It Grew on Its Own

In the Si Household's great hall, the discussion over Si Chen's next steps ran into disagreements, just as expected.

"Chen'er is only seven. Why the rush to send him to a sect?" His mother, Ye Fu, held her son close in front of her, her tone gentle but firm.

"The sects are far away and have so many rules, and his nature is so... innocent. I really can't stop worrying."

His father, Si Kai, sat upright in the seat of honor, his expression composed. "Jade cannot become a fine vessel without carving. Our Lineage shelters him too much. Just look at the ridiculous incidents he caused in Cloud Brocade City-that's proof enough. Only by standing among the countless cultivators out there, interacting and competing with his peers, can he truly grow up."

Everyone's eyes instinctively turned to Si Shuo. After all, he was the closest "victim" and had the most right to speak.

Third Master Si folded his arms, wearing an expression that said, "Don't ask me. I know nothing." Eventually, under their relentless stares, he had no choice but to mumble vaguely:

"Ahem... he'll be a menace wherever you toss him... no, I mean, gold shines wherever it goes! You decide, you decide!"

He knew perfectly well that what his nephew lacked wasn't a foundation in cultivation, but common sense!

If they really tossed him into a sect now, who knew who would end up swindling whom... Imagining that scene, he actually felt a little anticipation, along with a prickling scalp.

The elders stroked their beards, and in the end, everyone reached a unanimous decision: Si Chen would not enter a sect yet. He would cultivate in the Lineage's blessed grounds for a while longer. Once his cultivation had stabilized somewhat and his temperament had grown steadier, they would choose an excellent sect for him. That would be safer.

This compromise eased Ye Fu's worries a little, and Si Kai gave a slight nod of tacit approval.

And so, Si Chen's journey to a sect was temporarily put on hold. His days seemed to return to how they had been before his trip to Cloud Brocade City, settling into an apparently peaceful routine.

Only this time, he had a clear next goal: to attend a sect academy.

To do that, he first needed to meet what his Lineage considered a "safe" standard.

Cultivation in the Foundation Establishment Realm was indeed completely different from qi refining.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth and comprehension of cultivation stages posed no obstacles to him, and so-called bottlenecks had never existed for him at all. The real restriction instead came from this seven-year-old body, which had yet to fully develop.

Si Chen could sense that, if he wished, he could easily push toward a golden core, or even higher stages. But the price might be the complete destruction of this body's foundation, or even its disintegration.

He felt no impatience over this.

He had witnessed stars being born and dying; even hundreds of millions of years passed in the flick of a finger. Ascending in a day or in a million years made no fundamental difference to him. Even now that he was human, that had not changed.

Like the most patient of gardeners, he followed his body's own rhythm, carefully guiding every bit of spiritual power.

Even so, to others, his progress remained utterly inconceivable.

After roughly half a month, his cultivation had "just barely" stabilized at the foundation establishment middle stage.

His second uncle, Si Che, and his third uncle, Si Shuo, who had come to check on his progress, both fell silent.

Second Master Si opened his mouth, then turned and patted his younger brother's shoulder. "Third Brother, pinch me. Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

With a wooden expression, Third Master Si actually gave him a hard pinch.

"Ow-you really pinched me!"

"What else was I supposed to do?" Si Shuo snapped. "Just get used to it. Take this brat too seriously, and your dao heart is liable to shatter."

As he spoke, his tone somehow took on the detachment of someone who had seen through the mortal world.

Outside their Household, this rate of progress would have scared a whole crowd of so-called geniuses to death. But in the Si Household, everyone merely exchanged looks, then tacitly went back to their own business.

They were numb. Truly.

Shock was an emotion too, and if you used too much of it, you would eventually run dry. Compared with reaching the qi refining ninth layer in two hours, reaching the foundation establishment middle stage in half a month... seemed quite reasonable, really?

At least it had taken half a month this time, hadn't it?

His cultivation was progressing "smoothly," but another matter continued to hang like a dark cloud over the elders' hearts.

One day, several elders gathered, and the discussion inevitably returned to Si Chen's future.

"Patriarch, Chen'er's talent outshines both antiquity and the present. That is beyond question. But... his being 'rootless' remains a hidden danger." An elder with snow-white hair and beard furrowed his brows.

"Indeed," another agreed. "When ordinary sects recruit disciples, the first test is to examine their spiritual roots. If Chen'er is found to have no spiritual roots at all, yet possesses such cultivation, what will outsiders think?"

