Root Aptitude

Deep in his sea of consciousness, the Bronze Ancient Bell erupted with a roar unlike any before.

The vast spiritual power he had accumulated over the past year surged like floodwaters bursting through a dam, pouring madly into the illusory Deduction Furnace.

The ethereal phantom of the Crane Stance, the domineering dragon of the Dragon-Capturing Technique, and the intricate map of the human meridians from the Evergreen Medical Classic, as countless as the stars, began to shatter inch by inch under the forceful kneading of that boundless spiritual power.

Three techniques, utterly different yet sharing the same source, melted and intertwined in the dazzling spiritual light.

Clang.

A bell chime, like the heavenly music of the Great Dao, washed over his soul.

Crimson, twisted characters frantically rearranged themselves across the mottled bell, at last congealing into several archaic seal-script characters, steeped in an ancient and desolate aura:

[Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art (Basic Chapter)]

Immediately afterward, a vast and profound stream of information flooded Xia Dong's mind like a divine revelation. He quickly grasped the mysteries of this entirely new technique.

This was no longer ordinary martial arts.

"Qi" and "qi"—only a single stroke apart, yet separated by a world of difference.

In ordinary martial arts, even when one cultivated to the Mortal Transformation Realm, the "qi force" surging through the body was merely an acquired power produced by squeezing one's blood and vital energy and regulating one's breathing. The Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art, however, sought to forcibly meld the body's three treasures—"essence" (pure blood and vital energy), "qi" (internal energy and breath), and "spirit" (a cultivator's divine sense)—into one, Revert to Root, Return to Origin, and refine the most primordial "qi."

This "qi" was far purer than the blood and vital energy of martial arts, and denser and heavier as well.

What truly delighted Xia Dong, however, was not the boost this qi gave his strength, but the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art's true central mystery: reshaping one's root aptitude.

"So that's how it is... The seemingly impassable chasm between cultivators and ordinary people comes down to this."

Xia Dong suddenly opened his eyes.

Through this technique, he had dissected the so-called "Spirit Root" down to its very source.

The cultivation world often claimed that one could not cultivate without a Spirit Root, treating it as some kind of mysterious inborn organ. But according to the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art, the so-called "Spirit Root" was merely one manifestation of the body's innate "root aptitude."

The human body was like a vessel.

Those with strong root aptitude had bodies whose apertures and meridians could retain and refine the spiritual energy drifting through the world. That was what it meant to "have a Spirit Root"; the more energy they retained, the higher their Spirit Root aptitude.

As for ordinary people like Xia Dong, their root aptitude was like a broken sieve riddled with holes. Spiritual energy flowed out of their bodies the moment it entered. That was what it meant to have an "ordinary root."

The process of cultivating the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art was a miraculous, reverse growth from acquired to innate!

Using the innate "qi" refined by uniting essence, qi, and spirit as a guide, the practitioner's internal organs and every limb and bone were wrapped layer upon layer. Nourished by this primordial qi, the practitioner seemed to return to the womb, surrounded by amniotic fluid. By shutting off acquired pores and stray thoughts and entering a state of "fetal breathing," they forcibly made their body develop anew, replenished what they lacked from birth, and reset their root aptitude!

"This is practically a feat of seizing the workings of Heaven and Earth!" Xia Dong drew a deep breath.

He did not know whether this world had any similar techniques, but if word of this one got out, the great powers would surely dig into its origins with frenzied desperation.

After all, this technique could truly ensure that the children of those great figures were born with Spirit Roots.

Its importance to the inheritance of bloodlines and power was self-evident.

However, the threshold for this technique was extremely high.

First, one had to possess a cultivator's "divine sense" to take the lead, and have a resolute mind untouched by heart demons; otherwise, one could not perfectly meld essence, qi, and spirit. Second, one's blood and vital energy had to be pure, abundant, and well-refined. Third, it was best for the practitioner to remain a virgin.

After men and women joined in intimacy, Primordial Yang leaked away, and the spirit and qi would inevitably become mixed with acquired, impure desires. This would greatly hinder the process of reshaping root aptitude through "fetal breathing."

Xia Dong couldn't help feeling fortunate that he had never indulged his desires and had kept his purity from an early age.

Daoist Zhang from the movie in his previous life had been right. Sure enough, one had to be a virgin to cultivate peerless divine arts!

Only after a long while did Xia Dong rein in his wandering thoughts and calm his mind.

He sat cross-legged and began his introductory cultivation of the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art.

Over the past year, to accumulate spiritual power for the Bronze Ancient Bell, he had been forced to eat large quantities of grains and meat, even with Bigu Pills. Although ordinary food replenished his blood and vital energy, it had also pushed his digestive system past its limits.

A great deal of turbid qi still lingered in his body, difficult to purge. In the cultivation world, it was like the "pill poison" left behind by taking too many pills—a stubborn affliction that obstructed cultivation.

But as the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art began to circulate, a wondrous change took place.

Xia Dong's breathing gradually became almost imperceptible, and his heartbeat slowed until it was like that of an old tortoise.

As he examined himself with his divine sense, the power of his soul in his sea of consciousness, the dragon of blood and vital energy in his spine, and the breath in his dantian began to converge along an arcane path.

A thread of "qi," faint beyond measure yet touched with an ancient, hazy quality, was born deep within his heart.

This thread of qi slowly traveled along his meridians. Wherever it passed, Xia Dong felt warm all over, as if immersed in the gentlest amniotic fluid. His bones, muscles, and even cells all let out a greedy cheer, like a parched land welcoming sweet rain.

At the same time, his divine sense clearly detected the "turbid qi" and impurities that had settled deep in his internal organs and in the dead ends of his meridians. Under the washing of this primordial qi, they were being stripped away bit by bit.

The process was exceedingly slow, but it advanced with unshakable resolve.

The sun rose and the moon set. Half a month slipped by in an instant.

The main room in the rear courtyard of Changchun Medical Hall was tightly shut.

When Xia Dong opened his eyes again, a faint, fishy stench filled the room.

He called Xiao Hong over to heat water and washed himself three times before he finally got clean.

After changing into a clean blue robe, Xia Dong stood in the courtyard.

At that moment, his skin had taken on a faintly glowing, lustrous quality, like that of a newborn infant. He stood firm and imposing, exuding the immortal bearing of a cultivator untouched by worldly dust.

The Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art: introductory stage achieved!

Xia Dong closed his eyes and sent out his divine sense like an invisible tentacle, precisely catching the spiritual energy drifting through the courtyard and drawing it into his body.

This time, he did not let the Bronze Ancient Bell devour it. Instead, he allowed the spiritual energy to travel through his meridians.

If it had been half a month ago, that energy would have leaked clean out through the countless holes in his flesh.

But now...

Illuminated by his divine sense, he clearly "saw" that the proportion of the world's spiritual energy his body retained had increased noticeably compared to before he cultivated the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art.

"If I can retain a greater proportion of spiritual energy, that means my root aptitude has already changed..." Xia Dong raised his head and breathed out a long stream of turbid air as white as a ribbon.

The Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art's ability to reshape root aptitude had been proven.

The progress was negligible, but it was a change all the same.

Cultivators truly did defy the current to become immortals.