Little Jade, Little Jade, Can I Beat Him?

"Chen, you smell so good."

In the classroom, Meng Yan, still stuck at the First Layer of Qi Refining, looked at Chen Zhuo and could not help asking, "Are you like Sister Liang? Did you come from a great lineage that invested in you after you had a Spiritual Root implanted?"

Meng Yan looked envious. "Chen, your Spiritual Root must be different from mine. It's at least mortal grade, right? Your vitality is like a rainbow, and your body looks sturdy and tough. You must be close to the Qi Refining Third Layer... You finished the body-tempering stage of Early Qi Refinement in just one year. Incredible!"

Chen Zhuo kept his expectations in check.

Honestly, his progress was fine.

The first three layers of Qi Refinement were easy enough to reach. The hard part was entering the middle stage at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Cultivation was like life: a pyramid loomed over every cultivator.

Some stood high above the rest. Others were nothing but fuel.

"Everything I have came from hard work and effort. Meng Yan, you have to believe that Heaven rewards diligence. Work hard and you'll get rich."

Chen Zhuo sat in the middle of the classroom and spoke calmly, without answering Meng Yan's question.

Meng Yan nodded.

He did not believe a word of it.

Work hard and get rich?

Sure, brother. Nothing to see here. I get it.

Several Nascent Soul elders of the Taiqing Domain had made public statements along those lines.

They said the Immortal Estate was committed to helping every cultivator rise higher, but resources first had to be concentrated.

They would nurture a few geniuses to the Nascent Soul stage, then have those Nascent Soul Cultivators help the next generation reach it and secure more resources. The cycle would continue...

One day, every cultivator in the Immortal Estate would become an immortal, and the Immortal Estate would grow stronger.

Then everyone would be a dragon!

Chen Zhuo did not explain. People could judge for themselves.

Before long, more students began trickling into the classroom.

For a moment, Chen Zhuo felt as though he were back at university in his previous life, except this time the students glowed with spiritual light.

He swept his gaze across them. Most had full foreheads, clearly having completed body tempering and reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. A few had even reached the fifth.

Of course, some were still at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

But there were only a handful of them.

Unlike Chen Zhuo and Meng Yan, these students had been born with Spiritual Roots. They had not needed to take out loans to buy one.

They had undergone Cultivation for seven or eight years and were far ahead of those who had received Acquired Spiritual Root Implantation, like Chen Zhuo and Meng Yan.

But that was fine. Chen Zhuo did not care.

After all, getting into a vocational college Ming their Spiritual Roots could not be all that impressive.

Anyone with Spiritual Root perception above 30 could at least get into a second-tier university. Above 50, and they would be a bona fide Taiqing University student, free to join a Taiqing Group research institute in the future.

Soon, everyone took their seats.

A student born with a Spiritual Root and at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer sat beside Meng Yan.

Meng Yan was friendly. Perhaps hoping to make another friend, he immediately said, "Hello, I'm Meng Yan. You're..."

Before he could finish, the student raised a hand to stop him. Then he took out a Spirit Message Jade Slip and asked quietly, "Little Jade, Little Jade, will sitting next to a cultivator with an implanted Spiritual Root affect how my Spiritual Qi circulates in the future and slow down my cultivation?"

Chen Zhuo: ?

Meng Yan had not even reacted yet, but question marks were already popping up in Chen Zhuo's head.

What's that supposed to mean? Spiritual Root discrimination?

Am I the black guy now?

Chen Zhuo frowned and was about to speak, but Meng Yan's face had already turned red. After struggling for a while, he managed to say, "What do you mean by that?"

The cultivator turned his head, picked up the jade slip again, and asked quietly, "Little Jade, Little Jade, can I talk to a cultivator with Acquired Spiritual Root Implantation?"

After a moment, the cultivator wearing earbuds seemed to receive Little Jade's answer. He sneered. "What do I mean? Exactly what I said. Those inferior implanted Spiritual Roots can't circulate Spiritual Qi even half as efficiently as innate ones. If I sit with you while cultivating, I might catch Inferior Spiritual Root Syndrome!"

