Yu Mi said to Bao Gu, who was standing still on the jade platform, “Come down!” She was feeling very frustrated.
Bao Gu asked nervously, “Is my Five Elemental Roots very poor?”
Yu Mi replied, “It’s not that bad. At least your roots don’t look like they’ve been gnawed by a dog, all uneven and jagged.”
The young man couldn’t bear it and said, “Senior Sister, don’t comfort her. Five Elemental Roots, also known as Five Mixed Roots, are the lowest grade of spiritual roots. Other sects don’t even accept outer disciples with Five Elemental Roots. Single Elemental Root or Dual Elemental Roots are the best. Senior Sister Yu Mi only has Fire Elemental Root, which is a talent that many sects want to snatch.”
Bao Gu asked, “What exactly are spiritual roots? How did my spiritual roots become Five Mixed Roots? Fairy Yu Mi said I have immortal fate! And what are outer disciples? Are there also inner disciples?”
The young man was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Yu Mi and asked, “Senior Sister, where did this little junior sister come from?”
Yu Mi replied, “I picked her up on the road while extinguishing the Fire Toads.”
The young man suddenly called out, “Master Uncle is here!”
Following the young man’s gaze, Bao Gu saw a man with broad shoulders coming on the wind. Yu Mi and the young man quickly saluted and said in unison, “Greetings, Martial Uncle.”
Martial Uncle waved his hand and said, “No need for formalities.” He eagerly looked at the skinny little girl standing on the side, then turned to Yu Mi and the young man with a delighted expression, “Is it already time to open?”
The young man replied, “In response to Master, yes, it’s open! Her spiritual roots are growing particularly neat, all the same length, not a fraction more or less.”
The martial master’s eyes lit up, slightly surprised, and asked, “Really? Dual spiritual roots? What are the two attributes?”
The young man shook his head reluctantly, with a forced smile.
The hopeful look in the martial master’s eyes weakened slightly, as he said, “If they grow evenly, having three spiritual roots is also a good seedling.”
The young man weakly extended five fingers and said, “Five spiritual roots, claimed by Senior Sister Yu Mi for Lingyun Peak.”
The fervor in the martial master’s eyes was completely extinguished, and he looked deeply at Yu Mi, saying with great emphasis, “Yu Mi, you must consider this carefully.”
Yu Mi nodded stiffly and said, “Thank you for your concern, Master Uncle. I know my limits.”
The martial master swept his sleeves and said, “Then it’s up to you!” He walked to a nearby cushion and closed his eyes to meditate.
Bao Gu understood that his spiritual roots were very poor, and he could only enter the immortal sect with the care of Immortal Yu Mi. Feeling quite dejected, he walked over and sat down behind Immortal Yu Mi, who was meditating on the cushion.
The young man called out to Bao Gu, “Hey, Bao Gu, come over here, you haven’t finished registering yet!”
Bao Gu had no choice but to get up and walk over. Following the man’s instructions, she dripped blood into a piece of jade slip. The man then gave her a jade token and dripped a drop of blood on it. The young man then said, “Alright, now you are considered an outer disciple of my Xuantian Sect. Work hard in your cultivation, strive to reach the Foundation Building stage as soon as possible, and you may have the chance to be accepted into the inner sect.”
Bao Gu asked in confusion, “What is the Foundation Building stage?”
The young man smiled and said, “You are now a member of the Lingyun Peak. If you have any questions, ask Senior Sister Yu Mi for guidance.”
Bao Gu had to approach Immortal Yu Mi. Just as she was about to ask, Immortal Yu Mi flipped her hand and a small pouch and a book appeared in Bao Gu’s arms.
Without even lifting her eyelids, Immortal Yu Mi said, “The book is a guide to cultivating immortality. If you don’t understand, read the book first. The pouch is a storage bag for you to put things in.”
Seeing the book that Immortal Yu Mi gave to Bao Gu, the young man teased, “Oh, Senior Sister Yu Mi, are you still keeping this guide to cultivating immortality?”
Yu Mi opened her eyes and looked at the young man, saying, “Junior Brother Feng, I see that you are exceptionally talented. Would you like to have a discussion with me?”
The young man promptly closed his mouth, quickly sat back in his seat, and sat upright with a dignified and ethereal demeanor, waiting for the disciples who were about to come and pay their respects.
Sitting next to Yu Mi, Bao Gu imitated their meditation posture and opened the book. She was surprised to find that the book was printed in regular script. She flipped through the pages and exclaimed, “Hey, this is a book printed by Zhang’s Bookstore in Qing Shan County!”
