Starting from the two realms, cultivating immortality by taming beasts

Chapter 84 Firewood and Pillars

Upon seeing this scene, the six Foundation Establishment cultivators standing on the cloud boat couldn't help but be moved, their gazes towards Chen Beiwu filled with fervor.

The rogue cultivator before me is the first water-attribute celestial spiritual root cultivator to appear in the thousand-year history of Yinxia Market.

What is the concept of a Heavenly Spiritual Root?

As one of the highest-level spiritual roots, water-attribute heavenly spiritual root cultivators, even without the aid of pills or external forces, cultivate at a speed far exceeding that of earth-attribute spiritual root cultivators, breaking through realms as easily as walking on flat ground.

It is no exaggeration to say that a cultivator with a water-attribute celestial spiritual root has a 70% chance of achieving the Golden Core stage, provided they do not perish along the way.

Even in the Mirror Moon Sect, where there are many powerful cultivators, a cultivator with such talent would be regarded as the future backbone or even a pillar of the sect and would be cultivated.

"It's a pity this guy is hiding his true colors too well." The Gu family patriarch glanced at Shu You beside him.

If the envoy from the Mirror Moon Sect had not been present, he would have had the opportunity to recruit this cultivator with the Heavenly Spirit Root into his clan and cultivate a good relationship with him.

Even if the other party is unwilling, he can forcibly take a son-in-law and make the best and most beautiful girls in the clan serve him wholeheartedly.

Even if they don't end up producing a Qilin child with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but only a few offspring with Earthly Spiritual Roots, the Gu family can still make a fortune.

"How is that possible!"

"It's actually a pseudo-heavenly spiritual root!"

"To reach the eighth level of Qi Refining at sixteen, that's truly... incredible talent."

Ignoring the shock of the cultivators below, Shu You flashed and appeared in front of Chen Beiwu.

"Greetings to the Moon Selection Envoy."

Realizing he had become the center of attention, Chen Beiwu gave Shu You a slight bow.

"Junior brother, there's no need for such formalities. Senior sister is only responsible for establishing the mountain and accepting disciples; the true Moon Selection Envoy is someone else."

Shu You slightly turned her body to avoid Chen Beiwu's bow, revealing a kind smile, "If you don't mind, junior brother, you can just call me Senior Sister Shu."

"Senior Sister Shu." Noticing the other party's gesture of goodwill, Chen Beiwu bowed again.

This time, Shu You didn't avoid it and asked Chen Beiwu's name.

"Chen Zi'ang." Chen Beiwu uttered his name from his previous life, the identity he had carefully prepared for the sect's entrance examination.

"A fine name. Junior Brother Chen, why don't you come with me on the cloud boat to watch the Moon Selection Ceremony?" Shu You invited gently.

"The Moon Selection Ceremony has three trials and three tests. I have only passed the first one. Wouldn't that be too much trouble for Senior Sister Gu?" To Chen Beiwu's surprise, Shu You did not ask about his specific background.

Judging from the other party's reaction, he seemed to have underestimated the importance of the Heavenly Spiritual Root aptitude.

Otherwise, Shu Yougui, a Foundation Establishment expert, wouldn't have addressed Chen as "Junior Brother" so frequently, displaying such an extremely friendly and cordial attitude.

"It's alright. The Three Trials and Three Refinements of the Moon Selection Ceremony are for ordinary cultivators. Junior Brother Chen, you possess the superior talent of the Moon Gazing Technique, so according to the sect's rules, you can directly enter the inner sect," Shu You explained.

The difference between a Heavenly Spiritual Root and a Heavenly Pseudo-Spiritual Root is not significant.

The former has a pure attribute, possessing a single elemental attribute, such as pure water or pure fire, and can cultivate the top cultivation techniques of the Southern Wilderness without needing to establish a foundation.

Not only does it allow for rapid progress in cultivation, but it also allows one to ignore the Foundation Establishment bottleneck and even break through to the Golden Core stage with almost no obstacles.

The latter has mixed attributes, possessing more than two of the five elements, but it can still give full play to the advantages of the Heavenly Spiritual Root, only slightly inferior.

It is no exaggeration to say that once a cultivator with a pseudo-divine spiritual root enters a sect, the sect elders will fight to take them as disciples.

Otherwise, Chen Zi'ang wouldn't have been assessed as an "Inner Disciple, Candidate" by the Spiritual Observation System!

