The Benefits of Mixed Spiritual Roots

"I'm not accepting this. Again!"

After suffering one setback after another, Jiang Feng's eyes were bloodshot, and he refused to concede.

With both of them at the same cultivation level, he simply couldn't accept such a result.

Even when he sparred with Bai Pu, the top disciple of the inner sect, it took hundreds of exchanges to decide the winner.

Yet against Ye Fei, he couldn't withstand even a single move.

The contrast was far too great.

"Again?"

Ye Fei was momentarily taken aback.

"We haven't settled the match yet."

Jiang Feng spoke through gritted teeth.

"Fine. As you wish."

The corners of Ye Fei's lips lifted, and he gave Jiang Feng a faint smile.

"Free and Easy Three Points!"

Jiang Feng flicked his wrist repeatedly, thrusting his longsword toward Ye Fei three times in rapid succession.

With each thrust, a white orb of light flew from the sword tip, hurtling straight toward Ye Fei.

Though the three orbs were only the size of a bowl's rim, their power was astonishing.

Before they even reached him, Ye Fei felt the oppressive force radiating from them.

"This move is a little stronger than the last."

Ye Fei nodded lightly, looking rather pleased.

Then he put away his longsword, clenched both hands into fists, and pushed off with his toes, shooting forward.

He met the three incoming orbs head-on.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In an instant, white light splashed everywhere. Ye Fei's fists struck the three formidable orbs in succession, shattering them into countless white specks that dissipated into the air.

When the white specks cleared, his fists were still completely unscathed.

"This..."

At the sight, everyone around them sucked in a breath of cold air.

Free and Easy Three Points was no ordinary technique. It was the most powerful move of the Free and Easy Three Swords.

Among those present, fewer than ten could execute it.

Small as those fireballs were, each rivaled the full-powered strike of a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator, with astonishing explosive force.

With three strikes unleashed in succession, even Bai Pu wouldn't dare take them head-on lightly.

Yet Ye Fei had shattered them effortlessly with his bare fists.

How formidable did his body have to be to accomplish that?

Everyone was stunned by Ye Fei.

Naturally, Jiang Feng was no exception.

However unwilling he was to accept it, he knew he had already lost this match.

The fact that Ye Fei had neutralized Free and Easy Three Points with his fists alone showed that ordinary techniques couldn't penetrate the defenses of his powerful body.

How can such a freak exist in this world?

Jiang Feng roared inwardly, bitterly unwilling to concede.

Still, to avoid losing even more disgracefully, he had no choice but to put away his longsword.

"Done fighting?"

Ye Fei raised an eyebrow as he asked.

"Uncle-Master Ye possesses supreme techniques personally imparted by the grandmaster. How could this martial nephew possibly be your match? I concede."

His face flushed crimson, Jiang Feng cupped his fists as he spoke.

Even now, he hadn't forgotten to find himself a way to save face.

"Say whatever you like."

"You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?"

As he spoke, Ye Fei turned his gaze toward Du Yuan.

"Junior Brother Du, I was wrong earlier."

Jiang Feng glanced around. Seeing everyone's mocking gazes, he gritted his teeth and hastily cupped his fists toward Du Yuan.

Then, without waiting for Du Yuan's response, he turned and left.

He had plainly dug his own pit and buried himself in it. He had no face left to stay here.

"Uncle-Master Ye, you're amazing!"

Watching Jiang Feng's retreating figure, Du Yuan excitedly walked up to Ye Fei, looking him up and down with curiosity.

"You're not bad yourself. A person can lack ability, but not backbone. You did well just now."

Ye Fei gave Du Yuan a thumbs-up.

The reason he had been willing to step forward was precisely the backbone Du Yuan had shown earlier.

Though it had come a little late, once Du Yuan showed it even once, his mindset would undergo a fundamental change.

Had Du Yuan simply let Jiang Feng bully him earlier, Ye Fei would never have intervened.

He would have been another spectator standing by with folded arms.

If someone couldn't even respect himself, how could he expect anyone else to respect him?

"Please don't tease me, Uncle-Master Ye."

Du Yuan gave an awkward smile.

"Are all of you going to enter the Divine Feather Secret Realm?"

Seeing that the crowd still hadn't dispersed, Ye Fei cupped his fists to everyone as he asked.

He put on none of the airs of an uncle-master.

"Yes! Uncle-Master Ye, you're incredible!"

"Uncle-Master Ye, are you a body cultivator?"

"Right, Uncle-Master Ye, did our great-uncle-master really teach you those moves?"