The young man referred to as “Feng Junior Brother” turned his head and gave Bao Gu a sly look, saying, “Bao Gu, you don’t know this. Although this book is printed in the mortal realm, the content inside is a must-read for mortals who come to the cultivation world.”
Bao Gu thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t asked for Senior Brother’s full name yet.”
“No problem, my surname is Feng, and my name is Feng Menglong. I am a direct disciple of Master Zhu Touzhen, the peak master of Zhuoyun Peak.”
Bao Gu exclaimed in slight surprise, “Pig’s head? What kind of name is that?”
Feng Menglong could tell from Bao Gu’s reaction that she had misunderstood, and angrily shouted, “The ‘Zhu’ in my surname is the ‘Zhu’ in Master Zhu, and ‘Tou’ means ‘throw’! You are insulting our senior and master. My master is one of the top ten experts in our sect!”
Bao Gu quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Feng Menglong snorted in annoyance, ignored Bao Gu, yawned twice, and then lay down on the table to take a nap.
Bao Gu knew she had offended someone with her words, so she stuck out her tongue, lowered her head, and started flipping through the cultivation guide in her hand. The book was thin, only a few pages long, and she quickly finished reading it. After closing the book, she sighed heavily and said, “I was so scared. I thought my Five Elements Root was really bad, but it turns out that it just takes a bit more effort in cultivation and encountering more bottlenecks than others. It’s okay, diligence can make up for clumsiness. I’ve always been very diligent since I was young!”
Upon hearing this, Feng Menglong sat up and looked at Bao Gu speechlessly. He pursed his lips and really didn’t want to discourage Bao Gu any further. The Five Elements Root was the worst type of spiritual root, and very few people with this type of root could even reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining. Only by crossing the Qi Refining stage and entering the Foundation Building stage could one truly step into the world of cultivation and distinguish themselves from ordinary people. However, there were exceptions, and there had been successful cultivators with the Five Elements Root, but they were extremely rare, and most of them had achieved their success through the accumulation of countless spiritual treasures. Bao Gu didn’t have a family to provide her with cultivation resources, and no sect would waste resources on such a talentless cultivator. She had almost no hope relying solely on herself.
Spiritual roots are usually divided into five attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
There is only one type of single spiritual root, called the Heavenly Spiritual Root. With abundant spiritual root, the cultivation speed is extremely fast, several times faster than the ordinary spiritual root. The main advantage is that there is no bottleneck in forming the core, and one can smoothly progress from the Qi Refining Stage to the Foundation Building Stage, and even enter the Golden Core Stage, becoming a formidable expert. Such geniuses are the objects of competition for the immortal sects.
Having two or three types of spiritual roots is called the True Spiritual Root, which allows for faster cultivation. Most of the disciples recruited by the immortal sects have two or three spiritual roots.
Having four or five types of spiritual roots is collectively called the False Spiritual Root. The spiritual roots are mixed and the cultivation speed is extremely slow, with many bottlenecks. Especially the Five Elemental Roots, also known as the Five Mixed Roots or Five Wasted Roots, it’s almost hopeless to even enter the later stages of the Qi Refining Stage. Under the tight resources of cultivation, the immortal sects are almost unwilling to accept such disciples. Even if they are occasionally accepted, they only accept those with False Spiritual Roots who have already entered the later stages of Qi Refining through their own cultivation. False Spiritual Roots that can break through the mid-stage restriction without relying on the sect’s resources have some potential. If all else fails, they can be accepted as outer disciples and used as menial labor.
Bao Gu, who knows nothing about cultivation, can be accepted into the immortal sect by Immortal Yu Mi. However, although she has the Five Elemental Roots, she is a bit different from the typical Five Elemental Roots. Her Five Elemental Roots were neatly arranged. This neat arrangement represents a balance of the five elements. Although her cultivation will be very slow and difficult, it is not without potential. After all, the five elements generate and control each other, and having a complete and balanced set of the five elements also has its advantages. There is a great chance that this type will end up as a waste, but if one is willing to work hard, they may also achieve great success.
In cultivation, innate talent is important, but effort and opportunities are equally important.
Wu Yuanzi opened his eyes and looked at Bao Gu, saying, “Although having good aptitude in cultivation gives a high starting point and rapid progress, the most important thing is to have a firm Dao heart. With a strong and unwavering Dao heart, even a stubborn stone can be refined into fine gold.”
Bao Gu nodded vigorously and said, “Mm!”
