When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

The city of Huanbei still retains some of the prosperity left by the fleet.

The red banners on the road had not yet been taken down, and although there were fewer roadside stalls on both sides, there were still many more than usual.

The shops remained open, and the businesses would keep their lights on until the moon rose high in the sky.

Feng Sancai walked ahead of Song Chen, at a moderate pace, but his steps seemed somewhat unsteady.

Song Chen kept his lips closed, his teeth slightly parted and not falling down.

This time, not many people paid attention to the street protests; everyone was focused on their own lives.

They were still some distance from "Cai San's Shop" when Feng Sancai suddenly said something inexplicably:

"Disciple, do you know what the essence of cultivation is?"

Song Chen, puzzled, answered politely, "Dantian?"

Feng Sancai walked ahead, his face obscured, only his faint voice could be heard: "Wrong! Spiritual roots are the foundation of a cultivator."

"Spells are released by spiritual energy, but spiritual energy can only travel through a cultivator's body through spiritual roots."

"Cultivators with low spiritual roots require more spiritual energy to unleash spells of equal power, even at the same cultivation level."

Feng Sancai turned his head, stopped in his tracks, looked at Song Chen with disdain, and said indifferently:

"The amount of spiritual energy stored in the dantian determines one's cultivation level, but the best way to improve one's cultivation level is to filter the spiritual energy outside the body through the spiritual root."

"You'll realize when you reach the sixth level of Qi Refining that even taking Spirit Gathering Pills won't help you break through the bottleneck."

"Spiritual energy will dissipate from the dantian because it is not truly your spiritual energy. Pills can only amplify minor realms, but cannot break through bottlenecks like the late stage of Qi Refining."

"What breakthrough method can you come up with then?"

Song Chen met Feng Sancai's eyes and asked, "Instantly infuse a large amount of spiritual energy?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Sancai smiled, turned around, and continued walking forward, saying:

"Your meridians won't be able to withstand that, and you'll eventually explode and die. I've seen many foolish cultivators who think like you."

Song Chen remained silent. So this method didn't work?

Song Chen didn't believe that Feng Sancai could see through his hidden cultivation level and use such deceptive words to prevent him from breaking through.

The other party likely had ulterior motives, but unexpectedly touched upon his current predicament.

Fortunately, he had never had a way to instantly infuse a large amount of spiritual energy, otherwise he might have exploded and died on the way to breakthrough.

Song Chen had some doubts about the feasibility of this method, but at that time he had no other choice and could only use this method to break through.

Now, it's completely rejected.

Feng Sancai held up two fingers, his eyes filled with nostalgia, and said:

"There are two paths to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining."

"One method involves directly condensing a spiritual sea through comprehension, while the other involves killing a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator and directly seizing that person's spiritual sea."

Feng Sancai paused for a moment, then said self-deprecatingly:

"Of course, these are all methods used by cultivators with remnant spiritual roots like myself..."

"Those high-achieving geniuses probably don't even need comprehension; they just directly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to condense their spiritual sea and break through, right?"

Residual spiritual root?

Song Chen was only now aware of Feng Sancai's spiritual root aptitude and was shocked by what the other party had said.

Because incomplete spiritual roots are considered to be aptitudes that cannot be cultivated normally, even with the help of pills, one can only reach the late stage of Qi Refining at most, and it is absolutely impossible to even reach the peak of Qi Refining, let alone Foundation Establishment.

But what about Feng Sancai right now?

He was already a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. No wonder his cultivation hadn't progressed at all over the years. It turned out he had a remnant spiritual root.

Feng Sancai continued, "Have you ever seen the cremated corpse of a deceased cultivator?"

Song Chen's first thought was of Jiang Shuyan, but his body was not cremated; instead, it was buried directly in the grave.

He remained silent, thus indicating his denial.

Feng Sancai let out a chuckle and said:

"After a cultivator is cremated, the spiritual roots in their body will not be destroyed or disappear by the flames. Instead, they will continue to cling to the cultivator's body, like a vine firmly attached to it."

"Spiritual roots are resilient; only sharp axes and pointed swords can cut them. They cannot be burned by flames or rotted by water."

"Tell me, are we humans with spiritual roots, or are we humans with spiritual roots growing on top of each other?"

