Full of Hope

"Give up on the hope of cultivating immortality!"

At these words, all four of them turned pale, Zhu Linxian most of all.

"What do you mean?"

Feeling the four of them undergo a sudden change in mood, Chen Zhao'hu hesitated slightly, wondering if he had been too blunt.

His younger brother, Chen Qingling, was frank to a fault. "Cultivating immortality requires a Spiritual Root! You came from that hellhole, where spiritual energy had completely dried up. Even if you were born with Spiritual Roots, they'd have withered long ago after all these years without spiritual energy to nourish them!

"No Spiritual Roots, yet you want to cultivate immortality? What a pipe dream!"

"Spiritual Roots?" The four exchanged glances, their faces visibly growing flustered.

"Spiritual Roots are... well, they're bridges in your dantian that connect you to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Without those bridges, even if you're surrounded by spiritual energy, you can't sense it, absorb it, or refine it into your own magical power!"

"Absorbing and refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your own magical power? That's what cultivating immortality is?" The four had been chosen as Immortal seedlings, so they were naturally gifted. They quickly grasped the principles behind cultivating immortality.

"Exactly, that's what cultivating immortality is! With magical power, you can practice Immortal Methods. Of course, magical power can also nourish your body and prolong your life." Chen Qingling was quite pleased with himself, relishing the chance to teach.

Seeing their faces darken and their eyes go dull, Chen Zhao'hu glared at Chen Qingling. "Go on, get out of here. You've only eaten Spiritual Rice for a few years and already think you know everything?"

"Everyone, don't listen to him."

"The cultivation you want is indeed different from body tempering. You can't begin just by rousing your own qi and blood. You have to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. As for Spiritual Roots... yes, those are necessary too."

"But we humans are the foremost of all living beings in this world. We're born with all five elements, so anyone who can be born in this world has Spiritual Roots."

"The only difference is how well those Spiritual Roots can sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"The more strands of spiritual resonance a person senses in any given element, the more efficiently they can absorb and refine that element's spiritual energy. Sensing fewer than ten strands is relatively slow, and counts as a Low-grade Spiritual Root. Ten to twenty strands means you can absorb and refine spiritual energy fairly quickly, making it a Mid-grade Spiritual Root. More than twenty strands makes you heaven's favored child, with a High-grade Spiritual Root. Unless something goes wrong, Foundation Establishment is within reach, and even the Golden Core Realm is a possibility..."

"As for me, I was born with a Gold Element Spiritual Root that senses only two strands of spiritual resonance, a Wood Element Spiritual Root that senses three, a Water Element Spiritual Root that senses four, and just one strand each in my Fire and Earth Element Spiritual Roots. I'm at the bottom of the Low-grade Spiritual Root ranks, just like the vast majority of people in this world.

"But even so, it doesn't mean I can't cultivate immortality. Sure, it'll be slow, but... the Cultivation World is full of twists and turns. Who can say I won't stumble across some fortuitous encounter?"

After saying all this, Chen Zhao'hu looked at them again. "So even if your Spiritual Roots are terrible, there's still a sliver of hope. It might just take a tiny bit of luck."

"How can you be so sure our Spiritual Roots are poor?" Zhu Linxian stood up, bracing her hands on the table, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably. She refused to accept it.

Chen Zhao'hu gave an awkward smile. "Well... anyone who came out of a land devoid of spiritual energy can't have good Spiritual Roots. You could say they're bound to be poor. My younger brother isn't wrong about that."

"Human Spiritual Roots, like the muscles and bones of the body, grow over time. They aren't fixed at birth. Apart from what's inherited at birth, their growth depends mainly on nourishment after birth, and spiritual energy is that nourishment.

"Spiritual Roots don't fully mature until a person turns fifteen. If they aren't nourished by spiritual energy during that time, and can't sense and attune to it on their own, then they're certain not to develop well.

"Especially in the Abandoned Land. It doesn't even have the pure spiritual energy of a Spirit Vein Dojo. It's worse than this Spirit-Barren Land of ours. It's a true land devoid of spiritual energy, without even a trace. Even a peerless genius born with a Celestial Spiritual Root would see their Spiritual Root regress, perhaps wither completely, if they lived in a place like that for long."

