Spiritual Root

Deep within the Jingyang Mountain Range, inside the Yuan Sect ruins.

Of the first batch of Xiantian realm martial artists to enter the mountain range, nearly all had died gruesome deaths, aside from Yun Long's group. They had become nourishment for Fang Yuanhua's cultivation.

The Ninth Prince, Fang Yuanhua, successfully cultivated his first strand of Yuan Sect Blood Demon Qi and formally entered the Qi Refining Stage.

At that moment, Fang Yuanhua's heart brimmed with towering fury. His handsome face twisted with rage, his eyes overflowing with bloodthirsty killing intent.

What had originally been a meticulous, foolproof plan had actually developed a flaw because of several rustic villagers.

What he found even more intolerable was that those ants had actually killed Elder Mu, his most trusted confidant!

He had only five Qi Refining Stage cultivators at his disposal. Losing even one made his heart ache unbearably; this was simply the greatest humiliation of his life!

"Round up every last one of their family members!"

Fang Yuanhua's voice was as bone-chilling as ice, carrying suffocating killing intent as it echoed through the empty ruins.

"Find them! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find their trail! If you can't find them, bring me your heads!"

Fang Yuanhua also knew that because of his cultivation, it was already too late to search for Yun Long's group. But so what? Wasn't that precisely why he kept these people around—to work for him?

If they were useless, they might as well serve as cultivation materials!

Deep within the Jingyang Mountain Range, in the valley where Yun Ji and the other two were hiding.

Yun Long finally arrived with Yun Hu, Yun He, Li Lingyue, and the still-unconscious Shi Chen.

"Father, Uncle Li, Uncle Shi!" Yun Long's voice carried both exhaustion and the joy of reunion.

The moment Li Lingyue saw Li Pinghu, she could no longer hold back her tears. She rushed forward and threw herself into his arms.

"Father!" she choked out, all her grievances and worries turning into silent sobs at that moment.

Li Pinghu held his daughter tightly, his rough palm gently patting her back as he had when she was little.

"It's all right, it's all right. Nothing happened. Father is fine.

"His voice trembled. His daughter was the root of his life.

Shi Tie looked at the unconscious Shi Chen in Yun Long's arms, tears streaming down his aged face.

He shakily reached out a hand, wanting to touch him yet not daring to.

"Chen'er..." His voice was hoarse, like an old, broken bellows.

Yun Long gently handed Shi Chen over to Shi Tie.

Shi Tie could no longer restrain himself. He snatched Shi Chen up, clutched him tightly to his chest, and burst into loud sobs.

"My son! Your father thought he would never see you again!"

His cries tore at the heart. The fear and worry he had suppressed for so long erupted completely at that moment.

Shi Chen was awakened by the crying. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he looked at Shi Tie in confusion.

"Father? Where are we?"

Shi Tie looked at his son's young face and cried even harder.

He held Shi Chen tightly, as if he wanted to knead him into his very flesh and blood.

Watching this scene, Yun Long was filled with countless emotions.

Shi Tie's love for Shi Chen was so deep, so selfless.

"Uncle Shi, what's past is past. We still have to strive for the future," Yun Long comforted him softly.

Shi Tie raised his head and looked at Yun Long, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Holding Shi Chen, he walked before Yun Long and fell to his knees with a thud.

"Yun Long, thank you! Thank you for saving Chen'er!"

Seeing this, Shi Chen also knelt, his face full of confusion.

"Chen'er, hurry and kowtow to Brother Long! He saved us!" Shi Tie said through a choked voice.

Yun Long hurriedly helped Shi Tie up.

"Uncle Shi, you mustn't do this. Get up, quickly!"

"Yun Long, young master of the Yun Clan, listen to me." Shi Tie pulled Shi Chen along, his expression incomparably solemn. "From now on, this life of mine belongs to you! If you tell me to go east, I will never go west! Whatever you tell me to do, I will do!"

"And Chen'er will follow you as well! Whatever you tell him to do, he will do it! If he dares disobey, you won't even need to say a word—I'll break his legs myself!"

Yun Long looked at Shi Tie and knew that he was utterly sincere.

He sighed and said, "Uncle Shi, I understand your intentions."

"Chen'er is a good child. He possesses a Spiritual Root and has great promise ahead of him. I'm counting on him to help the Yun Clan more once he grows up."

