Chapter 316 - 291: Changing Spirit Root Talent?

Chapter 316: Chapter 291: Changing Spirit Root Talent?

「Half a month later.」

On the second floor of the Celestial Wind Pavilion, a trading session was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

One after another, Foundation Establishment Cultivators took turns on the stage, presenting a dazzling array of various items.

Below the stage, Chu Mu and Ji Ming sat in the front row, conversing via Telepathy.

"Fellow Daoist, will you be returning to Jingmen?"

"This trip has taken quite some time. The Artifact Hall has been urging your return for a while now."

Chu Mu smiled and exchanged some pleasantries.

He would, of course, be returning to Jingmen.

After all, his half-year of seclusion had completely depleted his stock of Elixirs.

In Jingmen, the channels for acquiring resources were simply incomparable to any other place, no matter how you looked at it.

After a long exchange of pleasantries, just as the trading session was about to end, Chu Mu seemed to suddenly recall something. He feigned surprise, "Oh, right, Fellow Daoist. While I was in Jingmen, I chanced upon a partial pill recipe. I found it quite shocking, but also a bit perplexing."

"Your Alchemy Skill is superb, Fellow Daoist. You should be able to make some sense of it..."

As he spoke, he took out a Jade Scroll and handed it to Ji Ming beside him.

Ji Ming stroked his long beard and accepted the Jade Scroll, his curiosity piqued.

He sent his Divine Sense into it. A moment later, Ji Ming’s head whipped around to look at Chu Mu. Then, as if realizing his loss of composure, he even lowered the volume of his Telepathy.

"Fellow Daoist, where did you get this recipe?"

"I received it in an exchange with another Daoist back in Jingmen. However, I’m bound by an oath to keep it a secret..."

Chu Mu replied earnestly, though his words were, of course, a complete fabrication.

This so-called partial recipe was actually something he had cobbled together himself. He had analyzed the grand setup of the subterranean Fire Attribute Spiritual Veins and mixed it with his own knowledge of Artifact Refining, Array Prohibitions, and Alchemy, blending truth with falsehood.

His goal was to find out just what kind of rare treasure that Pill—one capable of provoking a heaven-resenting Thunder Tribulation—was, and what its effects were.

This was his ultimate purpose for coming to the Celestial Wind Pavilion.

After all, Ji Ming was an Alchemy Master. Furthermore, judging by his Cultivation Technique and his Magical Treasure Prototype of a Pill Furnace, his lineage was surely extraordinary.

Hearing Chu Mu’s explanation, Ji Ming pondered for a moment before slowly putting down the Jade Scroll.

"This Pill Recipe..."

He seemed to be organizing his thoughts. After sending the telepathic message, he paused in contemplation for a good while before continuing, "This Pill Recipe is exceedingly rare. Although a significant portion is missing, I have seen a similar recipe before..."

"That recipe, much like this partial one of yours, transcends the petty tinkering of mortals. It uses heaven and earth as a Baking Furnace, harnessing the very forces of creation..."

"For this type of recipe, the formation of the Pill will inevitably trigger a pill tribulation. The reason is that the Pills produced by such recipes are bound to have terrifying effects that heaven itself will not permit."

"As for this specific recipe, it’s difficult to discern its exact purpose."

"However, the recipe involves Array Prohibitions and a Spirit Vein, both of the Fire Attribute, so it must be related to the Fire Attribute."

"Therefore, the formed Pill is either one that enhances Magical Cultivation, one for Condensing True Flame, or a Body Tempering Pill..."

As soon as he finished, Ji Ming began to contradict himself, muttering to himself as if completely engrossed in the partial recipe.

"With such a grand setup for its refining, it’s unlikely this Pill Recipe is merely for enhancing Magical Cultivation."

"There’s simply no need for such an elaborate process just for Magical Cultivation..."

"Using such a grand setup to create a poison is also unlikely. Could it be for life extension?"

"Life extension is also improbable. The Fire Attribute is too intense, which is not conducive to extending one’s life. Could it be... to reverse one’s Spirit Root Talent?"

Ji Ming muttered to himself, guessing again and again, only to deny his own theories each time.

Chu Mu’s eyes flickered. When he heard the words "reverse one’s Spirit Root Talent," his hand, holding his teacup, couldn’t help but tremble.

He forced himself to remain calm and took a sip of tea. Only after Ji Ming fell silent did he ask, as if hearing it for the first time, "Spirit Root Talent... can be reversed?"

"But of course."

Ji Ming nodded. "Although Spirit Root Talent is determined by fate, it is not impossible to reverse it through acquired means."

"It’s just that reversing it is bound to be incredibly difficult."

"I heard rumors about this before when I attended an Alchemist exchange at the Longevity Sect. Legend has it that in the Vast Sea, there is a Secret Skill for altering Spirit Roots. It supposedly uses the Inner Core of a Tier Four Demon Beast as the main ingredient to refine an artificial Spirit Root..."

"It is also said that in ancient times, there were even Heaven and Earth Spirit Medicines that could specifically temper one’s Spirit Root Talent. However, the world’s environment has changed drastically. Many Spirit Medicines are no longer suitable for growth, have long since gone extinct, or have become the private property of major powers..."

"As for your partial recipe, Fellow Daoist, too much is missing. My knowledge is limited, so I can hardly identify its origin..."

"It’s fine. I was just a little curious."

