Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World

Chapter 486: Chapter 264: The Theory of Roots and Bones (Part 2)

As she spoke, she feared Cheng Zongyang wouldn’t understand, so she immediately gave an example:

"Suppose you have Wood and Gold Spirit Bone. Your Martial Arts Training speed would be twice as fast as someone with a single Spirit Bone. You would also reach the Innate Realm and step onto the Immortal Dao sooner. But once that person with a single Spirit Bone also enters the Immortal Dao, your cultivation speeds will be reversed. Your early-stage advantage becomes your disadvantage after entering the Dao Realm of the Immortal Dao."

"As for Spirit Roots, there isn’t as much to say, unlike Spirit Bones. Your Spirit Root is determined from the very beginning. The number of Spirit Roots you have dictates your cultivation speed in both the early and late stages."

Cheng Zongyang took a moment to process this information. Although Lady Qin’s explanation wasn’t overly detailed, his comprehension was more than enough to grasp the concepts of Spiritual Root and Bone.

Basically, as long as one had a Spirit Root or a Spirit Bone, they could embark on the path of Cultivation Immortality.

In the realm of Martial Arts, the more Spirit Bones you had, the faster your cultivation speed—the more, the better! However, after stepping onto the path of Cultivation Immortality, more Spirit Bones actually meant a slower pace.

While the number of Spirit Roots also determined one’s speed, it wasn’t as complicated as with Spirit Bones. If you were slow, you were slow from the start. If you were fast, you were fast. It was set in stone.

"Where is this Spirit Root located?" Cheng Zongyang asked.

Lady Qin shook her head, having anticipated his question. She explained simply:

"The Spirit Root is located just outside the Mud Ball Palace, but it has no concrete form. From outside the Mud Ball Palace, it extends like tendrils into the five Spirit Bone regions, indirectly commanding all the meridians, the Five Viscera and Six Bowels, and all the flesh and blood of the body. This is how a Five Elements Spirit Root is formed.

"You can think of it as a special network of meridians attached to the outside of the Mud Ball Palace, yet it is far superior to ordinary meridians. It allows you to absorb external Spiritual Qi into the Mud Ball Palace, control your body with greater precision and power, and use your Primordial Spirit to perceive the outside world. Because of this, some have discovered its connection to the Yin Spirit within the Mud Ball Palace."

"Spirit Bone and Spirit Root are complementary. Most people with a Spirit Root also have a Spirit Bone. However, those with a Spirit Bone don’t necessarily have a Spirit Root.

"Of course, individuals who possess both and have full Attributes for each are exceedingly rare. These people are often known by another name: the Immortal Body. In other words, a natural Cultivation Immortality Physique.

"A person with a Spirit Bone, upon achieving success in their practice and Entering the Dao through the Martial Dao, will use the Primordial Qi accumulated in their Lower Dantian. This Qi travels along their Spirit Root or Mortal Root to assault the Mud Ball Palace. Once they break through, the Primordial Qi merges with the Yin Spirit inside the Mud Ball Palace, forming the Primordial Spirit and giving rise to Divine Sense. At that point, they become a Cultivator.

"A person with a Spirit Root also condenses and absorbs Spiritual Qi, converting it into Primordial Qi to be stored in the Lower Dantian, which they control. The paths are different, but the destination is the same: the Primordial Qi assaults the Mud Ball Palace, forms the Primordial Spirit, and they too become a Cultivator."

Cheng Zongyang slowly digested the details of Lady Qin’s explanation. After committing it all to memory, he sighed with great feeling.

"From the sound of it, people with a Five Elements Spirit Root or Five Elements Spirit Bone are actually the useless ones. No matter how fast their Martial Arts cultivation is, they’ll be just as slow once they enter the Immortal Dao."

However, Lady Qin shook her head and retorted:

"Anyone with a Spirit Root or Spirit Bone is naturally talented. There’s no such thing as being useless! That concept doesn’t exist. The only difference is speed. And what determines speed is the supply of resources."

"Cultivation is fast for a single Spirit Root, but it will be just as slow if resources are insufficient. Cultivation is slow for a Five Elements Spirit Root, but with enough resources, it won’t be slow at all. The same applies to Spirit Bone aptitude.

"Spiritual Root and Bone are determined at birth. There is no such thing as useless aptitude, only insufficient resources.

"Besides, if two Cultivators of the same Realm were to fight, one with a single Spirit Root and the other with a Five Elements Spirit Root, the one with the single Spirit Root would lose ninety percent of the time. Do you still think a Five Elements Spirit Root aptitude is useless?"

Cheng Zongyang was suddenly at a loss for words.

’My thinking has been too heavily influenced by the novels from my past life. I’m only just realizing it now. Lady Qin is right.’

’Aptitude is innate. As long as there are enough resources, having more Spirit Roots and Spirit Bones means you have the real potential!’

Just then, Lady Qin sighed again.

"Unfortunately, resources in this world are becoming increasingly scarce. Only those with Three Spirit Roots or fewer, or Three Spirit Bones or fewer, have a chance to get ahead. Nowadays, the only source of resources for all Cultivators—the only chance—is that one place. Alright, come back in two days. I’ll take you to see some houses then."

