Wind-Breaking

Was Wen Xu's Spiritual Root really that good?

Bian Chunchou thought, Could it be a single Spiritual Root? A mutated single Spiritual Root? Could it possibly be wind-element? Wen Xu was certainly quite nimble with that fan of his.

Then, the very next moment, he heard the five words "Mutated Wind Spiritual Root" from the elder's mouth.

Ahhh, his guess had been way too accurate! No, his new friend was actually an immortal cultivation genius! He had picked up a genius cultivator for a friend! Shouldn't Yonglu Mountain give him some huge commemorative banner?!

"Wen Xu, if you rise to riches and honor, don't forget me!"

Even Chen Zui silently revised his assessment of him: [A promising future opponent +1].

Only Wen Xu, because the jade slip he had read contained such a simplistic introduction to Spiritual Roots, had no idea how rare a wind Spiritual Root was. He even asked a rare foolish question: "Does mutated mean it's not very good?"

Everyone: !!!! Is there anyone out there? Hurry up and drag this show-off away! They wanted mutations too! If he didn't want it, he should give it to them!

Yet once all thirty-five people had finished having their Spiritual Roots tested, no second mutated Spiritual Root appeared apart from Wen Xu's. There were, however, two single-Spiritual-Root geniuses.

Xia Ying, the niece of Langyuan City's city lord, possessed a Single Fire Spiritual Root. The other was named Lin Congcong; although her name contained both water and wood, she had an earth Spiritual Root, with not the slightest connection to water.

It was not until the Spiritual Root testing had ended, as Wen Xu felt the gazes falling on him—some jealous, some wistful, some stunned—that he finally gained a faint sense of reality: So even I had been favored by heaven for once.

But he quickly realized that if he was a cultivation genius, then didn't that mean there was hope for revenge?!

Wind-Breaking

New disciples who had just entered the sect were given a three-day adjustment and learning period.

The curriculum included, but was not limited to, learning Yonglu Mountain's disciple rules, getting an early feel for how to earn spirit stones and cultivation resources at Yonglu Mountain, adaptive cultivation tailored to one's Spiritual Root, and so on. Put simply, it was preparation for taking a master three days later.

Likewise, these three days gave the inner sect powerhouses who wished to accept disciples an opportunity to observe them. Though three days were not enough to see through a person's character, something was better than nothing.

Originally, Yonglu Mountain had been like other sects, with no three-day buffer period. Once the Spiritual Roots were tested, anyone could take whichever disciple they wanted; those nobody wanted would first be assigned to the outer sect, and when the sect held its grand competition a year later, there could be a second round of taking disciples.

But later, one of Yonglu Mountain's sect masters discovered that confirming a master-disciple relationship without any buffer was far too hasty. He himself had suffered bitterly from it: he had blindly accepted disciples based only on aptitude without looking at their personalities. One of his disciples had reached Nascent Soul cultivation at two hundred years old yet still did not dare leave the mountain gate to travel. It angered him so badly that he nearly expelled the disciple from the sect. Perhaps because he had been caught in the rain himself, he set up this three-day adjustment period.

"This is obviously absurd. A two-hundred-year-old Nascent Soul True Lord! I suspect that this sect master used the establishment of the three-day rule as an excuse to show off his excellent disciple to the outside world!"

Wen Xu rarely admired anyone, but at this moment, he truly admired Bian Chunchou. "Where did you hear all this?"

"I just casually found a senior brother to chat with. Aren't I a Water-Fire Dual Spiritual Root? Nobody had seen one before. I took the initiative to talk to them about it, so of course they were willing to chat with me."

In truth, even more people had come to see Wen Xu. But Wen Xu himself wore a blindfold. Though he looked approachable, they had heard he came from the Mortal Realm and feared they might frighten him. If the elders blamed them afterward, they would be in trouble, so they did not dare strike up a conversation. Besides, now that they had all entered Yonglu Mountain, there would surely be plenty of chances to get to know him later.

"That's also because you have such a cheerful, likable personality. That's why people are willing to tell you these things."

Bian Chunchou chuckled twice. "Actually, I know quite a few people have been speaking sourly behind my back. They say I stepped in dog shit and got lucky enough to become friends with you. Then they say that with my Water-Fire Dual Spiritual Root, I definitely won't be able to enter the inner sect, so I'm desperately clinging to you, hoping you'll look after me in the future and bring me into the inner sect~"

That straight shot caught Wen Xu entirely off guard. "They..."

To be honest, due to his upbringing, Wen Xu truly could not be considered a warmhearted person. But Bian Chunchou had helped him greatly, even saved his life. Though two Blood-Recovery Pills were not particularly valuable in the cultivation world and any random cultivator on the road could produce them, in the Cloud-Breaking Secret Realm, others might not have been able to save his life as Bian Chunchou had, without a moment's hesitation.

Afterward, Bian Chunchou had even rescued him from the Cloud-Breaking Secret Realm and helped him enter the immortal sect. Wen Xu had even considered what he should do if Bian Chunchou suffered mistreatment at Yonglu Mountain because of his Spiritual Root—how he could quietly help him gain a firm foothold and increase his spiritual power.

"Why care what they say? Besides, the Spiritual Root is growing on my body. I'll cultivate however I want!" Bian Chunchou spoke earnestly. "Wen Xu, people like that, who only know how to talk behind others' backs about their shortcomings, aren't fit to be friends."

Warmth filled Wen Xu's heart, and then he said, "Chunchou, there's actually something I've always wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Bian Chunchou moved closer and sat down.

"After this New Year, I'll be twenty-two by nominal age." Wen Xu had passed the provincial examination at eighteen and observed three years of mourning. By actual age, he was already twenty this year. No matter how he counted it, he was older than Bian Chunchou.

Nineteen-year-old Bian Chunchou was utterly stunned. "No way! If you hadn't told me, I would've thought you were underage!" He looked far too young.

"I've already come of age. Chunchou ought to call me elder brother."

Bian Chunchou gave a soft snort. "I won't!" The truth was that he was so used to calling him Wen Xu that he simply could not change it.

"Besides, if I call you elder brother, wouldn't I have to call Chen Zui elder brother too?" Bian Chunchou instantly shook his head like a rattling drum. "No, no, no, no. It's better to keep things as they are."

"Hm? You didn't know?" Wen Xu asked at just the right moment.

"What didn't I know?"

"Chen Zui is the youngest among the new disciples entering the sect this time. As far as I know, he's only just passed his eighteenth birthday."

"What? I don't believe it!"

Bian Chunchou sprang to his feet in shock and made a hundred-meter sprint toward the person practicing with his saber. "You're really eighteen?"