Yunfeng City, Yun Clan.
Yun Tianheng, the third young master of the Yun family, had just turned seven, the age at which every child on the continent would undergo the Spirit Test.
Early in the morning, Yun Tianheng got up and meditated in his room as usual before going out to eat.
Then, he accompanied his mother, Liu Xin, to the Clan Assembly Hall to undergo the Spirit Test.
At this moment, Liu Xin was dressed in a tight white robe, with curves that made her stunningly attractive. Her clear eyes didn’t contain a trace of impurity.
Her black hair casually laid over her shoulders, her skin was fair like snow, such beauty was rare even in Yunfeng City.
The Yun family is the top clan in Yunfeng City, not only in terms of power but also wealth.
The mansion they lived in was incredibly vast. Walking from the dining hall to the main hall with his mother Liu Xin took half an hour.
The Yun clan’s Assembly Hall was majestic, extraordinarily spacious, almost like a palace.
By the time Yun Tianheng entered, quite a number of people had already taken their seats.
Liu Xin led Yun Tianheng to the seats at the head, a place that only the third young master and his mother were eligible to sit.
Even before the test had started, Yun Tianheng sat quietly next to his mother, patiently waiting.
Although he had learned about the Spirit Test from books, it was his first time undergoing it.
Yun Tianheng was a bit curious as he didn’t know what would happen next.
Soon, more people poured into the great hall, all dressed differently, old and young.
The seats in the grand hall filled up quickly. Those seated were individuals of significant status within the Yun clan.
Ordinary disciples of the clan would not typically attract such a grand assembly for a soul-force test.
However, Yun Tianheng was no ordinary individual. As the third young master of the Yun clan, he was exceptionally gifted from a young age and the focus of everyone's attention and expectation.
At this time, all eyes in the hall were on Yun Tianheng. He was the only one who was going to be tested that day.
It could even be said that this test was specifically prepared for him. The clan leader cared about him a great deal, and naturally, no one else would dare to overlook this. Everyone was looking at Yun Tianheng with different expectations.
A genius who could talk and read like adults at the age of one or two, how astounding would his talents be in cultivation? Everyone was expecting much of him.
The clan leader was the last one to arrive. The previously noisy grand hall quickly quieted down, and Yun Tianheng's test was ready to begin.
After exchanging some formalities, the Clan Leader, Yun Yixiao, addressed an old man wearing a grey robe.
"Old Yun, I’ll leave my son's soul-force test to you."
This old man was none other than the Yun clan's steward, Yun Ya.
Although he was merely a steward, his status was extraordinarily high within the Yun clan. Even some of the top-ranked members would dare not offend this thin, old man.
The old man was not tall and slightly hunched, looking in his 60s with white hair. His face was wrinkled and imprinted with the ravages of time.
While he looked somewhat frail, seemingly unable to endure the slightest wind.
However, if you looked into his sharp and spirited eyes, you'd quickly dismiss such thoughts. The old man was definitely not as simple as he seemed.
"You're too kind, Clan Leader."
Yaya politely gestured, expressing a slight smile.
Then, he walked to the center of the main hall, fixated his gaze on Yun Tianheng, and grinned amiably.
"Young master, please." he said.
"Go ahead, Heng, let Yaya test you," encouraged Liuxin, her face gentle as she looked at Yun Tianheng with an expectant smile.
"Alright."
Yun Tianheng gave a slight nod, then walked towards Yaya.
Being nimble, Yaya immediately started the test as soon as Yun Tianheng approached.
He swung his robe, and a green, giant stone thudded onto the floor, causing the ground to tremble slightly.
When the green stone appeared, Yun Tianheng seemed rather curious.
Observing the green stone, he noticed it seemed extraordinary.
"Young master, this is a Spirit Power Testing Stone. Please place your palm on it," Yaya instructed Yun Tianheng.
"Alright."
Obediently, Yun Tianheng walked up to the stone, extended his hand, and gently touched the green stone.
At that moment, everyone's gaze was centered on the green stone.
Their curiosity was piqued one by one, wondering what extraordinary talent this genius young man had in cultivation.
However, after a good while, there was no reaction on the jade-colored stone.
This rather left everyone puzzled, believing there must be something wrong with the jade stone.
"How strange, what's going on?"
"How come the testing stone hasn't responded for such a long time, Old Ya, isn't there a problem with your testing stone?"
The head of the family furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Old Ya with confusion, and asked.
People in the great hall also looked utterly clueless. They all knew that as long as one put a hand on the testing stone, the stone would react immediately.
The testing stone would probe the level of soul power in the tester's body, reflecting the tester's talent and aptitude by the intensity of the light emitted.
The brighter the light, the higher the talent, and the dimmer it was, the more common the aptitude was.
"........."
"Eh…I’ll check."
Old Ya was also stunned by the scene, this was the first time he saw the jade-colored stone for testing soul power didn't emit light.
This shouldn't be the case; he remembered that the testing stone had always been in fine condition.
"Old Ya, what exactly is going on?"
"Would you please check if there’s a problem with the testing stone?" Patriarch Yun Yi Xiao's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, looking somewhat displeased.
"Yes, Master, I will check immediately."
Tooth Elder nodded to the Master, then quickly walked over to the bluestone.
After examining it closely for a while, he ended up frowning, seemingly puzzled.
After hesitating for a moment, Tooth Elder spoke to Yun Tianheng.
"Young Master, why don't you give it another try."
