167: Spiritual roots are seeds

Chapter 166: Spiritual Root Is a Seed

Inside Spirit Pool Class Yi-7.

Wang Momo looked worriedly at Zheng Yi lying on the bed.

"Doctor Zhang, how is Zheng Yi?"

The white-haired doctor shook his head, withdrew his hand from taking the pulse, and said, "This child's Physique is too weak. This is the third time this month, right?"

"Last time, he kept running a fever because he accidentally fell into the water. After finally recovering, he caught a cold and passed out from Cultivating all night."

"I just took his pulse and found that his breath is extremely weak. It might turn into consumption."

"Consumption?!"

Wang Momo's expression changed drastically: "That is contagious!"

"Indeed."

The doctor shook his head, a hint of fear on his face.

"Wang Momo, if all else fails, send him out of the Spirit Pool."

"Perhaps it would be a relief for him."

"No!"

Wang Momo shook her head and said, "Zheng Yi has the talent to learn the Dao, and his Spiritual Root has awakened. There are only about thirty children with the talent to learn the Dao in Spirit Pool Class Yi-7 right now. Unless it is an absolute last resort, we cannot abandon Zheng Yi."

"Very well..."

The doctor shook his head and said, "Then I will prescribe him a few doses of medicine first. Let him drink it and see how he does."

"If he improves, all will be well. If he never gets better, Wang Momo, you should prepare early."

"I understand."

Three-year-old Zheng Yi opened his weak eyes and watched Wang Momo and the doctor leave.

He had been Reborn in this world for three years.

Just like in his past life, he perceived the sensation of Qi at the age of three, and his birthday was officially set.

But his Physique was incomparably weak.

Often, a minor illness every ten days and a major illness every month.

He had suffered from colds, fevers, headaches, bleeding gums, chest pains, and chest tightness.

If not for Wang Momo's meticulous care and the abundant Spiritual Qi in the Spirit Pool, he would have died young long ago.

He was well aware that the cause of all this was the Premature Aging destiny!

Premature aging.

Your body is extremely weak before the age of ten, and the probability of accidental death such as dying from illness or falling is greatly increased.

But he didn't care. Anyway, the purpose of entering the Spirit Pool this time was to explore why there were so many children carrying Spiritual Roots here!

"As expected of the premature aging talent, constantly falling ill inside the Spirit Pool, I suppose I am the first."

Zheng Yi muttered, starting to examine the surrounding environment.

"Little Yi'er..."

Wang Momo returned, gently stroking the forehead of Zheng Yi, who was already three years old but noticeably smaller in build than the other children.

"Rest assured, Little Yi'er, you will definitely recover!"

"Momo will take good care of you and make sure you grow up safely."

After drinking the medicine and under Wang Momo's meticulous care, Zheng Yi fell into a deep sleep.

Four years old.

During a Cultivation session, Zheng Yi suffered from angina pectoris, whole-body paralysis, and passed out.

The doctor flatly said that Zheng Yi was hopeless. Three days later, Zheng Yi woke up, his Physique even weaker.

At this time, everyone in the Spirit Pool looked at him with some confusion.

Taking advantage of a break, Zheng Yi found the 'Master' who taught them the Spirit Eating Art.

Or rather, Tutor would be better.

"Tutor, why is my body so weak?"

The tutor said, "This old man is not quite sure either. Logically speaking, the Spiritual Root in your body has long awakened. Being in a place rich in Spiritual Qi like the Spirit Pool, not to mention living a long life, you should at least be strong and healthy."

"But why is your Physique so poor that a cool breeze makes you catch a cold? Strange, strange..."

Zheng Yi had been waiting for these words. He asked quizzically, "Tutor, what is a Spiritual Root?"

"Could there be roots of a big tree inside my body?"

"Hahaha..."

The tutor laughed heartily: "Of course not. The so-called Spiritual Root is a special Physique. You can also think of it as having a special seed inside your body that will continuously grow and sprout under the nourishment of Spiritual Qi, and then blossom and bear fruit."

"These seeds, after sprouting, are called Spiritual Roots."

"Some seeds, however, fail to sprout for certain reasons and remain ordinary people for a lifetime."

The tutor rubbed Zheng Yi's head and said, "This seed inside your body seems to have some problems."