Upon hearing this, Chen Beiwu did not refuse. Under the envious gazes of many rogue cultivators, he boarded the cloud boat with Shu You and sat in a row with the five Foundation Establishment experts from the Gu, Chi, Yu, Yuan, and Shui families, chatting and laughing.

"Damn it, comparing yourself to others is just awful!"

Seeing Chen Zi'ang suddenly become a Foundation Establishment expert and a distinguished guest, some rogue cultivators were so jealous that their eyes turned red.

God is unfair!

Why is it that they are both rogue cultivators, yet they have mortal spiritual roots that are disliked by everyone and even dogs, while Chen Zi'ang has celestial spiritual roots that soar high in the clouds?

"Alas, decades of arduous cultivation are no match for the spiritual root of a mere child. Perhaps this is fate!"

One of the rogue cultivators sighed and walked numbly out of the market, clearly having lost his spirit.

On the cloud boat, Shu Youyu gently introduced the general situation of the Mirror Moon Sect to Chen Beiwu.

Soon, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the rogue cultivator's spirit test was completed.

"With my junior brother here, quite a few promising talents have emerged among this year's independent cultivators," Shu You said in a relaxed tone.

Chen Beiwu smiled slightly and looked at two familiar faces among the rogue cultivators.

One of them was Shi Botao, whom he met on his way to Yinxia Market. His evaluation was: "Wood element earth spirit root, age thirty, Qi Refining level nine, aptitude is mid-grade crescent moon, approved."

The other is Wei Xuesong, whose fortune is dark blue with orange tinges. His evaluation is: "Fire-attribute earth spirit root, age 31, Qi Refining level 9, aptitude is crescent moon low grade, approved."

"Senior Sister Shu, does the sect also accept Qi Refining rogue cultivators over thirty years old?" Chen Beiwu asked curiously.

"Of course, the sect is a renowned alchemy school in the Southern Wilderness. The Foundation Establishment Pills circulating in the Mountain Annihilation Realm mostly come from the Mirror Moon Sect."

Shu You smiled, not surprised at all: "Every year, some Qi Refining Peak rogue cultivators will join sects in order to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, but inevitably there are some ungrateful wretches who will never be appeased."

Upon hearing this, the Foundation Establishment cultivators around him remained unchanged, their smiles unchanged.

Unlike those traitors with rebellious intentions, they were loyal and devoted to the Mirror Moon Sect, so they naturally did not find these words presumptuous.

Upon hearing this, Chen Beiwu's heart skipped a beat, but he remained expressionless.

The most important reason he chose to join the Mirror Moon Sect, besides the compatibility of his spiritual roots and the pursuit of cultivation resources, was that the Mirror Moon Sect did not ask about the origins or backgrounds of its disciples.

According to Shu You, there is actually a hierarchy of contempt within the Mirror Moon Sect!

Chen Beiwu's eyes widened slightly, a look of confusion on his face: "Ungrateful wretch?"

"Yes." Shu You looked at Chen Beiwu, who had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and said bluntly, "Most of the rogue cultivators who can cultivate to the ninth level of Qi Refining are people who lick the blood on the edge of a knife. These rogue cultivators are lawless and will lose the greater good for small gains. Junior Brother can be used in the future, but cannot be trusted."

"Senior Sister Shu, I also come from a humble background as a cultivator." Chen Beiwu paused for a moment.

"Junior brother, you've misunderstood." Shu You blinked her spirited eyes slightly, showing no airs of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Senior sister, I actually started out as a rogue cultivator too."

At this point, Shu You smiled and said, "But there are differences among rogue cultivators. Junior Brother, you are different from these rogue cultivators. They are the firewood and branches of the sect, while you are the future pillar of the sect."

Don't be fooled by the fact that she is now a Foundation Establishment expert and has a higher status than Chen Ziang.

However, with Chen Zi'ang's aptitude, once he enters the main lineage of the sect, he can become a disciple after decades of dedicated cultivation, compete with many of the sect's geniuses for the position of true successor, and even successfully form his core a hundred years later, becoming a high-ranking Golden Core elder in the sect.

That's why she said those somewhat snobbish and obsequious things just now.

There's no way around it; in the Mirror Moon Sect, aptitude determines the future—that's the harsh reality.

(End of this chapter)