Full of Hope

"Give up on the thought of cultivating immortality!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the four people's expressions changed drastically, especially Zhu Linxian.

"What do you mean by that?"

Sensing the sudden shift in their emotions, Chen Zhao'hu hesitated slightly, wondering if he had been too blunt.

His younger brother, Chen Qingling, spoke his mind directly: "Cultivating immortality requires a Spiritual Root! You've been in that godforsaken place where the Spiritual Energy is completely depleted. Even if you were born with a Spiritual Root, without Spiritual Energy to nourish it for so many years, it would have long since withered away!

You want to cultivate immortality without a Spiritual Root? Wishful thinking!"

"Spiritual Root?" The four looked at each other, their faces showing visible panic.

"A Spiritual Root is... it's the bridge that exists in the Dantian to communicate with the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. Without this bridge, even if you are surrounded by Spiritual Energy, you cannot sense, absorb, or refine it into your own Magical Power!"

"Absorb and refine the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth into one's own Magical Power? That's cultivating immortality?" The four were Immortal Seeds, naturally possessing extraordinary talent, and quickly understood the principle of cultivation.

"Yes, that's cultivating immortality! With Magical Power, you can practice Immortal Methods. Of course, Magical Power can also nourish the physical body and prolong life," Chen Qingling said with satisfaction, enjoying his role as a teacher.

Seeing their crestfallen faces and dull eyes, Chen Zhao'hu glared at Chen Qingling. "Go on, you've only eaten Spirit Rice for a few years, and you think you're so wise?"

"Everyone, don't listen to him."

"The cultivation you desire is indeed different from body refining. It's not something you can start by stimulating your own Vital Energy and Blood, but rather by absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. As for the Spiritual Root... it is indeed necessary."

"However, in this world, we humans are the masters of all spirits. We are born with all five elements. As long as one can be born into this world, they have a Spiritual Root."

"The only difference is the Spiritual Root's sensitivity to the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth."

"The more Spiritual Resonance a Spiritual Root of a certain element can sense, the higher the efficiency of absorbing and refining the Spiritual Energy of that element. Sensing less than ten strands of Spiritual Resonance means a relatively slow absorption rate, considered a lower-grade Spiritual Root. Ten to twenty strands means a faster absorption and refinement rate, a mid-grade Spiritual Root. Above twenty strands means you are a favored child of heaven, a high-grade Spiritual Root. If nothing unexpected happens, Foundation Establishment will be within reach, and Golden Core can also be hoped for..."

"Take me, for example. My innate Metal element Spiritual Root only senses two strands of Spiritual Resonance, my Wood element Spiritual Root senses three strands, my Water element Spiritual Root senses four strands, and my Fire and Earth elements each sense one strand. I'm at the bottom of the lower-grade Spiritual Roots, belonging to the vast majority of this world."

"But even so, it's not impossible to cultivate immortality. It might be slow, but... the cultivation world is full of changes. Who can guarantee I won't encounter a fortuitous encounter or something?"

After saying this, Chen Zhao'hu looked at the crowd again. "So, even if your Spiritual Roots are poor, you still have a sliver of a chance. It just... might require a tiny bit of luck."

"You're so sure our Spiritual Roots are bad?" Zhu Linxian stood up, propping himself on the table, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably, unwilling to accept it.

Chen Zhao'hu gave an awkward smile. "Well... those who come from a spirit-forsaken land naturally won't be good. It can be said that they will definitely be very poor. My brother is right about this point."

"Human Spiritual Roots, like the muscles and bones of the body, have a growth process. They are not fixed from birth. Besides innate inheritance, the most important factor is postnatal nourishment and growth, and Spiritual Energy is the nourishment."

A true Spiritual Root is finalized at fifteen years old. If there is no Spiritual Energy nourishment during this period, and no innate affinity to sense energy, the growth of the Spiritual Root will certainly not be very good. Especially in an Abandoned Land, not only is there no pure Spiritual Energy from spirit veins or dojos, but it's even worse than our Spirit-Barren Land. It's a truly spiritless, land of absolute spiritual exhaustion. Even a supremely talented seedling with a heavenly Spiritual Root will have their Spiritual Root degenerate, or even completely wither, if they live there for too long.

