Duosheng Danyuan

"Alright, come forward and stand in front of the 'White Crystal Spirit Platform'."

"Yes."

Following Elder Qingyue's instructions, I released Zeng Yixi's hand, stepped forward, and stood in front of the "White Crystal Spirit Platform".

"Now, lie down in it."

"...Where...where should I lie down?"

"Lie down inside the 'White Crystal Spirit Platform'." Elder Qingyue said, making a sword finger gesture with her right hand. She gently touched the "White Crystal Spirit Platform" with her index and ring fingers together. A neat horizontal line slowly appeared on the originally smooth and intact crystal platform.

Under the astonished gazes of Zeng Yixi and me, Elder Qingyue gently brushed her left hand across the surface of the "White Crystal Spirit Platform." With a sharp, grating sound of crystals rubbing against each other, the "White Crystal Spirit Platform," which I had initially thought was solid, was slowly opened, revealing its hollow interior.

The so-called "White Crystal Spirit Platform" was actually made in the shape of a coffin!

"Alright, come lie down here."

"...Yes." Suppressing a twitching smile, I glanced at Zeng Yixi behind me, then, as if making a firm decision, resolutely lay down in the white crystal coffin. Although Elder Qingyue appeared kind on the surface, which of the elders here was truly a good person? Given Qian Zhe's example, I certainly wouldn't try to disobey the elders' wishes.

"Don't worry about breathing. The 'White Crystal Spirit Platform' itself is a place where spiritual energy is constantly produced. As long as you use the breathing techniques you learned when practicing Qi cultivation, you won't feel suffocated." The considerate Elder Qingyue even explained the precautions for entering the coffin to me.

"...What if I still feel suffocated?" Since it was a matter of life and death, I couldn't help but ask more carefully.

"Then just bear with it. I've never seen a disciple die from holding it in during a spiritual root test. If you really manage to do it, I will definitely include your name in the revision of the 'Third Chronicle of the Life Elixir Academy.' Your name is Gu Changfeng, right?"

"..." My lips twitched, I took a deep breath, and ignored Elder Qingyue's tasteless joke.

Seeing that I stopped speaking, Elder Qingyue didn't say anything more and directly closed the half-closed coffin lid completely.

"Alright, now it's time to get down to business."

Outside the "White Crystal Spirit Platform," Elder Qingyue stretched and took a few deep breaths before beginning to chant incantations I couldn't understand.

"What's going on?" Zeng Yixi wondered, watching the azure light gradually gathering around Elder Qingyue's body. "Is this how elders cultivate? Is this azure halo also spiritual energy?"

At that moment, inside the coffin, I felt a tightness in my chest.

"What's with this talk of breathing techniques? I've never learned any breathing exercises, okay?!" While mentally complaining, I started experimenting with various breathing methods, including but not limited to using my mouth, my nose, both my mouth and nose simultaneously, exhaling through my mouth and inhaling through my nose, exhaling through my nose and inhaling through my mouth, and so on...

But without exception, in the end I only found myself increasingly unable to breathe, nothing more.

"My God, what exactly is breathing exercises? The Refining Heart Hall didn't teach any of this, did it? Wait, the Refining Heart Hall..." I pondered, and began to silently recite the method of reciting the elixir-generating technique that Elder Huaizhen had led us to recite in the Refining Heart Hall.

"It really works." As I continued to chant the method of regenerating the elixir, I could clearly feel the tightness in my chest gradually subsiding.

The so-called breathing techniques are actually exactly the same as normal breathing; there's no real difference. The real difference lies in where the breath goes.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, my control over my physical body is indeed fundamentally different from what I felt in the real world. In the past, as an ordinary person, I often felt uncomfortable or comfortable in my body, but I couldn't pinpoint the exact location, nor did I know the origin or destination of these feelings.

But after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, I could clearly feel the changes inside my body. Just now, after I silently recited the method of regenerating the elixir, my chest, which had been heaving violently due to frequent breathing, suddenly began to calm down, and instead, I felt a slight expansion in my abdomen.

"According to the description in 'The Soul and Internal Organs: Location,' the location in the abdomen corresponds to... the dantian?" I wondered, and my hands unconsciously began to rest on my stomach.

So this is what it feels like to have your Qi sink to your Dantian, as often described in novels...

After my initial shock, I noticed that the colors of the crystals inside the museum were changing. The coffin walls, which were originally entirely white jade, were now half-light and half-dark, while only the coffin lid above my head remained in its flawless white jade state.

