Spiritual Root Aptitude

Half a month later.

While delivering food in the city, Li Mo suddenly froze, stopping in his tracks.

He felt like something had changed within him.

It was like a long-held burp that suddenly cleared, a persistent problem that was suddenly solved with ease. He stood there blankly, with only one thought in his mind.

"Three-Way Swordplay has reached Great Completion!"

Instantly.

Li Mo felt every pore on his body breathing deeply. He could vaguely sense people and objects within a ten-foot radius, not by sight, but through his body's instinct, or rather, his subconscious intuition.

This was a novel experience he had never had before.

According to Senior Brother Ding Jie, Three-Way Swordplay was merely a third-rate martial arts manual. While third-rate manuals were slightly lacking in combat effectiveness, they had their advantages, such as being easier to cultivate.

"It's truly marvelous."

At the same time, Li Mo vaguely sensed that his perception of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to have slightly improved because of this.

Of course.

If those clouds and mists were indeed the so-called spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

After standing stunned at the intersection for a moment, Li Mo grinned. He suppressed his excitement and continued his task, delivering the delicious food in the wooden box on his back to the Zhao residence on time, ensuring it wouldn't be jostled and the plating and carvings would remain intact.

Every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, various countries in the Central Plains celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

After Li Mo resigned from his job at the restaurant, he sighed about the hardships of earning money.

Although the salary in Anle City was significantly higher than in Hua'an Town, he, as a delivery person, could earn two strings of copper coins per month. However, the cost of living here was not comparable to Hua'an Town.

After deducting rent, food, and daily expenses from his two strings of salary, he could only manage to save about five hundred Cash.

The streets were filled with vendors hawking realgar wine, pastries, and sachets.

When Li Mo celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival in Hua'an Town, people simply drank some realgar wine to mark the occasion.

But in Anle City, the Dragon Boat Festival not only featured a grand lantern festival but also required everyone to wear sachets, eat various pastries, hang calamus by their doors, and paint door gods on their gates. It was incredibly lively. Even the storytellers on the street were cheerful, and the crowds cheered enthusiastically.

Li Mo had specifically put on the silk clothes he usually hesitated to wear today.

Compared to when Zhang Dongliang first bought this outfit two years ago, Li Mo had clearly grown taller.

Fortunately, Zhang Dongliang had left a bit of room when buying the clothes, so they fit Li Mo perfectly now. As he walked through the bustling streets, seeing people everywhere in silk attire, he felt as if he had shed his rustic identity and blended into the prosperous city.

"How much is this sachet?"

Li Mo stopped, wanting to buy himself a sachet.

"Esteemed customer, you have excellent taste! This sachet is filled with premium mugwort, agastache, eupatorium, and white cardamom. Wearing it long-term can not only ward off insects and disasters, strengthen your body, but also expel Demons and Devils, and deter Malevolent Spirits! Look at the embroidery; it's all meticulously sewn stitch by stitch by our skilled needlewomen. It's only fifteen hundred Cash!"

Upon hearing this, Li Mo immediately lost interest.

He put down the sachet.

"Hey?"

The woman quickly said, "Customer, don't go! The price is negotiable, fourteen hundred Cash..."

Li Mo ignored the shouts from behind him.

Next, he spent fifteen Cash to buy himself a skewer of Candied Hawthorns. This price was double that in Hua'an Town, but it was his way of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival.

Afterward, he arrived in front of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau in the prefectural capital.

The entrance of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau was currently packed with people, forming several long queues.

Most of the people in line were young boys who had just come of age, with naive and tender faces, waiting to have their spiritual roots tested.

It seemed that if one was too young, their spiritual roots might not have fully formed, making them unsuitable for cultivation.

However, there were also some noticeably older individuals in the queue, each showing expressions of nervousness, apprehension, and longing, constantly craning their necks forward.

Li Mo found a shorter queue and began to wait silently.

Occasionally, a gasp would come from the front, indicating someone had been found to have spiritual root potential. But the vast majority left disappointed. The entire process could truly be described as a needle in a haystack; most people were just going through the motions.

This made Li Mo inevitably nervous, and he began to feel suspicious.

"Will the disciples from the noble families of Lingmu Sect also be here this time, deliberately preventing rogue disciples from entering the sect?"

Just then.

"Ah! I... I really have spiritual roots... sob."

An old man with white hair was detected to have spiritual root potential. He became emotionally overwhelmed in public, shouting excitedly, but quickly became incredibly sad, appearing somewhat deranged.

Seeing this, Li Mo's eyes flickered. He left his original queue and moved to wait behind the white-haired old man.

It wasn't until the afternoon, around Weishi (1-3 PM), that it was finally Li Mo's turn.

He had already seen too many people leave disappointed; at least over twenty thousand, which was not an exaggeration.

