Spirit Root Transformation, Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator

The night sky was silent, broken only by the occasional cry of birds. The mountain forest lay still in the darkness.

Gu An sat in meditation within the Longevity Barrier, admiring the moonlight.

Tonight's moon was beautiful, just like his mood.

His cultivation had already reached the fourth layer of the Golden Core Realm. The end was drawing ever nearer.

He planned to keep spending lifespan until he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, then spend more on a peerless art, because the Gale Absolute Shadow Leg could no longer satisfy him.

What Nascent Soul Realm Great Cultivator fought with his legs?

It had to be the sword!

Gu An decided to favor the Li Family Seven Swords. With Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, he also needed Nascent Soul Realm offensive methods.

Mm, let's assume Cheng Xuandan's master was a Nascent Soul Realm Great Cultivator!

Gu An wanted to overestimate his opponent as much as possible. Only then would his chances of defeat decrease.

After the cultivator who had fought earlier left, he never returned. That finally put Gu An's heart at ease.

He was already a Golden Core Realm cultivator. He could swagger through the Outer Sect's territory, and even if someone suddenly barged in, they would not be able to withstand a single kick from him!

Fifth-layer Golden Core Realm!

As his cultivation rose again, Gu An's divine sense grew stronger as well!

The Golden Core Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm were as far apart as heaven and earth.

Their spiritual power was worlds apart, and the gap in divine sense was just as enormous. Gu An's divine sense could now gather together and form a powerful impact.

Only after reaching the Golden Core Realm did he feel like a true immortal cultivator.

If the Golden Core Realm was already like this, just how strong would the Nascent Soul Realm be?

Gu An could hardly wait to spend his lifespan.

He was forced to wait until his cultivation rose and broke through to the sixth layer of the Golden Core Realm before he summoned the Attribute Panel.

His gaze was involuntarily drawn to his Spirit Root.

He had tried enhancing his Spirit Root before, only for it to vanish like a stone dropped into the sea. It had left him with a psychological shadow, and he feared it was a bottomless pit, so he had shifted his lifespan toward other things. Besides, deducing techniques could also improve his Spirit Root aptitude.

Now that he was strong enough and had plenty of lifespan left, it was time to try improving his Spirit Root again.

After a while longer, once Gu An's rising cultivation finally stopped, he directly invested two thousand years of lifespan into his Spirit Root!

[You invested two thousand years of lifespan into your Spirit Root for evolutionary cultivation]

[You comprehended heaven, earth, and nature for one hundred years. Your Five Elements Spiritual Root's perceptive ability increased]

[You comprehended heaven, earth, and nature for two hundred years. Your Five Elements Spiritual Root's perceptive ability increased]

...

[You comprehended heaven, earth, and nature for one thousand years. You finally captured a trace of the true meaning of heaven and earth. Your Spirit Root received heaven and earth's baptism, and your Five Elements Spiritual Root aptitude began to transform. All five of your Five Elements Spiritual Roots transformed into second-rate mortal-body aptitude, with your Wood Spirit Root standing out somewhat]

[You comprehended heaven, earth, and nature for one thousand two hundred years. Your Five Elements Spiritual Root's perceptive ability increased]

...

[You comprehended heaven, earth, and nature for two thousand years. You finally captured a trace of the true meaning of heaven and earth, while also comprehending the earth's rivers and veins. Your Spirit Root received heaven and earth's baptism, and your Five Elements Spiritual Root aptitude began to transform. All five of your Five Elements Spiritual Roots transformed into first-rate mortal-body aptitude, with your Wood Spirit Root and Earth Spirit Root standing out somewhat]

Line after line of notifications appeared before Gu An's eyes.

When he saw the earlier Five Elements notifications, his heart had already started bleeding.

He had been careless!

This thing really was a bottomless pit!

By the end, seeing that all five of his Spirit Roots had reached the first-rate level improved his mood, though it still pained him. After all, comprehending the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique had already brought his Wood Spirit Root to first-rate aptitude.

He could not think of it like that!

He should think that the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique had taken one thousand years to bring one Spirit Root to first-rate aptitude. To make all five Spirit Roots first-rate, it would take at least five thousand years.

Then the question was, why had he not cultivated techniques of the other four attributes?

