21: The possibility of enhancing spiritual roots

At this moment, a Disciple in the crowd below timidly raised a hand: "Elder, I do not have a Wood Spiritual Root, but I also wish to Cultivate the Dao of spirit plants. Is there any way?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd turned their heads to look.

A Spirit Herb Hall Disciple without a Wood Spiritual Root?

Seeing the confusion of the crowd, the Disciple quickly explained:

"Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, please do not misunderstand. I am Shen Yu, a Disciple from the Spirit Pill Hall of the Fire Lineage. I only have a Fire Spiritual Root. I came to the Spirit Herb Hall today to purchase medicinal ingredients and happened to encounter Elder Xuan Mu giving a lecture..."

The crowd suddenly understood.

On the stage, Elder Xuan Mu stroked his beard and smiled: "A good question. The Spiritual Root, the Spiritual Root, it is the root of spiritual power."

"A cultivator's entire cultivation is like a tree; no matter how flourishing the stems and leaves may be, they all grow from the Spiritual Root."

"Although the Spiritual Root is Innate, it is not unchangeable."

...

The Disciples had mixed expressions upon hearing this.

The older Disciples seemed to have known this for a long time.

Meanwhile, new Disciples like Lin Yan, who had not been in the Sword Pavilion for long, all revealed expressions of joy.

The Spiritual Root is too important to a cultivator.

Spiritual Roots are divided into Five Elements attributes; the more attributes, the better.

However, there is no essential difference between a Single Spiritual Root and a Multi-Spiritual Root; it specifically depends on the quality of the Spiritual Root.

When joining the Sword Pavilion, Disciples are divided into different ranks based on the quality of their Spiritual Root.

Those with Low Grade Spiritual Root talent are directly sent back to their original homes.

Those with Medium Grade Spiritual Root talent become Sword Pavilion Utility Disciples.

Those with High Grade Spiritual Root talent become Outer Sect Disciples, who can enter grassroots halls like the Spirit Herb Hall to receive Sect training and obtain certain cultivation resources.

Those with top grade Spiritual Root talent join the Sword Pavilion Inner Sect, where they are key targets for cultivation, and their path to immortality is bright.

The higher the level of the Spiritual Root, the greater the affinity with the Spiritual Qi of the corresponding attribute, and the faster the speed of cultivation.

It is rumored that there are even better talents above top grade, but Lin Yan has not come into contact with information at that level.

In short, the Sword Pavilion examines a Disciple's Spiritual Root talent by first looking at the quality of the Spiritual Root, and then at the number of Spiritual Root attributes.

Before this, Lin Yan and the others all thought that Spiritual Roots were bestowed by the heavens and could not be changed.

Elder Xuan Mu's words were undoubtedly exciting.

"Elder, do you mean that I, with a single Fire Spiritual Root, could become a dual Wood-Fire Spiritual Root?"

"Elder, can the quality of the Spiritual Root be improved?"

"I have a High Grade Wood Spiritual Root; can it be improved further?"

...

Many young Disciples could not help but speak up to ask for advice.

"It's not that simple," Ye Wangshu, who was on the side, said softly to herself.

At this time, Elder Xuan Mu on the stage also spoke: "Everyone, please calm down and listen to this old man explain slowly."

"Since the Spiritual Roots are divided into Five Elements, they must follow the Dao of the Five Elements."

Elder Xuan Mu waved his sleeve, and a psychic emerald bamboo appeared in mid-air. Suddenly, five-colored light spots began to flow across the bamboo's body.

Golden light pierced towards the wood grain, and the wood grain withered in response;

Water waves washed over the flames, and the intense flames were instantly extinguished;

And as the soil layer pressed down heavily, the water waves were actually lifted and stagnated...

"This is the principle of the Five Elements generation and restriction: Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, and Earth generates Metal..."

"You can Cultivate new Spiritual Roots based on your own Spiritual Roots, following the principle of the Five Elements mutual generation."

"Conversely, if you try to Cultivate Spiritual Roots according to the principle of the Five Elements mutual restriction, not only will you not succeed, but you will also damage the Spiritual Roots you already have."

...

After demonstrating the principles of the Five Elements mutual generation and restriction, he pointed to Shen Yu, the Disciple with a Fire Spiritual Root from the Spirit Pill Hall.

"You possess a Fire Spiritual Root. If you Cultivate a Wood Spiritual Root, Wood generates Fire, which will be of great benefit to your future cultivation," Elder Xuan Mu said.