"Creak." Zhu Linxian's strength gave out, and she sank back into her seat, her face pale.

The other three looked just as hopeless.

Chen Zhao'hu felt a pang of bitterness. He wanted to comfort them, but he wasn't good with words.

Then his gaze fell on Li Ji'an, and he was deeply surprised.

Li Ji'an remained calm and composed. His eyes were even still filled with hope...

When Chen Zhao'hu looked his way, Li Ji'an returned his gaze with a smile.

He wasn't disappointed, of course. If anything, he was full of anticipation.

If Spiritual Roots were fixed at birth, then he would have had reason to despair. But if they needed to grow, then he had plenty of hope.

He was already twenty-eight in this life, and according to Chen Zhao'hu, his Spiritual Roots were sure to be poor. But that wouldn't stop him from nourishing them from the age of eight in his next life.

What's more, the Cultivation World had countless divine abilities, myriad Immortal Methods, and the Hundred Arts of cultivation, from alchemy and artifact crafting to talismans and formations. As long as he kept making his way through one life after another, there were so many possibilities!

"Tiger, you're back to patronize my shop again! What a pleasure!" Just then, the eatery's owner came over with a broad smile.

Chen Zhao'hu turned his gaze away from Li Ji'an and the others, then greeted the owner with a smile.

"I'm ashamed to say the Heavenly Immortal Tower still hasn't met its quota for this month, so I can't supply you with any more goods. But my brother here caught a fine beast, and I brought him straight to you. You'd better offer him a good price."

"Hahaha, what are you saying? We're practically family! The Heavenly Immortal Tower chose you, and that's a blessing. Who knows, maybe one day you'll even receive a reward from the family that owns it." The owner laughed and patted Chen Zhao'hu on the shoulder, then turned to the Purple Gold Sable.

"Two spirit stones! How's that?"

Chen Zhao'hu looked at Li Ji'an and nodded with a smile. "That's up to my brother here."

Li Ji'an smiled back. "Thank you, shopkeeper. I'll sell it to you."

The owner smiled and had an attendant take the Purple Gold Sable away. Then he pulled two pigeon-egg-sized, bright green spirit stones from his robes.

"Why not exchange those for Spiritual Sand for my brother here?" Chen Zhao'hu spoke up again.

The owner looked at Li Ji'an. When Li Ji'an nodded, he put the spirit stones away and took out a small bag of Spiritual Sand instead.

Only after the owner had taken his leave did Chen Zhao'hu explain, "You've just arrived, so you probably won't need spirit stones for quite some time. Spiritual Sand should be enough to cover your daily expenses."

Li Ji'an thoroughly enjoyed the meal that followed. The flavors were unique, and the qi and blood contained in the demon beast meat were several times richer than that of the Spirit Beasts he had eaten in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty. It filled him with boundless anticipation for tempering his body in this Cultivation World.

As for the other four, they found every bite bitter and hard to swallow.

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

"How does it look? I hired a Qi Refining Mid-stage cultivator skilled in Earth Element spells from the Huangshan Wei Family to build it. Cost me a whole ten spirit stones."

The grounds covered ten mu, with two stories above ground and ten rooms in all, plus an animal pen and a courtyard for cultivation. Built entirely of earth and stone, the place looked sturdy and imposing.

"Brother Li, if you don't mind, you can stay here for now. As for whether you want to join us, there's no rush. Take your time to think it over, and you can learn more about things too. Cultivators are always coming and going in the square, and you can ask around there. But the place is a mixed bag, so keep your wits about you. Don't let anyone sweet-talk you into something."

"Also, there's a Spirit Testing Stone set up by the Immortal Marketplace on the north side of the square. It costs ten taels of Spiritual Sand to test your Spiritual Roots. If you're still holding on to hope, you can go check." Chen Zhao'hu spoke with easy generosity.

At that, the other four could no longer sit still. They all turned to Li Ji'an.

"All right, let's go get tested." Li Ji'an understood how anxious they were. Without hesitation, he led the four of them back toward the square.