For some reason, Song Chen felt that Feng Sancai's voice carried a sense of desolation when he said those words.

Feng Sancai didn't stop, and continued to talk about the spiritual root, which seemed to be a tribulation in his heart.

"A spiritual root cannot be transplanted to another person, nor can it be transplanted to another person!"

"Once the spiritual root is extracted, death is inevitable!"

"..."

Feng Sancai became increasingly agitated, then realized what was happening, took a deep breath, regained his composure, and said:

"However, there are always exceptions. If there is an incredible healing pill, and it is injected into the person's body using the Pill Shattering Technique, there is a certain probability that the treatment will be successful."

"Even if he is cured, he will be a cripple, unable to cultivate or live a normal life."

"Everyone in this world has spiritual roots. The worst are the incomplete spiritual roots, and the best are those with unusual spiritual roots."

Feng Sancai gritted his teeth, his eyes wide: "If one's spiritual root is poor, it will be difficult to improve one's cultivation in this lifetime."

"Song Chen, you have a pseudo-spiritual root. Do you think that's fair?"

Song Chen seemed to be deep in thought. He did not have a remnant spiritual root, so his experience was probably not as intense as Feng Sancai's.

Furthermore, he transmigrated here with a system, and his cultivation has been smooth sailing, so he naturally doesn't know any of this.

But he had memories of his predecessor, and those fragments of memory naturally surfaced in his mind at this moment.

Day and night, he diligently absorbed spiritual energy and tirelessly accumulated spirit stones to buy elixirs, all in an effort to raise his cultivation level by one level...

Song Chen said quite frankly, "This is very unfair. People shouldn't be born with a predetermined fate."

"Everyone should have the right to decide their own life."

Upon hearing this, Feng Sancai suddenly burst into laughter, his loud laughter attracting people from the surrounding shops to peek out.

"What's wrong with this person? Is he sick?"

"Has this old man gone mad? What's he laughing about in the street?"

"I think this is just another ascetic who's gone mad from cultivating!"

Feng Sancai wasn't deaf; he could hear the gossip of these people.

Feng Sancai, however, did not care at all. He continued to laugh loudly, his old face covered with wrinkles, his beard trembling wildly, and everyone was somewhat frightened by his laughter. He only stopped slowly when he could no longer breathe and began to cough.

Song Chen stared speechlessly at him, who was standing there blankly, wondering what had happened.

Feng Sancai suddenly appeared in front of Song Chen and grabbed his shoulder:

"Well said! In that case, I'll tell you a secret!"

Song Chen felt an immense pressure looming over him. He knew that if he were to confront Feng Sancai head-on, his chances of survival would be slim.

Is this what a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining is like?

He was completely unable to resist once he reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining!

Those around Feng Sancai realized that they couldn't sense his cultivation level when they saw his movement technique!

"Late stage of Qi Refining! He's actually a late stage Qi Refining cultivator!"

"What?! He's actually a senior in the late stage of Qi Refining!"

"Holy crap! This person is actually... in the late stage of Qi Refining! Is this the refined taste of a true master?"

Feng Sancai remained deaf to the warnings, and with a wave of his free hand, several purple pills flew out from his sleeve.

Poisonous fog billowed all around, and countless cultivators on the street were instantly brought down.

To Song Chen's astonishment, Feng Sancai clenched his hand in the air, and all the cultivators lying on the ground gathered in front of him, crowding together and shrinking until they became a huge, pulsating tumor.

Upon seeing this scene, Song Chen nearly vomited, but fortunately managed to hold it in and didn't throw up.

Then, Feng Sancai grabbed the tumor and put it into a bag.

Seeing this, Song Chen activated his magic weapon with all his spiritual energy and tried to escape.

How could Feng Sancai give him a chance?

The next moment, Feng Sancai's shadow enveloped Song Chen's entire body. He felt dizzy and, when he came to his senses, he was already in the dark alchemy room of the pharmacy.

Song Chen sat in a corner of the alchemy room, while Feng Sancai emerged from the darkness, with the huge tumor behind him.

His expression was frenzied, his mouth gaping wide in a terrifying display, and his voice was low and trembling:

"Disciple! Your master will borrow your body later. You'll agree, right?"

Song Chen swallowed, wondering what the other person was going to do.