81: Water and wood spiritual roots, join Heshui Mansion

Ye Chun is a rather sensitive figure.

As a former Old Ancestor of Seiya, he transformed Seiya from an unknown small club into a top powerhouse of the Huaxia Federation, achieving an dazzling record of three consecutive championships in the "Age of Glory." His personal ability and commercial value were incredibly high.

However, rumors recently circulated that he was replaced by a newcomer.

The Xing Shi Manager chuckled and replied, "Unfortunately, player Ye Chun is older, and his overall qualities have fallen behind the newcomers. In the end, he chose to retire himself."

These words showed no Face to Ye Chun and were completely offensive.

The Host silently thought 'heartless and unjust' but outwardly smiled and said,

"The auxiliary System in Xuanhuan World is extremely complete, and the mental pressure it exerts is the lowest among all games. Relatively speaking, to play Xuanhuan World well, it tests a person's long-term strategic thinking more than their reaction speed."

"If player Ye Chun were to enter Xuanhuan World alone and ultimately achieve an Immortal Foundation or even a Golden Core, how would your club handle it?"

The show's dramatic effect immediately kicked in.

The Xing Shi Manager, who also enjoyed hype, sneered on the spot:

"Ye Chun is already old. Not only can his reactions not keep up, but his strategic thinking is also often inferior to newcomers. If he truly had the ability to achieve a Golden Core, then our Seiya players would have probably become Nascent Soul Cultivators long ago!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the four managers around looked at each other, stunned.

In fact, players currently have no understanding of how to achieve a Golden Core. The most advanced information available only extends to gathering Immortal Qi and establishing an Immortal Foundation. To put it in Xuanhuan terms, the player community only possesses Foundation Establishment Methods, not Golden Core Methods.

They don't even know what the 'Core Formation Stage' in between entails.

As for the more distant Nascent Soul, let alone players, none of the native NPCs that have appeared so far are of this caliber, and it hasn't even been mentioned.

The Xing Shi Manager's sudden statement was merely because he believed Ye Chun was absolutely incapable of achieving a Golden Core.

'What a pity, he used to be an ace player.'

The Host sighed inwardly. No matter how brilliant a person is in reality, time will eventually lead to aging, and they will be directly replaced by rising stars. How could it be like Xuanhuan World, where one can spend a thousand years of Lifespan at their peak strength, growing more powerful with age?

The topic shifted to other directions, and the managers chatted about club plans, occasionally praising Xuanhuan World... Meanwhile, in Xuanhuan World.

After the Golden Core Tomb opened, Blazing Fire soared into the sky, and a surge of fire-attributed spiritual energy undulated, as if the spiritual atmosphere of thousands of miles of land would change with it.

Fortunately, the Heshui Prefecture in Yue Country had a Golden Core Old Ancestor in existence. His water-attribute Cultivation Technique was perfected, and simply by sitting on the Heshui Prefecture Spirit Peak, he suppressed the fire-attributed spiritual energy to its limit, preventing too much commotion.

However, the Duan Kong Cave in Chu Country had other plans. Instead of suppressing it, they secretly fanned the flames, causing the entire Chu Country to boil. Qi Refining Cultivators were already having a difficult time, and Mortals were practically suffering a natural disaster.

Naturally, a small figure like Ye Chun was unaware of the struggles at the top.

He only knew that the Cultivators of Heshui Prefecture were exceptionally efficient. On one hand, they registered newly appeared ore veins and disrupted water and Spiritual Veins. On the other hand, they sent people to check Spiritual Roots, hoping to recruit more Outer Sect Disciples while they had the chance.

Ye Chun had long suspected he had a Spiritual Root, and upon inspection, he indeed did. It was a dual water-wood Spiritual Root, not the best single Spiritual Root, but it appeared extremely superior compared to the four-Spiritual Root and five-Spiritual Root individuals, and it somewhat aligned with the Heshui Prefecture Dao Lineage. This immediately made the Cultivator beam with joy, and he was registered as an Outer Sect Disciple on the spot.

