Artificial Spirit Root, Chen Changsheng's Unexpected Gain

Wiping away the blood, he stitched the scattered flesh and skin back together.

He removed the tattered clothes and changed them into a brand-new burial garment.

Chen Changsheng unhurriedly arranged the corpse's appearance before him. Every step was meticulous, carried out with utmost care.

Half an hour later, the deceased's appearance had mostly been restored. Even the teeth scattered around had been found one by one by Chen Changsheng.

Once everything was done, Chen Changsheng patted the Beast Hide Pouch at his waist with his right hand.

A fine coffin appeared before him.

After placing the body inside the coffin, Chen Changsheng began using a Compass to search for a geomantically auspicious burial site nearby.

Digging Earth, digging the grave, carrying the coffin, and laying it to rest—though the little monk assisted him at the side, Chen Changsheng still spent a full two hours on these tasks.

But when it came time to erect the grave marker, Chen Changsheng stopped what he was doing.

"Little monk, raising a grave marker requires knowing the deceased's name, and the name of the person who erected it."

"What was his name?"

Hearing this, the little monk pressed his palms together and said, "This benefactor was the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect. His nickname was Blood Demon Ancestor, but no one knew his actual name."

"As for the person erecting the marker, Benefactor may handle that yourself."

"Bound by the sect rules, this little monk cannot erect a marker for him."

Faced with this answer, Chen Changsheng smacked his lips, then wrote on the tombstone.

"Blood Demon Ancestor of the Heavenly Demon Sect lies buried here—Undertaker."

Looking at the words on the tombstone, the little monk asked in confusion, "Benefactor, is your nickname 'Undertaker'?"

"Of course!"

"I sell coffins. I specialize in collecting corpses and burying people. If I'm not an Undertaker, what am I?"

With that, Chen Changsheng turned and left. At the same time, he waved his hand and said, "My work here is done. I'll be on my way."

"If there's anything like this in the future, remember to come find me."

Watching Chen Changsheng's departing back, the little monk tilted his head and pondered for a long while.

Because this was the first time he had encountered such a strange person.

There was a feeling about this person that one simply could not put into words.

Linglong Town.

After Chen Changsheng returned to his Coffin Shop, he immediately shut the doors and looked curiously at a tooth in his hand.

This tooth had been found on that Blood Demon Ancestor.

At first glance, it was no different from an ordinary tooth. But upon closer inspection, tiny Array Patterns could be seen carved upon it.

If Chen Changsheng had not been arranging Blood Demon Ancestor's appearance, he would never have imagined that even a tooth could be tampered with.

After examining it carefully, Chen Changsheng rubbed his chin and muttered, "It looks like storage-type Array Patterns. For Blood Demon Ancestor to go to such painstaking lengths, what's inside probably isn't simple."

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng waved his right hand, and more than ten thick books instantly appeared before him.

All of these books concerned arrays.

Chen Changsheng's cultivation talent was abysmal beyond measure. In fifty years, he had only barely reached the third level of Qi Refining.

For those geniuses, reaching such a realm would take no more than the time needed to finish a meal.

After confirming that he truly had no talent for cultivation, Chen Changsheng began shifting his attention to arrays and alchemy.

After all, these things could be accumulated through time. And when it came to things that required time to accumulate, Chen Changsheng liked them best.

Lighting an oil lamp, Chen Changsheng began researching the array on the tooth.

Although Chen Changsheng had only studied some basic knowledge of arrays, and although the array laid down by Blood Demon Ancestor was highly ingenious,

none of that was a problem for Chen Changsheng, because he possessed a long lifespan.

If one day was not enough, then one month. If one month was not enough, then one year.

So long as Chen Changsheng did not give up, one day he would wear away the array on this tooth.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. During those three months, Chen Changsheng had scarcely stepped outside.

Fortunately, hardly anyone ever visited his Coffin Shop. Otherwise, it would surely have drawn the attention of others.

"Phew~"

Chen Changsheng let out a long breath, then stretched his somewhat stiff body.

After spending three months, Chen Changsheng had finally worn away the array left behind by Blood Demon Ancestor.

"Pseudo Spiritual Root?"

Looking at the title of the book in his hand, Chen Changsheng's face was filled with confusion.

Spiritual roots were the foundation of cultivators and the standard by which their cultivation talent was measured.

The most common were Five Elements Spiritual Roots, which were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade.

Supreme-grade spiritual roots were the pinnacle of cultivation talent. Beyond that, there were also Variant Spiritual Roots.

These Variant Spiritual Roots were equally powerful, though it depended on the circumstances.

But among the many names for spiritual roots, he had never heard the term Pseudo Spiritual Root!

At this thought, Chen Changsheng was instantly intrigued, because he loved learning about things he did not know.

"Interesting. I'd like to see just what this Pseudo Spiritual Root really is."

Muttering to himself, Chen Changsheng opened the first page of the book.

As the words on the page entered his eyes, Chen Changsheng discovered that this was not some cultivation method or Secret Technique.

To be precise, it was merely a personal autobiography, recording Blood Demon Ancestor's entire cultivation journey.

Blood Demon Ancestor's talent had not been good. His aptitude could practically be considered the lowest grade in the Cultivation World.

He possessed a Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Root, and the quality of his spiritual root was terrible to the extreme.

After struggling in the Qi Refining stage for many years, Blood Demon Ancestor developed a thought.

Since spiritual roots existed, could their quality be improved through acquired cultivation?

After this thought arose, Blood Demon Ancestor immediately began experimenting.

But this was, after all, an idea close to Arabian Nights, and Blood Demon Ancestor did not dare explore it on himself.

So Blood Demon Ancestor began experimenting on living people.

As more and more people died by his hand, he truly managed to work out some of the principles behind spiritual roots.

Spiritual roots could not have their quality improved through pills, cultivation methods, arrays...

or any of the methods currently known to cultivators. But spiritual roots devouring other spiritual roots could improve their quality.

After discovering this secret, Blood Demon Ancestor truly began his path of rising against the odds.

After devouring many cultivators weaker than himself, Blood Demon Ancestor's spiritual root quality also improved.

Thus, in this virtuous cycle, Blood Demon Ancestor's strength grew greater and greater, until he ultimately became a mighty figure in his own right.

But later on, something seemed to have gone wrong with Blood Demon Ancestor's method, and his frenzied slaughter also drew the joint suppression of other sects.

At this point, Blood Demon Ancestor's autobiography came to an abrupt end.

"Tut, tut!"

"This Blood Demon Ancestor was truly a talent!"

"He actually managed to figure out such a bizarre method."

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng stored the book back in the System Space.

"System, do you think the Artificial Spirit Root mentioned by Blood Demon Ancestor in the book could be realized?"

"The latter half of this autobiography repeatedly mentions Artificial Spirit Roots, and it also contains many of Blood Demon Ancestor's hypotheses."

"I think it makes a lot of sense."