The Transformation of His Root

He did not know how long he had sat in this dim, silent underground chamber. It was as though the passage of time itself had grown indistinct.

When the fusion of the three treasures within Xia Dong—essence, qi, and spirit—finally crossed that last invisible threshold and formed a perfect, unbroken cycle, a crisp hum rang out from within him, like an icebound river cracking open.

The foundational chapter of the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art had finally reached perfection!

At that moment, Xia Dong felt his whole body shudder. His very "root aptitude" had undergone a profound, earth-shattering transformation.

The wisp of hazy green primordial qi that had been entrenched deep within his heart suddenly scattered without warning, turning into countless strands of misty green vapor that spread throughout his limbs, bones, and internal organs.

This was not a loss of cultivation, but an ultimate sublimation.

Xia Dong clearly felt that after his flesh, sinews, bones, and even the tiniest hairs fused with this dispersed qi, they had taken on an indescribable lightness. It was as if his heavy mortal body had acquired a trace of the wondrous quality of "qi transformation."

Xia Dong immediately calmed his mind and looked inward into his sea of consciousness.

The ancient, mottled Bronze Ancient Bell floated quietly, giving off a distant toll that only he could hear.

On its surface, the crimson writing describing his state had quietly undergone a tangible change.

His gaze dropped to one line:

[Spirit Root: Empty]

Before, the bell had described his Spirit Root with the character "None."

Now, that "None" had vanished, replaced by the character "Empty."

The Bronze Ancient Bell had always been extraordinarily precise in its deductions and descriptions of his condition, yet there was always an ineffable hint of the profound mysteries of the Great Dao in them.

Xia Dong stared fixedly at the character "Empty" and saw it flickering on the mottled bronze surface, appearing and disappearing, seeming to exist and yet not exist.

With every flicker, it seemed to wander between reality and illusion, exuding a profound Dao resonance that lay between "existence" and "nonexistence."

"An empty-attribute Spirit Root?"

Xia Dong was greatly astonished.

He had read widely, and had learned from the Eagle-Wolf Guard's classified records and the Cultivation Miscellany sold at the Marketplace that most cultivators possessed mixed Spirit Roots containing some combination of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Those with outstanding aptitude might develop mutated attributes such as wind, thunder, or ice, or even possess a single-element Heavenly Spiritual Root.

But he had never heard of a Spirit Root called "Empty."

Still full of questions and anticipation, Xia Dong immediately closed his eyes and began circulating the Qi Refining method of the Profound Yin Scripture, attempting to absorb the spiritual energy around him.

As soon as his mana began to circulate, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth poured into his body, drawn by his divine sense.

"Twenty percent!"

The spiritual energy drifting through the world flowed into him through his pores and countless apertures. After completing one Greater Celestial Circuit, he had retained a full twenty percent of it, perfectly transforming it into his own Mysterious Yin Mana!

This was a genuine leap in quality.

One had to understand that, when the foundational chapter of the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art had been nearing completion and he was stuck at a bottleneck, he had pushed himself to the limit, yet his spiritual energy conversion efficiency had remained firmly stuck at ten percent, unable to advance by even the slightest bit.

Now, his efficiency had doubled outright.

Although Xia Dong knew full well that a twenty-percent conversion rate would probably put him at the bottom of the cultivation world, on par with the most mediocre mixed Spirit Roots, his ability to refine and absorb spiritual energy was still nothing special.

Yet he had taken a mortal root aptitude riddled with holes, one that could barely refine any spiritual energy at all, and, through an acquired remolding, forcibly raised it to the level of a Spirit Root capable of refining twenty percent.

Such an inconceivable method of cultivation was nothing short of defying heaven.

As his mana flowed freely through his body, Xia Dong gained a deeper understanding of his newly formed "Empty" Spirit Root.

He discovered that although he did not absorb spiritual energy particularly quickly as he breathed in and out, his entire being had become extraordinarily attuned to the natural world around him.

He seemed to have become an empty vessel, able to contain all things.

In this state of "emptiness," he felt more in tune with the rules of the world than ever before. With every breath, he sensed the wondrous feeling of heaven and man communicating, of merging into the void.

