Cultivation Essentials

Following Chen Zhao'hu's directions, the five of them soon arrived.

A waist-high fence enclosed a huge, pitch-black stone about ten feet tall.

A man outside the fence was dozing.

The moment Li Ji'an and the others approached, the man opened his eyes. But after giving them a glance, he closed them again.

After all, his target customers were mainly children, and at the latest, those around fifteen. The five standing before him had clearly passed that age.

"Excuse me!"

Li Ji'an's greeting caught the man by surprise.

"Testing your spiritual roots?"

Li Ji'an nodded.

"Ten taels of Spirit Sand per person."

Li Ji'an weighed out fifty taels of Spirit Sand and handed it over.

"All of you are getting tested?" The man was even more surprised.

Then he suddenly understood.

The five of them had probably come from some settlement far from an immortal market.

He said no more, accepted the Spirit Sand, and opened the fence for them.

"Just place your hand here. The Spirit Testing Stone will sense the strength of the spiritual root within you. Each glowing mark represents a wisp of spiritual aura."

"Thank you!"

Li Ji'an didn't hesitate. He strode forward and placed his hand on the stone first.

He knew the other four were nervous and uneasy. By going first, he could set an example and lower their expectations a little, so they'd feel better afterward.

Humm~

As his palm touched the stone, a chill immediately seeped out from within it.

In the next moment, glowing marks began to appear where his palm rested.

The first to light up was a golden mark shaped like a small sword, but it held only one wisp.

Next came the mark of a sapling, also just one wisp.

Water ripples, flames, a little mountain... One after another, they appeared.

All held just one wisp, except for the flame mark, which held two.

Li Ji'an accepted the result calmly.

Just as expected.

The other four wore grave expressions.

Zhao Shuyao was the most nervous. She was the same age as Li Ji'an and had spent the longest time living in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty. According to Chen Zhao'hu, her spiritual roots had been stunted for the longest.

If Li Ji'an's results were this poor, how could hers be any better?

"I'll go!" Seeing the other three hesitate, Zhu Linxian took a deep breath and stepped forward.

She and Zhang Tie Zhu were the youngest. They had become immortal seedlings at seventeen and had only just turned eighteen. They had the best chance.

"Eight wisps! Linxian's highest sensitivity is actually eight wisps!"

As spiritual auras appeared above Zhu Linxian's palm, Zhang Tie Zhu was overjoyed.

Her sensitivities for the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—were two, two, eight, four, and one wisps, respectively.

"Good!" Dong Jiangling and Zhao Shuyao clenched their fists and cheered, too.

Li Ji'an raised his brows. This was unexpected, and he was more than a little surprised. According to Chen Zhao'hu, staying in a land devoid of spiritual energy wouldn't make one's innate spiritual roots grow; instead, they would slowly be depleted.

If so, what would Zhu Linxian's talent have been if she hadn't been born in a land devoid of spiritual energy?

Surely more than a Mid-grade Spiritual Root.

A High-grade Spiritual Root?

Had a Golden Core seed really been held back this badly?

Li Ji'an couldn't help thinking of the old saying: An orange grown south of the Huai River becomes a tangerine, while one grown north becomes a trifoliate orange.

Hearing their cheers, the people outside the fence turned to look.

"..."

"What is there to cheer about with a Low-grade Spiritual Root?"

"Heh. Maybe they're celebrating that she's met the minimum requirement to become a live-in son-in-law of the Wu family."

Once they'd calmed down, Zhang Tie Zhu and the others came to their senses.

Right. They had only the lowest grade of spiritual root. What was there to cheer about?

Compared to their reputation as once-in-a-thousand-mile geniuses in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty, this was a heavy blow.

But it also gave them hope.

At least, as Chen Zhao'hu had said, their hopes of cultivating immortality weren't completely cut off.

The remaining three then went up and tested their roots one by one.

As expected, all of them had Low-grade Spiritual Roots.

Zhang Tie Zhu's strongest was earth, with a sensitivity of six wisps.

Dong Jiangling's strongest was metal, with four wisps.

Zhao Shuyao's strongest was wood, with three wisps.

After considering everyone's results, Li Ji'an had a rough idea. They broadly confirmed what Chen Zhao'hu had said: the longer someone lived in a land devoid of spiritual energy, the poorer their spiritual roots became.

"Brother Li, we all have spiritual roots! We can all cultivate immortality!" Zhang Tie Zhu was quite excited.

"That's right! Anything is possible." Li Ji'an encouraged him.

Before long, the five returned to Chen Zhao'hu's courtyard.

After hearing their test results, Chen Zhao'hu glanced at Zhu Linxian in surprise.

But in the end, he still shook his head regretfully.

"What? Linxian's spiritual roots are already close to a Mid-grade Spiritual Root. Is that still not enough?" Seeing his reaction, Dong Jiangling grew anxious.

"That's right. Talent close to a Mid-grade Spiritual Root would barely count as average here in the Desolate Ridge Wasteland. But... at eighteen, she still hasn't begun cultivating. That's far too late," Chen Zhao'hu explained.

