Chapter 65 Watching fireworks, after the New Year, Xie Xuan felt...

There were heat-keeping symbols drawn on the table, and every dish was still warm and tasted the same.

Li Chang'an quickly made two buckets of milk tea and fruit tea.

The mushroom spirits only like to drink sweet drinks, such as milk tea and fruit tea.

The New Year's Eve dinner on the table was for Li Chang'an and his family.

The New Year's Eve dinner was meant to be enjoyed slowly, and the four of them, along with the mountain demon, finally stopped eating afterward, huddling together in the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

Li Chang'an had little interest in the program.

After his parents and younger brother passed away, he would eat a quick meal and go to sleep every New Year's Eve. Later, he would spend the New Year with his grandparents, Grandpa Huang and Grandma Li, and they would watch the Spring Festival Gala together. However, since the two elders went to bed early, he didn't want to stay up too late, so he would just watch a few programs with them and then go to sleep.

After he turned sixteen, he went out to work. Every New Year's Eve, he reverted to his habit of eating a little something and going to sleep, treating the day as just another ordinary day.

Occasionally, while browsing videos and seeing clips of the Spring Festival Gala, he wonders if it's because his memories of the past are filtered through a lens, but he feels that those programs aren't as interesting as they were when he watched them with his grandpa Huang and grandma Li when he was a child.

Li Chang'an was uninterested, but the mushroom spirits, tea spirits, and mandrills were quite interested in the human's program.

The very center of the sofa was reserved for these spirits, who watched intently.

Before long, influenced by them, Li Chang'an sat on the side of the sofa and also began to absorb some of their ideas.

He ate fruit and looked at Tianxuan beside him.

Tianxuan was lost in thought again.

Li Chang'an suddenly remembered that when he saw Tianxuan on the North Floating Island, the other party was in the same state.

Is it because they were saddened by not being able to protect those trees? That seems unlikely.

Seeing those trees turn to dust under the lightning, Li Chang'an would feel regret and sentimental, but he wouldn't feel lost about it forever.

Given Tianxuan Xingjun's personality, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths.

After much deliberation, Li Chang'an asked, "Star Lord, you cultivate arithmetic. After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, will you be able to calculate even more things?"

Tianxuan came to her senses, turned to look at him, and said, "That's true, but there are some things that can't be calculated, so we still can't calculate them."

Take, for example, the origins of Li Chang'an's destiny.

“Some things that I have foreseen, I still cannot say until the time is right,” Tianxuan said with a smile, her eyes deep and unfathomable.

Li Chang'an immediately understood.

Tianxuan's arithmetic skills allow him to calculate cause and effect, see the past, and predict the future.

He must have foreseen something the moment he successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul stage.

He also noticed his doubts and worries, so he told him the answer.

The answer is, we can't say.

Li Chang'an felt relieved and stopped dwelling on the question from before.

He smiled and said, "Star Lord, you are only forty-eight years old and have already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage. You must be the youngest Nascent Soul cultivator in the history of the Cangxuan Realm?"

Even when spiritual energy was abundant six thousand years ago, top-tier Nascent Soul cultivators were still two or three hundred years old. Yet now, with spiritual energy scarce, Tianxuan was able to break through to the Nascent Soul stage so early.

Tianxuan chuckled and shook her head: "In a while, it won't be me anymore, it will be you."

Li Chang'an was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand to touch his face: "That's different. I inherited the Xuanling Immortal Mountain, which is like having a cheat code."

His destiny is bound to the Xuanling Immortal Mountain. As long as he cultivates, he can increase the spiritual energy in the Xuanling Immortal Mountain. In turn, the increased spiritual energy in the Xuanling Immortal Mountain will nourish him and allow his cultivation level to rise.

In other words, once he cultivates a first-level spiritual power, the Xuanling Immortal Mountain will give him another first-level spiritual power in return, which is equivalent to buying one and getting one free.