Meanwhile, inside the Heaven's Mandate Bureau, there were only about thirty-odd people. These were the lucky ones who had been detected to have spiritual root potential that morning. The majority were around Li Mo's age, or slightly younger, clearly just coming of age. However, there were also two or three noticeably older individuals, and one white-haired old man.

"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"

A boy cried out in public, shouting at the person in charge of testing spiritual root aptitude at the long table.

"You dare say I have no spiritual root aptitude, meaning I'm a mortal. I'll have my father lock you all up. Don't think I don't know, you're all disciples from prominent families of the Lingmu Sect, and because you're jealous of talent and fear that rogue disciples will steal your thunder, that's why..."

A commotion immediately broke out in the crowd.

Especially those who were found to have no spiritual root aptitude, their faces showed unwillingness.

"Insolent!"

A man in a black robe with yellow crane patterns roared, pointing at the boy. "I am Xu Chen, the Deputy Hall Master of the Lingmu Sect's Supervisor Hall. If you continue to make a scene, don't blame me for bringing you to justice according to the law!"

Seeing this, the servants were immediately startled and quickly dragged the resentful boy away.

At this moment.

Another person emerged from the Heaven's Mandate Bureau. He wore a white robe with flying cranes and birds, accented with dark gold sleeve patterns, a crimson collar, and twin sun and moon shoulder badges. He looked around. This so-called Deputy Hall Master Xu Chen of the Lingmu Sect's Supervisor Hall hurried over and whispered to him.

A moment later.

The man in the white flying bird robe returned to the Heaven's Mandate Bureau, while the man named Xu Chen cupped his fists towards the crowd.

"Everyone, please rest assured. I, Xu Chen, am a disciple who came from a rogue background. Furthermore, the Muzhou Town Magistrate is here to uphold justice for everyone. We both guarantee that the situation he mentioned will absolutely not occur. If there is any concealment of spiritual root conditions, may lightning strike us!"

Seeing this, the crowd regained their confidence.

Li Mo, as one of the people in the crowd, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least the spiritual root aptitude testing in Anle City was reliable.

Finally, it was Li Mo's turn.

The person responsible for testing spiritual root aptitude in front of him was a beautiful woman with her hair styled in a flying bun and wearing a light gauze dress. She appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.

"Hello, the testing fee is five hundred cash."

"Okay."

After Li Mo paid the fee, the woman gestured for him to place his hands on the Five Elements Plate.

In the center of the Five Elements Plate was a bronze mirror, which seemed to possess magical power. The five corners were inlaid with Spirit Stones, and spiritual energy was subtly being injected into the plate.

As the moment arrived, Li Mo was clearly a little nervous.

He pursed his lips and placed his hands on the Five Elements Plate. As the spiritual energy from the five Spirit Stones flowed, they visibly dimmed. Li Mo felt a brief numbness in his body, like an electric shock.

A series of black, block-shaped runes flickered and changed.

Then, the bronze mirror in the center of the Five Elements Plate actually emitted light, accompanied by a faint sound of thunder.

Seeing this, the woman who was responsible for testing spiritual root aptitude's originally indifferent face showed a hint of surprise. Her gaze towards Li Mo softened considerably.

"Lightning spiritual root aptitude!"

A heavy stone lifted from Li Mo's heart. He clenched his fists, feeling a surge of exhilaration within him.

He did indeed possess a spiritual root!

From now on, he was a cultivator!

Li Mo felt as if he were in a dream, his expression somewhat excited and dazed. Then, led by an Inspector in a flying bird uniform, he entered the courtyard of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau and stood blankly among the crowd.

"Hey, my name is Lu Tianyou, what's yours?"

Li Mo snapped back to reality and looked at the young master beside him.

This person was dressed in luxurious silk clothing, wore a jade pendant at his waist, held a folding fan, and had a roguish expression. He was about the same age as Li Mo, perhaps slightly younger, and was smiling as he proactively offered friendship.

"My name is Li Mo."

After Li Mo responded, Lu Tianyou smiled, "Judging by your accent, you're not from Zhanghe County, are you?"

"Mm, I'm from Anbei Prefecture."

"Then why did you travel all this way to test your spiritual roots? Tsk tsk, I heard there's been fighting over there and many new towns have been established. Is that true?"

Lu Tianyou looked at Li Mo with curiosity, as if he were a rare specimen.

"Mm."

Li Mo felt a bit awkward, as he was from one of those new towns the other person was talking about.

Lu Tianyou noticed Li Mo's abnormality and guessed his identity, becoming even more curious.

"I heard you have some primitive religious beliefs over there, worshipping mountain and water spirits as local gods, mountain gods, and river gods to prevent them from causing trouble. Is that true?"

Hearing this, Li Mo thought of Zhao Siman, and his expression turned unpleasant.

Lu Tianyou thought Li Mo was one of them and felt a bit awkward.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious."

