Chapter 21: Spiritual Root Theory

The Taiyi Medical Palace conducted extensive research on the relationship between spirit roots and cultivation speed, eventually compiling their findings into a medical classic called the 'Treatise on Spirit Roots'.

The research showed a direct proportionality between spirit root attribute points and cultivation speed.

Every normally born cultivator, provided they have sufficient innate vital energy, possesses 100 spirit root attribute points. These points are then distributed among the five elemental attributes based on their fortune, forming what is known as a cultivator's 'spirit root'.

The quantity of these five-element spirit root attributes determines the efficiency of cultivation techniques.

For instance, a genius with extraordinary fortune might have all 100 points allocated to the Wood elemental spirit root, forming the legendary perfect Wood-element heavenly spirit root. Such an individual would cultivate Wood-attribute techniques at twice the speed of an ordinary person.

What would normally take 100 years to master, they could achieve in just 50.

Chen Mobai's current spirit root distribution is: Metal 23, Wood 27, Water 30, Fire 17, Earth 10.

Taking his highest attribute, Water, as an example, if he were to cultivate the Black Water Art and apply the formula from the 'Treatise on Spirit Roots', his efficiency in refining spiritual energy would only be 1.3 times that of an ordinary person.

Of course, the actual cultivation efficiency also depends on factors like spiritual energy density, the cultivator's mindset, and the presence of auxiliary spiritual items. It's not a one-size-fits-all calculation.

Under ideal conditions, and based on Chen Mobai's talent, breaking through to Qi Refinement Level 6 using the Five Elements Art would take at least half a year.

However, the Water Mansion is a mid-grade Tier 2 spiritual land, with spiritual energy density five to six times that of a high-grade Tier 1 land. Cultivating here feels like a rocket-powered ascent compared to training at school or home.

Even so, due to the limitations of his spirit root, Chen Mobai's previous estimation was that it would still take him a hundred days, pushing close to the college entrance exam, to barely attempt breaking through to Qi Refinement Level 6.

This was before he watched Master Qingping's lecture video.

True to his Nascent Soul stage, Master Qingping's lecture, even when explaining the most basic Five Elements Art, had a profound impact. Despite starting with a rambling introduction about irrelevant topics, once he delved into the core content of the cultivation technique, Chen Mobai instantly felt enlightened, as if scales had fallen from his eyes.

He learned that when spiritual energy circulated to a certain meridian, rotating it seven times counter-clockwise within the acupoint allowed it to easily clear and flow smoothly.

When absorbing spiritual energy through the three orifices (mouth and nose), one needed to circulate it repeatedly through the 'Twelve-Story Pagoda' in the throat. This method allowed impurities from the external spiritual energy to be intercepted by the twelve segments, preventing them from entering the meridians. At the end of the cultivation session, this stale air from the throat would be expelled.

Another example was how, after spiritual energy was refined and ready to flow into the Dantian Qi Sea, it could enter strand by strand in a clockwise rotation.

Since clockwise rotation is 'forward' (顺), it helps to condense spiritual energy. As Foundation Establishment involves liquefying spiritual energy, performing this step beforehand could increase the success rate of future Foundation Establishment by ten percent.

Similarly, counter-clockwise rotation is 'reverse' (逆), signifying dispersion. When spiritual energy flowed through particularly blocked or narrow meridians, it shouldn't be forced through. Instead, it needed to disperse into a thin, gentle qi and advance slowly.

After his cultivation session, Chen Mobai re-watched the videos for Qi Refinement Levels 1 and 2 of the Five Elements Art, realizing how rudimentary his understanding of this fundamental technique had been all along.

It was almost morning when he reluctantly turned off his phone.

However, during his cultivation session that night, he had used the offline download feature to save all twenty-eight videos of Master Qingping explaining the Five Elements Art onto his phone.

This offline download feature was a privilege exclusive to users of Tier 3 and above in the supplementary cultivation system. As a Tier 5 user, Chen Mobai naturally had access to it.

But just in case, when he went to class today, he turned off his phone's mobile data to avoid being traced by the supplementary cultivation service provider.

“Do you know, Yan Bingxuan dropped out of school?”

That morning, before the teacher entered, his deskmate Lu Hongsheng mysteriously leaned in close to Chen Mobai and, unable to keep the secret, blurted out the shocking news.

“Huh, why? The college entrance exam is so close. Did she drop out because she couldn’t handle losing to Song Zheng?”“Highly likely. She’s usually so aloof. This time, losing was too humiliating, so she just dropped out.”“That doesn’t sound right, it’s not like she’s never lost before.”“Maybe it’s just an excuse to drop out and secretly cultivate hard at home.”

The two beautiful deskmates in front also leaned in, and those behind, unwilling to be left out, quickly formed a gossip circle centered around Chen Mobai and Lu Hongsheng.

Chen Mobai could only roll his eyes. In the past, he might have joined in, but now that he was in his senior year and needed to exert himself, he couldn't be bothered to waste time on gossip.

He wanted to astound everyone and soar to great heights...

Just then, Yan Bingxuan walked in, and the gossip circle instantly fell silent.

Her cool gaze swept over them. Chen Mobai silently indicated his innocence, as he hadn't participated in the discussion at all. But the stunning Yan merely gave a cold stare for two seconds before returning to her seat, quietly packing her belongings, and leaving the classroom with her blue backpack.

The classroom was silent for about ten seconds, then everyone started speaking in raised voices, whispering amongst themselves.

Students who had initially been skeptical of Lu Hongsheng's news now cast surprised glances their way, causing Chen Mobai's deskmate to puff out his chest proudly.

Click.

Chen Mobai stood up, dragging his chair across the floor with a scraping sound.

“Where are you going? Class is about to start.”

Lu Hongsheng asked curiously.

“Forgot my textbook. Going to borrow one from the library.”

After saying this, Chen Mobai escaped the increasingly wild gossip and speculation. There was no helping it; students in the back had already conjured up a 20-episode TV drama's worth of love and hate between the two geniuses, Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan.

He really couldn't listen anymore.

Since he planned to borrow the Five Elements Art textbook from the library anyway, he seized the opportunity to slip away.

Immortal Gate Fifth High School had a small library with about three thousand books, housing common biographies, histories, books on the customs and traditions of Danxia City, and self-study texts on minor spells, cultivation techniques, pills, artifacts, formations, and more.

Although the highest grade was only Tier 1 high-grade, the foundational content in all areas was comprehensive. A diligent and hardworking individual who read and comprehended all the books in this library could easily pass the exams for a Tier 1 formation master, alchemist, or appraiser professional certificate.

Unfortunately, hardly anyone ever visited this library.

In this day and age, who still reads physical books?

Only those who forgot their textbooks would come here to borrow one for half a day with their student ID, returning it after school.

If Chen Mobai hadn't wanted to avoid spending 10 points to download the electronic version of the Five Elements Art from the Immortal Gate National E-Library, he wouldn't have come to this library to borrow it.

He had benefited greatly from Master Qingping's lecture yesterday, but upon reviewing the earlier content, he found it somewhat blurry. He felt it was necessary to go over the video content again with the original Five Elements Art textbook.

“One copy of Five Elements Art, debited to student ID. Free for one month.”

The librarian, a teacher wearing round-rimmed glasses, expertly took Chen Mobai's student ID and swiped it.

Just as Chen Mobai thanked her and turned to leave, someone suddenly walked into the library entrance.