Furthermore, as the reincarnation of a deity, it seems that the deity had deliberately arranged something, which is why Li Chang'an's cultivation level increased exceptionally quickly.

"Cheating?" Tianxuan repeated, then looked ahead and said, "If that's the case, the Seven Stars of the Alliance are actually cheating too."

"The cultivation of the Seven Stars of the Alliance does not rely on spiritual energy, but on the power of the stars. Of course, this does not mean that we do not need spiritual energy at all. With the dual blessing of spiritual energy and the power of the stars, the Seven Stars of the Alliance can quickly cultivate to the Golden Core stage, but it is unlikely that they can break through to the next level."

Because the spiritual energy in the Cangxuan Realm is insufficient, it cannot support a Golden Core cultivator to pass through the tribulation and reach the Nascent Soul stage.

"The power of stars?" Li Chang'an asked in confusion, "What is that?"

Tianxuan explained, "It is the power contained within the stars. Six thousand years ago, cultivators would generally use this power to cultivate, but now only the Seven Stars of the Alliance, chosen by the power of the stars, can sense this power."

Overhearing their conversation, Tea Spirit leaned over the sofa armrest and said curiously, "No wonder, I sensed that your power was different from the very first day you moved in."

"When you cultivate, the stars in the sky will respond to you."

Tianxuan nodded: "The star power in Xuanling Immortal Mountain is purer than that in Cangxuan Realm, so my cultivation level has increased by three levels in just a few months since I came here."

He looked at Li Chang'an and smiled, "I have to thank you for this, for allowing me to live on Xuanling Immortal Mountain."

Li Chang'an quickly waved his hand: "That's all because you're strong enough."

To retain talent, you have to meet their expectations for compensation.

The group chatted as the Spring Festival Gala program drew to a close.

With less than ten minutes to go before midnight, Li Chang'an called over the still-enjoying mountain demons and mushroom spirits, grabbed some snacks, milk tea, and fruit tea, and the group left Xuanling Immortal Mountain together, arriving at Qingfeng Sect.

They used teleportation, so they weren't late.

Inside the Qingfeng Sect, all the buildings were decorated with lights, making it very bright.

Xie Xuan was leading his disciples carrying fireworks toward the training ground when he saw Li Chang'an and the others. He pointed the way and said, "You should go to the Star Gazing Tower on the West Peak first. That's the best spot to watch the fireworks later."

The Star Gazing Tower is the tallest of the four wooden towers on the secondary peak. There is also a small open platform at the top of the tower facing the main peak.

Li Chang'an shook his head: "Let's go together, I'll carry these fireworks."

After he finished speaking, he casually waved his hand, and his spiritual power sent all the fireworks from the disciples' hands and the warehouse to the open training ground.

Xie Xuan and his disciples looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Chang'an used his spiritual power to help, which was much faster than their manual labor; it only took a moment.

None of them had awakened their spiritual roots yet, and at first they didn't realize that having spiritual power could be so convenient.

This is not only reflected in the transportation of fireworks, but also in the fact that they can go directly to the Xifeng Stargazing Tower to watch the fireworks, instead of waiting in the training ground for round after round of fireworks.

Because it allows Li Chang'an and his team to remotely ignite the fireworks fuse.

After the fireworks are over, they'll come over and play with sparklers and set off fireworks.

After realizing what was happening, the disciples immediately ran happily towards the West Peak.

Xie Xuan walked behind, his gaze inadvertently falling on Li Chang'an before slowly withdrawing it after a moment.

At the Star Gazing Tower on West Peak, Xie Kuling and the other disciples carried low stools, low tables, and a small stove to the top floor, and also prepared some snacks and dried fruits.

The group sat together, with small stoves placed in front of those without spiritual power, and various foods laid out on several low tables.

The mandrill told Li Chang'an, then, carrying a basket of snacks and dried fruit, jumped to the top of the tower to watch the spectacle alone.

From the Star Gazing Tower, you can take in the scenery of most of Ling'an City.