He shook his head and sighed.

"You'll know everything when you get to Qingming Mountain. Those mountain and water spirits that cause trouble are the most detestable. In order to collect incense and refine the essence of the sun and moon within them, they often prey on the villagers. It was fine before your region was incorporated into the Da Gan Kingdom, but if they dare to act up again in the future, the Inspectors of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau won't tolerate it."

Hearing this, Li Mo felt a pang of sadness.

"My best friend was sacrificed to the river god by a primitive cult, which is why I came here."

That river god, however, wasn't some mere mountain or water spirit, but a great malevolent spirit.

Lu Tianyou gaped, stunned.

After a long moment, Lu Tianyou finally recovered. He hadn't expected reality to be so much crueler than the legends. He quickly offered words of comfort.

"Then allow me to congratulate you. Once you enter the Lingmu Sect and master your Daoist arts, you can go back for revenge! We can help each other out in the future. I'm from Anle City, but unfortunately, none of my friends who came with me have spiritual root aptitude. Alas, what can be done? Who told me I was destined not to be an ordinary person, haha!"

Lu Tianyou was quite talkative, and Li Mo chatted with him, back and forth.

During this process, Li Mo learned some basic information about spiritual root aptitude from Lu Tianyou.

Possessing a spiritual root was the foundation for becoming a cultivator.

But in reality, everyone's perception of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth still varied. This difference, however, wasn't categorized into distinct levels; each person needed to continuously compare and comprehend it themselves in the future. This was also considered part of one's cultivation aptitude.

In addition, A cultivator's aptitude would also affect their future cultivation direction.

Besides the affinity and sensitivity to spiritual energy, a cultivator's aptitude could also be divided into the basic attributes of their spiritual root and whether they possessed a special spiritual body.

For example, if Li Mo had a lightning spiritual root, he would later have powerful control over the lightning attribute and could develop his spell cultivation in related aspects.

"The Daoist tradition our Gan State pursues is the path of the most intelligent beings in all creation. Therefore, theoretically, the more comprehensive a cultivator's spiritual root attributes are, the better. This allows for more directions to choose from in the future. Because different countries pursue different Daoist traditions, the main cultivation methods of different sects in different countries vary greatly. I heard that Ling Country pursues the path of the limitless, requiring cultivators to be single-minded and constantly break through their limits. So, you don't need to be discouraged; a single spiritual root is also quite good..."

As Lu Tianyou spoke, he opened his fan and looked at a woman not far away.

Although this woman was dressed in simple coarse cloth, her features were exceptionally beautiful. Her hair was styled in a "startled swan" bun, and she stood alone, exuding an aura that warned others to keep their distance, making people feel she could only be admired from afar, not profaned.

"What an ice-snow beauty. Too bad she's not my type; she's too cold."

He said, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.

Li Mo also glanced at her a couple of times.

To stand out among the crowd while wearing such ordinary clothes, this girl truly possessed a unique aura, like a lotus emerging from the dust, standing tall amidst everyone.

Just then.

A middle-aged man at the gate, responsible for testing spiritual root aptitude, let out an incredulous cry.

"Wind-Clearing Physique! The Wind-Clearing Physique that can expel and purify illusions!"

Li Mo and Lu Tianyou heard this and couldn't help but look towards the source of the exclamation.

They saw a slightly boyish young man in white standing tall amidst the congratulations of the surrounding crowd. Outside, many servants were in tears, and two well-dressed middle-aged individuals wore expressions of relief.

"Young master, from this day forward, you are a cultivator. Please visit home often in the future."

"Zheng'er, you're truly a good son of the Zhou family. You don't need to worry about family matters anymore; your mother and I will handle them. You just focus on your cultivation at the Lingmu Sect. If you need anything, just send someone back to tell us."

"Zheng'er, Mother can finally rest easy..."

A long time later.

Zhou Zheng, under the envious gaze of everyone, strode proudly into the courtyard of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau.

Lu Tianyou sighed, "What a lucky fellow. He possesses a special spiritual body aptitude, and his looks are not inferior to this young master's. He will surely become a rival in love for this young master in the future."

Li Mo couldn't help but glance at Lu Tianyou upon hearing this.

Lu Tianyou noticed Li Mo's gaze and chuckled, "Don't worry, the girl you fancy, this young master will absolutely not snatch her away."

By the time it was nearing evening, all the people in line had been tested.

Currently, there were over fifty people standing in the courtyard of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau.

And the number of people queuing at the gate of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau today to test their spiritual roots was at least thirty to forty thousand, perhaps even more. In the end, only these fifty-odd people possessed so-called spiritual root aptitude.

Evening.

Two Inspectors, dressed in bird-patterned robes, slowly closed the gates of the Heaven's Mandate Bureau.

From this moment on, the inside and outside of the courtyard seemed to become two entirely different worlds.