Hall of Spiritualists

Rong Kaixuan gradually narrowed his eyes. He followed Rong Jieming's instructions and focused all of his energy and will onto the jade stone. Just as he did so, he made a sudden discovery that made him extremely surprised and shocked. It made him unsure of what to do next.

That discovery was that the strange Qi flow residing between his eyebrows had started flowing without him controlling it.

The Qi flow seemed to be attracted to some mysterious component within the jade stone. The Qi started to flow out from between his brows all by itself and rushed into the Spiritualist Ability Testing Stone.

When he realized this was happening, Rong Kaixuan tried his best to stop the rush of Qi flow. Yet, he was still too late. Some of the Qi flow had managed to get out.

After that, the Spiritualist Ability Testing Stone shone with that strong and bright glow.

Rong Kaixuan felt his entire being go into shock. The first thing he did was toss the Spiritualist Ability Testing Stone aside. He let go of it because he had a feeling that if he continued to hold the jade stone in his hands, the remainder of the Qi bubble he had barely managed to keep from escaping would suddenly rush out into the stone like a wild animal that had managed to break free from captivity.

The moment Rong Kaixuan flung the Ability Testing Stone aside, the glow on the stone vanished. The even more shocking part was that familiar force actually came out from the Ability Testing Stone and went back into its place between his eyebrows.

That was the force that had come out from between his brows earlier. It had gone one round through the Ability Testing Stone and immediately returned. On top of that, he realized that this force was now even stronger than before it had gone out.

It was just a tiny bit stronger, but it was enough to make him overwhelmed with joy.

The strength of the Qi flow resting in the spot between his eyebrows increased incredibly slowly. He simply was unable to make it increase in power. Now, a new possibility had been presented to him.

If he let this mysterious Qi flow rush into the Ability Testing Stone, when the Qi flow came back to him, it would become more powerful than before.

Pak.

The Spiritualist Ability Testing Stone that Rong Kaixuan threw down did not end up crashing onto the floor. It had been steadily caught by a middle-aged man before that happened.

Out of everyone present, he had the fastest reaction.

When the glow around the jade stone disappeared, he had immediately flown out and caught the Ability Testing Stone in mid-air.

His action had broken the silence in the Ability Testing Hall. Everyone turned to look at Rong Kaixuan as if they had just woken up from a dream. This time, the way everyone looked at him was completely different from the way they looked at him before.

If their eyes were filled with disdain and contempt earlier, the same eyes were now filled with surprise, shock, and envy. They even seemed eager to gain Rong Kaixuan's favor.

There was a gradually growing smile on Rong Jieming's face. His old face full of wrinkles now bloomed into a beautiful smile. "My goodness, Kaixuan, this Spiritualist Ability Testing Stone is very precious, so you can't just throw it around like that. If the stone breaks into pieces, I really can't afford to replace it."

These words sounded like he was blaming Rong Kaixuan, but his tone of voice and expression were so gentle and friendly that he didn't seem like he was blaming Rong Kaixuan at all.

Rong Kaixuan gave an awkward smile and replied, "Grandpa Ming, I was too shocked and overreacted." He turned toward the middle-aged man who caught the stone and bowed as he said, "Thank you, Uncle."

He had no idea what this middle-aged man was called, but since he could appear in this place, he was definitely a senior in the family.

That middle-aged man burst out laughing and replied, "You're Kaixuan, right? I'm your uncle, Rong Yide, No. 3 in the family. You can either call me Third Uncle or Uncle De."

Rong Kaixuan froze for a while before greeting him loudly and clearly, "Uncle De."

After hearing that, Rong Yide laughed loudly. He turned and asked, "You're Yiyang, right? Hoho, you've got a really good son over here."

At this point, Rong Yiyang was completely speechless. He didn't know what to do or how to react.

He had never dreamed that his own son would have such a dramatic and drastic change by coming to the Ability Testing Hall.

Rong Yide was of high standing among the brothers in the Main House. His status was way higher than Rong Yiyang, who was merely a nameless descendant of the family that had been thrown to some rural village.

If these two crossed paths on any other day, Rong Yide would not have been interested in saying a word to him.

Now, judging from the way Rong Yide looked, he seemed ready to become real brothers with Rong Yiyang, who was a little overwhelmed by this friendliness.

Rong Yiyang bowed slightly and said, "Ah, so you are Third Brother, Yide. Sorry for my poor manners."

Rong Yide laughed loudly and replied, "My brother Yiyang, I never imagined that my nephew, Kaixuan, would have the gift of being a Spiritualist. Moreover, his gifting is so strong. It's really incredible!" He paused for a while before saying, "This is a very serious matter. We can't make a decision here. Uncle Ming, why don't we quickly contact the elder in the Hall of Spiritualists?"

Rong Jieming nodded his head profusely and said, "We shall do that."

Rong Yiyang suddenly felt a shudder. He looked up. There was a look of disbelief in his eyes.

An elder was not an ordinary form of address in this clan.

Those who could be called an elder were the highest-ranking people in the entire clan. The people ranked right below the clan head were all the elders.

Every elder had a power and privilege that made others envy them. As long as an elder said so, his words easily decided what position each disciple had, which families would rise, and which ones would fall.

