Chapter 127: Nian Quan

  “Spiritual roots are hard to come by.”

  Upon hearing this, An Jing could not help but shake his head.

  With so many conditions, it was no wonder that even if both parents were high-level cultivators and their child possessed abundant Five Elements or even all five spiritual elements, the child still might not necessarily develop a spiritual root or qualify for cultivation.

  No matter how abundant the five spiritual elements might be, once they began generating and suppressing each other excessively, they could reduce a person to an ordinary mortal who had to rely solely on luck.

  Put simply, a mortal with five dormant spiritual elements might have all five elemental attributes at 20. Even without considering generation and suppression, they still wouldn’t meet the most basic requirement of “one active essence among the five.”

  However, a descendant of the Purple Mansion Immortal Cn, whose five elements each scored 70, might still fail to manifest a spiritual root. Because those five spiritual elements generated and suppressed one another too perfectly, they effectively canceled each other out, preventing a spiritual root from forming.

  By contrast, a genius from the slums might have every other attribute at 20 but one attribute at 50. That alone would meet the threshold of “one active spirit.” As long as generation and suppression did not obstruct that single spirit’s function, that person would be considered to have a spiritual root.

  However, someone like that, even though they possessed a spiritual root, would have weak foundations requiring additional resources. Typically, a cultivation seed discovered among the common folk needed a period of careful nurturing to recim their true level of talent—perhaps that attribute’s score could go from 50 to 75 or even higher.

  This also expined why, according to the data, geniuses uncovered among commoners appeared on average to be more remarkable than those from great noble families. Since noble families meticulously nurtured their children from infancy, most were already pushed to the upper limit of their potential, making even those of average aptitude appear rather accomplished.

  Yet a genius from the common folk had to be truly heaven’s favored one, with fortune on their side to stand out. Otherwise, how could they possibly compete against those influential families? Moreover, those great families would typically recruit such folk from among the popuce to bolster their own ranks.

  Of course, there were also secret arts that could enhance a noble family’s descendants’ aptitude, but they were called secret arts because their cost was exorbitant and their complexity immense, beyond the reach of ordinary people.

  “So-called Heavenly Water Spiritual Root,” the Sword Spirit continued to expin at the very moment Nian Quan emerged with tea, causing An Jing to subconsciously shift his gaze to the young man. “It means that all five spiritual elements in the body are active, with the water element surpassing the others, fully possessing both Ren and Gui Water. The sequence of generation and suppression is fwless—‘water generates wood,’ ‘wood generates fire,’ ‘fire generates earth,’ ‘earth generates metal,’ and finally ‘metal generates water.’ It scores a perfect ten.”

  “Besides that, the month and date of birth, the regional climate, and even one’s name must not conflict with this harmony. Otherwise, you can’t reach ten points—only eight or so, maybe 9.9 at best. That would still qualify as a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but it couldn’t be called perfect.”

  “If fortune allows, a Heavenly Water Spiritual Root might even break its limit and surpass ten points, transforming into an Innate Water Spiritual True Body, thereby becoming an Immortal Water Spiritual Root.”

  “As for how this Heavenly Water Spiritual Root acquired the Surging Azure Dawn Eyes, it isn’t a bloodline trait. Rather, his family’s ‘True Eye Technique’ elevated itself because of that spiritual root, advancing into the ‘Surging Azure Dawn Eyes.’”

  “It’s an acquired spiritual eye that can sense subtle fluctuations in spiritual energy, piercing illusions and barriers. It’s particurly well-suited for pill refining and talisman crafting, giving its user a much higher success rate than most.”

  “…So this is a Heavenly Spiritual Root?”

  An Jing was left dumbfounded, and he was even a moment te in thanking Nian Quan when the tter pced tea before him.

  “How incredibly lucky is that?!” he excimed inwardly to the Sword Spirit, hardly able to believe it. “All five elements present, five spiritual elements active, all elements generating one another in perfect order, no suppression… and even his name is Quan*!”

  “Is there no justice under Heaven?!”

  “This is simply Heaven’s favor. Otherwise, why would we cultivators of the Immortal Path pce so much importance on ‘fate’?”