Ye Chun then followed him to recruit people in nearby villages. Approximately tens of thousands were tested, and ultimately, over a thousand people possessed Spiritual Roots. All of them were recruited as Outer Sect Disciples, a truly astonishingly high proportion.

'No wonder the village elder said this was an Immortal opportunity. Under the Golden Core phenomenon, even just breathing in its Qi could cause Mortals to grow Spiritual Roots. It's too astonishing.'

Ye Chun clicked his tongue inwardly but suddenly thought of another question:

If Spiritual Roots could be Acquired, wouldn't the descendants of powerful individuals all possess Spiritual Roots?

Would the descendants of Cultivators always be Cultivators?

Ye Chun was no longer young and sometimes pondered profound questions. These fleeting settings gave him some understanding of the darker side of Xuanhuan World.

He continued to follow the Heshui Prefecture Cultivators. There were about a dozen Qi Refining Cultivators, all Outer Sect Disciples, already gathered together.

"Senior Brother, a Spirit Mine has appeared over there!"

A Disciple arrived from afar, unable to suppress the joy on his Face: "We haven't fully explored what kind of Spirit Mine it is yet, but we've dug several miles down and haven't reached the end. It should be a large mine!"

The leading Senior Brother also smiled, waved his hand, and led the Cultivators towards the ore vein.

New Outer Sect Disciples like Ye Chun also followed. Working under the Cultivators, they were to gather the surrounding Mortal villages, which would later be used for mining.

The Senior Brother shouted again, "You'd best leave some seeds here. Having more Spiritual Root descendants in the future will make mining easier."

After speaking, he selected some people from the recently recruited Outer Sect Disciples, mostly those with four or five Spiritual Roots, and all were to remain here for mining.

Ye Chun's heart trembled upon hearing this. Only then did he realize that having a Spiritual Root didn't necessarily guarantee becoming a high and mighty Immortal. If one's Aptitude and talent were a bit lacking, they would simply be better oxen and horses.

If one used Medicinal Pills to achieve Foundation Establishment, they could achieve Fasting (Bìgǔ - abstention from grains) and forgo eating, potentially mining twenty-four hours a day without rest, only pausing for a brief moment at their limit.

'This is too terrifying...'

Ye Chun thought a lot, congratulating himself on his identity. Fortunately, he didn't have the worst five-Spiritual Root; his talent was actually quite good.

The group continued towards the ore vein.

At this moment, the leading Senior Brother stopped, a surge of water-attribute spiritual energy rising around him. He narrowed his eyes, and with a slight movement of his blue sleeve, a sky-blue longsword was unsheathed, glinting and radiating a faint spiritual aura.

He saw hundreds of Qi Refining Cultivators rushing towards them in a dense mass, silent and orderly, holding various weapons infused with Spiritual Qi. If not handled well, they could truly break through the formation.

"Form a formation!"

Unfortunately, Ye Chun's group was not a Loose Cultivator team, but proper Heshui Prefecture Cultivators. Even though they were all Outer Sect Disciples, the Cultivation Techniques they practiced and the trump cards they possessed were incomparable to those of Loose Cultivators.

The Qi Refining Cultivators, some wielding swords, some hammers, some opening gourds, each activated their respective weapons. A shimmering blue light barrier rose, protecting Ye Chun and the others, and then suddenly shot out a water Dragon, directly sending the first Cultivators who charged forward flying.

"Retreat!"

Just as the Heshui Prefecture group was on alert, the Qi Refining Cultivators who had just charged in to fight retreated without any hesitation. Their actions were very orderly, unlike typical Loose Cultivators.

"It's them again!"

A Heshui Prefecture Cultivator cursed, "They test us almost every day and night, just trying to catch us alone to scheme for our Heshui Prefecture Cultivation Technique!"

The leading Senior Brother's expression was also very unpleasant: "Hmph, just a group of banded Loose Cultivators, daring to challenge our Heshui Prefecture."

Only Ye Chun's expression was strange.

'These people should be players, right? And their actions are so orderly, they shouldn't be ordinary players. Most likely, they're from some club.'

Thinking this, Ye Chun couldn't help but curl his lips, finding the situation amusing.