Chapter 35: From Worthless to Miraculous—The Ninefold Tempered Spiritual Root!

Cao Xuan held the porcelain bottle in his hand, inside which remained eight supreme-grade Spirit Cleansing Pills.

At this moment, anyone re-examining his aptitude would find, without a doubt, that he was now a cultivator with a five-tiered spiritual root.

He suddenly understood now: in the cultivation world, there truly existed treasures capable of improving one's spiritual root aptitude, yet one's innate bone structure was fixed at birth.

This meant that even if Cao Xuan found such a secret treasure and raised his spiritual root to the fifth tier, his body would still be at the fourth-tier level—a classic case of a high-end CPU paired with a low-end motherboard.

Of course, as one cultivated, influenced by the improvement of both spiritual root and cultivation, the body would gradually transform. After all, cultivation is fundamentally a process of enhancing oneself.

"However, since bone structure is innate, without a breakthrough to a higher realm, changing it would be extremely difficult!"

As a cultivator with a four-tiered spiritual root, Cao Xuan had trained from the first to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement. Though his cultivation had advanced significantly, his ability to absorb spiritual energy had only improved slightly.

At this stage, his four-tiered spiritual root was barely sufficient to sustain further cultivation.

If not for the support of all kinds of supreme-grade pills, relying solely on hard meditation and cultivation, even a slight advancement in his cultivation would likely require ten years of arduous training.

"This is why so many outer sect disciples either resign themselves to mediocrity all their lives or labor endlessly for the sect, completing tasks."

Through this upgrade of his spiritual root, Cao Xuan truly felt it.

He had been relying on pills for cultivation and had almost forgotten about the defects of his spiritual root.

Ordinary disciples were not as "wealthy" as he was now, treating supreme-grade pills as daily meals.

Most people could only advance their cultivation by completing sect tasks or finding ways to earn resources to exchange for cultivation materials.

Cao Xuan patted the jade meditation cushion beneath him. "Now I finally understand why you're so expensive!"

A single jade meditation cushion required three hundred spirit stones, only boosting spiritual energy absorption by ten percent.

But the key was that as long as the formation inside remained intact, it could be used endlessly.

Cultivation resources were not limited to pills; they also included some magical tools refined through spiritual energy-gathering arrays, cultivation incense, enlightenment tea, and so on.

Items like the jade meditation cushion, which could be used long-term, were akin to cars in his previous life—many people spent years working just to afford one. The same principle applied.

If you're not a prodigy and your spiritual root aptitude is lacking, then you must work hard for the Qingyun Sect, earn spirit stones, exchange them for cultivation resources, or else you can forget about advancing in this lifetime.

"I finally understand why Qingyun Sect only issues tasks and doesn't even require the four monthly tasks!"

Cao Xuan felt the changes within his spiritual root. Prodigies naturally advanced quickly and became the sect’s strength.

Those with lower-tier spiritual roots, for the sake of cultivation, would willingly become the sect’s laborers, contributing to its growth.

Thus, when Cao Xuan took out medicinal pills from his storage pouch to coax Lin Miaoxuan and Chen Qianru in Moonwatch Valley, he himself might not have felt much, but the surrounding cultivators' envy and admiration were well justified.

Lin Miaoxuan and Chen Qianru quickly yielded under such temptation.

"In a few days, it will be the sect assessment. I must seize the time to raise my aptitude!"

Cao Xuan stopped pondering. After all, most people were mere laborers; what did that have to do with him?

Qingyun Sect's annual assessment allowed outer sect disciples to be promoted to inner sect disciples, and there would be another spiritual root assessment.

To explain it simply: like foreskin, there are normal, partial, and full coverage. Spiritual roots are similar—some people have partial spiritual roots. During entry, they might be detected as only third or fourth-tier trash roots.

But after some cultivation, with exposure to spiritual energy resources, partial roots shed their skin, becoming normal roots, and their aptitude might soar unexpectedly.

Cultivation is unpredictable, even now, no one can truly say for certain.

So, to avoid missing any prodigy, upon entering the inner sect, spiritual roots are assessed again.

Cao Xuan had thought it through. His cultivation was built upon a heap of spirit pills.

Earlier, he had been conflicted—if he broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement and the sect discovered he only had a four-tiered spiritual root, how could he explain it?

He considered several excuses—some fortuitous encounter, perhaps some hidden aptitude—but none seemed reliable.

A four-tiered spiritual root reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refinement in a lifetime wasn’t impossible, but at his age, it was utterly unreasonable.

So, Cao Xuan decided that he would display his talent for alchemy, admit to crafting supreme-grade pills, thus making his cultivation level plausible.

This, however, carried some risk: if lucky, he’d be taken as a personal disciple by the Elder of the Alchemy Peak; if unlucky, Qingyun Sect might control him, turning him into a pill-making machine for life.

Now, with the Spirit Cleansing Pill, his aptitude had improved. He could control the alchemy assessment and casually refine some inferior pills, perfectly reasonable.

A prodigious aptitude, reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, was expected. Becoming an alchemist at this stage was also expected.

To hide in plain sight, blend with the dust and light—that was the perfect protection.

Even if he didn’t reach the seventh layer before the assessment, he could prepare his spiritual root in advance.

Thinking thus, Cao Xuan took out another Spirit Cleansing Pill and swallowed it.

Supreme-grade pills lacked both toxicity and resistance. As one entered his belly, his entire being trembled.

His spiritual root was cleansed and refined once more, as if an athlete training with weights had finally shed the burden. During the cleansing process, Cao Xuan allowed himself to better integrate with heaven and earth, absorbing spiritual energy.

His body’s cultivation at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement also slowly climbed!

Cleansing the spirit, tempering the body, cultivation rising—Cao Xuan repeated this process over and over these days.

Finally, on the eve of the sect assessment, Cao Xuan opened his eyes.

[Name: Cao Xuan]
[Spiritual Root Attribute: Nine-tiered Spiritual Root]
[Talent: Grass and Wood Affinity]
[Cultivation: Seventh Layer of Qi Refinement]

"Seventh layer of Qi Refinement," Cao Xuan murmured, his tone calm. He closed his eyes, yet his aura made the room as bright as day.

Though exaggerated, compared to his former four-tiered spiritual root, the nine-tiered root’s talent for sensing spiritual energy was truly the difference between a firefly and the full moon.

"Nine-tiered spiritual root, with supreme-grade cultivation pills to assist me… At my age, only at the seventh layer? Rather lacking!"

Cao Xuan shook his head, sensing his current talent. He tutted—after consuming so many supreme pills, he had only reached the seventh layer. Too lax, far too lax.

If any fellow outer sect disciples were present, they would surely choke in disbelief. What was his previous aptitude? Did he really see himself as a prodigy?

But now, Cao Xuan was indeed a prodigy—at least here in Qingyun Sect of Yunzhou, his nine-tiered spiritual root guaranteed, no, destined him for Foundation Establishment.

Senior Brother Yang Fan had great alchemy talent and a seven-tiered spiritual root, yet no protector elder sought to make him a personal disciple, only waiting for him to break through to Foundation Establishment.

Senior Brother Ding Qing, less talented in alchemy but with a nine-tiered spiritual root, had not yet broken through, yet already had protector elders offering him discipleship. Such was the difference!

"The sky is high for the birds to fly, the sea wide for the fish to leap!"

"With my nine-tiered spiritual root, nothing can restrain me now!"

Cao Xuan’s figure trembled slightly within his cave abode.

…