That he possessed some extraordinary treasure? Or that he practiced a forbidden demonic art that stole others' fortune?

Either suspicion would bring Si Chen endless trouble. Possessing jade could itself become a crime, and demonic arts were even less tolerated by the righteous path. Though the Si Household had nothing to fear, its members could not remain at Si Chen's side to protect him every moment.

Si Chen was not excluded from this discussion.

He sat quietly to one side, listening to the adults' worried words, and caught the crucial issue-he needed a "spiritual root."

After the elders dispersed, Si Chen caught hold of his third uncle, Si Shuo, who was about to slip away for a drink to settle his nerves.

"Third Uncle."

"What is it now, my little ancestor?" Si Shuo stopped and looked down at his nephew.

"What exactly," Si Chen asked earnestly, tilting his face upward, "does a spiritual root look like?"

Si Shuo's heart lurched. That familiar, ominous foreboding rose again. Every time this brat asked a question, what followed was exceptionally "spectacular."

Still, he scratched his head and tried to explain in the plainest terms possible. "Uh... it's a sort of 'seed of talent' inside your body."

"Take your second uncle. He has a fire-element heavenly spirit root, so he's especially good at playing with fire. He naturally has an affinity with fire spiritual energy."

"As for me, your third uncle, I have a thunder spirit root that mutated from a metal spirit root and a water spirit root."

As he spoke, a tiny, brilliant arc of electricity sprang from his fingertip with a crackle. "See? This."

Si Chen nodded thoughtfully, his gaze resting on the fleeting arc. "So having spiritual roots lets you use the corresponding powers better?"

Si Shuo patiently explained the basics to him. "You could put it that way... For most spells, having the corresponding spiritual root gets you twice the results with half the effort. That Fireball Technique you used before is commonplace stuff, so it doesn't require much in the way of spiritual roots. But advanced Thunder Arts, Ice Arts, and the like simply won't work without the right roots."

Si Chen nodded, deep in thought.

Using his third uncle and the others as a reference, his body did indeed seem to lack something similar.

A thunder spirit root? he thought.

The instant that thought settled, a sudden change erupted!

Without warning, a faint, silvery arc of electricity burst from his raised palm with a soft pop.

Then more arcs began emerging all over Si Chen's body, crackling like a swarm of mischievous serpents of light as they slithered and leaped across his white brocade robe.

In an instant, he seemed to have become a small, human-shaped ball of lightning!

"Ah!" A young maid happened to pass by and was so startled that she nearly dropped the fruit platter in her hands.

"Th-this, this is..." Si Shuo's tongue nearly tied itself into knots. He pointed at Si Chen, unable to get his words out properly.

The commotion soon drew Si Kai and several elders, who had not gone far, as well as Si Che, who hurried over after hearing the news.

At the sight before them, everyone froze where they stood, as though a body-binding spell had been cast on them all.

Second Master Si, Si Che, rubbed his eyes hard and stammered, "Third Brother... when did you secretly teach Chen'er Thunder Arts? No, wait! He doesn't have a thunder spirit root..."

"Teach him, my ass!" Si Shuo nearly jumped into the air. "I only explained what a thunder spirit root was!"

Everyone's startled, uncertain gazes converged on Si Chen.

The little fellow seemed to find it rather novel too. He looked down at the uncontrolled arcs darting everywhere and tried to restrain them as he would his spiritual power.

The effect was immediate. The arcs around him instantly drew inward and vanished without a trace, as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion.

The courtyard fell deathly silent.

Si Kai took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice steady. "Chen'er, just now... what happened?"

Si Chen raised his head and faced the circle of dumbstruck elders, explaining in his distinctive childish voice:

"After I heard Third Uncle explain spiritual roots, I felt like there really was something missing inside my body... so I thought, maybe I should have one."

He paused, seemingly arranging his words, then delivered the conclusion that once again brought everyone's dao hearts to the brink of shattering:

"And then... it seems it grew on its own."

On its own... it grew?

It grew?!

Spiritual roots-something determined at birth, the foundation that decided a cultivator's fate... could actually grow afterward, just because you thought one up?!

Did he think he was growing radishes in a field?!

Third Master Si, who had witnessed the entire thing from beginning to end, stood with his mouth open, feeling as though his brain had been struck by lightning.

He looked again at his nephew, whose expression said, "I just followed the procedure," and only one thought remained in his mind:

Send him away! Send him away!

I want the whole world to experience... my suffering!