Amid this ethereal state of communion between heaven and man, a flash of crystal-clear insight passed through Xia Dong's mind.

At last, he fully understood the fundamental difference between the "qi" within him and "mana."

The qi cultivated through the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art was inward-facing. It sought nothing from outside itself and was not bound by the five-element laws of heaven and earth. What it elevated was the purest "origin" of life. It would gradually push his mortal body of flesh and blood toward a higher plane of existence.

By contrast, the "Mysterious Yin Mana" cultivated through the Profound Yin Scripture was outward-facing. It was a product born of conforming to the laws of this world, this heaven and earth. Mana was a tool for communicating with heaven and earth, and for casting spells, controlling magical artifacts, and prying at the rules of the world.

Xia Dong slowly rose to his feet and stretched his limbs.

As he moved, a crisp sound like jade striking jade came faintly from within his body, rather than the dull crack of bones that came from an ordinary martial artist.

This was a sign that, after the qi had spread through his limbs and bones, his body was gradually adapting to its newly transformed "root aptitude."

His body felt lighter than ever before, as though he had shed a thick, invisible shackle. Even his breathing had become wonderfully smooth.

Xia Dong did not hurry out of seclusion. Instead, he sat cross-legged again, closed his eyes, and began to review and summarize all that he had achieved in cultivation over the past year or so.

Now, the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit have all taken root within me.

He silently took stock:

Martial Dao (Essence): He had entered the Internal Strengthening Realm. With the Mysterious Yin Kidney-Refining Art, not only had his blood and qi become as dense and solid as liquid lead and mercury, he had also opened Divine Palaces within both kidneys and was attempting to nurture the softest, most yin of substances: Mysterious Yin Divine Water.

Immortal Dao Mana (Qi): He had steadily cultivated the Profound Yin Scripture, and, with the help of pills, his mana had reached the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Divine Sense (Spirit): By pushing himself to his limits through making talismans and refining pills, his divine sense had reached Qi Refining Fifth Layer Perfection. Although he was stuck at a bottleneck for lack of higher-quality Yin Evil Pills, his divine sense was absolutely impressive among low-level cultivators.

The Cultivation Arts: He could achieve a heaven-defying success rate of ninety percent with Qi-Gathering Pills and all kinds of basic talismans. He no longer had any financial worries about cultivation below Foundation Establishment.

"But the foundational chapter of the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art has reached perfection, and it successfully transformed my root aptitude. But... what about the cultivation method that comes after the foundational chapter?"

The Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art was a technique that pointed directly to the origin of life, with immeasurable potential. Xia Dong naturally did not want to stop here.

Xia Dong's gaze gradually deepened as an idea he had been considering for some time quietly took shape in his mind.

"Qi governs the inner realm. It cultivates the origin of life, the foundation of immortality. Mana governs the outer realm. It cultivates the laws of heaven and earth, the means to protect the Dao."

"The two are one inward, one outward. Now that I've perfected the foundational chapter of the Evergreen Qi-Conducting Art, it's time to integrate the Profound Yin Scripture into it."

His divine sense sank into his sea of consciousness in an instant, fixing upon the ancient, mottled Bronze Ancient Bell.

He acted as soon as the thought came.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Dong flipped his wrist and poured the Spirit Stones he had accumulated out of his Storage Pouch.

"Absorb them."

Guided by Xia Dong's divine sense, the spiritual energy in the pile of Spirit Stones transformed into a dazzling radiance and poured in its entirety into the Bronze Ancient Bell at the center of his sea of consciousness.

The Spirit Stones, drained of their spiritual energy, crumbled into heaps of gray-white powder.

Hum!

The Ancient Bell, having absorbed an immense amount of spiritual energy, suddenly let out a tremendous toll that shook the soul. The ancient, twisted crimson characters on its surface began to flicker and rearrange themselves wildly.

Within Xia Dong's mind,

the cultivation paths of the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art and the profound principles of the Profound Yin Scripture were fed without reservation into the Ancient Bell for its deductions.

He waited quietly.

"Bronze Ancient Bell, show me what kind of path you can deduce for me."