7: Chapter 7 The Shackles of Spiritual Roots, A Do-or-Die Strategy

Reed Island, inside the Water-Moon Heaven-Blurring Array.

Outside, night had already fallen over Yunmeng Marsh.

But inside the great array, it was a scene of tranquility.

The deep blue light screen of the Formation isolated all the screeching sounds outside.

In the center of the island.

That "Cold Spring Spirit Eye," about a zhang in diameter, was bubbling with spring water.

Lin Ze sat cross-legged on a piece of Profound Ice Stone.

His eyes were slightly closed, and his hands formed a breathing hand seal at his Dantian.

"Exhale..."

"Inhale..."

Along with his breathing, the pure Water Spiritual Qi above the cold spring turned into a stream of Qi and slowly entered his body.

However, after only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

"Pfft!"

Lin Ze suddenly opened his eyes, his face pale. He forcefully spat out a mouthful of turbid Qi onto the Profound Ice Stone in front of him, which instantly formed a layer of white frost.

He lowered his head, looking at his hands which were already turning slightly purple from the cold, a bitter smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

"No, it's still too forced."

Cultivating in this precious land where the Spiritual Qi was more than twice as dense as the outskirts of Feiyun Island should have been a wonderful thing that allowed for rapid progress.

If it were those geniuses with Dual Spiritual Roots in the Family, they would probably wake up laughing from their dreams.

But Lin Ze sadly discovered that he simply couldn't absorb this Spiritual Qi at all!

Metal, Water, Wood, Earth—Four-Attribute Miscellaneous Spiritual Roots.

In the cultivation world, this was contemptuously called a "Pseudo-Spiritual Root."

This meant his body was like a broken funnel.

When the Spiritual Qi entered his body, his Meridians simply couldn't bear this power.

Ninety percent of the Spiritual Qi dissipated back into the world through the gaps in his Spiritual Roots during the process.

The remaining ten percent required time to be forcibly refined to expel the yin-cold Qi; otherwise, it would turn into cold poison and freeze his heart's Meridians.

"According to this absorption speed..."

Lin Ze calculated silently in his heart, his eyes growing dimmer.

"Even if I meditate for twelve watches a day without rest, to naturally break through to the third level of Qi Gathering by this cold spring would take at least three years!"

"Three years!"

In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak. The remnants of the Black Water Gang have not been cleared, and Yao Beasts run rampant in the outer waters.

"In three years, there probably wouldn't even be bone fragments left of him."

"In the cultivation world, Spiritual Roots are a natural chasm."

"The ancients truly did not deceive me."

Lin Ze let out a long sigh.

Any sixteen-year-old youth facing such a cruel talent barrier would likely fall into despair.

But in the depths of his eyes, instead of discouragement, a sense of fanaticism and determination gradually lit up.

"Since the path of 'Orthodox Cultivation' doesn't work, then I won't take it."

"My Spiritual Roots are inferior to others?"

"Then I will stack them with resources!"

Lin Ze stood up abruptly and strode over to the corpse of the "Black Mud Iron-Clad Crab" he had killed.

The knife fell.

Attaching Perfection-level mana to a mundane Dark Iron dagger, he cut off a piece of Yao meat that contained the crab Yao's Bloodline energy.

This was a piece of core flesh.

The violent spiritual power inside was enough to make an Early Stage Qi Gathering Cultivator explode and die.

Lin Ze was expressionless, directly setting up an iron pot and taking water from the cold spring.

He threw the crab meat, mixed with half a catty of Green Jade Spirit Rice, into the pot to boil.

Before long, a pot of Spirit Rice porridge was ready, emitting a rich, exotic fragrance with a layer of blood-streaked Yao meat floating on the surface.

Lin Ze did not hesitate at all, gulping down all of the spirit porridge into his stomach.

"Boom!"

The moment the spirit porridge entered his stomach, a surge of blood energy exploded within his internal organs.

The extremely cold spring environment and the extremely hot Yao blood power in his body formed a clash of ice and fire.

Lin Ze's skin instantly turned blood-red, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Still not enough."

Lin Ze gritted his teeth hard.

He yanked the Storage Pouch from his waist.

Clatter!

The three "Qi Gathering Pills" bestowed by the Family and the ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones Sixth Aunt had stuffed him with were all poured onto the green stone.

"All in!"

Burning his boats, he put everything on the line.

He grabbed the entire bottle of Qi Gathering Pills, flicked off the stopper with his thumb, and poured them all into his mouth like they were candy.

With the mixture of medicinal and Yao power, let alone a Level 2 Qi Gathering Cultivator, even a Level 4 Qi Gathering Cultivator would have their Meridians instantly shattered.

"Azure Wave Art, suppress it for me!"

Lin Ze let out a wild roar in his heart.

"Buzz!"

The Cultivation Technique in his body, which had been grinded to the "Perfection" Realm, finally displayed its power of suppression.

The two traits, "Endless Vitality" and "Water Spirit Affinity," erupted simultaneously.

His original mana now turned into a vast ocean.

No matter how violent the Yao Beast blood energy and the medicinal power of the three Qi Gathering Pills were.

Under this flushing and crushing, they were all forcibly tamed.

Ultimately, they transformed into pure Water-attribute spiritual power and poured into his Dantian.

At the same time, he held two Low-Grade Spirit Stones in his hands, absorbing the Spiritual Qi to repair his Meridians.

After an unknown amount of time, a shackle inside Lin Ze's body was forcefully smashed by that massive spiritual power!

"Boom!"

A surge of spiritual power several times stronger than before rippled out in a circle with Lin Ze at the center.

The surface of the cold spring was directly pressed down three inches by this airwave.

