Chapter 21: Discussion on Spiritual Roots

Excellent reading.

The Grand Medical Academy conducted extensive research on the correlation between spiritual roots and cultivation speed, ultimately compiling a medical classic titled 'On Spiritual Roots'.

The research indicated a direct proportional relationship between spiritual root attribute points and cultivation speed.

Under normal circumstances, every naturally born cultivator, with sufficient innate vital energy, possesses 100 spiritual root attribute points. These points are then distributed among the five elemental attributes based on their luck, forming what every cultivator calls their 'spiritual root'.

The distribution of these five elemental spiritual root attributes determines the efficiency of cultivation techniques.

For instance, a genius with extraordinary luck might have all 100 points allocated to the Wood attribute spiritual root, forming the legendary perfect Wood Heavenly Spiritual Root. Such an individual would cultivate Wood-attribute techniques at twice the speed of an average person.

What would normally take 100 years to master, they would accomplish in just 50 years.

Chen Mobai's current spiritual roots are: Metal 23, Wood 27, Water 30, Fire 17, Earth 10.

Taking his highest attribute, Water (30), as an example, if he were to cultivate the Black Water Technique, applying the formula from 'On Spiritual Roots,' his efficiency in refining spiritual energy would only be 1.3 times that of an ordinary person.

Of course, actual cultivation efficiency also depends on factors like the concentration of spiritual energy, the cultivator's mindset, and the availability of auxiliary spiritual items. It cannot be generalized.

Under ideal conditions, based on Chen Mobai's talent, breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Condensation using the Five Elements Technique would take at least six months.

However, the Water Mansion is a second-tier mid-grade spiritual land, where the spiritual energy concentration is five to six times higher than a first-tier high-grade land. Cultivation efficiency here, compared to practicing at school or home, skyrockets.

Even so, due to the limitations of his spiritual roots, Chen Mobai's previous calculations indicated he would still need about a hundred days, almost until just before the college entrance exam, to barely break through to the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

This was before he watched the video lecture by True Monarch Qingping.

True Monarchs are indeed True Monarchs. Even though True Monarch Qingping was only explaining the most basic Five Elements Technique and had rambled on about a lot of irrelevant things earlier, once he got to the essential content about the cultivation method, Chen Mobai instantly experienced a profound enlightenment.

He learned that when spiritual energy circulates to this meridian, rotating it seven times counter-clockwise within the acupoint can easily clear and unblock it.

When drawing in spiritual energy through the three orifices of the mouth and nose, it needs to be circulated repeatedly through the 'Twelve-Story Pagoda' of the throat. This allows impurities from the external spiritual energy to be intercepted by the twelve segments, preventing them from entering the internal meridians, until the cultivation session concludes and this expelled 'waste qi' from the throat is spat out.

For instance, after spiritual energy is refined and converges into the Dantian Qi Sea, it can enter in threads with a clockwise rotation.

This is because clockwise rotation facilitates advancement and helps condense spiritual power. Since Foundation Establishment involves liquefying spiritual power, preparing this step in advance can increase the success rate of future Foundation Establishment by ten percent.

Similarly, counter-clockwise rotation signifies reversal and dispersion. When spiritual power travels through blocked or narrow meridians, it cannot force its way through. Instead, it needs to disperse into a thin, gentle qi and advance slowly.

After his cultivation session, Chen Mobai re-watched the earlier videos on the first and second levels of Qi Condensation for the Five Elements Technique, realizing how superficial his understanding of this foundational cultivation method had been.

It was almost morning when he reluctantly turned off his phone.

However, during his cultivation session that night, he had used the offline download function to download all twenty-eight videos of True Monarch Qingping explaining the Five Elements Technique onto his phone.

This offline download feature was a privilege available only to users of tier three and above in the auxiliary cultivation system. As a tier five user, Chen Mobai naturally had access to it.

But just in case, when he went to class today, he turned off his phone's mobile data to avoid being approached by the auxiliary cultivation service provider.

“Do you know, Yan Bingxuan dropped out of school?”

That morning, before the teacher entered, his deskmate Lu Hongsheng mysteriously leaned close to Chen Mobai and, unable to keep the news to himself, blurted out the explosive revelation.

“Huh? Why? The college entrance exam is right around the corner. Did she drop out because she couldn't handle the blow of losing to Song Zheng?”

“Very likely. She’s usually aloof, and this loss probably made her lose face, so she just dropped out.”

“That doesn't sound right. It’s not like she’s never lost before.”

“Maybe she’s using dropping out as an excuse to secretly train hard at home.”

The two female deskmates in front also leaned in, and those behind, not wanting to be left out, instantly formed a gossip circle around Chen Mobai and Lu Hongsheng.

Chen Mobai could only roll his eyes. Normally, he would have joined in, but as a senior in high school, it was a crucial time for him to work hard, and he couldn't be bothered to waste time on gossip.

He aimed to astound everyone and soar to great heights…

Just then, Yan Bingxuan walked in, and the gossip circle instantly fell silent.

Her cool gaze swept over them. Chen Mobai indicated his innocence, as he hadn't participated in the discussion at all. But the beautiful Yan merely gave a cold look for two seconds before returning to her seat, quietly packing her belongings, and leaving the classroom with her blue backpack.

The classroom remained silent for about ten seconds, then everyone started whispering excitedly and conversing in high spirits.

Students who had initially been skeptical of Lu Hongsheng's news couldn't help but cast surprised glances their way, causing Chen Mobai's deskmate to puff out his chest with a look of triumph.

Click.

Chen Mobai stood up, dragging his chair across the floor, making a sound.

“Where are you going? Class is about to start.”

Lu Hongsheng asked curiously.

“I forgot my textbook. I’m going to borrow one from the library.”

After saying this, Chen Mobai escaped the increasingly outrageous gossip and speculations that were about to begin. There was no way to avoid it; the students behind him had already concocted an entire twenty-episode TV drama of love and hate between the two geniuses, Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan.

He simply couldn't stand listening anymore.

Coincidentally, he had planned to borrow a textbook for the Five Elements Technique from the library, so he simply slipped away.

The Fifth High School of the Immortal Sect had a small library with a collection of over three thousand books. It housed common biographies and historical texts, books about the local customs and traditions of Danxia City, as well as various self-study materials on minor spells, cultivation techniques, elixirs, artifacts, formations, and more.

Although the highest grade of items was only first-tier high-grade, the foundational content across all aspects was comprehensive. A diligent and hardworking individual who read and understood all the books in this library could easily obtain a professional certificate for a first-tier formation master, alchemist, or appraiser.

Unfortunately, this library was almost always deserted.

In this day and age, who still reads physical books?

Only those who forgot their textbooks would come here to borrow one with their student ID for half a day, returning it after school.

Chen Mobai wouldn't have come to this library to borrow a book if he hadn't wanted to avoid spending 10 points to download the electronic version of the Five Elements Technique from the Immortal Sect National E-Library.

Yesterday, he had greatly benefited from True Monarch Qingping's lecture, but when reviewing the earlier content, he found it somewhat blurry. He felt it necessary to use the original Five Elements Technique textbook to review the video content again.

“One Five Elements Technique textbook, debited to student card, free for one month.”

The librarian, a teacher wearing round-rimmed glasses, skillfully took Chen Mobai's student card and swiped it.

Just as Chen Mobai thanked her and turned to leave, someone suddenly walked into the library entrance.