up if they couldn't be found. There was nothing they could do about it.

If you asked them to investigate why the infant mortality rate outside the city was abnormal, it would really put them in a difficult position.

However, perhaps they were being too cautious?

Looking at these case files, Su Ping always felt that there was a connection among them.

"Hmm, let's make a bold guess!"

"Based on the behavior of those constables outside, if it wasn't because the situation was too big and couldn't be concealed, would they voluntarily report these cases of infant mortality?"

"I'm afraid the actual infant mortality rate is even higher than what we see in the case files!"

"The worst possibility is not evil cultivators, but some other terrible abnormal situation that has occurred, leading to the premature killing of ordinary people with spiritual roots!"

"Judging by the numbers, it's possible that it's not just low-grade spiritual roots, but inferior-grade spiritual roots are also within the target range."

"This is what caused today's situation."

"Even... the Immortal Sect suddenly held the Ascension Ceremony in advance, and the rushed reason can also be explained!"

"And everything is normal within the city. The good news is that these abnormal situations have only occurred in localized areas and have not spread to the city."

"The bad news is... this abnormality has caused trouble for the Immortal Sect as well, and they chose to retreat rather than confront it!"

Sorting out his thoughts, Su Ping dismissed Jihu.

Then, under the sense of crisis, he returned to the Linmoon Villa and spent the night in the training room, preparing a large number of Thunderfire Beads and materials for the Darkfire Technique.

He also made up his mind that after the Ascension Ceremony, he would immediately put the Self-Destructive Rat on the agenda to enhance his combat capabilities as much as possible!

Despite the shadow in his heart,

The Ascension Ceremony continued as usual.

In the following two days, the number of people being tested decreased.

By the third day at noon, it took several minutes to gather enough people for a group to undergo testing.

Dong!

The sound of a copper gong echoed through the Golden Sparrow City once again.

Accompanied by the moonlight.

"The midnight hour has arrived! The Ascension Ceremony is over!"

The City Lord stood up, announcing the end of the gathering to the people below, and waved his hand for them to start cleaning up the venue.

On the other side, the chefs started cooking, preparing a feast to reward the people who had been busy for three days.

Su Ping also stood up, but instead of going back, he looked at the two outer disciples waiting behind him.

And the row of qualified individuals behind them, each with a different expression.

In this Ascension Ceremony, there were only eight qualified individuals in total after three days!

Among them, half were from the city!

Calculating based on the newly detectable population, this was obviously not scientific.

The cultivation world is not like the Blue Water Star, where urbanization is practiced.

Most of the population is distributed in towns of various sizes.

Even if sometimes the nobles in the city deliberately delay the participation of people with spiritual roots in the Ascension Ceremony, resulting in a slightly larger number of qualified individuals in a particular Ascension Ceremony, there has never been a time when it accounted for half of the total!

"For now... stay in the City Lord's Mansion."

Su Ping thought for a moment and decided to be more cautious.

"Wait for the Immortal Ship to pick you up, and do not go out! Stay in the City Lord's Mansion and learn the rules of the Immortal Sect with the teacher."

"In addition, please strengthen the security, be careful of crazy evil cultivators causing trouble."

The City Lord nodded repeatedly. In fact, he had no experience in taking care of these qualified individuals, but when he heard Su Ping's reminder, he quickly agreed.

By late night, a battalion of well-rested soldiers had been stationed in front of the City Lord's Mansion.

All the torches on the city walls were lit, and huge oil lamps were also lit on the tall buildings.

The entire mansion was as bright as day.

It could be seen that the City Lord was also spending a lot of money to show his importance.

The lamp oil burning in those large oil lamps came from some kind of sea creature, and it was not cheap at all.

Su Ping also sat cross-legged in a quiet room in the City Lord's Mansion, and instructed the Spirit Mouse, Little White, and Little Grey to take turns staying alert.

Nothing happened throughout the night.

Just as Su Ping finished his cultivation and was preparing to change into his Fisherman's outfit and go to the fishing spot to wait for the respawn...

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, through Little White's perception, Su Ping discovered that a humanoid creature shrouded in black mist was approaching the backyard of the City Lord's Mansion.

This black mist made the Spirit Mouse instinctively feel disgusted, indicating that it was not a good thing!

What was even more surprising was that when this black mist passed over the backyard wall, neither the guards nor the warriors noticed anything unusual!

It seemed that this black mist had the ability to confuse people's minds!

"Approaching the backyard!"

"Is it trying to get close to those qualified individuals?"

"Looks like there's an evil cultivator who's not afraid of death coming over?"

Su Ping pondered for a moment, sensing the gap in strength between himself and the black mist.

At most, the opponent was at the second level of Qi Refining, while he was at the fourth level of Qi Refining and the third level of Body Tempering.

In this battle, the advantage was mine!

Su Ping slapped a stealth talisman and flew towards the backyard with Little White and Little Grey.

(End of this chapter)