It's night, the Shen family is in the city.
The head of the family, Shen Fan, sat in front of the desk, put down the case book he had just received, and frowned slightly.
"The list of all the family's children is here?"
The housekeeper nodded repeatedly and said, "They're all here, even the case books of several branches in the town below!"
"Are there still people living outside?" Shen Fan continued to ask.
The housekeeper looked helpless, "Of course there is, but you also know, sir, that for a while, no one can be found."
boom!
Shen Fan slammed the table and his face darkened: "If you can't find it, why don't you look for it?! There are still two full months before the sword tower opens. Do you just sit there and wait for death?"
The housekeeper was so frightened that he said, "Old slave, go make arrangements now!"
After sending away the housekeeper, Shen Fan sat down again, but his expression did not improve.
The Shen family has taken root here for more than three hundred years and has developed into a big family.
All of this is due to an ancestor who entered the Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect three hundred years ago. Even though he was just a small steward of the outer sect, he was able to bring great convenience to the family.
Three years ago, the ancestor passed away and passed away in the sect. The news could not be concealed and had already spread.
In the past three hundred years, although no one from the Shen family has entered the Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect, many people have entered other sects to practice. The most promising person has already sat in the position of an elder of a small sect, which can ensure that the family has no future. Yu.
But just recently, Shen Fan heard extremely bad news.
Another family in the city, the Yao grandson of the Wu family, was unexpectedly found to have high-grade spiritual roots and a very good talent in swordsmanship.
In other words, the possibility of Yaosun passing the test and entering the Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect is almost 10%!
Shen Fan naturally didn't believe it when he heard about it at first. If the Wu family really had such a genius, it shouldn't have been exposed so early. Otherwise, it would have led to the assassination of the Pantheon, and wouldn't it have been a failure?
Later, he used his connections to do some research, and found out that this grandson of the Wu family had long been favored by Li Wansheng, and was sent to a spiritual pool of the Wanmai Sword Sect in advance to refine his body.
It can be said that it is certain that this Yao Sun will enter the Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect. And since he is no longer in the city, it will naturally be okay if the news spreads.
In fact, the Wu family took the initiative to spread this news in order to put pressure on themselves.
Chen Fan indeed felt extremely stressed and was so irritated that he did not close his eyes for several days in a row.
Of course he understands that there is no room for two tigers in one mountain.
At present, the Shen family controls 70% of the shops in the city and still has the absolute upper hand. However, once the definite news comes back that the Wu family's son has entered the Wanmai Sword Sect, the situation in the city will change drastically in an instant.
With a big tree at his back to enjoy the shade, no matter how weak the Wu family was, once he showed his intention to embezzle, if he didn't want to be destroyed, he would have to hand over the city's property to others.
Is there smoke coming out of the Wu family's ancestral tomb? How could such a little monster be born!
Chen Fan gritted his teeth with hatred. He looked at the rows of case books in front of his desk and was surprised that he couldn't find anyone who was outstanding. He was even more depressed.
The Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect has lowered the income threshold this time, but the minimum is to have a middle-grade spiritual root, and it only receives seedlings that are full of blue light and are just one step away from the high-grade spiritual root.
Although the master's family has medium-grade spiritual roots, without exception, there is no sign of overflowing green light. When the seedlings are sent, they are all wiped out.
In desperation, Shen Fan could only place his hope in the branches and towns under his jurisdiction, but when he saw the roster sent to him today, he couldn't help but be disappointed.
He actually doesn't even have a middle-grade spiritual root.
Although he sent his housekeeper to find the missing family members, he also knew that there was little hope.
Those are all the descendants who were expelled from the family because of their mistakes. Not to mention that their relationship has long been estranged, they are still useless people with no spiritual roots or miscellaneous spiritual roots. Most of their offspring are mortals. Even if you are lucky occasionally, what is the use of giving birth to a low-grade spiritual root?
Moreover, most of these criminal heirs have disappeared. In just two months, it is considered good to find ten or eight.
It would be too fanciful to expect that among these ten or eight, there will be a genius full of green light.
Chen Fan tightened his grip on the case book in his hand. He didn't want to
I never thought about moving my entire family away from this city. But the outdoors is no better than the city, with the Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect maintaining stability.
If he accidentally encountered a demon cultivator, he would risk the entire clan being wiped out at every turn, so how could he dare to gamble.
Chen Fan closed his eyes and sighed.
If it didn't work out, he could only choose to lie low and give up the territory to the Wu family, hoping that the Wu family would not kill them all.
…
A month and a half later.
The housekeeper brought one hundred and thirty-nine trembling boys and girls to Chen Fan.
"Sir, this is the last batch." The butler said, his voice showing a hint of exhaustion.
Chen Fan nodded slightly, glanced at the half-grown children in the crowd, and heard a sobbing sound.
In just half a month, it is too inefficient to find the descendants who are living abroad.
So he changed his mind and simply asked the housekeeper to bring all the mortal children of the right age within a hundred miles back to the Spirit Testing Root.
As long as a candidate who can enter the Ten Thousand Meridians Sword Sect can be detected, the Shen family will still have hope.
Such crude and shameless methods naturally made other cultivator families in the city laugh, but Shen Fan didn't care.
This was the only way he could think of.
It's a pity that the five batches of children we received earlier were all unqualified without exception. The probability of a mortal descendant producing a genius is too low.
"Last Batch……"
Chen Fan suppressed the turbulent thoughts in his heart, took out the middle-grade spirit test beads and threw them to the butler, "Let's get started."
