Su Zimo’s actions did not attract anyone’s attention.
Compared to the haughty man, white bloused woman and little fatty, he seemed simply way too ordinary apart from his slightly weird dressing.
The reason why Su Zimo waited for the end of the test wasn’t because he wanted to pull a surprise on everyone.
It was because he had no spirit root to begin with. Even though Die Yue had planted the spirit root for him, he could not help but feel nervous as to whether things would turn out well.
Standing still before the stone gate, he watched the water barrier keenly.
Swoosh!
A red flash of light shimmered through the water barrier before burning into raging flames, exuding a scorching warmth.
Su Zimo was elated.
Fire element, heaven spirit root!
Apart from the haughty man and white bloused woman, everyone turned their sights to him.
Out of the 500 people, other than the two variant spirit roots, the little fatty was the only Earth element heaven spirit root. Now that Su Zimo was the second, he naturally attracted everyone’s attention.
Furthermore, those with some knowledge on cultivation knew that a Fire spirit root was superior to an Earth spirit root.
On the one hand, the Fire element had the highest killing power amongst the five elements.
On the other hand, one who possessed the Fire element had the chance to become a Weapon or Elixir Refinement Master.
Those two paths required one to have a high mastery and understanding of the Fire element. As such, those with a Fire spirit root had an innate advantage.
Waiting with a hawk eye by the stone gate, the little fatty was hoping to make his acquaintance as well after Su Zimo passed through it.
“Eh?”
The fat Dao child was standing at the side idly as he let out a casual surprised remark. Smiling, he then nodded and said, “Not bad, not bad. Come on over, sir.”
After all, the fat child had his fill of surprises after the appearance of two consecutive variant spirit roots and hence the reason for his less than enthused response.
Right then, no one had noticed anything strange about Su Zimo just yet.
He stood before the stone gate motionlessly instead of crossing right away.
It wasn’t that he did not want to – the stone gate was stopping him.
He could feel a strong resistance that was trying to keep him out of the gate!
In theory, the water barrier would only block out those without or those who possess a pseudo and ordinary spirit root. Yet, the scarlet water barrier was resisting Su Zimo who clearly possessed a heaven spirit root.
If not for the fact that he had an extremely strong physique, he would have been sent flying like the first Qi Refinement Warrior.
“How could this be?”
Su Zimo strategized as he fought against the resistance of the water barrier.
He knew his background clearer than anyone else.
He was someone without a spirit root to begin with.
It was only natural for the stone gate to resist him at that thought.
But, what was up with the clear indication of his Fire spirit root?
If he were to continue with this stalemate, notwithstanding the fat child of Ethereal Sect, even everyone else would realize that something was wrong and Su Zimo’s efforts would have been wasted.
Indignant!
Su Zimo was indignant!
Why?
He had already come so far just to be stopped by a single stone gate!
With a darkened expression, he moved towards the water barrier and took a fierce step!
Su Zimo had already displayed the stance for the Plow Heaven Stride with his single step. Instantly, he gave off such a menacing aura that even the fat child at the stone gate jumped in shock.
“Mmm?”
As though he had sensed something, the haughty man opened his eyes and looked towards the stone gate.
Turning her head slightly, the white bloused woman frowned gently too.
Everyone found themselves witnessing the strangest scene ever.
Even though Su Zimo was almost entirely through the stone gate, the scarlet water barrier did not dissipate at all. Instead, it wrapped around him like an elastic veil that was trying its best to stop him.
It stunned everyone present.
What was going on?
Fire element, heaven spirit root. That’s right.
But, why would the stone gate try to prevent this man?
It was a wrestle between Su Zimo and the scarlet water barrier.
All of a sudden!
Squinting his eyes, Su Zimo’s body rang out with crackling sounds and his entire body seemed as though it had enlarged. With his tendons and bones cracking together, he gave a soft yell and strode out once more!
Swoosh!
The water barrier shattered and fell to the ground.
Having successfully passed the stone gate, Su Zimo’s expression relaxed as he heaved out a sigh of relief before walking to the fat child.
Right as he was about to speak, he saw a weird look in the fat child’s eye as the latter glared behind him intently.
Snap!
Suddenly, a boom sounded out from behind Su Zimo.
He turned around instinctively only to witness a fissure forming on the crossbeam of the mighty 30 foot stone gate!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Before anyone realized what was going on, the fissure spread out swiftly and in the blink of an eye, filled the entire stone gate with dense, horrifying cracks!
Su Zimo’s heart skipped a beat.
Bang! Boom! Boom!
Along with a huge crash, the stone gate crumbled right before everyone’s eyes just like that, turning into a pile of rocks with dust clouds flying about.
What followed was a deathly silence.
Everyone’s faces froze right away.
The haughty man scowled while a look of surprise filled the white bloused woman’s face as her mouth gaped slightly, losing her previous demeanor.
The little fatty was so rattled that his eyeballs were almost popping out.
“E-E-Exploded?!”
The fat child was completely lost as his mind and eyes went blank.
It was already phenomenal enough for variant spirit roots to make their appearance in the test such that his senior brother had gone off to inform their peak master about it.
But, what was up with this scholar before him!
He had caused the entire stone gate to explode with a simple spirit root test…!
Unnerved, Su Zimo coughed gently before revealing a friendly smile to the fat child. “Fellow daoist, I suppose that stone gate must be really old, huh?”
“A-Ah! Yes!” The fat child replied automatically, “It’s been a couple thousand years now.”
“That must be it then.”
Su Zimo nodded his head and continued solemnly, “It’s only natural for problems to arise since the gate has been here for such a long time enduring the weather all round the year. How unfortunate that I had to come across its demise.”
“Huh?” The fat child’s jaw almost dropped to the ground.
Su Zimo patted the fat child on the shoulder and reminded sincerely, “This may not be a bad thing though. At least, it serves as a reminder for the sect to conduct constant maintenance to some of the older structures you guys have so that today’s situation does not repeat itself. These issues have to be nipped in the bud before they are allowed to manifest.”
The fat child was befuddled to begin with through the confusion. With Su Zimo’s explanation, he was even more astounded and was almost convinced.
In reality, the stone gate was initially a gigantic spirit testing stone with its middle dug out by the cultivators of Ethereal Sect and placed here, turning into the stone gate they perceive today.
The spirit testing stone was a spirit item of the universe and was extremely perceptive to spirit roots – there was no way it would be destroyed through a lack of maintenance.
If no one had destroyed it, it could have lasted for even millions of years without any issues.
The little fatty was the first to react as his eyes flickered, glancing at Su Zimo while raising a thumbs up.
He knew that he was not at Su Zimo’s level where the latter could spout nonsense with a straight face. As such, he could not help but feel impressed.
Su Zimo could not help but feel guilty.
Everything had gone beyond his expectations. Even though what he said was akin to duping kids, it was better than having his background exposed.