"Close your eyes." Elder Qingyue's voice came from outside the coffin at just the right time.

Following the elder's words, I slowly closed my eyes. The loss of sight brought increased sensitivity to my surroundings through touch. I could clearly feel the chill emanating from the inner walls of the coffin. It wasn't cold, but it was so cold that it made me feel uneasy.

Suddenly, I felt something gently touch the tip of my nose, and then it felt like something was gently pressing on my philtrum...

This feeling was strange; it was like a strawberry in a pancake, or the pure love in an NTR story. The awkward feeling coming from the tip of my nose made me subconsciously resist.

And just then, a blinding white light suddenly appeared before my eyes. This light was so bright it was almost black; even with my eyes closed, I felt as if my vision had been stripped away a second time. For a moment, I didn't see the blackness transmitted through my eyelids to my eyeballs; instead, my eyeballs seemed completely unable to perceive any external information, leaving only a void. Yes, for a brief instant, it felt as if my vision had been completely lost.

"Concentrate your mind and don't resist. Let the spiritual power of the 'White Crystal Spirit Platform' sink down along your meridians. We're about to reach the dantian."

Following Elder Qingyue's guidance, I consciously began to relax my body. The awkwardness that had made me feel so uncomfortable earlier disappeared sometime after I shifted my attention completely to my vision.

"It's happening again..."

Before the "White Crystal Spirit Platform," Elder Qingyue's eyes revealed a hint of dark purple. A parchment scroll appeared in his left hand at some point, while his right hand gestured with a brush, beginning to record on the parchment scroll.

"The quality is so-so, but the attributes are somewhat peculiar; it's a case of leveraging strengths to compensate for weaknesses... Wait, what's this?"

As if she had seen something unbelievable, Elder Qingyue practically ran to the desk on the left side of the stone chamber and began searching through a pile of scrolls.

After a long while, Elder Qingyue finally found the part he wanted among the mountain of scrolls.

"It really is like that, isn't it? Interesting, very interesting. How come all the disciples in this year's class are such interesting fellows? I'm almost reluctant to part with them..." Thinking this to himself, Elder Qingyue even couldn't help but hum a cheerful tune, which made Zeng Yixi, who was not far behind him, feel a chill.

"Oh dear, I got so excited that I forgot to call him out." Coming to her senses, Elder Qingyue hurriedly continued filling in the half-written parchment scroll with her left hand, and gently tapped the table of the "White Crystal Spirit Platform" again with her right hand. Accompanied by that familiar rough friction sound between the stones, the coffin lid that had been covering me for so long slowly opened.

"Come out, the qualification test is over." With a smile, Elder Qingyue extended her right hand to me inside the coffin.

I looked at Elder Qingyue in surprise, hesitated for a moment, then took his hand and was pulled out of the coffin with his help.

"..." After leaving the "White Crystal Spirit Platform", I immediately exchanged a glance with Zeng Yixi and remained silent.

"Aren't you curious about your own spiritual root aptitude?" Elder Qingyue looked at the parchment scroll in her hand, tilted her head, and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"...Please enlighten me, Elder." Hearing Elder Qingyue say this, I bowed slightly and clasped my hands in greeting.

"Don't be so reserved. Also, your gesture is completely wrong. We don't have this kind of master-disciple ceremony in the Shengdan Academy." As he spoke, Elder Qingyue patted my shoulder, his smile growing wider. His attitude towards me was so good that it was easy to feel that he had ulterior motives.

However, even with my utmost wariness towards Elder Qingyue, I had no choice but to obey him. In this godforsaken place, if their elder truly wanted to kill us, he wouldn't even need to lift a finger. I didn't know how powerful they were, but I could imagine that if ancient Stone Age tribes were to travel to modern society, facing the steel torrent of modern armies and fighter jets and aircraft carriers, their resistance would be like ants carrying sugar.

We are now like ants carrying sugar in the eyes of these elders. Once we are free from the protection of the rules, they can crush us at any time, in full view of everyone.

"I'm sorry, I'm still lacking in some of the etiquette of our Shengdan Academy," I said apologetically.

"It's alright, it's alright. Our Shengdan Academy doesn't care about these things. As long as your cultivation goes smoothly, even if you don't take Jianshan seriously, that old guy can't do anything to you, hahaha."

"Elder Qingyue is joking," I forced a smile and tentatively asked, "So, what are the results of my spiritual root aptitude test?"