Master Wu said, “It’s getting late, let’s go back!” After that, he got up and left like a flying immortal.
Immortal Yu Mi also stood up and said, “Feng Junior Brother, I won’t come tomorrow.”
Feng Menglong called out, “Senior Sister, this is only the first day of recruiting disciples…”
Immortal Yu Mi said, “You staying here is enough.” After saying that, she waved her hand and a flying sword appeared beneath her feet. She lifted Bao Gu by the collar and placed her on the flying sword, ready to leave. However, Feng Menglong reached out and grabbed the flying sword, blocking their way.
Feng Menglong called out, “Senior sister, lend me some spirit stones to activate the teleportation array back to the sect.”
Immortal Yu Mi stood on the flying sword, looked down at Feng Menglong, and said, “You will continue to recruit disciples here tomorrow. It’s a waste of spirit stones to travel back and forth. Just find a place to sit and spend the night.”
Feng Menglong refused, saying, “I am also representing the Xuantian Sect now. How can senior sister let me sleep on the streets? I don’t need much, just lend me some spirit stones so I can stay at an inn.”
Immortal Yu Mi confidently said, “I have always spent the night in the wilderness, at the end of the street or in the alley. Have you ever seen me spend spirit stones on lodging? What a waste!” She shook off Feng Menglong’s hand with her spiritual energy and controlled the flying sword to leave.
Bao Gu wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, feeling extremely embarrassed. She had joined a very poor sect!
Immortal Yu Mi seemed to sense Bao Gu’s thoughts and said calmly, “Only through hardship can one become outstanding. This principle applies both in the mortal world and in the cultivation world.”
Bao Gu nodded vigorously, indicating that she had learned her lesson. She couldn’t help but ask, “Where will Senior Brother Feng sleep tonight?”
Immortal Yu Mi replied calmly: “Can’t you sleep under a bridge, on the eaves, or in a ruined temple?”
Bao Gu’s eyes went blank: Isn’t this just like squeezing in with beggars? A direct disciple of the master of one peak of the Xuan Tian Gate is actually as poor as a beggar! Oh heavens! Bao Gu seriously doubted that she had joined the Beggar’s Sect!
Immortal Yu Mi didn’t despise her for having too many spiritual roots, a total of five, so she was embarrassed to despise Immortal Yu Mi’s sect for being poor. After enduring three years of drought in Qing Shan County, joining a cultivation sect wouldn’t lead to a situation where there’s nothing to eat and one might starve to death at least. Bao Gu was very aware of the plight of Qing Shan County. Even if the fire toads were eliminated and the heavens rained, it would still take time for crops to grow in the fields before people could survive, and everyone would still have to endure several more months of hunger, unsure if they could survive these months.
Besides, her neighbors all knew she had become an immortal; if she returned to being a mortal, wouldn’t it be too embarrassing? After thinking, Bao Gu said, “Sister Yu Mi, my father gave me some dowry jewelry. How about we pawn them to support the sect?” As soon as she finished speaking, she felt the flying sword under her feet tremble, frightening her into screaming “Ah”, instinctively turning to hug Immortal Yu Mi, but she was firmly held by the neck and unable to turn around. Fortunately, the flying sword stabilized after only a moment of trembling.
Immortal Yu Mi unceremoniously rebuffed Bao Gu: “Your trinkets are worthless in the cultivation world, so save it.” She really wanted to kick Bao Gu off the flying sword!
It was then Bao Gu remembered what Immortal Yu Mi had written in the cultivation guidebook: in the cultivation world, gold and silver are useless, and the ‘money’ there is the spirit stone that can be converted into the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for cultivation.
She hugged her dowry and felt wronged in her heart: “This is what my father and mother saved up for over a decade for my dowry. If it weren’t for the natural disaster… ah no, the demon, our shop and fertile fields would have been enough for me to live a worry-free life. Not like now, so poor that I haven’t even seen what ‘money’ looks like.” The more she thought about it, the sadder she became, and angrily exclaimed, “Immortal Yu Mi… Sister, I know you captured that fire-breathing giant toad with your magic. It’s so big, it must last a long time to eat. When you skin it and eat its meat, call me! I want to skin it, eat its meat, drink its blood!”
Immortal Yu Mi, pressing Bao Gu’s neck, couldn’t bear it any longer and pressed down hard, almost wishing she could stuff Bao Gu’s head into her stomach. She angrily exclaimed, “Aren’t you afraid of being poisoned to death?” But in her heart, she thought, “Dare to covet my food, believe it or not, I’ll kick you off the flying sword?”
