Chapter 126: Heavenly Spiritual Root
Nian Quan vaguely dreamed about his mother.
That was long ago—nearly eight years in the past.
Back then, his father was still alive. He had not yet changed his family name, and his mother had not fallen into demonic corruption from overwork—nor had she repced her leg with a greenwood prosthetic.
From a young age, Nian Quan had been exceptionally smart and could remember many things other children could not. At that time, he was still too small to reach his father’s thigh, and their home often bustled with visits from various uncles and aunts.
Back then, Nian Quan was extremely timid. Whenever guests arrived, he would burst into fearful tears, and his mother would pick him up, carry him back to their room, y him on a soft bed, and gently recount ancient tales of swordsmen, as well as adventure stories about Immortals and fortuitous encounters.
In truth, Nian Quan was never particurly fond of those adventure stories. His temperament was mild; he disliked fighting and bloodshed. What truly stopped his tears was his mother’s embrace—her gentle voice and soft, caring touch.
Humans have always found safety in a parent’s arms, from hundreds of thousands—even millions—of years ago to the present day. Generation after generation, this has never changed.
In his dream, Nian Quan—who had not cried for a very long time—suddenly felt a surge of sorrow rising from deep within. He sensed an embrace, a blurry silhouette.
Then, it drifted far away… never to return.
“Mom… Mom…”
Awakening from his dream, Nian Quan murmured softly, opened his eyes, and wiped away the tears at their corners.
As clever as he was, how could he be unaware that his mother was not actually at the Little Ochre Mountain headquarters, but instead working in the bck market branch?
And how could he not have realized that the bck market in the deserted square in the southern part of the city was raided by the Surveilnce Bureau yesterday and that no news had emerged since?
No news was often the worst news. In truth, Nian Quan already knew everything; he was simply waiting for the grim notice that would plunge him into despair.
His mother had always deceived him, and he had been willing to accept it.
He, too, had been deceiving himself—but just now, he had that dream.
It was a beautiful dream, tinged with sorrow.
Now, he had come to terms with the truth in his heart.
Then…
He heard the doorbell ring.
He saw a strange visitor.
He learned of his mother’s death.
Then…
He invited the messenger youth—who was about his own age—inside.
Why? Pinly, it was extremely dangerous for both sides.
Even if he extended the invitation, the other party might not accept; and even if he did, he could be harboring ill intentions.
Don’t be fooled by his youth. Who could tell if he was an underworld thug or a barbarian from the wilderness? He might just loot the pce and leave without a second thought.
No patrol officer would bother with a case from the Lower City District. As for that youth, he, too, would fear potential traps, suspecting Nian Quan might mean him harm.
Yet Nian Quan still offered the invitation.
And the other party gdly agreed.
While Nian Quan went to brew tea, An Jing—who had already learned his name from the note “Quan’er” in Nian Qin’s address book—asked the Sword Spirit with great curiosity, “Do spiritual roots also come in different grades? And what about those ‘Surging Azure Dawn Eyes’? Could they be some kind of innate Divine Ability?”
“Of course spiritual roots are divided into different grades,” the Sword Spirit expined in detail. “When people are born, they naturally possess all five elements, but not everyone has them in perfect bance. Even if a person starts out banced, factors like personality, diet, environment, and growth can still alter those elements.”
“And just as the five elements can generate each other, they can also subjugate one another.”
“To gain a ‘spiritual root,’ you must first ensure you are not ‘cking in any of the five elements.’ Next, the generative and controlling cycles can’t be too extreme, nor can the order be too severely reversed. Beyond that, the year, month, and location of one’s birth are also critical.”
“For example, consider a child with all five elements in bance, whose innate water essence roils within, drawing in water-based spiritual energy. Naturally, this child should have a gift for cultivation—a ‘Water Spiritual Root.’”
“But if he’s born in a region dominated by heavy earth, then his originally potent Ren-Gui* Water element becomes stifled, causing his Water Spiritual Root to decline in grade. Simirly, if he’s born during months or days of abundant earth energy, his innate water essence would also weaken.”