Seeing that Lady Qin had no intention of elaborating, Cheng Zongyang didn’t press further. He stood up and said, "I’ve learned a great deal. Thank you for your guidance, Lady Qin. I’ll trouble you again the day after tomorrow!"

Lady Qin didn’t respond, merely waving her hand to dismiss him.

After Cheng Zongyang left, an older woman appeared at Lady Qin’s side and asked curiously:

"Lady Qin, this isn’t like you. To think you’d talk so much with that young brat. What’s the matter, have you taken a liking to him?"

Lady Qin chuckled. "That kid’s background is probably not simple, to be able to take out such a large sum of Spirit Stones to buy a house. Of course, the main reason is that I like his personality. I was in a good mood, so I said a few extra words."

"Then we can earn a little more. In that case, the people in the East District should let you..."

"Say no more." Lady Qin raised a hand to stop her. "Go and bring the registry for all the single-courtyard houses with three residences on the south bank of the Zi’an River. Also, tell the girls to change their clothes. It’s time to get to work."

"Yes, Lady Qin." The old woman cupped her hands in a fist-and-palm salute, then turned and slowly walked back inside.

After leaving Spring Pavilion, Cheng Zongyang looked at the somewhat deserted and narrow alley, but his heart felt expansive.

He finally had a grasp of the cultivation issues in this world.

Although he didn’t know his own aptitude, it was clear he at least didn’t have Mortal Bone. As for whether he had a Spirit Root, that remained to be seen.

However, the information hinted at in Lady Qin’s last words had also piqued Cheng Zongyang’s curiosity.

’Resources are scarce in this world, I realized that yesterday. So where is this new opportunity of theirs?’

He didn’t think it would be the surface world.

’They probably moved here in the first place because they couldn’t continue cultivating on the surface. Are they really going to go back? They might as well just stay here.’

Therefore, he felt there must be some other special place here.

Cheng Zongyang temporarily suppressed the urge to explore and prepared to head to the West District.

There were many things he needed to buy: Arrays, Spirit Testing Paper, Talismans, and more.

He needed to learn about Arrays that could be set up in his new house and protect Jade Peak County Town.

For these types of Arrays, the bigger the better. In his future plans, the current space within Jade Peak County would naturally not be enough. They would have to expand into the territory outside the town walls. This meant they needed a larger protective Array, one that could effortlessly kill Innate Experts.

Furthermore, he also needed a Spirit Gathering Array.

Although he didn’t know if Spiritual Qi still existed in the world above, with a Spirit Gathering Array, he could at least accumulate it little by little.

In the future, Jade Peak County would have to become a place where people could cultivate to live up to the name of an Immortal City.

Therefore, the things he needed to buy this time were primarily for renovating the County Town.

When he returned, it would be time for him to take control of the County Town.

As for the Spirit Testing Paper, besides using it himself, he also planned to leave some in the County Town for those who wished to become Martial Artists or Cultivators. Of course, the price would be higher.

Although ordinary people couldn’t live in the other three districts, they had no problem buying things.

Many of the goods sold in the South District were only suitable for Martial Arts and ordinary people.

To purchase Cultivation Immortality Items, one had to go to the other three districts.

The West District was the Independent Cultivator Area, laid-back like the South District. But what set it apart from the South District was the status and standing of its inhabitants.

Cheng Zongyang followed the street toward the Zi’an River, in the northwest of the South District.

Three bridges connected the districts. Each bridge was a massive two hundred feet wide, evenly divided into two lanes for entry and exit.

There were no guards on either side of the bridges, and not many people were heading in that direction.

After all, those were high-consumption areas. An ordinary person might go for a stroll there, but they could never afford to actually spend money. Even just window shopping there could cost you.

Thus, aside from those with legitimate business, very few people went over.

Although the Sect had established rules in the County Town forbidding Cultivators from casually killing mortals, that didn’t mean they *couldn’t* kill them.

Killing a mortal would only result in a heavy fine. There were basically no other consequences, and the ordinary people who died had simply died for nothing.

A Cultivator would never be executed for killing a few mortals. The concept of a life for a life didn’t exist here. At most, they would be heavily fined some Spirit Stones, and that would be the end of it.

This also led ordinary people to be sensible enough to stay away, lest they incur the displeasure of some Cultivator and bring disaster upon themselves.

The road was wide and sparsely populated. Cheng Zongyang crossed the stone bridge, which was carved with exquisite reliefs of mountains and lakes and stretched nearly five hundred and fifty feet long, and entered the West District.

The moment Cheng Zongyang stepped into the West District, he immediately felt a change in the air, a result of the Array.

The sensation was distinct. It was like someone who had lived in a big city their whole life suddenly entering a deep, ancient forest—the freshness of the air was palpable.

And in this air, Cheng Zongyang detected the scent of the Spiritual Liquid he had collected, though it was much fainter here.

’So this is Spiritual Qi.’

It was far denser than in the South District.