Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

The best Xianxia novel voted by Cola Novels readers, "Cultivating Immortality: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude" is among the top!

"Those whose names were just called, please proceed to the rear hall to await further instructions. The remaining disciples may disperse on their own."

Elder Li, standing on the high platform, looked down at the crowd below and spoke coldly.

At this moment, the Foundation Establishment disciples who had just been called by the sect leader Shi Shoushan all had very ugly expressions, but none of them dared to disobey the order, and they all set off for the back hall.

Jiang Ling, who was standing next to Wu Fan, also set off.

She first turned to look at Wu Fan, and after their eyes met, she nodded slightly and was about to leave.

"Junior Sister Jiang."

Wu Fan watched her retreating figure as she took a few steps away, and suddenly called out to her.

Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Ling turned around with a slightly puzzled look.

"You must return safely."

Looking at his old friend of many years, Wu Fan spoke in a deep voice about his most sincere hopes and thoughts.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling still did not respond to Wu Fan's words. She simply nodded slightly, a complex emotion slowly arising in her eyes. After giving him one last deep look, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Looking at Jiang Ling, who had completely disappeared, Wu Fan quickly scanned the Foundation Establishment disciples around him who had not been called to the front lines, a hint of doubt appearing in his eyes.

He felt a vague unease, but he didn't know where it came from.

After a moment, he gently shook his head, suppressing this inexplicable feeling, and walked out of the hall.

He had just stepped out of the main hall of the council chamber when he saw a familiar face—Wei Changgeng, his senior brother.

So many years have passed, yet his cultivation level remains at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, and he has aged considerably.

The once dashing Senior Brother Wei now looked haggard and exhausted.

Coupled with his hair, which had turned completely white years ago due to Song Niang's passing, he now looked as if he were a very old man.

Wu Fan looked at Senior Brother Wei in front of him and sighed softly in his heart.

"What is love in this world...?"

After a moment of reflection, he quickly stepped forward and bowed to Wei Changgeng in greeting:

"Senior Brother Wei, it's been a long time."

Wei Changgeng was holding a gourd-shaped wine pot, tilting his head back to pour wine into his mouth, when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He turned his head around, still slightly drunk.

Upon seeing that it was Wu Fan, he immediately forced a smile and returned the greeting with clasped hands:

"So it's Junior Brother Wu. You've already reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Congratulations!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan smiled gently and nodded slightly.

"Senior Brother Wei, we haven't met since we parted ways at Peach Grove. How have you been all these years?"

"There's no good or bad in it, it's just drifting through life aimlessly."

As Wei Changgeng spoke, his gaze swept towards the depths of the main hall, a cold smile playing on his lips. He then turned his head back to Wu Fan and slowly began to speak:

"Junior Brother Wu, are you free these days?"

"Of course I accepted the invitation from my senior brother."

Although Wu Fan was puzzled, he did not refuse and immediately agreed.

"Alright, then I'll wait for you in the peach grove, Junior Brother. Song Niang is still waiting for me, so I won't chat with you any longer."

As soon as he finished speaking, he summoned his flying artifact, then tilted his head back and drank a mouthful of strong liquor from his gourd. With a leap, he transformed into a streak of light and flew towards the horizon.

Watching Wei Changgeng walk away, Wu Fan's doubts deepened.

Back then, I explored the ruins of the Yin Corpse Sect with this Senior Brother Wei. We went through life and death together and shared hardships and helped each other.

After that parting, the two lost contact and had no further interaction.

Now he suddenly invited me to a gathering. Given his current state of mind, which is to live in seclusion and not concern himself with worldly affairs, it is definitely not just to reminisce about the past. There must be something important that he wants to discuss with me in detail. This is also why Wu Fan agreed to Wei Changgeng's invitation so readily.

With this in mind, Wu Fan made up his mind to go to the peach grove the day after tomorrow to keep his appointment with Wei Changgeng.

There are still several batches of pills that have not yet been refined, so we should return to our cave first.

Then, he summoned the Crimson Flame Sparrow Spirit Sword, leaped onto the sword, and transformed into a streak of crimson light as he disappeared into the distance.

......

Two days later.

Inside the alchemy room.

Wu Fan's hands moved constantly, rapidly casting out a series of pill-gathering incantations.

Several pills immediately floated in front of him. The pills were smooth and translucent, and their quality had surpassed that of top-grade pills. It could be said that they had reached the quality of "perfect".

After admiring it for a while with a pleased expression, he slowly put it into a mutton-fat jade bottle.

