The other Wild Men, seeing this, all showed fear and trepidation on their faces.
Yuan Ming, however, had his eyes wide open, silently watching it all.
The burly Wild Man was being held down by the head by Elder Saren, forced to sit, and then Elder Saren leaped off the stone platform and, after making a series of gestures in front of him, a green light actually lit up in his palms.
With a flick of his hand, the green light descended upon the Wild Man on the stone platform.
The latter was immediately enveloped by the green light, letting out a terrified scream.
Yet, what followed wasn't a cruel, bloody scene; after the green light flashed over the Wild Man, it immediately vanished. The "Void" character charm on the stone platform flashed a white light and then extinguished.
"No Spirit Root, go stand over there," Elder Saren stated emotionlessly, gesturing towards an empty space on the left.
The burly Wild Man, somewhat confused, didn't dare to disobey the elder's request and walked over.
Elder Saren casually pointed at another Wild Man, who stepped onto the platform, where again only the "Void" character charm flashed momentarily.
In succession, seventeen or eighteen people all lacked a Spirit Root. By the end, Elder Saren's enthusiasm had waned; he didn't even bother to speak, merely gesturing with a wave of his hand.
The naked man glanced at those Wild Men standing with a pole on the empty ground to the elder's left and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his hand.
A light "hmm" suddenly came from Elder Saren's mouth.
A clump of green light fell upon a slightly chubby young Wild Man on the stone platform at that moment, and it seemed as though a bit of spirit light also lit up on him, seeping into the stone platform beneath.
Immediately after, a yellow, a green, and a red Light Pillar each lit up from the earth character charm, the wood character charm, and the fire character charm on the stone platform.
"Three Spirit Roots, not bad. Go stand on the right," Elder Saren observed and nodded slightly.
After saying this, he went forward and took the Wild Man down, his face showing a little more kindness, which startled the Wild Man.
"You're next," he said, pointing to another Wild Man whose head was noticeably larger than the others.
Seeing that whether or not they were selected in this test didn't seem to be very consequential, the others no longer felt as nervous.
The big-headed Wild Man walked onto the stone platform by himself, sat down, and even began to look around curiously.
At this moment, Elder Saren once again struck out with a ball of green light, only to see a blue, a green, a gold, and a red Light Pillar each light up from the stone platform.
"Huh, another one! A Water Spiritual Root, a Wood Spirit Root, a Fire Spiritual Root, and a Metal Spirit Root. Four Spirit Roots are too mixed; the quality is insufficient. Go stand on the right for now," said the elder shaking his head but still gesturing the big-headed Wild Man to stand on the right.
"Thank you, elder," the big-headed Wild Man bowed to Elder Saren before heading to the right.
By this point, even if the other Wild Men didn't understand what a Spirit Root was, they were able to surmise from the elder's change in expression that having a Spirit Root was better than not having one.
In this manner, one after another, the Wild Men stepped onto the platform under the elder's command, to receive the Spirit Root test.
However, after the big-headed Wild Man, a successive twenty or so people also lacked a Spirit Root, and the elder's left side became crowded.
Elder Saren's expression had clearly turned sour.
The naked man rubbed his hands together, appearing somewhat apprehensive.
They had gone to great lengths to capture Wild Men of the appropriate age. How much reward they would get depended heavily on the Spirit Root status of these individuals.
After all, among mortals, those with a Spirit Root are exceedingly rare, one in ten thousand. Though the odds were greatly increased after a series of selections, the majority still lacked a Spirit Root, and among those with a Spirit Root, the majority had poor quality Four Spirit Roots.
If those remaining Wild Men also had poor qualifications, receiving less reward would be the least of their concerns; they would likely be scolded and then sent out again to capture more subjects, leaving no time left for cultivation.
"What are you staring at, get up there," Elder Saren directed a young Wild Man who appeared young, sounding slightly impatient.
The youth had thick eyebrows and large eyes, and although his physique was no less robust than those adult Wild Men, there was a clear hint of greenness and immaturity between his brows and eyes.