At midnight, countless fireworks rose into the sky above Ling'an City, blooming one after another, their brilliant colors painting the night.

Li Chang'an also flicked a burst of spiritual energy towards the training ground. Instantly, several golden rays shot into the night sky and exploded, with countless flowing light petals scattering down from the night sky.

Several junior disciples of the Qingfeng Sect covered their ears and shouted at the top of their lungs when they spoke to others.

The observatory was bustling with activity.

In the corner, Xie Xuan watched his disciples playing and laughing happily, and Xie Kuling smiling gently, sipping the tea that Li Chang'an had brought him.

That was tea brewed from the leftover tea leaves after making milk tea and fruit tea.

Xie Xuan doesn't like sweet drinks, so he ate all the pure tea that Li Chang'an brought.

The tea leaves were still provided by the tea essence, and the water used to brew the tea was boiled Ningjing River water.

When the two are combined, a cup of tea is imbued with a great deal of spiritual energy.

Xie Xuan had intended to quietly drink tea to relieve his distress, but when the teapot was empty, he suddenly noticed that Li Chang'an and his nephew Xie Kuling were all looking at him in surprise.

Xie Xuan asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Tianxuan smiled and said, "Congratulations, Elder, on awakening a single water elemental root."

With his high level of cultivation, he could sense what kind of spiritual root Xie Xuan had just awakened without needing a spiritual root stone to test it.

Xie Xuan was stunned.

"Wh-what?"

Fireworks were going off incessantly on the training ground in the distance, their colorful lights shining directly in front of Xie Xuan, making him feel as if it were all unreal.

Was he hallucinating? Or perhaps he wasn't actually drinking tea, but alcohol, otherwise why would he be drunk?

Xie Kuling smiled, but his eyes gradually welled up with tears. He walked over and took Xie Xuan's hand: "Uncle, you have awakened your spiritual root. We are the same, both of us have a single water spiritual root."

Xie Xuan was startled and froze on the spot.

Who? Him? Has he awakened a spiritual root? Or is it just a single water spiritual root?

Xie Xuan's hands trembled slightly.

He looked down in disbelief and saw a crystal-clear water droplet in his palm.

When you clench your fist with your five fingers together, the water from that droplet will flow out from between your fingers and then gather together to form another droplet.

Xie Xuan simply couldn't believe it.

He admitted that after seeing the disciples in the sect awaken their spiritual roots one by one, he went from being happy at first to feeling somewhat bittersweet later on.

Because he was extremely envious.

He was also a member of the Xie family. Because he lacked spiritual roots, the position of mountain lord was inherited by his older brother, Xie Kuling's father, in order to protect him.

Therefore, his brother was trapped on Qingfeng Mountain for several years and eventually died full of resentment.

Xie Xuan had thought countless times that he wished he also had spiritual roots.

If he had spiritual roots, his brother wouldn't have become the mountain lord, wouldn't have harbored resentment, and could have gained freedom.

And Xie Xuan can also realize his dream—to contribute to Qingfeng.

But more than forty years have passed, and he still hasn't awakened his spiritual root.

Perhaps it was because of his advanced age. Even though he had eaten the same spiritual vegetables and rice grown by Li Chang'an, several of his disciples had awakened their spiritual roots, but he had not yet awakened his.

Unexpectedly, just when he was about to resign himself to his fate, he got what he wanted.

Xie Xuan forced a smile, his eyes reddened, and he was both crying and laughing.

He looked up at Xie Kuling, about to say something, but his eyes rolled back and he fainted from excitement.

"uncle!"

"Elder!"

Chaos erupted immediately on the Star Gazing Tower.

When they discovered that Xie Xuan had fainted due to emotional distress, the adults present were both amused and exasperated.

The fireworks display at the training ground stopped, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur.

The event to watch the fireworks at midnight ended right after Xie Xuan fainted.

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Author's Note: Next up is the Cultivation Grand Competition [droopy-eared rabbit head]