"Since the Five Elements Pearl was upgraded, not only has my cultivation speed increased significantly, but the quality of the pills I refine has also improved by another grade. As a result, the time it will take me to reach the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage can be accelerated considerably."

Wu Fan couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, and murmured to himself.

Unfortunately, the situation in the Chu Kingdom is currently turbulent, and many spiritual herbs on the market have lost their transportation routes due to the turmoil on several fronts. It is likely that the medicinal materials needed to refine cultivation pills will no longer be as easy to gather as in the past.

If it weren't for this sudden change, his cultivation speed could have been even faster.

Moreover, when Jiang Ling came to say goodbye to him the day before yesterday, the sect only gave them half a day to prepare before they boarded the flying boat to the front line of Lingjing Sect. This shows how urgent the situation in Chu Kingdom is now.

Thinking of this, Wu Fan couldn't help but sigh.

But life is unpredictable. With such a major event happening in the cultivation world of Chu, it is already a great blessing that he can stay in the sect in the rear. He should now clear his mind of all distractions and focus on cultivation.

However, I cannot break my promise to Senior Brother Wei that I made the day before yesterday.

With this in mind, Wu Fan immediately walked out of the alchemy room, patted Zhao Fu's big head which was resting outside, and then put it into his spirit beast bag.

After meeting with Senior Brother Wei, he planned to visit the Beast Taming Hall again when he had time to see if he could buy a high-quality spirit beast ring to give Zhao Fu a bigger "new home".

After all, the spirit beast pouch is quite small, only enough for one spirit beast to curl up, leaving almost no room to move around. This is why Zhao Fu kept "complaining" to him.

Compared to the spirit beast pouch, the spirit beast ring is not only much more convenient to carry, but also has a much larger space, allowing for independent compartments and providing more room for the spirit beast to move around.

Its internal environment is also much richer and more stable in terms of spiritual energy, making it suitable for spirit beasts to live in for a long time.

However, these spirit beast rings are difficult to refine, rare, and expensive, and often there is no market for them even when they are available.

But Wu Fan believed that anything that could be openly sold would have a price that could buy it, it was just a matter of how much.

......

Half an hour later, Wu Fan rode the Crimson Flame Sparrow Spirit Sword to the sky above the peach grove where Song Niang had been buried.

So, with a wave of his hand, the Crimson Flame Sparrow Spirit Sword transformed into a beam of light and was stored in his storage bag, then slowly landed at the entrance of the peach grove.

He followed the path into the area and found that the peach trees there seemed even denser than before, presumably planted by Senior Brother Wei himself over the years.

Along the way, large petals would occasionally drift down, creating a beautiful scene.

However, it was early April, which, according to the customs of the Chu people, was the time of Qingming Festival.

This is a festival to commemorate the deceased and remember our ancestors. In addition, a light rain had just fallen, and most of the peach blossoms had already withered, making the scene seem somewhat desolate.

Wu Fan walked along the path through the peach grove, and soon he saw a small wooden house in the grove.

He immediately stirred his divine sense slightly and, after a brief investigation, discovered that there was no trace of Senior Brother Wei in the room.

After pausing briefly, he turned around and continued walking deeper into the peach grove.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and this time we finally saw Senior Brother Wei.

He was sitting on a blue stone in front of Song Niang's grave, holding the gourd wine pot in his hand and drinking wine with his head tilted back.

Upon seeing this, Wu Fan immediately produced three incense sticks in his hand. Then, a ray of spiritual light quickly swept over them, and three wisps of smoke immediately rose from the tips of the three incense sticks.

Holding three lit incense sticks, he solemnly approached Song Niang's grave. He raised the incense sticks above his eyebrows with both hands in front of the tombstone, bowed once, then stepped forward and inserted the three incense sticks into the incense burner. He then stepped back and bowed three more times.

After completing the ceremony, he bowed again and slowly withdrew.

At this moment, Wu Fan turned around and looked at Senior Brother Wei.

Wei Changgeng stopped drinking and stared straight at Wu Fan.

After a long silence, he slowly opened his mouth and asked:

"Junior Brother Wu, wasn't it you who saved our lives in those ruins back then?"

Wu Fan was stunned upon hearing this, and was greatly alarmed. He immediately mobilized the true energy in his dantian and became vigilant.