"Ah, right, right, that's the point." Coming back to her senses, Elder Qingyue scratched the back of her head sheepishly, then smiled and took the parchment scroll that had been floating in the air for a long time back into her hand and handed it to me.

—Gu Changfeng, Class One of Qi Refining, Spiritual Root Test—

Spiritual Root Quality: Grade Four

Spiritual Root Attributes: Water and Wood (dual attributes)

Innate characteristics of spiritual roots: enhanced physical healing ability, improved spiritual energy recovery ability, reduced probability of disease infection, and growth potential in spiritual energy conversion efficiency.

The acquired spiritual root meridians: three souls guard the center, seven spirits wander. This grants greater adaptability in the study of witchcraft, poisons, medicine, and alchemy.

——Divider——

Looking at the new series of technical terms, I found it difficult to understand their meanings. Fortunately, Elder Qingyue was a talkative person, and he had already begun to explain at length before I even asked any questions.

"A fourth-grade spiritual root means that your talent is at an average level. Although your cultivation will not be smooth sailing in the future, as long as you are diligent and eager to learn, you can still achieve the Golden Core and join the ranks of True Persons."

"Compared to the grade of your spiritual root, the attribute of your spiritual root is even more special. Your spiritual root attribute is water and wood dual-nature. Note that it is water and wood dual-nature, not water and wood dual-attribute spiritual root."

The difference between the two lies in the word "生" (sheng, meaning "life" or "birth").

Having dual-attribute spiritual roots is not unusual. Although it offers more choices in cultivation techniques compared to single-attribute spiritual roots, it essentially sacrifices the purity of an attribute in exchange for a variety of attributes, making it merely an equivalent exchange. Only when one attains three, four, or even five complete spiritual roots can one truly be considered to have acquired an enviable talent in terms of spiritual root attributes.

Your spiritual root attributes are water and wood. "Life" signifies vitality and is the second attribute below the five elements. Among the many attributes of spiritual roots, "Life" is a common one, but difficult to utilize effectively. The reason is simple: even if you possess "Life" as your second attribute, it's rare to have water, wood, or earth as your primary attribute, which have excellent compatibility with it.

For a cultivator, a conflict between their primary and secondary attributes is a difficult thing to accept before reaching the Golden Core stage. This is because it means they are likely to have no attribute advantage compared to their peers during the most crucial early and developmental period of their cultivation. Unless they experience a sudden enlightenment or a fortuitous encounter, cultivators whose primary and secondary attributes don't align will be considered the worst performers among their contemporaries. Of course, the secondary attribute is generally more special than the primary attribute. If they can reach the Golden Core stage and achieve the True Person realm, they can break free from their spiritual root's primary attribute and independently pursue a more comprehensive and refined cultivation based on their secondary attribute. But that's a story for another time.

"And you, possessing dual-attribute spiritual roots, with your second attribute perfectly complementing your first, already make you a minor example of a chosen one. Furthermore, your spiritual roots are quite compatible with the Life-Generating Elixir Method of the Life-Generating Elixir Academy; I have high hopes for your future achievements in the Refining Heart Hall."

"Elder, you flatter me."

"Oh, I think I was being conservative," Elder Qingyue chuckled and continued to explain the innate characteristics and acquired pathways of spiritual roots to me.

"The so-called innate characteristics are actually the compatibility between your physical body's foundation and the spiritual root in your dantian. If the compatibility between the two is better, your innate characteristics will be stronger; if it's worse, it doesn't matter, as foundation can be improved through postnatal training. As long as you conduct special physical training targeting your spiritual root, it's possible to strengthen your innate characteristics. However, since it's innate, it naturally cannot be changed. After all, no matter how much you improve your physical body's foundation, you can't replace it with a different one."

"So, are my four innate characteristics considered to be at an average level?" I asked.

"The first three are so-so, the fourth needs further consideration. If the effect is powerful, I may consider taking you as my true disciple."

"Elder, you jest."

"Alright, one last one. Actually, the acquired meridians are the simplest. You've already received the 'Secret Method of Longevity Elixir' from Huaizhen today, right?"

"Got it."

"The explanation above details the specific role of spiritual roots for cultivators. Now, all you need to know is to understand it literally. Your spiritual root is more suited to the cultivation methods specified above, that's all."

"I see, thank you for your explanation, Elder."

"It's alright. Come on, next one." After explaining the results of the spiritual root test to me, Elder Qingyue waved in Zeng Yixi's direction and smiled, signaling her to come over.