The housekeeper nodded hurriedly, stood in front of the children with the soul-testing beads in his hands, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, line up for me, come over one by one, and put your hands on the beads.
As long as you do this well, you will be sent back to your parents afterwards. "
As soon as these words came out, the teenagers gradually stopped crying. Under the restraint of the Shen family manager, they lined up and began to measure their spiritual roots.
"No light, no spiritual roots, send away!"
"No light..."
"No light..."
"Grey light, miscellaneous spirit roots, send them away!"
"..."
The team marched very fast, and most of the young people had no spiritual roots or mixed spiritual roots, so spirit testing took no time at all.
The head of the family, Shen Fan, sat aside and watched, his heart sinking a little as the number of children in the field decreased.
There is no hope...
He closed his eyes and couldn't bear to look anymore.
After testing a hundred children in a row, the housekeeper became a little numb and continued to shout mechanically: "Next!"
A tough-headed young man walked forward cautiously, not daring to look at the housekeeper. He stretched out his little hand and placed it on the spirit-testing bead.
In an instant, the Spirit Testing Pearl glowed with a light cyan luster.
The housekeeper, who was used to seeing gray and dull colors, was immediately startled and shouted quickly: "Master!"
Chen Fan immediately opened his eyes, saw that touch of cyan, and immediately sat up straight, staring at the spirit test bead for a moment, his heart beating wildly.
The young man was a little frightened by being stared at, but he seemed to know that he had encountered a great opportunity. He did not take away his palm, and his eyes were waiting for the beads emitting blue light, with a trace of expectation in his eyes.
Unfortunately, the blue light only rose halfway and then stopped, making no further progress.
Chen Fan stared blankly at the half-bead of green light, silent for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh.
It is already a miracle that such a middle-grade spiritual root can emerge from a mortal child, but it is still half the difference.
The Shen family's strength was finally exhausted.
"No need to test again."
At this point, Chen Fan calmed down and said slowly: "Send the remaining thirty-eight people back directly. You can ask this child's parents. If they are willing, they will send him to Shuanghua Sect for training. If they are not willing, they will send him to Shuanghua Sect for training. , just follow him."
"yes."
The housekeeper looked sad and responded. He was about to put away the spirit-testing beads when he saw the owner of the house getting up and going back to the house.
But at this moment, a beggar girl suddenly walked out of the crowd, walked closer in a few steps, and placed her palm on the spirit test bead.
"you…
…”
The housekeeper was stunned and was about to stop him when he saw a burst of dazzling blue light suddenly burst out from the spirit-testing orb in his hand, and then——
There was only a loud "bang" sound, and the spirit-measuring orb exploded.
The housekeeper looked at the scene in front of him in shock and was completely stunned.
"what happened?"
When Shen Fan heard the commotion, he appeared in front of the house with a frown. When he saw the fragments of the Spiritual Bead, his face suddenly darkened and he said:
"One hundred spiritual stones will be deducted from your monthly salary."
When the housekeeper heard this, he immediately came to his senses, and his voice changed with excitement: "Master, I didn't break the spirit-detecting pearl, it's a high-grade spiritual root!"
Chen Fan's pupils shrank suddenly, "What did you say?!"
He flashed and reached directly to the housekeeper's side, his eyes falling on the thin girl opposite.
The beggar girl suddenly turned pale with fright.
Chen Fan immediately relaxed his expression, took out another low-grade spirit test bead, placed it in front of the girl, and said, "Don't be afraid, put your hand on it again and try it."
The beggar girl pursed her lips and whispered: "What if it breaks again...?"
Shen Fan's face showed a soft expression, "If it breaks again, you will be the great benefactor of my Shen family. I will give you whatever you want!"
"real?"
The beggar girl's apricot eyes were slightly bright, and she put her hand on the low-grade test spirit bead without saying anything.
The next moment, the dazzling green light quickly magnified in front of the three people, and then exploded with another "bang"!
Chen Fan witnessed the process with his own eyes, and the gloom in his heart was instantly swept away, and he laughed loudly: "Unless God destroys our Shen family!"
The housekeeper was also so excited that he congratulated him repeatedly: "Congratulations, sir! Congratulations, sir!"
After laughing, Chen Fan quickly regained his composure and said in a deep voice: "***, before the sword tower is opened, no one must know about the existence of this little girl, especially the Wu family."
"This old slave understands."
The housekeeper nodded repeatedly and was about to go down to make arrangements when he was stopped by Shen Fan again.
"By the way, where does this girl come from?"
The housekeeper looked back at the ragged girl and said strangely: "Sir, she is begging on the streets of a border town. I don't know where she came from."
After hearing this, Chen Fan looked back at the beggar girl with a more kind expression: "Little girl, where is your home?"
The girl looked disappointed and whispered: "Sir, I have been begging on the street since I was a child and have no home."
"Then you have a family now!"
Shen Fan could hardly suppress the smile on his lips, "From now on, your surname will be Shen. How about you call her Shen Ran?"
The girl shook her head, and Shen Fan frowned slightly. He was about to ask a question when he heard the girl say aggrievedly, "It doesn't sound good."
Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then he stopped laughing and said in a doting manner, "Okay, okay, as long as your surname is Shen, you can choose your own name, how about it?"
When the girl heard this, she immediately smiled, revealing a pair of pointed tiger teeth.
"Then my name will be Shen Xiang from now on."
Xiang Shen, Shen Xiang!