"That's why you are so sickly and bedridden at such a young age. It is truly a pity."

"A seed?"

Zheng Yi muttered, then asked, "Tutor, Tutor, do you know where this seed comes from?"

The tutor's expression changed slightly, and he quickly covered Zheng Yi's small mouth, saying, "Little Yi'er, what the tutor said was just a metaphor, not a real seed, do you understand?"

Seeing the tutor's nervous expression, Zheng Yi pretended not to know anything, nodded blankly, and said, "Okay, Tutor, I understand."

"Get more rest."

The tutor stood up and said, "This old man will go check on the other children first. Do not forget to Cultivate the Spirit Eating Art."

"Alright, Tutor."

Watching the tutor leave with a staggering gait, Zheng Yi covered his head with the quilt and muttered, "A seed?"

"There are seeds inside all of our bodies?"

Five years old.

While practicing martial arts, Zheng Yi suffered full-body paralysis, foamed at the mouth, and passed out.

The doctor even issued an ultimatum.

Seven days later, Zheng Yi woke up again, left with sequelae of headaches, dizziness, and comas.

This child, his Physique was even weaker.

But even so, many of his friends did not abandon him and often came to see him.

For example, those like Cao'er and Hua'er often gave him the food they had hidden.

Six years old.

Once again, while practicing martial arts, he inexplicably fainted, and the doctor could not detect any illness at all.

He could only guess that perhaps Zheng Yi's Physique was not suitable for living in the Spirit Pool filled with Spiritual Qi.

Half a month later, Zheng Yi woke up.

With such a weak Physique, Cultivating the Spirit Eating Art was already somewhat strenuous; how could he Cultivate this kind of martial arts Cultivation Technique that strengthened blood and Qi?

Having no other choice, he could only do some light physical fitness exercises to ensure his body wouldn't be overworked.

From then on, Zheng Yi was completely abandoned by Wang Momo.

After completing the fixed Cultivation of the Spirit Eating Art every day, Zheng Yi would take advantage of the time when everyone else was Cultivating and resting to silently scout the entire Spirit Pool.

Just like in his previous life, he could walk around the Spirit Pool at will.

However, huge mists permeated around the Spirit Pool.

These places were a Forbidden Ground, and no children were allowed to approach!

Seven years old.

Once when Zheng Yi and his companions were out for activities, a sudden rainstorm poured down, and all the children clutched their heads and ran back to their rooms.

As for Zheng Yi, he took this opportunity to run to the edge of the Spirit Pool.

Because of the heavy rain, the mist that originally permeated the surroundings dissipated a lot.

In the torrential rain, Zheng Yi saw that further away outside the distant forest, strange branches hundreds of meters high, shaped like coiling dragons, rose from the sky and intertwined with each other, forming rows of giant walls shaped like thorns.

Zheng Yi had guessed wrong.

Behind that mist was not some huge stone city wall at all.

But rather... the crown of a big tree!

In other words, their Spirit Pool was actually on top of a gigantic tree!

At this moment, he suddenly felt a chill all over his body, his vision went black, and he almost fell to the ground.

Vaguely, he seemed to see that on those rows of branches, there actually grew fruits that looked like dates, but were shaped like infants!

"What... on earth is that?"

"It looks a bit familiar, as if I've seen it somewhere...?"

His vision went black, and Zheng Yi pitched forward and collapsed.

I don't know how much time passed, but Zheng Yi slowly woke up.

At this moment, he felt his whole body burning hot, and his mouth was almost glued shut.

Wanting to open it, he felt a sharp pain from his throat and couldn't open his mouth at all.

Before his eyes were several children and Wang Momo.

"Zheng Yi is awake!"

"He's awake, he's awake!"

"Zheng Yi, why did you run over to the woods? If the guard uncle hadn't found you, you would have died!"

"Did you get lost?"

Feeling the concern of the surrounding children, Zheng Yi endured the severe pain in his throat and said, "The r-rain was too heavy, I-I couldn't see the road clearly..."

Wang Momo said at this time, "Zheng Yi is awake, everyone disperse now."

"Oh~"

A group of children acknowledged and left the ward one after another.

"Zheng Yi, take good care of yourself. We'll play together after you get well."

