Chapter 73 – The Early-Death White Moonlight in a Cultivation Novel (Part 4)

Zhou Yanxi looked up. Well, speak of the devil—it didn't even take any effort. But her expression remained calm, showing no trace of emotion. She spoke blandly, "Place your hand on the spirit-testing stone."

Moments later, the stone lit up in three colors—gold, red, and blue—indicating metal, fire, and water spiritual roots. The values were: metal – 80, fire – 85, water – 45.

If not for that drag of a water root, Li Haochen's aptitude would've been significantly higher. Still, to Zhou Yanxi, this was the best spiritual root combination she'd seen so far on this trip.

Upon seeing the results, the confident gleam on Li Haochen's face collapsed. He'd thought he was destined for greatness, a genius of heaven and man. But it turned out… he was just mediocre. How could he possibly face that beautiful female cultivator now?

But he couldn't let his resentment show. So, Li Haochen quickly composed himself, bowed respectfully to Zhou Yanxi and Yuan Hen, then walked over to join the group of those with spiritual roots.

Unfortunately for him, Zhou Yanxi noticed everything—especially his expression shift before he'd even tested his roots. It was as if he already knew he had spiritual roots, and worse, that he assumed his aptitude would be good.

Clearly, this person was hiding something—a lot, most likely. But no matter how many secrets he had, Zhou Yanxi had already decided to eliminate this hidden danger in secret.

Later on, a rare genius with a single spiritual root appeared. His name was Wu Xuanran, and his wood root value was 83.

Li Haochen, still watching from the sidelines, seethed inside when he heard the news. Why didn't I get such good roots? These geniuses are all disgusting! One day, I'll make them kneel before me!

Yet on the surface, he remained composed—still playing the refined, graceful young noble. If not for the clenched fist in his right hand, Zhou Yanxi might've believed he was truly happy for someone else.

Afterward, Zhou Yanxi and her team visited the rest of the assigned cities, recruiting a total of sixty-four disciples: one with a single root, three with dual roots, and the rest with mixed or ordinary spiritual roots.

Back at the sect's outpost in the mortal world, Yuan Hen arranged for the children to wash and rest, while the rest of the team could relax for the night and prepare for the return trip the next day.

That evening, due to the thin spiritual energy in the mortal world, Zhou Yanxi decided to pull out "Forging the Spirit" to study. She was just admiring a rare shooting star outside the window when—

The voice of the system suddenly rang in her mind with a warning:

"Unknown soul entity from another world detected. Interception request: Execute recovery?"

Zhou Yanxi's heart tightened. "Intercept it immediately."

Soon, a second, foreign voice echoed in her mind:

"Little girl, this lord is a Blood Demon from the Ancient World. I can help you absorb others' luck and turn it into your own. From then on, your path to immortality will be smooth. How about it?"

The words were dripping with temptation—anyone who longed for immortality would've been swayed.

Unfortunately for him, Zhou Yanxi had no intention of ascending anyway. No matter how alluring the offer sounded, it didn't move her one bit.

Besides, she didn't believe in free meals—especially in a cultivation world, where the "price" was often death and soul destruction.

Seeing that persuasion didn't work, the black shadow in her mind tried to attack her directly—but was immediately blocked by her system.

Zhou Yanxi quickly ordered, "Recover and destroy it immediately."

She couldn't afford to let such a dangerous entity linger—it was best to eliminate it completely.

Her system was swift. The shadow let out a series of ear-piercing, furious howls as it was torn from existence, banished from the world forever.

Zhou Yanxi's expression turned cold. "System, are you hiding something from me? What the hell was that thing?"

System: Sigh… Host, you're getting sharper. I knew this would be exposed sooner or later, but the main system insisted I keep quiet. Being a subsystem is too stressful.

"That guy was actually a remnant of the Ancient Demon Race from another plane. His goal was to parasitize Li Haochen, using him to gather rare resources and treasures. Once Li Haochen ascended, he'd take over his body completely."

As expected—a hidden plotline. Zhou Yanxi had suspected all along: How could a three-root mortal boy cause such chaos in the cultivation world? Of course there was something fishy behind him.

"So you're saying… if I hadn't come to the mortal world for recruitment, I wouldn't have been able to stop Li Haochen from growing stronger?"

System: "Host, calm down! Don't be impulsive! We'll compensate you… how about 100,000 points?"

"Not enough. This is your fault. You didn't disclose critical information ahead of time."

In the end, the system had to cough up 180,000 points as compensation.

Zhou Yanxi was thrilled. She didn't expect that to actually work! Not only did she eliminate a hidden threat, but she also scammed a huge payout from the system. Clearly, this was a strategy worth repeating.

The system's soul body shivered. It hadn't realized that in the future, its precious point vault would keep shrinking like this…

In truth, Zhou Yanxi was still shaken after the incident. The system had told her: if Li Haochen had managed to sign a full contract with the shadow entity, nothing could've stopped him.

Thankfully, she'd made the right move today—otherwise, she might've been forcibly sent to a punishment plane. This world was far more dangerous than she'd expected… and no one had bothered to warn her.

Now that she had cut off Li Haochen's golden cheat, she had to remain even more cautious in the future. She couldn't let him rise.

Meanwhile, Li Haochen jolted awake from his sleep, a strange sense of impending fortune tingling in his heart.

But when he looked around, the room was empty. Somehow, he felt like he had just missed something important.

The return trip to the sect passed peacefully. No further accidents occurred on the way back.