But a faint hint of confusion flashed in his eyes, followed by a look of doubt on his face. He looked directly back at Wei Changgeng, his tone steady yet tinged with incomprehension:

"What do you mean by that, Senior Brother Wei? Back then, we were all corrupted by the evil power of that black tree, and we all lost our minds and fell into a coma. I... have no definite memory of it."

Looking at Wu Fan's current state, Wei Changgeng suddenly looked up at the sky, then took another sip of wine and said to him:

"Back then, the five of us ventured into the ruins together. Junior Sister Yu Shuang once speculated that perhaps other cultivators had followed us in. But in my opinion, that possibility was extremely slim. As for why we were able to be rescued by sheer luck, over the years, I've thought about it again and again, and there's only one reason. One of us secretly dealt with that strange black tree."

At this point, Wei Changgeng paused before continuing:

"Brother Lü, it's absolutely impossible. I've known Junior Sister Yu Shuang for many years, and I know her character and personality best. It's definitely not her. So, that leaves Junior Sister Jiang and Junior Brother Wu. I've thought about it for a long time, and I finally think that you are the most likely one."

After listening to Wei Changgeng's analysis, Wu Fan understood that the other party was merely speculating.

With a slight sense of relief, the murderous intent that had been quietly brewing due to the fear of the Five Elements Pearls' secret being revealed vanished.

As long as the other party is unaware of the secrets of the Five Elements Beads, things haven't reached the point where it's necessary to kill them to silence them.

However, Wei Changgeng must also know that he has some kind of secret.

Now that you've invited me here again, breaking through this barrier, it's probably not just to verify my suspicions.

Seeing Wu Fan's still blank and confused expression, Wei Changgeng seemed to have already seen through everything. After setting up a soundproof barrier, he suddenly changed the subject:

"Junior Brother Wu, there's no need to overthink it. I didn't intend to pry into your secrets. Besides, regardless of whether it was you who saved our lives that day, of those who traveled with us back then, Brother Lü is still fighting on the front lines, and Junior Sister Yu Shuang and Junior Sister Jiang are about to leave Chu. Only Junior Brother Wu remains in the valley. If we were truly saved by you and even brought back Song Niang's body, I, Wei Changgeng, must repay this kindness. That's why I deliberately waited outside the council hall the other day to greet you."

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan's expression returned to normal, but his heart was in turmoil.

The reason is nothing more than one sentence in Senior Brother Wei's words:

Junior Sister Yu Shuang and Junior Sister Jiang will also be leaving the State of Chu.

Leaving the State of Chu?!

Weren't the two of them transferred by the sect to the front lines to support the Spirit Mirror Sect?

Then why did Wei Changgeng say that the two of them would leave the State of Chu?

These words contained a hidden meaning. He frowned slightly, looked at Wei Changgeng, and said:

"Senior Brother Wei, let's not even talk about the fact that I wasn't the one who saved everyone's lives back then. Even if I were, as fellow disciples, helping each other is just our duty. So why talk about gratitude?"

"But... what did Senior Brother Wei mean when he said that Senior Sister Yu Shuang and Junior Sister Jiang would be leaving the Chu Kingdom?"

Hearing that Wu Fan did not admit to his guess, Wei Changgeng did not pursue the matter any further. Regardless of whether the other party had saved him and retrieved Song Niang's body, he had already made up his mind about it.

Therefore, Wei Changgeng began to answer Wu Fan's questions:

"Because the people who were previously selected by the Supreme Elder to go to Lingjing Sect to provide assistance did not go to the front line, but left Chu State directly to establish their own sect."

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan was stunned and speechless.

After all, these words were spoken about the sect's patriarch and a Nascent Soul True Monarch. If the words were not carefully chosen, and were overheard by the higher-ups in the valley, they could be directly accused of disrupting the morale of the army.

It is inevitable that Wei Changgeng will be dealt with in accordance with the rules of Falling Star Valley. If the situation becomes serious, he may not even be able to save his life.

"Senior Brother Wei, do you know what you're saying?! I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said today, but please be careful with your words in the future and don't mention it again."

Wu Fan remained silent for a moment, then gave a stern warning.

"Junior Brother Wu, I am not testing you here, nor am I drunk and talking nonsense with you."

Wei Changgeng, however, seemed not to hear him and continued speaking to Wu Fan:

"The day before yesterday, just as dawn broke, the clan sent someone to order me to join their merchant caravan to the Xi Kingdom. The caravan is entirely composed of the clan's elite members. Now, with a great war imminent, do you know what this means?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Fan, who had already been shocked several times today, felt his heart skip a beat again upon hearing this.