"Alright."
Yun Tianheng nodded, obediently placing his palm onto the stone.
However, after about ten seconds passed, the result was the same--there was no reaction from the testing stone.
"How can this be, how is it possible?"
Tooth Elder had a look of disbelief on his face. He had completely not expected this outcome.
"What exactly is happening?"
"Could it be that the testing stone is broken?"
"Don't we have another testing stone in the family? Why don't we try that one?"
Several people in the clan started whispering, seemingly dissatisfied with this situation.
Having heard the murmurs of those in the clan, Tooth Elder shook his head. He was sure there was nothing wrong with this bluestone.
Then there was only one possibility left, although he didn't want to think in that direction.
Filled with confusion, Old Ya stretched out his aged hand and grabbed Yun Tianheng's arm.
A powerful force traveled along Old Ya's arm into Yun Tianheng's body, and under Old Ya's control, wandered inside Yun Tianheng's body for a round.
It was like inspecting Yun Tianheng's body from the inside. After finding out the situation, it returned to Old Ya's hand.
"Why is it like this?"
Old Ya was first startled, then his expression became serious, his face a picture of disbelief.
After the previous inspection, Old Ya had fully understood what was going on.
But he really didn't want to believe this outcome.
"Old Ya, quickly tell us, what happened?" the family head, Yun Yixiao, asked anxiously.
"Family head…"
With a helpless sigh, Old Ya feared that the words he was about to speak would shock and disappoint everyone.
"The Testing Stone didn't have any issues. I personally checked it for the young master just now."
"The problem might be with the Third Young Master."
"What did you say?" The family head, Yun Yixiao, frowned, responding in disbelief.
The other high-ranking members of the family in the main hall also showed surprised expressions, some of them clearly did not understand the meaning of Old Ya's words.
But there were also a good number of clever individuals who quickly caught on, a mocking smile playing on their lips.
"The Third Young Master lacks the power of the soul within him. The detection stone cannot sense the power of the soul, which is why no light has appeared," Elder Ya sighed somewhat helplessly.
He couldn't believe that Yun Tianheng, whom he had always thought of as a genius, turned out to be a waste with no cultivation aptitude.
"What?"
"How could this possibly be?"
Yun Yixiao, the family head's face changed drastically. He stood up abruptly, his eyes full of disbelief as he fixed his gaze upon Elder Ya.
All along, Yun Yixiao had always regarded Yun Tianheng as the top genius of the clan.
Now, for Elder Ya telling him that his own son is a waste, how could he possibly accept it?
"My Lord, everything I've said is true...The Third Young Master does indeed have not even a trace of the power of the soul within him. If you don't believe me, you can check it yourself."
Elder Ya hurriedly doubled over in time and offered an explanation, but his heart was filled with unequalled regret.
The Third Young Master, whom he had been looking forward to seeing, turned out to be a waste who could not cultivate, which made it difficult for him to accept as well.
"How could this be, how could my Heng'er possibly lack the power of the soul within him?"
Yun Yixiao's face was unspeakably grim. He had complete trust in Elder Ya. He just couldn't believe the outcome.
"How could my genius son possibly be an incapable practitioner, he simply couldn't accept this result.
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions slightly changed. They looked at each other, all somewhat surprised.
They had not anticipated today's assessment to have such a result. The genius boy they had been awaiting for so many years turned out to be an utter failure.
"Why has the result turned out this way……"
The head of the Yun family, Yun Yixiao, sighed, somewhat disappointed.
"How is this possible?"
The question came from Yun Tianheng’s mother, her beautiful face filled with disbelief. She knew how smart her own child was.
But why couldn’t he cultivate spirit power? No matter how she thought about it, she just could not figure it out.
At this moment, Yun Yixiao suddenly seemed to have aged a lot. The child he had been looking forward to for so many years turned out to be an incapable practitioner. What a cruel joke from the heavens.
"Sigh……"
"Today's test ends here, everyone, please disperse……"
The family head waved his hand at the crowd powerlessly, then was the first to leave the main hall.
"……"
"Stop staring and disperse, what's so interesting about a worthless practitioner?To think we thought he was a genius, but he doesn’t even have spirit power, what a joke!"
"Exactly, it made me look forward to it for so long, only to find out he doesn’t even possess spirit power. He's truly the disgrace of the Yun family!"
"Hehe, I've been looking forward for so long, but to think it's just a total waste of time, how disappointing!"
"Let's go, what's there to watch for a useless person!"
"This is a big joke, I've seen plenty of useless people, but this is the first time I see such a useless one, haha, it's a disgrace!"
Many people in the hall were full of scorn and derision, their eyes that used to look towards Yun Tianheng were no longer filled with anticipation, replaced by utter disdain and contempt.
The sudden change of status had made Yun Tianheng clearly see the true faces of some people in the family.
"No Soul Strength?"
"So this is it, this test is about testing the strength of the Soul Strength. If I knew this before, I would have saved some of it instead of using it all for body tempering, not a trace left, no wonder it can't be detected..."
Yun Tianheng got it, the testing stone didn't react because he had used all his soul strength for body tempering.
Not a bit was left, leading to the current situation.
He just didn't expect that these guys in the family, who usually respect him so much, would change their faces so quickly.
"Sigh..."
The sound of sighs and sneers around him reached into Yun Tianheng's ears, Yun Tianheng didn't care much.
Soon, everyone had left, and Yun Tianheng was the only one left in the great hall...