He walked to the center of the stone disk and sat down by himself, then the test commenced once more.
In the next instant, a green Light Pillar and a yellow Light Pillar lit up from the Wood character charm and the earth character charm, respectively. Elder Saren's expression changed in an instant.
"Dual Spirit roots, another Dual Spirit Roots! Direct entry to the Inner Sect wouldn't be too much," the elder exclaimed in sudden elation, startling everyone around him.
However, the elder soon calmed down and spoke to Hu Zha with great satisfaction, "Hu Zha, you've made a great contribution this time, bringing back such a good seedling. You shall be greatly rewarded by this elder."
Hu Zha was so excited that he couldn't speak, his eyes fervently fixed on the youth who looked utterly bewildered, as if wanting to sweep him up in an embrace and kiss him. This version was sourced from *.
The fewer the types of Spirit Root, the purer it is, which means faster cultivation progress later on. A singular Five Elements Spirit Root was incredibly rare, so the emergence of a Dual Spirit Roots was already a delight beyond measure.
Happiness had come too suddenly!
With the precedent set, the faces of the remaining Wild Men were devoid of anxiety and instead revealed a hint of eagerness to try, their expressions a bit noisy.
But then, Elder Saren's nonchalant remark hit them like a bucket of cold water:
"Silence! Those without a Spirit Root, drag them out and kill them."
Having said that, he personally helped the still bewildered youth from the stone disk, asking him a few kind questions with a pleasant countenance.
Meanwhile, Hu Zha took out a bell, waved a large hand, and a few men from the Southern Border strode forward, dragging the group of Wild Men who had not yet reacted towards the outside of the hall.
Soon after, screams began to echo from outside.
At this point, the remaining people realized. Without a Spirit Root, death awaited, and instead of jostling for their turn, they shrank back, not daring to step forward.
Yuan Ming's heart sank even further. He had pretty much grasped that the stone disk seemed to be some kind of device for testing one's talent, and the outcome was not something that could be influenced by human intervention.
This also meant that his life or death was entirely at the mercy of fate.
"Central Plains boy, you're next," Elder Saren said, pointing at Yuan Ming with an unquestionable tone.
Yuan Ming stepped onto the stone disk without any resistance or struggle and sat down calmly.
This scene somewhat surprised Elder Saren, making his gaze flicker.
Soon, he started casting again, wrapping Yuan Ming in a green light. Yuan Ming could feel a warm current being poured into him and entering the stone disk beneath him.
Immediately following that, red, gold, blue, and green Light Pillars lit up around him respectively.
"Five Elements missing earth... heh, another Fake Spirit Root," Elder Saren said with a smirk, shaking his head.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming's heart lurched.
Just as Hu Zha returned from outside, he heard this and asked,
"Shall we... with this one as well?"
"Four Spirit Roots can be made into Fur Beast Slaves. All those camps are lacking manpower. Although he's from the Central Plains, let's keep him for now," Elder Saren said offhandedly, thus sparing Yuan Ming's life.
Yuan Ming felt an immense relief, as if he had escaped death.
The tests continued, and most of the Wild Men without a Spirit Root were killed. Among the remaining survivors, apart from one with three spirit roots, the rest were similar to Yuan Ming with Four Spirit Roots.
From the results of the test and the sporadic words of Elder Saren, Yuan Ming deduced that having more Spirit Roots is not necessarily better.
A Heavenly Spirit Root seemed to be the best, followed by an Abnormal Spirit Root, then the singular Five Elements Spirit Roots, such as a Fire Spiritual Root, Water Spirit Root, etc. Dual Spirit Roots were considered slightly inferior in quality, but they were still extremely rare and coveted.
As for someone like him with Four Spirit Roots, this was considered an inferior grade among Spirit Roots, the worst kind of aptitude, treated as Fake Spirit Roots.
Right now, he didn't know what being a Central Plains person with an inferior Spirit Root meant for his future destiny.