Chu Mu smiled nonchalantly. After taking back the Jade Scroll, he smoothly changed the subject.

When the trading session ended, he chatted for a while longer before finally leaving the Celestial Wind Pavilion.

He sent his Divine Sense into his Storage Ring, and the Jade Box, shrouded in layers of Restrictions, clearly appeared in his perception.

’The effect might be... reversing my Spirit Root Talent?’

Although it was just a guess, Chu Mu found it difficult to suppress the turmoil in his heart.

What was the most important thing in cultivation?

The Spirit Root!

The quality of one’s Spirit Root Talent directly determined whether a Cultivator’s Immortal Path would be smooth or not.

A Celestial Spirit Root made one a favored child of the heavens!

Once confirmed, such an individual would inevitably become a genius sought after by all major powers. All manner of cultivation resources and Secret Techniques would be meticulously arranged for them.

But he, with his Four Spirit Roots, had stumbled and faltered along his Immortal Path, even with the heaven-defying assistance of Spiritual Radiance.

He was now like Wangcai had once been. After reaching Foundation Establishment, his cultivation had already reached the limit of his Spirit Root Talent—in fact, it could be said he had broken through that limit.

Now, every tiny bit of progress in his cultivation required him to break through the limit set by his Spirit Root Talent all over again!

This meant that relying solely on his own arduous cultivation, it was impossible for him to make any significant progress. Every step forward from here would be exceedingly difficult!

The only thing he could do was take pills!

He had to use enough external resources to break through these potential limits time and time again.

In such a predicament, no matter how heaven-defying the Spiritual Radiance Effect was, he had never had much confidence in his own Immortal Path.

After all, resources would only become scarcer and thus harder to collect.

If he couldn’t gather enough resources, his cultivation was destined to stagnate.

His heart surged with emotion, but when he thought of his Immortal Path, he felt an inexplicable sense of depression and oppression.

In the end, he could only let out a long sigh, trying to exhale the weight from his heart.

He glanced down at the Sound Transmission Order in his hand. The messages from Xie Cangfeng, the Vice Hall Master of the Artifact Hall, came with the regularity of one a day, all asking when he would return to Jingmen and the Artifact Hall.

Chu Mu looked up at the dim sky and suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh.

He put away the Sound Transmission Order, returned to his residence to bid farewell to Xu Yuan and his wife, and then led Wangcai out into the wind and snow once more.

Outside the Marketplace, he released the Flying Boat from his Storage Ring.

With a leap, he landed on the bow of the Flying Boat. Wangcai followed close behind, letting out a roar before obediently crouching beside Chu Mu.

"Let’s go."

Chu Mu rubbed Wangcai’s head. With a slight thought, the hovering Flying Boat slowly turned its bow and headed in the direction of Jingmen.

He then entered the cabin and sat down by a window. Wangcai obediently lay down beside him. With a wave of his hand, the Jade Box appeared in his grasp.

He undid the layers of Array Prohibitions, and a golden Pill wreathed in flames came into view.

Chu Mu examined the Pill very carefully. Just as Ji Ming had made numerous guesses, he too had countless speculations of his own.

After all, such a massive undertaking couldn’t possibly have produced something ordinary.

It was bound to have an extremely terrifying effect in some special way.

’But... reversing Spirit Root Talent...’

Chu Mu couldn’t hide his fervent hope.

He had great expectations for this Pill.

But without damaging the Pill itself, it was basically impossible for him to determine its properties.

Therefore, unless he consumed it and experienced its effects firsthand, or destroyed it for experimentation...

He was lost in thought.

After a long time, he finally suppressed his impulse and put the mysterious Pill away again.

With a wave of his hand, several Jade Scrolls and books appeared on the table before him.

The contents of the Jade Scrolls were all Artifact Books on Rune Refining that he had collected in Jingmen, along with a considerable number of Pill Recipes and Pill Books.

There were also various other miscellaneous books, all aimed at expanding his knowledge.

He had always been very diligent about broadening his own knowledge base.

Take this Pill, for example. He held a treasure in his hands, but because he couldn’t see its true face, he could only stare at it helplessly.

If he had known what this Pill was, it would have likely been in his stomach long ago.

He had always firmly believed that knowledge is power.

His ability to get to where he was today was all due to the resources and wealth that knowledge had brought him.

Now, he had a new goal: to lift the mysterious veil from this Pill and see its true nature.

Time flew by as he read through the books.

Water Heaven Workshop was not too far from Jingmen City, a distance of just over six hundred miles.

The Flying Boat’s speed was not particularly fast. At its leisurely pace, it took just under half a day for the massive Jingmen City to come into view.

After passing through an inspection, the Flying Boat slowly descended outside Jingmen City.

He put the Flying Boat away and sent his Divine Sense into his Storage Ring, where a slight anomaly made him pause.

Then, with a wave of his hand, a long-dusty Sound Transmission Talisman appeared in his grasp.

At this moment, the Sound Transmission Talisman was blinking incessantly, a clear sign that a message had arrived.

He frowned. ’This Sound Transmission Talisman...’

’Isn’t this... the communication talisman from my agreement with Zhao Shuang about the Secret Realm inheritance?’

He wasn’t entirely sure. After all, he hadn’t had any contact with Zhao Shuang since their agreement regarding the Secret Realm had concluded.

As his thoughts churned, he touched the Sound Transmission Talisman with his Divine Sense.

Several messages echoed in his mind...

...