Chapter 126 - 125 Heavenly Spiritual Root

Chapter 126: Chapter 125 Heavenly Spiritual RootNian Quan dreamt vaguely of his mother. It was a long time ago, nearly eight years past. Back then, his father was still alive, he had not yet changed his surname, and his mother had not yet succumbed to deviation due to overexertion, necessitating a Green Wood Prosthetic Leg. From a young age, Nian Quan was very bright; he could remember many things that other children could not. Back then, he wasn’t tall enough to reach his father’s thigh, and many uncles and aunts would come to visit their home. Nian Quan was very timid at that time; whenever guests visited their home, he would cry out of fear, and his mother would carry him back to the room, lay him on a soft bed, and tell him ancient tales of warriors and adventurers involving Immortals in a gentle voice. Actually, Nian Quan did not really like those adventure stories. Being mild-mannered, he disliked conflict and violence. What truly stopped his crying was his mother’s embrace, her gentle voice, and her tender, loving strokes. Humans have always felt safe in their parents’ arms, a comfort known since hundreds of thousands or even millions of years ago, passed down through generations, never changing. In his dream, Nian Quan, who hadn’t cried for a long time, suddenly felt a wave of sorrow from the heart; he felt an embrace, a blurred figure. Then, it was gone... gone forever. "Mom...Mom..." Waking from the dream, Nian Quan muttered softly, opening his eyes and wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. Sharp as he was, how could he not know that his mother was not at the headquarters at Mount Xiao Zhe, but was working at the Black Market branch? How could he not be aware that the Black Market at the uninhabited plaza in the south of the city had been raided by the Sky Surveillance Bureau yesterday, and no news had emerged since? No news was the worst news. Nian Quan had already known all this, yet he was still waiting for a notification that would drive him to despair. His mother had always been deceiving him, and he was willing to be deceived. He had also been deceiving himself up until now, but he had just had a dream. The dream was beautiful, yet filled with sorrow. Now, he had come to a realization. Then... He heard the sound of the doorbell. He saw a strange visitor. He learned of his mother’s death. Then... He invited the messenger boy, about his own age, into the house. Why? For both parties, this was extremely dangerous. Even if he invited him, the other might not accept; even if he accepted, he probably had bad intentions. Never mind the boy’s young age; who knew if he was some underworld thug, or a barbarian from the Wilderness? He could very well rob them, then leave without a second thought. No patrol officer would handle cases from the Lower City District, and for the other party, they would also fear whether there were traps in their home and suspect whether they intended to harm them. But Nian Quan still extended an invitation. And the other party gladly accepted. While Nian Quan went to make tea, An Jing, who had already learned his name from the remark ’Quan’er’ in Nian Qin’s contact list, curiously asked Sword Spirit, "Are Spirit Roots also classified by grade? And that Cang Bo Morning Pupil, could it be some kind of innate Divine Skill?" "Naturally, Spirit Roots are classified by grade," Sword Spirit explained meticulously, "Humans are born with all Five Elements complete, but it is not possible for everyone to have balanced elements. Even if balanced, acquired characteristics, diet, environment, and growth will lead to changes in the elements." "And just as the Five Elements mutually generate, there are also conflicts and inversions among them." "To possess a ’Spirit Root,’ one must first ensure ’no deficiency in any of the Five Elements,’ then it is crucial that the generation and restraint between them is not too contradictory, and the order likewise should not be overly reversed. In addition to this, the year and place of birth are also very important." "For example, a child with all Five Elements present and innate Water Spirit energy surging within, attracting the Aura of Water Spirit, should by rights possess talent for cultivation and be a ’Water Spirit Root’." "However, if he is born in a place rich with Earth, this innate Water of Ren Gui would be suppressed, downgrading the quality of the Spirit Root. Likewise, if he is born during a period when Earth energy is strong, his innate Qi would also decrease." "If he also has innate Earth of Wu Ji within him, it would even further restrict the Water Spirit, significantly hindering cultivation." "If his inner Fire is vigorous, not only would it promote Earth energy, it would also lead to the spontaneous suppression of the Water Spirit energy within, also damaging the quality of the Spirit Root." "In extreme cases, if the generation and restraint order is too extreme, even if there is an abundance of Wood Spirit, it shouldn’t be too strong because a strong Wood Spirit would dominate and grow at the expense of the Water Spirit, causing the Spirit Root to dim." "To put it simply, in most cases, the results caused by the generation and restraint among the Five Elements lead to internal conflicts within the body’s Five Spirits. Although this is balanced and mutually supportive, in essence, they are all internally consuming, unable to ’seek externally,’ naturally rendering cultivation impossible." "But for a few people, like you, where the inner Fire is strong and the Water Spirit is weak, but Water restrains Fire, suppressing the Fire Spirit." "The power of the Water Spirit suppressing the Fire Spirit is at its limit, unable to generate Wood. With the Fire Spirit suppressed, it’s also difficult to generate Earth. Thus, neither participate in generation and restraint." "Of the remaining three spirits, Metal is the most abundant, scoring five out of ten, and Earth and Wood both scoring three to four." "The order of generation and restraint is just right, Earth generating Metal first, making your Metal grow to six out of ten, then Metal restrains Wood, capturing its vital energy to increase sharpness, reaching seven out of ten. Lastly, the weakened Wood restrains Earth, causing Earth Spirit to wither, unable to compete for Metal Spirit’s share, leading to Metal Spirit’s dominance with the ability of seven out of ten and even enhancing the sharpness for breakthrough, forming an innate ’Earth-Wood-Metal Formation,’ enabling you with a triple Spirit Root to achieve a cultivation speed just below that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and making breakthroughs smoother." "But if your generation and restraint order were altered, say first Wood restrains Earth, weakening the Earth Spirit, augmenting the Wood Spirit’s vitality, then Metal restrains Wood, even if it restrains, it’s still difficult to penetrate the dense wood, unable to clear obstacles, deprived of its sharpness and even adding a ’Blunt Edge,’ causing the control of Metal Qi to be somewhat sluggish." "Finally, the weakened Earth aiding the sluggish Metal, even though there is some gain, it’s of no great use; five points of Metal Spirit in the end would just be a lower-mid-quality talent among those with triple Spirit Root, considered poor." "No wonder those with cultivation talents are so rare," An Jing listened intently, suddenly understanding why, though everyone is born with complete Five Elements, the majority end up without Spirit Roots. Firstly, there must be no deficiency in the Five Elements. A deficiency signifies innate ailments, too busy treating illnesses to practice cultivation, sifting down to a small bunch, or even a large batch of people—such as those born to malnourished parents. And having complete Five Elements does not guarantee active elements, as at least one Spirit must be exceptionally active to be considered talented for cultivation, filtering down another batch of individuals. Next, the generation and restraint of the Five Elements must not hinder the active Spirit Root, like if the Water Spirit is active, there must not be too strong an Earth Spirit, nor too strong a Fire or Wood Spirit, as they would cause the Water Spirit to subdue, reducing its grade, thereby filtering out another batch of people. Lastly, the order of generation and restraint must be precisely suitable; otherwise, as demonstrated by the example Sword Spirit cited, one would inadvertently benefit from five points of Metal Spirit Root achieving the efficacy of seven points, second only to the Heavenly Spiritual Root. Conversely, as shown in the negative example, even with three active spirits and generation and restraint not conflicting or hindering, because of the bodily order of the Five Elements, five points of Spirit Root ended up with less than five points of effectiveness, further burdened by the negative effect of ’Blunt Edge.’ This then sifts down yet another large batch of people.