"You!"

Meng Yan trembled with anger, but he did not know how to respond.

He was unsure of himself. He did not know the difference between implanted and innate Spiritual Roots, so he could hardly argue.

Several nearby students with innate Spiritual Roots heard him and burst out laughing.

"Wang's right. Our innate Spiritual Roots came from our parents. How can they compare to something bought on credit?"

"Exactly. I heard cultivation is hard with an inferior implanted Spiritual Root. They're destined to work on assembly lines. Wang Heng! You're one of us with innate Spiritual Roots. Show some backbone. Don't embarrass us!"

"Hey, you two, get out of here before I scratch your scales!"

"..."

Chen Zhuo had not wanted to make trouble, but seeing Meng Yan's embarrassment and hearing those grating words lit a nameless fire in his chest.

He spoke up. "You're Wang Heng, right? Qi Refining Fourth Layer?"

"What?"

Wang Heng glanced at Chen Zhuo sidelong. "You're only at the Qi Refining Second Layer, and you want to challenge me?"

The last cultivator at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer who talked to me was left a headless corpse!

Chen Zhuo snorted. But he could not openly kill Wang Heng in the Immortal Estate, so he sneered instead. "I wouldn't dare. I was just thinking you must have started cultivating in the womb to reach the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. Sixteen or seventeen years old, and only at the fourth layer? That pace..."

Wang Heng's face darkened instantly. "What did you say?"

"I said Wang Heng's cultivation speed is truly admirable."

The corners of Chen Zhuo's mouth lifted. He said proudly, "Even with an inferior implanted Spiritual Root, I reached the Qi Refining Second Layer in three months. Wang Heng spent more than ten years reaching the fourth. What extraordinary talent!"

"How dare you!"

Wang Heng shot to his feet, face flushed and Spiritual Qi surging around him. "You took out a loan, and you dare spout nonsense here?"

"My grandfather worked on an assembly line for forty years, my father for thirty, and my eldest brother for ten. They scrimped and saved every Spirit Stone to support my cultivation!"

"Three generations of my family worked for wages and saved at least a thousand Spirit Stones. They gave me everything they had. How can someone with a Spiritual Root bought on credit compare to three generations of my family's hard work?!"

Chen Zhuo was utterly speechless.

Seriously, man?

Three generations of your family worked for this, and you're only at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer?

In truth, Wang Heng's Spiritual Root was probably nothing special. Its spiritual energy perception was likely no better than an implanted root's.

He had simply been born with it, so he had not needed to borrow five thousand Spirit Coins and could cultivate from childhood.

Then what the hell are you showing off for?

Since killing that Sinister Old Man in the Spirit Pearl World yesterday, Chen Zhuo had grown much more confident. Without hesitation, he rose and walked up to Wang Heng, looking down at him. "Three generations supported you, and this is the failure they got? The sky must have fallen on your family."

"What do you say, Wang Heng? Want to fight right here and test yourself against a cultivator at the Qi Refining Second Layer with an implanted Spiritual Root?"

At that, Wang Heng looked a little flustered. He held out a hand. "Wait a second."

Then he took out his Spirit Message Jade Slip and asked quietly, "Little Jade, Little Jade, I have an innate Spiritual Root and I'm at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. A cultivator at the Qi Refining Second Layer with an implanted Spiritual Root is provoking me. Can I beat him?"

"Of course! In cultivation level, Spiritual Root sensitivity, time spent cultivating, and combat experience, you clearly have the edge! I'm sure you'll win a great victory, defend the honor of innate Spiritual Roots, and teach that reckless cultivator with an implanted root a lesson!"

Seeing what the little assistant built into the Spirit Message Jade Slip had said, Wang Heng immediately perked up, brimming with confidence. "Come on, then. Let me teach you a lesson, you fool who doesn't know how high the heavens are!"

Little Jade said so. How could she be wrong?

I'm Wang Heng, an innate Spiritual Root cultivator at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. I'm invincible!