Seeing how friendly Ye Fei was, everyone began chiming in with questions.

Ye Fei turned none of them away, answering every question in turn.

Before long, he had fit right in with them.

"Uncle-Master Ye, are you entering the Divine Feather Secret Realm this time too?"

Once everyone had grown familiar with him, a Qi Refining Ninth Layer disciple named Ning Taiping asked.

"Yes."

Ye Fei nodded.

"That's wonderful!"

"With Uncle-Master Ye there, our chances of surviving the Divine Feather Secret Realm will be much higher."

Ning Taiping spoke excitedly.

Everyone voiced their agreement.

After all, each time the Divine Feather Secret Realm opened, fewer than thirty percent of the disciples made it out.

If a sect lacked someone capable of intimidating the other sects, never mind thirty percent-quite a few suffered complete annihilation.

Thus, seeing a freak like Ye Fei emerge among their ranks filled everyone with excitement.

Though Fang Pu and Jiang Feng were formidable, the gap between them and the leading disciples of other sects wasn't significant.

Ye Fei was different. Even if he couldn't crush the disciples of every other sect, securing a place among the top three would pose no problem at all.

That was why everyone was especially enthusiastic toward him.

Ye Fei felt rather helpless in the face of their enthusiasm. After discussing cultivation insights with them for a while, he returned to Jade Maiden Peak.

"Are you there, Uncle-Master Jiang?"

After a moment's hesitation, Ye Fei still went to the entrance of Jiang Mengyun's cave abode.

"Do you need something?"

Jiang Mengyun asked.

"I wanted to ask you something, Uncle-Master Jiang. I haven't practiced any profound cultivation methods, so why am I so much stronger than the other disciples?"

Ye Fei asked in puzzlement.

Through his match with Jiang Feng, he had discovered that although they were both at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, he was indeed considerably stronger.

He could practically crush Jiang Feng.

This left him rather confused.

After all, his spiritual root aptitude was very poor. By rights, he should have been weaker than Jiang Feng.

"You cultivate both qi and body. With your current cultivation level, your Skin Refinement Realm physique alone makes it difficult for you to find a worthy opponent within the Qi Refining Period."

"Besides, having cultivated this far with a pseudo spiritual root, the true qi in your body is more abundant than that of other cultivators. Naturally, you're stronger."

Jiang Mengyun patiently explained.

"My aptitude is poor, yet my true qi is more abundant?"

Ye Fei found this deeply puzzling.

"Spiritual root aptitude only represents a person's talent for cultivation and cultivation speed."

"Though cultivators with a heavenly spiritual root have exceptional talent and cultivate extremely quickly, they draw on only one type of five-element true qi. Naturally, they cannot compare to cultivators with multiple spiritual roots who draw on all five."

"Cultivators with a heavenly spiritual root may be able to go further, but their cultivation will become increasingly difficult in the later stages."

"For instance, when comprehending laws after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, a cultivator with a gold spiritual root may comprehend the gold-element law quickly, but will be far slower when comprehending the other five-element laws."

"Multiple spiritual roots are different."

"Though multiple spiritual roots are impure, if the cultivator keeps breaking through bottlenecks, those spiritual roots will continually become purer."

"After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, cultivators with multiple spiritual roots will enjoy a uniquely blessed advantage in comprehending laws."

Jiang Mengyun explained again.

"Then do you mean that, at the same cultivation level, cultivators with a pseudo spiritual root are stronger than those with other spiritual roots?"

Something stirred in Ye Fei's heart, and he asked again.

"That may be true if we're considering internal power alone. Once magic treasures and secret arts enter the equation, however, it's hard to say."

Jiang Mengyun spoke meaningfully.

"Magic treasures, secret arts."

Ye Fei murmured the words.

"A cultivator's own cultivation is certainly important to their strength, but the power of magic treasures and secret arts cannot be underestimated either."

"For instance, the Nine Leaning Luo Swords you practice is absolutely a top-tier technique in the Cultivation World."

"That's why it repeatedly achieves extraordinary results whenever you use it."

Jiang Mengyun explained patiently.

"The Nine Leaning Luo Swords is a top-tier technique in the Cultivation World?"

"How is that possible?"

"I only spent ten spirit stones to buy it from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion."

Ye Fei was somewhat stunned.

That was indeed the truth. He had bought it with his monthly stipend.

"The Nine Leaning Luo Swords is the supreme technique that made Senior Sister Luo Ying famous."

Jiang Mengyun spoke as though hinting at something.