Lin Ze slowly opened his eyes.

In his mind, the panel text refreshed.

[Cultivation: Level 3 Qi Gathering]

Feeling his mana, Lin Ze exhaled a mouthful of turbid Qi.

"This is my path of cultivation!"

"What Spiritual Root shackles? What natural chasm?"

"As long as I have the panel to back me up, even Core Formation is not impossible."

"However."

When Lin Ze looked down at the green stone, he instantly froze.

The green stone was completely empty.

The bottle of Qi Gathering Pills didn't even have a crumb left.

The ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones had also all turned into waste powder, scattering with the wind.

Even that Iron-Clad Crab Yao had been eaten clean by him, leaving only an empty shell.

Now he only had six Spirit Stones and the "Moon Shadow Silver Shuttle" left on him, and the Spirit Stones were needed to maintain the Formation's operation.

"I'm poor."

The corners of Lin Ze's eyes twitched slightly.

"Cultivating is about cultivating resources."

"Technique, Companion, Wealth, and Land—'Wealth' comes first!"

His desperate gamble, though it successfully allowed him to break through to Level 3 Qi Gathering, had also completely drained his Family savings.

"The Bottleneck from the Early Stage to the Middle Stage of Qi Gathering requires more than five times the resources I have now!"

"Without Spirit Stones and high-grade pills for support, with my Three-Attribute Pseudo-Spiritual Root Aptitude, even if I soaked in this cold spring every day, I could forget about stepping into Level 4 Qi Gathering in this lifetime!"

Lin Ze took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the cold spring.

In the spring water, hundreds of translucent "Green Jade Cold Fish" fry were swimming joyfully.

They were naturally water-friendly and were breathing in Water Spiritual Qi.

Lin Ze's gaze fixed on these tiny lives.

At the same time, his consciousness sank into the Heavenly Dao Panel in his mind.

[Cultivation Technique: Azure Wave Art (Perfection)]

[Spell: Water Arrow Technique (Perfection)]

[hundred arts: Spirit Net Technique (Major Achievement) 10/1000]

[hundred arts: Fish Rearing Technique (Uninitiated)]

"Go hunt Yao Beasts?"

"Too slow, and too dangerous."

"If you often walk by the river, your shoes are bound to get wet."

"Since the heavens gave me a piece of my own water, a top-grade cold spring, and a panel that allows for infinite Breakthroughs as long as I grind..."

Hope reignited in Lin Ze's eyes.

"Then I will grind the word 'farming' to the extreme on this deserted island!"

He had made up his mind.

Since the path of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi doesn't work, he would take an unprecedented path of "Immortal Ascension through a hundred arts."

He was going to practice Fish Rearing Techniques like crazy!

As long as he grinded the [Fish Rearing Technique] to Major Achievement or even Perfection, he could break the laws of nature!

"The Green Jade Cold Fish others raise take three years to mature."

"If I can use Perfection-level techniques to accelerate their growth, I could harvest a batch in half a year, or even three months."

"As long as there are enough Spirit Stones, even if I have to eat pills like meals, I can forcefully stack myself up to the Foundation Establishment Stage!"

This plan took deep root in his heart.

He wouldn't just raise ordinary Green Jade Cold Fish.

In the future, he would also Cultivate the legendary "Extreme Cold Ice-Clad Fish" that could assist Cultivators in Core Formation, and even... "Dragon Gate" grade top-tier spirit fish with True Dragon Bloodlines.

Action follows thought!

From his Storage Pouch, Lin Ze took out a large bag of inferior "Spirit Fish Fodder" issued by the Family.

This was a powder made from crushed grass seeds and water insects containing trace amounts of spiritual power, extremely coarse.

Lin Ze didn't just scatter the fodder into the water like an ordinary fisherman.

"Rise!"

He formed a seal with one hand, and his newly broken-through Level 3 Qi Gathering mana surged out, turning into a layer of water-blue halo that enveloped the small handful of fodder in mid-air.

Following that, his hands moved like fluttering butterflies, performing a set of the "Fish Rearing Technique" that was extremely common within the Lin Family.

This technique was extremely tedious, requiring mana to gradually remove Impurities, grind it down, and nourish it to an infinitesimal state most suitable for the fry to swallow.

Because it was too mana-consuming and showed little result, no one in the Lin Family was willing to waste time on it.

But Lin Ze did it extremely seriously, one might even say meticulously.

With his Perfection-level Azure Wave Art mana, Impurities were removed one by one during this manipulation, and the fodder in mid-air gradually began to glow with a faint light.

"Scatter!"

Lin Ze flicked his finger.

The purified fodder turned into a fine rain, sprinkling evenly over every corner of the cold spring.

Sensing this extremely pure aura that contained Lin Ze's refined water-attribute mana, the Green Jade Cold Fish fry at the bottom of the spring suddenly swarmed to the surface like crazy to feed.

The moment the first fry swallowed the fodder.

"[Ding!]"

"[Detected host is performing Spirit Fish cultivation, hundred arts module updated!]"

"[hundred arts: Fish Rearing Technique (Entry) 0/300]"

Hearing the crisp notification sound in his head and seeing the numbers jumping on the panel.

"Again!"

Ignoring the weakness from his recent Breakthrough and not sparing his mana, he grabbed another handful of fodder and began the extremely dull and tedious purification process.

Once... twice... ten times...

"[Fish Rearing Technique Experience +1]"

"[Fish Rearing Technique Experience +1]"

"..."

Out of mana?

Then he would sit by the cold spring, using the "Endless Vitality" trait to quickly meditate and recover.

Fully recovered?

Then continue to grind!