"Spiritual Root?!" Shi Tie looked utterly bewildered. Clearly, he had never heard the term before.

Yun Long explained, "Simply put, it means Chen'er has the aptitude to cultivate immortality!"

"Really?" Shi Tie's eyes lit up as he looked at Yun Long in delight.

Yun Long nodded.

"Cultivating immortality!" Shi Tie's eyes widened. He could scarcely believe his ears.

Cultivating immortality was something out of legend!

His son went on every day about taking the Immortal Fate test and becoming an immortal. Who would have thought Shi Chen could truly cultivate immortality?

Yun Long smiled. "Uncle Shi, don't get too excited."

"Let me take a look at Little Chen's Spiritual Root attributes."

Yun Long walked over to Shi Chen, grasped his wrist, and injected a strand of Vajra Primordial Qi into his body.

A moment later, Yun Long opened his eyes, a trace of surprise flashing through them.

"Gold-Water Dual Attribute, Five-Inch Mid-Grade Spiritual Root!"

"Not bad, not bad! A fine seedling!"

Shi Tie was completely lost in the clouds and mist, but he knew that his son was impressive!

"Long, th-this... what does it mean?" he could not help asking.

Yun Long explained, "Spiritual Roots are divided by attributes: gold, wood, water, fire, earth, as well as certain mutated attributes."

"Cultivating techniques corresponding to one's attribute allows one to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Chen'er has Gold-Water Dual Attribute, so he can cultivate techniques of those two attributes in the future."

"Spiritual Roots are also divided by quality: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade."

"The better the Spiritual Root, the faster one cultivates."

"Chen'er has a mid-grade Spiritual Root, which is already quite good!"

"Then... then can Chen'er become an immortal in the future too?" Shi Tie asked excitedly.

Yun Long smiled. "As long as he cultivates diligently, anything is possible!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Shi Tie danced with excitement, as though he could already see the day Shi Chen became an immortal.

"Long, Chen'er is in your care from now on!" Shi Tie knelt again, pulling Shi Chen along as he prepared to kowtow to Yun Long.

Yun Long hurriedly helped Shi Tie up.

"Uncle Shi, what are you doing? Get up!"

"From now on, Chen'er will cultivate with me. I'll personally teach him."

"Really?!" Shi Tie could scarcely believe his ears.

Yun Long nodded. "Of course it's true."

"However, I have one condition."

Shi Tie hurriedly said, "What condition? Say it. As long as I can do it, I'll definitely agree!"

Yun Long looked at Shi Tie and said seriously, "I want Chen'er to take me as his master!"

"Take a master?!" Shi Tie froze for a moment, then immediately said without hesitation, "Good! Good! Good! That's a good thing! I'll have Chen'er kowtow to you right now!"

Shi Tie pulled Shi Chen over, about to make him kowtow.

Shi Chen looked utterly confused, not knowing what was happening.

Yun Long hurriedly stopped him. "Uncle Shi, there's no rush. We can formally hold the apprenticeship ceremony another day when we find an auspicious date."

"For now, let's leave this place first."

Only then did Shi Tie come to his senses. He hurriedly said, "Right, right, right! Let's leave first! Let's leave first!"

Yun Long looked at Shi Tie, his heart filled with emotion.

For his son, Shi Tie could give everything.

And he too had to grow stronger for the future of the Lineage!

Yun Long had decided to take Shi Chen as his disciple partly because he truly admired the child.

On the other hand, he also wanted to see what changes would occur if someone with a Spiritual Root cultivated the Yun Clan's techniques.

The Yun Clan's techniques had never said that only people with specific attributes could cultivate them.

He, Yun Long, did not even possess a Spiritual Root!

Perhaps this was an opportunity—an opportunity for the Yun Clan's techniques to rise to an even higher level!

As for passing the techniques to an outsider, Yun Long was not worried in the slightest. The Yun Clan's true inheritance was the Family Genealogy.

These techniques were all exceedingly difficult to cultivate. Only with the Family Genealogy's inheritance could one achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Yun Ji watched from the side with relief. His foolish son had finally grown up.

Yun Hu and Yun He also suppressed their curiosity and did not impulsively ask Yun Ji to test their Spiritual Roots.

Li Lingyue was not in a hurry either. She believed Yun Long would not treat her unfairly.