  Yet the Sword Spirit was unfazed. “As for one’s name, date of birth, and birthpce—all of that can be adjusted after the fact. Back in those days, once people discovered a baby’s innate talent while still in the womb, many families deliberately chose the name and even temporarily relocated to particur spiritually enriched areas. Through secret arts, they would wait for an auspicious time before allowing the birth, which could add half a point or even a full point of spiritual resonance.”

  “That’s also why, back then, there were so many children with spiritual roots—it was simply the result of deliberate ‘optimized birth.’”

  “Besides, even for someone as fortunate as this Heavenly Water Spiritual Root, their cultivation efficiency might only be thirty percent higher than yours. At best, they’d learn water-attribute mystical arts exceedingly quickly. While over time that advantage does become considerable, it’s not something that can’t be overcome.”

  “That is precisely Heaven’s principle of impartiality—too much of anything leads to imbance.”

  Sigh. An Jing let out a breath in his mind. There were always fortunate ones in this world, but… was the person before him truly so lucky?

  He lowered his gaze to the slightly brown tea—just an ordinary tea bag brew, free of poison. The water itself was somewhat hard, eliciting a faint reaction from his metal-attributed spiritual energy, clearly due to aging pipes.

  For an ordinary family in Xuanye City, it was already something of a luxury.

  Raising his head, An Jing scrutinized the young man before him.

  Nian Quan sat quietly across from him, eyes somewhat reddened—he had likely been crying recently. He must have guessed his mother’s fate before An Jing arrived, and An Jing’s message merely confirmed it, leaving him retively composed.

  “Thank you for the tea.” An Jing took a sip, then swirled the cup in his hand, fixing his gaze on the youth. “What do you intend to find out?”

  “Originally, I had many questions,” Nian Quan replied, staring at the steam rising from his own cup. “But while brewing the tea, I realized… these aren’t things I should learn just yet, or at least not now.”

  “If my mother’s death had simply been an unfortunate accident, you wouldn’t have come here. She must have…”

  Nian Quan shook his head slightly, then looked to An Jing. “But here you are, risking trouble just to inform me of my mother’s death, and I’m very grateful.”

  “But I also know there’s something you want to ask me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have agreed to my invitation… Please, just ask. I’ll tell you whatever I can.”

  “In fact, I had pnned to ask some rather sensitive questions.”

  An Jing gnced around. The quarters shared by Nian Qin and Nian Quan were not very rge—rather cramped, in fact. Old furniture and various books and jade slips were organized in baskets or repurposed food boxes, giving the pce a simple, frugal atmosphere. “But now, I think there’s no need to ask.”

  “Your mother handled things very thoroughly; no one will suspect you in the slightest.”

  There was no trace of a third occupant. As he had guessed, the father had died long ago, leaving mother and son to rely on each other.

  Originally, An Jing intended to ask Nian Quan about his mother’s day-to-day activities to confirm whether Nian Qin was truly an undercover agent of the Righteous Return Army. But upon seeing such a modest home, he realized Nian Qin had concealed herself exceptionally well.

  After all, she had been paid more than seven thousand merit points for her smuggling, equivalent to over seven hundred thousand credit points. In his past life, that might have been worth a few million in purchasing power—certainly not enough to do anything grand, but more than enough to improve their living conditions if she had used just a bit.

  She had hidden it even from her own son; having the money yet not daring to spend it, she naturally left no evidence of her true dealings.

  Given that, An Jing had wanted to probe a few more minor details.

  Shifting his gaze to Nian Quan with a curious look, he asked, “You clearly have a Heavenly Spiritual Root, so why is your life still so difficult?”

  Nian Quan blinked, then seemed to understand. “You’re not from the city; you’re a barbarian from the wilderness, aren’t you?”

  The corner of An Jing’s mouth twitched. He suddenly felt this was getting tiresome—how could everyone so readily guess he wasn’t from the city but was, in fact, a barbarian from the wilderness? Was his country-bumpkin aura truly that obvious? Were the chips really so convenient?

  No, no, that was wrong. He was clearly someone from another world, not some barbarian of the wilderness!

  (End of Chapter)

  *泉 (quán) literally means “spring” (as in a natural water spring), and is also a homophone with 全, which means “complete” or “perfect.”