"Abnormal! Too abnormal!"
"These numbers are wrong!"
After reviewing all the records related to the Rising Immortal Assembly in Jinque City, Su Ping fell into deep thought.
He didn't think the next two days would be much better.
The first day of the Rising Immortal Assembly usually had the most people tested, and normally, the number of qualified individuals was also the highest!
Using the detection formation, if one didn't dawdle, a single test could be completed every five to ten seconds.
It seemed like it would take a long time to test so many people, but in reality, the detection formation's purpose was to check if all individuals standing within the inner circle had a Spiritual Root reaction.
Therefore, there were also unwritten rules for Spiritual Root detection.
Seed candidates cultivated by aristocratic families, such as the Qilin child of the City Lord's Mansion, the Ji Family daughter, or other adopted daughters and sons who had practiced Qi beforehand, could be tested one person per group.
Non-core collateral descendants were tested in groups of ten.
Those qualified to live within Jinque City were mostly tested in groups of twenty.
People from outside the city were in groups of thirty, and it was not uncommon for those from even more distant places to squeeze into groups of forty or fifty for testing.
That lucky farmer's son was discovered during a group test of thirty people.
Then, these thirty people were re-grouped and tested multiple times, eventually finding him in the final one-on-one test.
"Did an evil Cultivator make a move on those with Spiritual Roots beforehand?"
"But, they don't have a formation, so how did they determine if the other party had a Spiritual Root? If they killed indiscriminately, it's impossible for the Immortal Sect and the City Lord's Mansion not to have heard any rumors!"
"And those Spiritual Root seeds who were identified beforehand and found in outer towns were invariably adopted and heavily protected by aristocratic families, and the City Lord's Mansion would also register them."
Su Ping frowned slightly, the more he pondered, the more he felt there was a problem. He had a maid find Ji Hu.
Ji Hu was half of Su Ping's confidants in Jinque City.
He was also one of the high-ranking officials there, a true local bigwig.
Su Ping obtained a large number of case files from Ji Hu.
"In the past year, has the infant mortality rate been slightly higher?"
After reviewing them, Su Ping asked in a low voice.
Ji Hu was slightly startled, then nodded:
"It is indeed a bit more than before, but many towns conceal reports annually. Perhaps the constables sent out last year were more diligent, so more were actually reported?"
Su Ping did not answer upon hearing this.
He knew that Ji Hu's explanation was quite normal in a place like Jinque City.
Even within the city, the City Lord's Mansion might not be able to ascertain exactly how many people died or went missing this year.
Many times, missing person cases were managed with the policy of 'if they can't be found, they can't be found; if there's no way, there's no way.'
Asking them to find out why the infant mortality rate outside the city was abnormal was truly difficult for them.
It was just that, perhaps he was overly cautious?
Su Ping looked at these scrolls, always feeling that there was a connection among them.
"Phew, let's make a bold guess!"
"Based on the conduct of those constables outside, unless the matter was too widespread to conceal, would they voluntarily report these infant deaths?"
"I'm afraid the mortality rate is even higher than what's seen in the records!"
"The worst possibility is not evil Cultivators but some other severe abnormal situation has appeared, causing Mortals with Spiritual Roots to be intercepted and killed prematurely!"
"Looking at the numbers, it's possible that not only Low Grade Spiritual Roots, but also inferior Spiritual Roots are within the target range."
"That's why today's situation occurred."
"Even… the reason why the Immortal Sect suddenly held the Rising Immortal Assembly early and so hastily can also be explained somewhat!"
"And from everything being normal within the city, the good news is that these abnormal situations are still only happening in local areas and have not extended to the urban area."
"The bad news is… this abnormality is troubling even the Immortal Sect, who chose to retreat rather than confront it!"
Having sorted out his thoughts, Su Ping dismissed Ji Hu.
Then, under the cover of night, he returned to Linyue Manor. Stimulated by a sense of crisis, he spent the night in the cultivation room preparing Thunder Fire Pearl and Ming Huo materials.
He also made up his mind that after the Rising Immortal Assembly concluded, he would immediately put self-destructing rats on the agenda to enhance his combat ability as much as possible!
Although a shadow fell over his heart.
The Rising Immortal Assembly still proceeded as usual.
In the following two days, the number of people being tested became increasingly fewer.
By noon on the third day, one had to wait several minutes just to gather enough people for a single test group.
Dong!
The sound of a gong once again resounded throughout Jinque City.
Accompanied by the moonlight.
"The hour of Zi has arrived! The Rising Immortal Assembly concludes!"
The City Lord stood up and announced the end of the assembly to the crowd below, then waved his hand, signaling those beneath to begin clearing the venue.
On the other side, the chefs began lighting fires and cooking, preparing a banquet to reward those who had been busy for three days.
Su Ping also stood up, but instead of returning, he looked at the two Outer Sect Cultivators standing behind him, waiting for him.
And behind them, a row of qualified individuals with various expressions.
This Rising Immortal Assembly, after three days, only had eight qualified individuals in total!
Among them, half were from within the city!
Calculated by the newly added detectable population, this was clearly unscientific.
The Cultivation World was not Water Blue Star, nor did it undergo urbanization.
Most of the population was distributed in various towns and villages.
Even if sometimes city nobles intentionally delayed those with Spiritual Roots from participating in the Rising Immortal Assembly, leading to slightly more qualified individuals from the city in a particular assembly.
Yet, never before had it been this much, occupying half the proportion!
"You all… for now, stay in the City Lord's Mansion."
Su Ping thought for a moment and decided to be cautious:
"Before the Immortal Ship picks you up, you are not to go out! Spend more time in the City Lord's Mansion, learning to read and studying the rules of the Immortal Sect with the teachers."
"Additionally, I ask the City Lord to strengthen security, and be careful of desperate evil Cultivators causing trouble."
The City Lord nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. In truth, he also had no experience in looking after these qualified individuals, so he quickly agreed to Su Ping's reminder.
By deep night, he even dispatched a battalion of vigorous soldiers to be stationed in the front courtyard of the City Lord's Mansion.
On the city walls, all torches were lit, and huge oil lamps were lit on tall buildings.
Illuminating the entire mansion as brightly as day.
It was evident that to show his importance, the City Lord was also bleeding money.
The lamp oil burning in those large oil lamps came from a certain sea beast, and it was not cheap at all.
Su Ping also sat cross-legged in a quiet room in the City Lord's Mansion, and had Ling Rat White and Little Ash take turns staying alert.
The night passed without incident.
Just as Su Ping finished Cultivating and was about to change into his Fishing attire to wait for the refresh at the Fishing spot.
"Hm?"
Su Ping suddenly discovered, through Little White's perception, a human-shaped creature shrouded in black mist approaching the backyard of the City Lord's Mansion.
This black mist instinctively repulsed the Spirit Rat, indicating it was clearly not good!
And what was surprising was that when this black mist crossed the backyard wall, none of the guards or Martial Artists noticed this anomaly!
It seemed this black mist had the ability to bewitch people!
"It's approaching the backyard!"
"Is it trying to get close to those qualified individuals?"
"There really are evil Cultivators who aren't afraid of death coming over?"
Su Ping pondered, sensing the difference in quality between this black mist and his current self.
The opponent was at most at the second layer of Qi Cultivation, while he was at the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation and also a Body Cultivator at the third layer of Body Tempering.
In this battle, the advantage is mine!
Su Ping slapped on an invisibility Talismanic Incantation and rushed off with Little White and Little Ash.