People had to try things in order to walk the most perfect path.

As Gu An reflected on himself, earthly spiritual energy surged toward him once more. This time, it was not raising his cultivation, but tempering his sinews, bones, and every limb.

It hurt!

Gu An felt pain unlike anything he had ever experienced, and he could only grit his teeth and endure it.

To distract himself, he began thinking about the Attribute Panel.

It seemed Spirit Root aptitude was the hardest thing to improve. Thinking about it, that was only natural. Spirit Root aptitude was equivalent to one's maximum lifespan, while cultivation was one's current lifespan. Breaking through one's limits was the hardest thing of all.

No amount of acquired effort could ever compare to the difficulty of breaking the destiny decreed by heaven.

That was why the Taixuan Sect treated geniuses so generously. To the Taixuan Sect, Ji Xiaoyu, with her dual Spirit Roots, was far more important than a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

For ordinary people, the fewer Spirit Roots they had, the higher their aptitude. Suppose the total talent value represented by a person's Spirit Roots was one hundred. With dual Spirit Roots, each could receive fifty. But with five Spirit Roots, each would only receive twenty. Being well-rounded sometimes meant being mediocre.

Gu An was different now. Raising his Spirit Root aptitude was like raising the total talent value beyond one hundred.

Unfortunately, he could not invest lifespan into individual Spirit Root attributes to improve them. His other Spirit Roots did not help much with cultivating the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, so his cultivation speed had increased somewhat, but not by much.

However, he noticed that the prefix before first-rate aptitude in the notifications was mortal-body.

Could there be Saint Bodies and Spirit Bodies too?

As Gu An's thoughts ran wild, the Longevity Barrier's rate of lifespan consumption began to slow. Since the start of his breakthrough, it had consumed one hundred and thirty-four years of lifespan.

As his Spirit Root aptitude continuously rose, Gu An could clearly feel the spiritual energy of each attribute becoming more distinct. This also changed his perception of the entire world.

The pain was being replaced by a sense of novelty!

After a long while.

Gu An's body stopped absorbing spiritual energy, and the Spirit Root section of the Attribute Panel had changed to first-rate Five Elements Spiritual Root. He did not rise, instead investing two thousand years of lifespan into his cultivation.

His failed tribulation had left a shadow over him, so he decided to force a miracle through sheer investment. If he put in one thousand years and got stuck at the ninth layer of the Golden Core Realm, he would vomit blood.

That was entirely possible!

After failing a tribulation, he had to waste fifty years before he could attempt another breakthrough. It was too realistic. In reality, failing a tribulation meant death or injury, and recovering from injuries truly did take time.

Moreover, the heavenly tribulation for the Nascent Soul Realm would certainly be harder. The number of failures would probably only increase!

Begin!

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for one hundred years. Your cultivation broke through to the seventh layer of the Golden Core Realm]

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for two hundred years. Your cultivation broke through to the eighth layer of the Golden Core Realm]

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for three hundred years. Your cultivation broke through to the ninth layer of the Golden Core Realm]

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for four hundred years. With your profound attainment in the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you forcibly charged at the Nascent Soul Realm and began undergoing tribulation. You failed to endure the Three Mystic Heavenly Tribulations. Your tribulation failed]

...

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for one thousand five hundred years. With your profound attainment in the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you forcibly charged at the Nascent Soul Realm and began undergoing tribulation. You failed to endure the Three Mystic Heavenly Tribulations. Your tribulation failed]

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for one thousand six hundred years. With your profound attainment in the Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique, you forcibly charged at the Nascent Soul Realm and began undergoing tribulation. You finally endured the Three Mystic Heavenly Tribulations. Your tribulation succeeded, and you advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm]

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for one thousand eight hundred years. Your cultivation broke through to the second layer of the Nascent Soul Realm]

[You absorbed qi and cultivated for two thousand years. Your cultivation broke through to the third layer of the Nascent Soul Realm]

Damn!

He had actually failed twelve times!

When Gu An saw that he had failed six tribulations, his heart sank to the bottom. When he failed ten times, his vision went black.

Fortunately, he ultimately succeeded in breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Was the Nascent Soul Realm really that difficult to break through?