"Goodbye~"

The children's feelings were the most sincere, and many of them waved goodbye.

But Wang Momo's eyes were already extremely disappointed and cold.

She suppressed her anger and said, "Little Yi'er, when you recover from your illness, someone will come to pick you up and take you out of the Spirit Pool."

"Your Physique is too weak. If you continue Cultivating the Spirit Eating Art, you are very likely to die young."

"After you go out, live a good life."

"I-I know, Momo..."

In the darkness, Zheng Yi's eyes lit up slightly.

Half a month later, Zheng Yi finally recovered.

At this time, an ordinary carriage came to Spirit Pool Class Yi-7 again and picked Zheng Yi up to take him out.

Dozens of other children without cultivation talent were also sent out of the Spirit Pool together.

They were all ordinary people without Spiritual Roots in their bodies, and they were also sent out.

Or rather, the 'seeds' in their bodies had not sprouted.

Seeds?

Zheng Yi suddenly remembered the dense infant-shaped dates around the Spirit Pool.

Could those be the seeds?

In a daze, Zheng Yi was placed onto the carriage, swaying as it headed out of the Spirit Pool.

Unlike last time, inside the carriage that picked him up this time, including him, there were a full ten children!

And this carriage was also a very ordinary one, dilapidated, and permeated with a smell of blood.

But the outside was still sealed with steel, so nothing could be seen.

The carriage that picked him up last time had only traveled for a little over an hour after leaving the Spirit Pool before arriving at Liu Linger's palace.

But today, it traveled for nearly two hours before slowly stopping.

This was a giant room constructed from a large number of cyan boulders, ferocious and rugged in appearance, presenting an overall blood-black color.

At this time, five carriages slowly walked into this huge courtyard.

Carriage after carriage, according to the established target, stopped inside the fixed houses.

First, ten children walked down from the carriage and were guided by the nearby coachman into the house.

The heavy stone door slowly closed, and faintly, a long-suppressed roar came from inside the house.

The coachman driving the carriage trembled all over and hurriedly ran back onto the carriage.

It seemed that only here could he feel a trace of safety.

The remaining four carriages continued to move and parked in front of different rooms one after another.

After getting off, dozens of ignorant children, following the guidance of the adults, entered room after room.

At this time, the last carriage Zheng Yi was in also arrived outside the last room.

The ten children were originally chatting and laughing, but upon entering this room, a rich smell of blood and foul stench caused these ten children to fall silent in fear like cicadas in winter.

Zheng Yi walked at the very back, carefully examining this room.

This room, perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe it as a slaughterhouse.

The whole was made of giant cyan stones, rugged and spacious, standing more than ten meters high.

The air was filled with an incomparably rich bloody smell and foul stench, appearing extremely eerie.

"W-What is this place?"

One of the slightly older children suddenly said. Before they could react, several black shadows suddenly lunged toward them.

"Cackle cackle..."

"I heard that among this batch of blood food, there is a child with Cultivation talent who was sent out due to Physique reasons. He is mine!"

"Liu Gu! He is mine!"

"He is mine!"

"Jiejie jiejie... We waited for half a year before our turn to devour blood food came. Whoever grabs him first gets him!"

Amid wild laughter, at least seven or eight figures rushed in.

Some were half-human, half-snake; some were half-human, half-eagle; others were simply a skeleton, and some turned into a wisp of black smoke.

And their target was Zheng Yi!

"Snap!"

With a crisp sound, Zheng Yi's left arm was bitten by a half-human, half-snake monster. Just as it wanted to tear it off, his right side was bitten by a giant centipede.

"Ah!!!"

Under tenfold excruciating pain, Zheng Yi subconsciously roared.

"Cackle cackle... He's mine!"

"No one else thinks of snatching him!"

The half-human, half-snake monster gave a fierce tear and ripped off Zheng Yi's left arm.

"Delicious, delicious!"

"This piece is mine!"

A wisp of black smoke swept over, instantly corroding Zheng Yi's legs clean away.

"And me!"

A skeleton shot over, immediately tearing off half of Zheng Yi's body and devouring it in large bites.

"Cackle! And me!"

An eagle-bodied, human-faced demon flew past and yanked off Zheng Yi's head in one go.

"Ah!!!"