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder. How should I Cultivate a Wood Spiritual Root then?" Shen Yu continued to ask.

Elder Xuan Mu smiled and said: "Cultivating a Spiritual Root is not a task that can be accomplished overnight. You need to often refine the corresponding Five Elements attribute spirit items in your daily life."

"By integrating the Five Elements essence from heaven and earth spirit items into your own body, the Spiritual Root will be nourished, and over a long period of time, the corresponding Spiritual Root will grow."

"This process is relatively long, often taking decades or even centuries, and it also requires the support of many Five Elements spirit items, making it extremely difficult."

"It is the same for cultivating Spiritual Roots as it is for improving the quality of Spiritual Roots."

...

"So that's how it is."

The group of excited young Disciples calmed down.

If Spiritual Roots were so easy to improve, the Sword Pavilion wouldn't select Disciples based on them.

Lin Yan couldn't help but sigh; no wonder he hadn't heard anyone mention this before.

It turned out that knowing about it was useless anyway.

"Elder, this method is too difficult and too time-consuming. Is there a better way?" a Disciple couldn't help but ask.

"There is," Elder Xuan Mu smiled slightly and answered:

"If you can find an Innate Five Elements spirit item and refine it, you can immediately improve your Spiritual Root grade or Cultivate a new Spiritual Root."

"Or, if you find the Essence Blood of a Divine Beast like the Dragon Clan or Phoenix, refining it will have the same effect."

The Disciples fell silent upon hearing this.

So-called Innate treasures are nurtured by heaven and earth and are not spirit items that can be cultivated or bred like spirit plants or Spirit Beasts.

As for the Essence Blood of Divine Beasts like the Dragon Clan or Phoenix, that is even rarer; it is not something that low-level Disciples like them can come into contact with.

"It seems we still have to endure slowly..."

"That's easy to say, but do you have that many Spirit Stones to buy Five Elements spirit items?"

"That is true."

...

Lu Zhengfeng and the others all showed expressions of regret.

For them, time is not an issue.

In the Sword Pavilion, many Utility Disciples can achieve Foundation Establishment.

Outer Sect Disciples have fixed sources of income, so Foundation Establishment is a certainty.

Among the outstanding ones, many go further to become Purple Mansion Cultivators.

However, Five Elements spirit items are precious, and ordinary Sword Pavilion Disciples do not have the financial means to purchase them.

Only Lin Yan was secretly pleasantly surprised in his heart; he would not lack Spirit Stones in the future, so the hope of improving his Spiritual Root was great.

...

After the lecture ended, it was already late. The group had no choice but to find an unoccupied room in the Spirit Herb Hall and sat in meditation for the night.

The next day, the group went to the Treasure Pavilion of the Spirit Herb Hall.

Lin Yan came here to purchase seeds for the Azure Spirit Vine, Hidden Mist Grass, and Concealing Breath Flower; these are the core spirit plants for setting up the Azure Spirit Concealment Array.

"The seeds for the Azure Spirit Vine and Hidden Mist Grass are five Spirit Stones or five contribution points each. The seeds for the Concealing Breath Flower can only be purchased with contribution points, eight contribution points per portion," the Treasure Pavilion deacon said.

The Sword Pavilion's contribution points are equivalent to Spirit Stones; one contribution point is worth one Spirit Stone.

However, some rare spirit items can only be purchased with contribution points.

For example, this Concealing Breath Flower; this type of spirit plant is very scarce. Although it is a supplementary plant, it is more precious and can only be purchased with contribution points.

The Cultivation Techniques in the Scripture Pavilion also only accept contribution points, not Spirit Stones.

Therefore, contribution points are actually more precious than Spirit Stones.

Disciples are more willing to exchange Spirit Stones for contribution points; few Disciples are willing to exchange contribution points for Spirit Stones.

During private transactions, one contribution point is worth two Spirit Stones.

"Then I'll take one portion each of the Azure Spirit Vine and Hidden Mist Grass seeds. I will pay with Spirit Stones," Lin Yan said.

With the Azure Spirit Vine and Hidden Mist Grass, he could build a simplified version of the Azure Spirit Concealment Array, which also has the effect of gathering Spiritual Qi and concealment.

According to Lin Yan's current situation, this was enough.

Anyway, the Concealing Breath Flower could be added later; there was no need to rush.