Gu An thought in despair. He realized why the lifespan required for evolutionary cultivation was greater than the actual expenditure.

Evolutionary cultivation was equivalent to cultivating naked-handed. Under normal circumstances, one would take pills and use Formations to gather spiritual energy. Both could also help with tribulation, not to mention the wondrous effects of certain rare treasures.

The spiritual energy between heaven and earth surged madly toward him again, and the Longevity Barrier's rate of lifespan consumption began accelerating.

Gu An calmed himself and began enjoying the rise in his cultivation.

The newly risen sunlight swept over the mortal earth, and Mystic Valley gradually brightened. Gu An stood atop the mountain, looking down at the autumn-colored forest. His robes fluttered in the wind, sunlight spilling over him, as though he might ascend and become an immortal at any moment.

He had already condensed a Nascent Soul and become a genuine Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!

To reward himself, he raised his outward cultivation by one layer, reaching the fourth layer of Qi Refining. From then on, he would raise it by one layer each year, stopping at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. That way, he would not be conscripted.

He could not help summoning his Attribute Panel again to inspect it.

[Name: Gu An]

[Lifespan: 22/4502]

[Spirit Root: First-rate Five Elements Spiritual Root (Wood and Earth attributes are more prominent) (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

[Cultivation: Third-layer Nascent Soul Realm (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

[Techniques: Fire Control Art (unmastered), Divine Wood Pure Yang Technique (mastered to perfection), Dragon Force Divine Origin Technique (mastered to perfection), Alchemy (Entry Level) (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

[Peerless Arts: Gale Absolute Shadow Leg (thoroughly mastered), Li Family Seven Swords (unmastered), Eight Directions Step (unmastered) (lifespan may be invested for evolutionary cultivation)]

Gu An next planned to spend some more on the Li Family Seven Swords, then continue saving his lifespan until he had amassed the great threshold of one hundred thousand years before using it.

For now, he wanted to rest for a few days and settle his surging heart.

With his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, he could absolutely go to the Taixuan Sect and receive a fine position and treatment. But when he thought of how the Taixuan Sect would send him out to slay demons and exterminate devils, battle cultivators of the Demonic Path, and perhaps even face internal strife, that stray thought faded away.

Never forget your original intention, and only then may you attain the true fruit!

No one could change his mind. He would hunker down in Mystic Valley until the very end!

He could occasionally search for heavenly materials and earthly treasures, but he absolutely could not shift the focus of his development away from Mystic Valley.

A higher status might make his lifespan grow faster and faster, but the danger would rise in direct proportion. He had no enemies anyway, so why was there any need to hurry?

Gu An turned around and headed down the mountain.

Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could already fly through the air, but he did not do so. He chose to walk down the mountain instead.

By the time he arrived in Medicine Valley, Xiao Chuan and the others were emerging one after another.

"Senior Brother, you went up the mountain so early?" Ye Lan greeted Gu An. She did not know whether it was merely her imagination, but she inexplicably felt that Senior Brother had become even more handsome today.

Gu An smiled. "I went to check on the seeds. You'll lead them in their practice today."

Ye Lan nodded in agreement and wanted to ask more, but Gu An had already headed toward the pavilion.

Not far away, Wuxin watched Gu An's figure and thought to himself, There is definitely something mysterious in those mountains and forests! I will find it!

Gu An climbed the stairs and pushed open the door. The moment he entered, he saw the White Spirit Mouse sprawled across the table, its entire body swollen like a balloon, while the Azure Vine Fruit had disappeared.

It was still breathing. It had not died!

He immediately used Lifespan Inspection on the White Spirit Mouse.

[White Spirit Mouse (First Order): 12/120/180]

Hm?

Its lifespan had actually increased by seventy years. At first, the White Spirit Mouse had only had fifty years to live.

Was the Azure Vine Fruit's medicinal effect really that powerful?

Gu An immediately walked to the wooden cabinet, took out an Azure Vine Fruit, and began gnawing on it.

Thanks to Seeking Great Freedom for tipping Gu An 1,000 Qidian Coins and becoming Gu An's top-ranking big brother!

As always, please vote with monthly tickets~~

This one will keep lying low. Just look at the title, everyone need not worry~~