Chapter 49, first published on Jinjiang Literature City, reveals the problem of spiritual roots.
The group took out their portable tent from their storage bags and quickly set it up. Ri Jiu began setting up an array outside the tent, while Yao Sisi went inside to study drawing talismans. Qi Mu then said to Liu Yuan, "I'm going outside for a walk to find some herbs for body tempering."
Liu Yuan wished he could kneel down and pledge his loyalty. In the past few days, he had realized that he was too weak, like a burden. "I will go too. How can I let the young master go through all this trouble for me?"
Qi Mu: "You should focus on cultivating as I instructed and quickly complete the Qi-induction process. That's the most important thing, because we'll need your help a lot in the future!"
Yao Sisi went into the tent and didn't come out for three days. She took out a stack of flying talismans, more than thirty in total, gave five to each of the people, and kept the rest for herself.
"Let's test the talisman's effectiveness first!"
Rijiu: "I'll try it out first. Sisi, don't rush. Let's see how it goes first."
He tore off the talisman, and it was as if an energy source had appeared on his body, pulling him upwards. It took him a while to find his footing and stabilize. Yao Sisi watched from below, ready to unleash Lingyun to support him at any moment.
Fortunately, he eventually figured out some of the patterns and landed steadily. This talisman was like a propeller, without any direction. If you wanted to fly in the direction you wanted, you had to grasp it carefully.
Yao Sisi: "The Flying Talisman is a bit dangerous. Let me try it again and see what happens."
Qi Mu stopped her: "Miss, let me try! Although we can control Lingyun now, none of us can do it as well as you. Let me try it first and see if there are any problems. You can still use Lingyun to save me."
Yao Sisi nodded: "Okay, you can try it first, I'll have to try it out later anyway."
After tearing open the flying talisman, Qi Mu floated back and forth in the air like a kite, unable to control his direction or stop to land. Yao Sisi, who had already ascended to Lingyun, stroked her chin and pondered whether there were differences between different talismans. Just as she was about to catch him, Qi Mu finally found his direction and slowly fell from the air.
"The talismans made by Miss Sisi are really mischievous."
Ri Jiu snorted from the side, "It's clearly you who's slow to master it. I think that apart from the initial discomfort, there's nothing wrong with this Flying Talisman."
Yao Sisi: "When I have time, I'll draw more talismans. These are much better than magic artifacts. They don't require us to expend our Xuan power. We can just tear them open and use them. However, just in case, each of us should have a flying magic artifact."
Qi Mu: "Flying magical artifacts are much more troublesome to forge than other types."
Yao Sisi: "It's not a big deal if it's a bit troublesome. I've already refined the Lingyun, so I don't need any other magic weapons. It's just that we don't have enough materials. These days, let's not rush to travel. Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. Let's gather more materials!"
She organized the refining materials she had acquired, wrote down the scarce ones, and sent them to the group, including Liu Yuan, who had no cultivation yet.
"You all need to work hard in the days to come. I won't go out to find materials. I've used up too many talismans before. While you're out, I'll draw more talismans and try to save up more."
Before leaving, Qi Mu asked, "Does Miss Sisi need any special beast blood? I'll bring some back for you when I come back from my trip."
Yao Sisi: "We don't lack beast blood for now, but if you see any mystical beasts with special talents, you can also give me some blood."
Time passed by, and Qi Mu and the others collected a lot of materials, but they were still short of materials for refining flying magic weapons. However, they did manage to gather all the medicinal herbs for Liu Yuan's body tempering.
Yao Sisi drew a lot of flying talismans and distributed them to the group. Then she said, "I recently discovered a new type of talisman called a teleportation talisman. As the name suggests, if you are in danger while fighting, you can use the teleportation talisman to leave immediately."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up: "This is a treasure! It's always in high demand and people will be fighting over it wherever it goes. It's like having a second life!"
Yao Sisi: "The item is good, but it requires the blood of a fourth-tier mystic beast. I don't have such a high-level item in my storage bag. Besides... even if I had the beast blood, it would be difficult to draw it. It's a mid-tier talisman, and we've been using low-tier talismans before."
Ri Jiu: "Is it even more difficult than the Flying Talisman?"
Yao Sisi: "It's much more difficult than that, not even in the same league. The Flying Talisman I drew only has more demanding refining conditions, but overall it still belongs to the low-level range. However, the Flying Talisman is very special. Its lowest level uses the blood of a third-level flying beast, but the higher level can even use the blood of a seventh-level beast. The level is not as fixed as you think."
"Once the blood of a seventh-tier mystic beast is used, the talisman's grade immediately becomes a high-grade talisman."
Qi Mu said, "I understand. For example, there are low-level and mid-level ice talismans, right?"
Yao Sisi: "Yes, but sometimes they change their names. For example, a low-level talisman that could only freeze an inch away wouldn't have a particularly large impact, even if the quality varied. But once it crosses a higher rank, it could create a scene of ice covering thousands of miles. Hmm... and I've noticed that high-level talismans have very exaggerated names. I wonder if it's to get a better price..."
Qi Mu: "This... is indeed to sell at a good price; the names of those pills are rather exaggerated."
Yao Sisi: "Well, once I start talking about talismans, I never stop. You guys have had quite a haul this time. If you haven't found all the materials, it's probably because they're not even in this area. Let's go somewhere else and keep looking."