"Creak~" Zhu Linxian's body went limp, and he slumped back into his seat, his face pale.

The other three also looked ashen.

Chen Zhao'hu felt a bit bitter and wanted to comfort them, but he was not good with words.

It was only when he saw Li Ji'an that he was greatly surprised.

Li Ji'an was still calm and composed, his eyes even filled with hope...

Seeing Chen Zhao'hu looking at him, Li Ji'an returned a smile.

He was not disappointed at all; in fact, he was quite expectant.

If Spiritual Roots were fixed from birth, then he would truly be disappointed. But if they needed to grow, then for him, there was great hope.

He was already twenty-eight years old in this life. According to Chen Zhao'hu, his Spiritual Root would definitely be very poor, but that wouldn't prevent him from starting to nourish his Spiritual Root from the age of eight in the next life.

Moreover, there were countless Spiritual Powers in the cultivation world, myriad Immortal Methods, and the hundred arts of alchemy, artifact refining, talismans, and formations. As long as he continued to walk through life after life, there were too many possibilities!

"Tiger, you're visiting my shop again. Congratulations!" Just then, the restaurant owner walked over with a fawning smile.

Chen Zhao'hu withdrew his gaze from Li Ji'an and the others and walked forward with a smile.

"I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed. My Heavenly Immortal Tower still hasn't met its quota for this month, so I really can't supply you anymore. However, my brother here has caught some good merchandise, and I've introduced him to you right away. You must give him a good price."

"Hahaha, what are you talking about between brothers? It's your good fortune to be noticed by the Heavenly Immortal Tower of the Immortal Market. Perhaps one day you'll receive a reward from your family," the owner said, patting Chen Zhao'hu's shoulder, then picked up the Purple Gold Sable.

"Two Spirit Stones! How about it?"

Chen Zhao'hu looked at Li Ji'an and nodded with a smile. "This still depends on my brother."

Li Ji'an returned a smile. "Thank you, shopkeeper. I'll give it to you."

The owner smiled and had a young boy take away the Purple Gold Sable. He then took out two pigeon-egg-sized, jade-green Spirit Stones from his embrace.

"Why don't you exchange it for Spirit Sand for my brother?" Chen Zhao'hu interjected again.

The owner looked at Li Ji'an. Seeing Li Ji'an nod, he put away the Spirit Stones and took out a small bag of Spirit Sand from his embrace, handing it over.

After the owner left, Chen Zhao'hu explained, "You're new here, and you probably won't need Spirit Stones for a long time. Spirit Sand will be enough to cover your living expenses."

After that, Li Ji'an ate his meal with relish. Besides the unique flavors, the Vital Energy and Blood contained in the Yao Beast meat was several times richer than the Spirit Beasts he ate in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty, making him look forward to body refining in this cultivation world with infinite anticipation.

As for the other four, they only felt bitter and found it hard to swallow.

After the meal, Li Ji'an accepted Chen Zhao'hu's invitation and returned with him to his residence.

"How is it? I hired a Qi Refining Mid-stage cultivator from the Huangshan Wei Family who is skilled in Earth element techniques to build it. It cost a full ten Spirit Stones."

It covered ten mu of land, with two stories and ten rooms in total, as well as a pen for beasts and a courtyard for training. The overall structure was earth and stone, looking very sturdy and imposing.

"Brother Li, if you don't mind, you can stay here for the time being. As for whether you want to join us, there's no rush. You can take your time to consider, or you can learn more. There are often cultivators coming and going in the plaza, and you can ask them for advice. However, it's a mix of good and bad people there, so be careful not to be fooled."

"Also, north of the plaza, there's a Spirit Testing Stone set up by the Immortal Market. It costs ten taels of Spirit Sand to test once. If you're still not convinced, you can go and test it," Chen Zhao'hu said generously.

Hearing this, the other four immediately couldn't sit still and looked at Li Ji'an.

"Alright, then let's go and test it." Li Ji'an understood their eagerness and didn't hesitate, leading the four back to the plaza.