To Rong Yiyang, elders were people that he never even dreamed of seeing. One could hardly run into one on any given day. Now, these people wanted to alert an elder because of Kaixuan.

He didn't really understand what had happened to his son, but he was very certain that his boy would definitely have a major change in the course of his life.

Perhaps, his son's generation had the chance to become successful.

*****

"Kaixuan, the Hall of Spiritualists is not an ordinary place, so you have to be careful from the moment you step inside."

Rong Jieming and Rong Yide were taking Rong Kaixuan to see the elder. They continuously whispered instructions to him as they walked.

These two were clearly trying their best to leave a good impression on Rong Kaixuan's young mind.

Rong Kaixuan was still a fairly ignorant young man, and he was completely confused by how these people suddenly behaved so differently from before. The feeling of humiliation in his heart had disappeared and been replaced by worry and anxiousness.

After they tested that he had the gift of a spiritualist, or something like that, these two big shots in the Ability Testing Hall immediately put down everything they were doing to take him over to the Hall of Spiritualists. Even his father, Rong Yiyang, was not allowed to come along.

It was very clear that this Hall of Spiritualists was a highly revered place to the clan.

"Grandpa Ming, Uncle De, what sort of place is the Hall of Spiritualists?" he asked out of curiosity.

Rong Jieming quickly took the chance to speak first. "The Hall of Spiritualists is the place where all the spiritualists in our clan cultivate and train themselves. As long as you enter the Hall of Spiritualists, you can become a spiritualist. You're going to make it big after that." He didn't hide any of the envy in his voice. It seemed like Spiritualists were very important people.

Rong Yide slowly nodded his head and said, "That's right, spiritualists are treated way better than martial arts practitioners like us. Kaixuan, your constitution is really impressive for a spiritualist. If you work hard and cultivate, you won't just become a spiritualist. I'm sure you can possibly even rise in level too."

Rong Kaiuan immediately nodded. Even though he wasn't sure what they were talking about, he didn't ask any more questions.

They finally arrived at a huge courtyard.

This courtyard was like a little city within the city. It also had city walls. The high city walls were like a huge metal gate that separated itself from the rest of the world.

Just looking at that gigantic black metal gate made one feel fearful and reverent.

Rong Yide went forward and gently knocked on the side door.

He had a high standing in the family, but when he reached this place, he had to be careful and cautious.

The side door slowly opened. A middle-aged man stuck his head out. He looked at them and impatiently asked, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Rong Yide kept a smile on his face and said, "My brother, I am Rong Yide from the Ability Testing Hall."

"You're from the Ability Testing Hall?" The middle-aged man looked a little less annoyed. He shifted his gaze to look at the person who looked the youngest among them, Rong Kaixuan. He asked, "Have you discovered a boy who is gifted in becoming a spiritualist?"

"That's right," Rong Jieming hurriedly said first. "This is Rong Kaixuan, a direct descendant of the Rong family. He came to the Ability Testing Hall today to test for the quality of his true Qi, but we accidentally discovered that he seems more suitable to be a spiritualist. Also…"

"Enough." The middle-aged man looked impatient as he cut Rong Jieming off. "I got it. Leave the boy here. The two of you can go back."

Rong Yide and Rong Jieming exchanged glances. They had come here personally because they wanted to see the elder and gain credit among the clan members. If they were just sent back with a few words, then they'd become the joke of the day.

"Ahem, my brother, why don't you help us out here?" Rong Yide smiled and tried to be friendly. "We have come here because we would like to see the elder in charge of this hall."

"Tsk." The middle-aged man's face turned nasty as he asked, "Don't you know what standing an elder has in the clan? He's not someone you can see just because you want to." He glared at them for a moment before waving at Rong Kaixuan and saying, "You, come in. I'll take you to see the spiritualist on duty for the day."

Rong Kaixuan's eyes quickly turned to look at the two older men who had brought him there.

The expression on the faces of Rong Jieming and Rong Yide didn't look too good. They seemed very afraid of this middle-aged man. Thus, they had made sure they spoke quietly and didn't make a scene.

After exchanging glances, Rong Yide lowered his head. He had no choice but to quietly say, "Kaixuan, go in with him. We will wait here until you come out."

"That's right, we'll wait for you to come out," Rong Jieming added without hesitation as he nodded his head vigorously.

Rong Kaixuan nodded at them and went through the side door. He was completely surprised at his current situation. This Hall of Spiritualists was a really different sort of place.

His father had to remain lowly and humble in front of Rong Jieming and Rong Yide because he was afraid of offending them. After they had reached this place, those two men didn't even have the right to step past the door.

Clearly, this Hall of Spiritualists was even more important than being an inner disciple of the Inner House.

The middle-aged man let Rong Kaixuan come inside the hall. His expression instantly became friendly, unlike what he had looked like earlier. He asked, "Young man, how do I address you?"

"My name is Rong Kaixuan."

"Oh, so you're Young Master Kaixuan. Please come with me," the middle-aged man said with a bright smile as he led the way.

Rong Kaixuan was stunned for several moments. He didn't understand why this man suddenly had a 180-degree change in attitude, but he quickly caught up with him.

The middle-aged man led them to a hall and man went inside to report the situation. After a few moments, a man in his 30s slowly made his way out.