To mortals, anyone with a Spirit Root counted as having a spiritual physique.
Even without cultivating an immortal Cultivation Method, such people often outlived others if they exercised regularly and avoided serious injury or illness. Living into their eighties or nineties, even past a hundred, was perfectly normal.
But in the Cultivation World, a Spirit Root was merely the most basic requirement for cultivation.
It hardly counted as a spiritual physique.
Luo Chen had once divided cultivators' aptitudes into three broad categories.
Spirit Roots, Divine Soul, and physique.
Spirit Roots needed little explanation. Their number determined cultivation speed, with further distinctions such as Heavenly Spirit Roots and Heterogeneous Spirit Roots.
Divine Soul aptitudes encompassed comprehension, temperament, innate Divine Soul Foundation, and even the awakening of Innate Wisdom carried across reincarnation.
Physique aptitudes manifested in bodily functions: meridians, Acupoints, physical strength, unusual blood, and so forth. Li Yingzhang's Ninefold Winding Physique, for instance, meant his meridians had differed from ordinary people's since birth. Those born with prodigious strength likewise had different muscular structures.
Strictly speaking, however, these three categories were not so sharply divided.
During infancy and childhood, they often influenced and changed one another.
The interplay between Spirit Roots and physique was especially common.
The so-called Innate Geng Metal Sword Physique arose when a Golden Spirit Root's affinity with heaven and earth grew so strong that the interaction indirectly altered the body. It manifested as exceptional affinity for and control over Metal Attribute objects. Such people possessed extraordinary talent whether they trained with sabers or swords. The physique was called the Sword Physique only because Innate Geng Metal Saber Physique sounded less elegant.
The Nine Yang Divine Physique, Ginseng Wood Spirit Physique, and others were similar: one type of Spirit Root stood out so strongly that it changed the cultivator's