"Eighteen is already too late? Does that mean you can't cultivate immortality after fifteen?" Zhang Tie Zhu was visibly unsettled.

"Not exactly. Age isn't a limit on cultivation. Even if you only start at fifty, you still have a chance to rise to the heavens, one step at a time!"

"Then why...?"

Chen Zhao'hu looked rather helpless. "Do you know why I haven't begun cultivating?"

Li Ji'an was equally puzzled. "Brother Chen, you said earlier that there's always a thread of hope, and that your spiritual-root talent still has limitless potential. Then... why haven't you cultivated?"

"Heh. Do you think you can cultivate just because you have spiritual roots?"

"Do you know the four essentials of cultivation here?"

Chen Zhao'hu sighed. "Land, method, wealth, and companions. Not one can be missing!"

"The spiritual energy needed for cultivation is purest and densest only in places with spirit veins. Outside spirit vein lands, spiritual energy disperses into the sky, and even where it's present, it's already mixed and thin. A place like this isn't as devoid of spiritual energy as the lands you came from, but it still can't support the cultivation of magical power.

"And places with spirit veins have long been occupied by sects and Immortal Clans. Even the lowest-grade, first-tier spirit vein lands are fought over by countless people, all scrambling to claim them permanently and provide their descendants with a chance to advance further."

"The second essential is a Cultivation Method. Since everyone's spiritual-root attributes differ, so do the methods they need. And it isn't just a matter of your strongest spiritual-root sensitivity; your other four elements also have an influence. So the method best suited to each person is different. Even if you have a spirit vein land, you still need to find the right method for yourself.

"Cultivation Methods are as precious as spirit vein lands. Some lineages have risen to great heights on the strength of a single method."

"As for wealth, you've already seen spirit stones. Aside from being used for trade and payment, their most fundamental purpose is to provide spiritual energy. Even in a spiritually barren place like this, where the world's spiritual energy is insufficient for cultivation, you can directly refine the spiritual energy within spirit stones.

"Minor cultivators like us don't use them, though. Once a spirit stone is refined, there's no going back. If you can't absorb and refine it quickly, its energy will disperse into the sky and go to waste. Those who can cultivate by directly refining spirit stones are great seniors.

"Of course, spirit stones can be used to rent a Spirit Vein Dojo, trade for Cultivation Methods, and buy Spirit Rice, pills, magical artifacts... In short, if you have enough spirit stones, you can buy anything."

"And finally, companions: masters, fellow cultivators, partners... You can't shut yourself away to cultivate, or you'll easily end up in a dead end. Getting stuck at a bottleneck is a small matter; going mad from cultivation is far worse. Discussing the Dao and pooling your wisdom is the right path..."

"..." After Chen Zhao'hu patiently explained, everyone except Li Ji'an wore stiff expressions.

Back in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty, they'd been born into noble families with ample resources, and their extraordinary talent had earned them the Imperial Clan's support. All they'd needed to do was cultivate diligently. They'd never experienced what it was like to have to solve every problem themselves.

"So why haven't I begun cultivating? Because I don't have those resources. If I want to cultivate, I have to go to the nearest United Market. But rent there isn't cheap, and my spiritual-root talent isn't enough to attract the attention of those families or sects."

As he spoke, Chen Zhao'hu looked at Zhang Tie Zhu again. "That's why I said it was a pity about this girl. If she were under fifteen, her talent—close to a Mid-grade Spiritual Root—would surely have given her a chance to join some family. But now she's lost her value as someone worth cultivating."

Over the next month, the five gradually adapted to the settlement and confirmed Chen Zhao'hu's words for themselves.

At last, Zhu Linxian, silent for many days, couldn't hold back any longer.

"No matter how hard it is, I have to try!"

"That's right! The longer we wait, the more time we'll waste. If we don't try, how will we know it's impossible?" Zhang Tie Zhu had been eager to act for a while.

The two of them had the best chance, and they were also the youngest. They hadn't yet suffered too many blows from the world.

"If we just grow old and die here, why did we come to the Immortal Realm? Let alone get revenge on that beastly family." Zhao Shuyao was unwilling to give up, either.

"Right! Even if we die, we have to try!" Dong Jiangling's gaze was fierce, his resolve firm.

Li Ji'an looked at them and understood.

A human life was like a fleeting season of grass and trees—over in the blink of an eye!

They had only this one life. They couldn't wait.

Most importantly, if they couldn't cultivate immortality, how could life here compare to the fame they'd enjoyed across the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty?

"What are you planning to do?"

"The Yan family is recruiting Land Reclamation Warriors. I'm going to try. If I can stay with the Yan family, I'll have access to a first-tier, high-grade Spirit Vein Dojo and the Yan family's Cultivation Method." Zhang Tie Zhu was determined.

"I'm going to the immortal market to look for a chance!" Zhu Linxian was the least willing to give up.

"A Spirit Pill Shop is hiring a receptionist. I want to try." It had taken Zhao Shuyao a lot to make this decision.

"I'll go check out the market first, too."