Qi Mu asked, "How about we camp here for the night and set off early tomorrow morning?"
Yao Sisi: "Okay, are you planning to temper Brother Liu Yuan's body tonight?"
Qi Mu: "Yes, his aptitude might not be very good either. I hope that body tempering will make cultivation easier!"
The next morning, they continued flying on the clouds.
"I don't know exactly how big this Mystic Beast Forest is. One of Ri Jiu's seniors said that even at his speed back then, it took him more than a month to travel through it, not even counting the time he spent fighting with people."
Qi Mu hadn't expected Ri Jiu to have such a powerful backer. He tentatively asked, "Is that senior's cultivation level very high?"
Yao Sisi: "It's very high. I reckon if they use it for a month, it will take us at least a year!"
Qi Mu: "If we leave the Mystic Beast Forest, will Ri Jiu follow you, senior?"
Upon hearing this, Ri Jiu, who was not far away, realized that all that circling around was just to make him leave!
"I'm not going with anyone; I'm going to ascend to heaven with Sisi!"
Qi Mu timely poured cold water on the idea: "...Miss Sisi might find a Daoist partner in the future!"
Yao Sisi happened to be listening, and quickly waved her hand: "No way! I want to ascend first, we can talk about the rest later."
Ri Jiu: "..."
Qi Mu: "..."
The two exchanged a glance, both disapproving of the other's rambling.
They flew for over a month, but still couldn't reach the edge of the Mystic Beast Forest. However, they didn't fly continuously; they would occasionally land to search for resources. After all, the Mystic Beast Forest was rich in resources, and they couldn't possibly enter such a treasure trove empty-handed, especially since they hadn't even gathered all the materials for refining yet.
The group had already set up camp and arranged formations with ease. Sometimes, when Yao Sisi was in the mood, she would go outside for a stroll and look for some treasures to bring back.
That day, after everyone finished their work, Liu Yuan finally managed to draw qi into his body. His body was carrying very low and unstable fluctuations of profound qi, as he was still a novice and did not know how to control it.
Yao Sisi encouraged, "Not bad, you've successfully guided the Qi into your body."
Liu Yuan sighed, "If I don't succeed, I won't be able to face anyone."
Yao Sisi: "Why rush cultivation? Haven't you heard the saying 'Great talents mature late'? Now... I can finally call you a little fellow Daoist!"
Liu Yuan: "..."
I don't know why, but everything she says sounds like she's flirting with people. Could it be because she's too strikingly beautiful?
Sigh, she's usually fine, but sometimes she's too aggressive.
Anyway, he would never admit that he was jealous that she was more favored by the young master than him; that was absolutely not true!
Qi Mu: "Miss Sisi, I'm sorry to trouble you, I need to borrow your spirit-testing stones again."
Yao Sisi took out the spirit-testing stone and tossed it to him: "Don't be so polite, take it and use it!"
Qi Mu held the spirit-testing stone and said to Liu Yuan, "Just like I do, place it in your palm and pour the energy you sense into it. It will then display different colored halos."
Just then, the spirit-testing stone in his hand indeed emitted two familiar beams of light. He looked down and was about to look away when he discovered that there was another faint black light inside the spirit-testing stone. Moreover, as soon as the black light appeared, the red and green lights dimmed as if they had been swallowed up.
Qi Mu froze, as if the blood in his body had been frozen.
Liu Yuan: "Young Master?"
Qi Mu gripped the spirit-testing stone tightly, his brows furrowing slightly: What's going on? What was that black light?!
He calmed himself down and shifted his gaze to Liu Yuan: "You've learned what I just taught you, right? Now try it!"
Although Liu Yuan sensed that something was wrong with his young master, he was used to being a servant and would do whatever his young master told him to do, without asking any questions, especially when there were outsiders present.
Following what he had just learned, he gathered the energy within his body into his hands and slowly probed the spirit stone. Soon, the stone lit up with several beautiful colors.
There are red, yellow, blue, and green ones.
Qi Mu stared intently for a while before realizing there was no black inside.
Seeing that he didn't say to stop, Liu Yuan continued to hold the spirit-testing stone. After all, he could cultivate now, and he was quite happy, looking at the spirit-testing stone in his palm with great joy.
Not far away, Yao Sisi was processing a batch of materials. Seeing them work on it for a while, she asked, "So, judging from Liu Yuan's happy appearance, he must have spiritual roots, right? How many spiritual roots does he have?"
Qi Mu answered first: "Three spiritual roots!"
Liu Yuan was taken aback. He had four colors in total, so wasn't that four spiritual roots? Why was the young master lying...?
Yao Sisi: "Three spiritual roots, not bad, not bad!"
Ri Jiu was so jealous, staring at those two for ages. "I think all you can say is 'not bad, not bad,' even if they had four spiritual roots you would still say that."
Yao Sisi: "They're minors, so we should encourage them more."
Liu Yuan: "I'm an adult now, so all of us who are fourteen are adults now."
Yao Sisi: "Wow! You're an adult so young! Even sixteen would be fine!"
Liu Yuan: "Officially, it is sixteen, but poor families usually start looking at each other at fourteen."
Yao Sisi: "..."
Okay!
"Then your young master would have been way too old to marry me!"
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