Every day, each member of the entire clan gives me a wisp of spiritual energy.

Chapter 97 The Future Hopes of the Sect

He didn't ask for much; he only hoped that this land could nurture spiritual valleys and grow spiritual herbs, providing a continuous supply of cultivation resources for the Qingyun Sect, which lacked sufficient foundation.

For him, the beginning is always the hardest part, and now the hardest first step has been accomplished.

On the 24th day of the first lunar month, at the Earth God Temple.

As dawn breaks, a makeshift recruitment shed has already been erected in the open space in front of the Land God Temple in the north of Qinghe County.

Upon learning that the academy was recruiting students today, Wang Shouzhou, who was supposed to be in charge of the martial arts troupe, discussed the matter with Su Shoujing and then took the opportunity to come and help out.

The male disciples carried over a long table and wooden benches. Zhong Xiu and Fang Xue moved to the side of the pillar and hung up a red banner with black characters that read "Qingyun Academy Enrollment". The calligraphy was neat and the banner fluttered slightly in the wind.

Huang An and Huang Ning squatted under the table, carefully arranging a stack of papers, and placing each one on a corner with a blue stone to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.

The news of the recruitment had spread throughout the north of the city the day before. When Xu Ping came down the mountain into the north of the city, he shouted loudly, attracting the attention of the local women and children who stopped to inquire.

The name Qingyun Academy is already well-known to the people of Qinghe.

The children who entered the academy last year, after only one year of study, were able to help with household accounting and write inscriptions on peach wood charms, a fact that was evident to all the villagers.

Therefore, the people of the city have been eagerly anticipating the reopening of education.

Before dawn, Sun Wenyuan arrived first, followed shortly by Mr. Li Molin and Mr. Fang Jingzhi.

By the time Shen Qing arrived, a long queue of twenty or thirty people had already formed in front of the tent.

Among the crowd were mostly children from poor families in the north of the city. They had all witnessed the transformation of the children from their hometown who had entered Qingyun Academy last year.

The parents held their young child's hand; their clothes, though faded from washing, were clean, tidy, and free of dirt.

Upon seeing Shen Qing, Zhong Xiu quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Sect Master, even before dawn today, some villagers have already come to wait for us. Given this situation, we are sure we can recruit all forty members today."

Shen Qing nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over each of the children.

This year's enrollment went much more smoothly than last year. At this time last year, the people in the north of the city still had some doubts about Qingyun Academy.

Reading and learning to read are certainly good things, but no one knows how long this newly opened free academy can last.

At that time, most people sent their children up the mountain hoping that the academy would provide free education and a meal. Their mentality was mostly that they wanted to find a place where they could keep an eye on their children.

But times have changed. The children who started school last year only studied for eight or nine months before they were able to help with household accounting and read government notices.

Even more remarkably, a boy who couldn't even write his own name when he enrolled last year is now able to help the neighborhood chief transcribe household registers, earning a dozen or so coins for each transcription.

The neighbors in the north of the city have all witnessed these things.

Last year's experience confirmed that the academy did not charge tuition fees.

Moreover, the academy provides three meals a day, a privilege that even the breadwinners of most families wouldn't dare to dream of, let alone at home.

Last year, during the New Year holiday, the county magistrate even gave each child a new set of cotton-padded clothes.

These tangible benefits are far more effective than any grand principles for these ordinary people struggling to survive in the mud.

Therefore, before dawn today, a long queue had already formed in front of the local temple.

At this moment, Zhong Xiu handed a roster to Shen Qing, "Sect Master, we have registered more than ten people. The roster is here."

Shen Qing took the roster, glanced at it, and then looked up at the queue.

The group consisted mostly of children around seven or eight years old, dressed simply but cleanly.

Some children were led by their parents or grandparents, while a few slightly older children stood alone in the line, their hands neatly placed on their sides.

The line was getting longer and longer, with several women who had arrived late standing on tiptoe to look ahead, afraid that their children wouldn't get a turn.

After pondering for a moment, Shen Qing said to Zhong Xiu, "Tell Mr. Sun that when selecting disciples, there's no need to test their academic knowledge. Most of these children haven't studied much, so they won't amount to much."

Zhong Xiu was slightly taken aback: "Then, in the Sect Master's opinion, how should we select candidates?"

"Enter the shed in the order of the queue. I will personally examine their bones to assess their aptitude. Those with outstanding aptitude can be enrolled on the spot, while those with insufficient aptitude will be admitted according to the order of the queue."

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhong Xiu's eyes, but she didn't ask any further questions. She turned around and went to the shed to relay a message to Sun Wenyuan.

Sun Wenyuan was sitting behind his desk with writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone laid out in front of him. Upon hearing this, he put down his brush and glanced in Shen Qing's direction.

He didn't ask why, but simply nodded slightly, pushed the paper and inkstone on the table aside to make room.

Shen Qing sat down under the canopy and said to the woman at the front of the line, "Let the child come over."

The first person to enter the reed shed was a thin little boy, about seven or eight years old, wearing an old coat that was obviously too big for him.

The boy timidly walked up to Shen Qing, his eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look up.

Shen Qing softened his voice: "Little one, give me your hand."

The boy hesitated for a moment, then stretched out a small hand that was red from the cold.

Shen Qing grasped his wrist, and a wisp of spiritual energy probed into the boy's meridians from her fingertips.

Shen Qing probed the boy's body with his divine sense and clearly understood the condition of his dantian, discovering that he had no spiritual root.

He examined it carefully again, and after confirming that everything was correct, he slowly released his grip.

"Those who lack the aptitude for cultivation have no chance to enter the Dao."

The woman's heart tightened upon hearing this. The reason why everyone had rushed over to wait for them was because they knew that Qingyun Academy was established by the immortal master on the mountain.

Wang Ergou, who was at the dock earlier, was completely transformed in just one year after receiving some guidance from the immortal master.

She longed for her child to also enter the immortal sect, thereby changing the family's fate, but alas, things rarely go as planned.

As for Shen Qing, he wasn't too disappointed. Looking at the forlorn woman behind the child, he gently comforted her, "Sister-in-law, take the child to register. The academy doesn't charge tuition, and they provide food and lodging. Even if he can't cultivate, reading more classic texts will still be very beneficial."

The woman was initially disappointed to hear that she had no chance to cultivate, but after hearing the second half of what he said, she felt much more at ease and immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to express her gratitude.

Zhong Xiu and Fang Xue, who were standing by, quickly stepped forward to help her up and guided the mother and son to the registration desk.

Shen Qing continued to test the bone structure of the remaining children, one after another.

I have observed more than ten people, and most of them lack the aptitude for cultivation.

Those who possess spiritual roots are merely ordinary mixed spiritual roots of the four elements, just like he was in the past.

However, these ordinary children, without renowned teachers willing to spare no expense to cultivate them, once they embark on the path of cultivation, even if they exhaust their entire lives in arduous practice, they will find it difficult to break through the low level of Qi Refining, and their future will ultimately be bleak.

Having anticipated this, Shen Qing was not in a hurry. He examined each of them by feeling their bones. Those who did not meet the requirements were asked to register for enrollment on the side, while those who did meet the requirements had their names and qualifications recorded separately in the register.

When it was the seventeenth turn, a chubby-faced boy came running in.

The boy, dressed in a patched but clean short brown shirt, with dark skin and exceptionally bright eyes, entered and gave an awkward greeting, saying, "Good morning, sir!"