Xian Xiaozhi's voice remained unhurried as he recounted the Spiritual Root selection technique Xiao Hua had given to the Chan He Sect. The technique was not very long, yet it explained methods for selecting the five elemental Spiritual Roots of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, as well as variant Spiritual Roots such as Wind, Lightning, and Ice. It even included obscure Spiritual Roots of Light, Darkness, and others that none of those present had ever heard of. As he listened, Old Man Gu Qiong's expression changed drastically. Several times, he opened his mouth to speak, only to force himself to endure. At last, when Xian Xiaozhi finished, Old Man Gu Qiong immediately commanded, "Ji Yan! Quickly, obtain that jade slip at any cost!"
"Good!" True Person Ji Yan was naturally enthralled as well. Whether Xiao Hua's Spiritual Root selection technique was correct or not aside, its completeness and rigor alone told True Person Ji Yan that it could not possibly have been created in a few days or months, nor could it be compared with the techniques of either himself or Old Man Gu Qiong! He answered, then pressed a hand against the tree trunk beneath him. With a thunderous boom, the tree canopy shook violently. Clusters of dark-green phantoms, like the radiance of stars and moonlight, appeared throughout the great tree. These lights did not emerge in orderly succession from top to bottom, nor did they travel from True Person Ji Yan to Xian Xiaozhi. Instead, they flickered into being without pattern among the roots, branches, and trunk!
In the end, a branch far from Xian Xiaozhi began to tremble sharply, and an incomparably dazzling halo appeared like a star. At the same time, a palm-sized vortex suddenly formed on the branch before Xian Xiaozhi! Black-and-white threads of