“And if he also has innate Wu-Ji* Earth alignment in his body, that Earth element will further suppress his Water essence, creating a major obstacle to his cultivation.”
“If his inner fire is too strong, it will stimute the earth energy within him and automatically suppress the body’s water essence, damaging his spiritual root.”
“Going even further, if the generative and controlling cycles** become too extreme, an excess of innate wood essence can also backfire. Overly vigorous wood energy can ‘turn the tables’ by absorbing the water essence to fuel its own growth, ultimately leaving the spiritual root dulled.”
“Put simply, in most people, the five elements inside their bodies csh with one another. While there’s a certain bance—an interpy of generation and assistance—at a deeper level it’s all internal friction. Because so much energy is consumed by this inner struggle, there’s little left to reach outward, making cultivation naturally impossible.”
“Yet for a small number—like you—though your fire essence is strong and your water essence is weak, the water can still overcome the fire, keeping it contained.”
“But water’s capacity to suppress fire is pushed to its limit; it cannot then go on to nurture wood. Meanwhile, the inhibited fire can’t generate earth. As a result, neither fire nor water takes part in the next cycles.”
“Among your remaining three essences, metal is the strongest—on a scale of ten, it’s about five, while earth and wood each hover around three or four.”
“In your case, the generative order conveniently begins with earth feeding metal, raising metal’s strength from five to six. Next, metal suppresses wood, seizing its vitality to sharpen its edge and climb to seven. Finally, the weakened wood in turn suppresses earth, leaving earth withered and unable to contest metal’s share.”
“As a result, your metal essence stands dominant at seven, manifesting a keen breakthrough potential. This is the innate ‘Wood and Earth Nurturing Metal Formation,’ which allows you—despite having three spiritual roots—to enjoy cultivation speeds second only to a ‘Heavenly Spiritual Root,’ making your breakthroughs noticeably smoother.”
“However, if that order of generation and suppression was reversed—say wood first overcomes earth, causing earth to wither and wood to flourish—then metal would next suppress wood. But cutting living wood isn’t easy; you wouldn’t hack through it cleanly, and the bde’s edge would dull in the thicket. Instead of a sharp aura, you’d get a ‘blunt edge.’ Maniputing your metal energy would feel sluggish.”
“In the end, that withered earth would offer only slight support to the dulled metal essence. Even if there were a small boost, it wouldn’t amount to much. Your five-point metal essence would stay in the lower-middle range—fairly poor for a three-element spiritual root.”
“No wonder so few people have the aptitude for cultivation.” An Jing listened closely, and suddenly understood why—even though everyone is born of a father and mother, presumably with all five elements—most people end up cking any spiritual root.
First, you must not ck any of the five elements. If you do, it means you have innate ailments. You wouldn’t even have time to treat those, let alone cultivate, so that excludes a small portion—or even a rge group—of people. If the parents suffer from malnutrition, many children end up cking certain elements at birth.
Next, merely possessing all five elements doesn’t guarantee they’re all active. At least one element must be exceptionally vibrant to grant cultivation potential. That excludes another batch of people.
Then, the cycle of generation and suppression must not hinder the active spiritual root. For instance, if water is active, you can’t have an excessively strong earth element, nor overly strong fire or wood essences. Any of those would stifle water and diminish its grade, excluding yet another group of people.
Lastly, the sequence of generation and suppression must align correctly. Otherwise, as in the Sword Spirit’s example, one scenario might grant someone with only a five-point metal spiritual root an unexpected seven-point effect, second only to a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
Conversely, even if three elements are active and not in open conflict, a certain rotational order of the five elements in the body could leave a five-point spiritual root with less than five points of actual effectiveness, weighed down by a ‘blunt edge’ drawback.
And that eliminates yet another rge group of people.
(End of Chapter)
*壬 (rén) and 癸 (guǐ) are Heavenly Stems representing Yang Water and Yin Water, respectively. 戊 (wù) and 己 (jǐ) represent Yang Earth and Yin Earth.
**Not fully certain, but I am pretty sure these have been mentioned before, and I transted them as creation and destruction cycles (or something of the like). They're the generative and controlling/suppressing cycles of the Five Elements.