books44 Chapter 35 Li Tingyun: I have very little confidence in myself
Chapter 35 Li Tingyun: I have very little confidence in myself
Mei Shiyu caught a glimpse of a dark shadow in the corner of her eye, and lunged straight at the ghost, slamming the now inhuman creature to the ground.
Li Tingyun himself also fell down, but this did not affect the speed of his punches.
With a single punch, he shoved the talisman and cinnabar into the throat of the vengeful ghost.
Physical exorcism.
Mei Shiyu remained calm and tightly gripped her loose clothes.
He thought to himself: If Yuanbao hadn't fallen like that, at least the belt wouldn't be like this now... completely broken!
It broke in two and is completely unusable.
Li Tingyun picked it up from the ground and looked at Mei Shiyu, his expression somewhat unnatural.
"..."
he did not do it on purpose.
Really not.
"Master... I'm sorry."
"No problem."
The plum rains summon forth the green frost.
The divine weapon, the sword with its sheath, transformed in his hand into a brand-new jade belt, which he tied around his waist automatically.
Needless to say, it's harder than steel bars.
Now there will absolutely be no more embarrassing accidents like having your belt removed.
Li Tingyun held the two pieces of her sash, at a loss.
It was as if a nerve had snapped in my head; I put my hands behind my back and secretly wrapped the now-useless sash around my left wrist.
He didn't want to just throw away Mei Shiyu's things.
Suddenly, someone patted me hard on the shoulder.
"Young man, what explosive power!"
Wang Wu, with his toes pointing inward, looked at him in surprise.
"That was a vengeful ghost that had gathered yin energy and become malevolent. Even a Core Formation cultivator couldn't guarantee defeating it in one fell swoop. You dismissed it with just two talismans?!"
Yes, such explosive power...
Mei Shiyu lowered her eyes and pondered deeply.
Or rather, it has great potential.
A person's potential for self-cultivation is often predetermined by birth.
This ability is reflected in one's affinity with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The higher the affinity, the stronger the ability to perceive, absorb, store, and transform spiritual energy. Correspondingly, the cultivation speed will be faster, and the efficiency of using magical artifacts will be higher.
The degree of innate affinity between a cultivator and spiritual energy can usually be tested using some special methods.
This is also known as the spiritual root test.
A person's spiritual root determines their innate talent and their five elemental attributes.
Major immortal sects and reigning grandmasters generally follow a standard procedure when accepting disciples. One of the most important things they do is to test the spiritual roots of the "students" who come seeking their guidance.
No sect is immune to favoring those with strong innate talent; those with weak talent are almost always swept into the trash heap.
However, Mei Shiyu accepted his disciples in a muddled way, and he hadn't even tested the spiritual root attributes of his "disciples".
"Yuanbao, come here."
A hint of hesitation flashed in Li Tingyun's eyes, but he still walked over. "What does Master want me to do?"
Have you ever taken a spiritual root test before?
"……No."
Mei Shiyu extended his left hand to him, and the white, jade-like Bodhi ring on his index finger gradually became visible.
"Master."
Li Tingyun suddenly called out to him, "Can we take the test when we're alone?"
Mei Shiyu asked, puzzled, "Why?"
Testing one's spiritual roots is not difficult; a small array or a special crystal can be used to obtain the results in an instant.
Judging from Yuanbao's performance just now, his aptitude must be quite good. It seems that he doesn't need to worry about embarrassing himself with the test results.
Mei Shiyu wanted to conduct a supplementary spiritual root test on him simply to further confirm his five elemental attributes, which were related to his future cultivation direction.
“I…I’m afraid that if I have mixed spiritual roots or pseudo-spiritual roots, you’ll abandon me on the spot.”
"That won't happen."
Mei Shiyu said, "If you have mixed spiritual roots, magical artifacts will be completely useless in your hands."
Li Tingyun insisted on finding fault with his words: "So, when Master said 'no,' it just meant he didn't believe I had poor aptitude, not that even if I had poor aptitude, you wouldn't abandon me?"
A strange, unsettling feeling is creeping in, and it's getting increasingly intense.
Are you saying goodbye to me?
"Disciples don't dare."
Li Tingyun looked down at the ground, "I just... I don't quite believe... myself..."
He spoke haltingly, his tone conveying a mix of inferiority and grievance, his emotions perfectly controlled.
Mei Shiyu considered for a moment, then said, "Alright, we'll talk about this later."
Wang Wu, who had been watching for a while, secretly said to Mei Shiyu, "Immortal Venerable, although I also think that your little disciple has extraordinary potential, the spiritual root test is still a threshold. It's a safety net. I've never heard of anyone in the cultivation world daring to accept a disciple without testing their spiritual root."
This is much more exciting than opening blind boxes.
"What if, I mean what if, all of this is just an illusion, and he's just a paper lantern, all show and no substance, with poor spiritual root aptitude? Whoever takes him as a disciple will be in big trouble..."
Although the words may be unpleasant to hear, honest advice is hard to swallow, and this has been a lesson learned throughout history.
For cultivators, the innate talent represented by spiritual roots is of paramount importance. Some people are still in the Foundation Establishment stage at the age of two hundred, while others have already formed their core at the age of twenty. Such seemingly extreme examples are common in the cultivation world.
The difference between people can sometimes be greater than the difference between people and pigs; it's like heaven and earth.
The different sects treated their disciples, who had varying aptitudes, in completely different ways.
Those with superior innate talent receive more resources and favor. Any available cultivation techniques, secret arts, divine weapons, or miraculous elixirs are first offered to them. Those with inferior innate talent, on the other hand, mostly do menial tasks within the sect; while others feast, they're lucky to even get a sip of broth, with virtually no hope of achieving immortality.
But there's nothing that can be done about it. The immortal sects have to consider their long-term development, so they need to concentrate resources to support their elite forces.
After all, there are only so many resources in the cultivation world. Those who are ahead of the curve have already seized all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making it increasingly difficult for those who come later to succeed in attaining enlightenment. In essence, this is also an important reason why no one from either the immortal or demonic path has successfully ascended in the last few thousand years. Everyone is rushing to seize resources, and no one is willing to spend time and effort teaching a naturally clueless person. Waiting for such a useless person to attain enlightenment would take forever.
Therefore, the spiritual root test is a threshold that cultivators must overcome.
The fate of mortals who cultivate immortality is determined at the moment of birth: either they are born with the ability to gain the appreciation of the immortal sects and thus join the large collective of the cultivation world to share the fruits and resources; or they are born with a life of wealth and honor, with parents who are powerful and prestigious people in the ruling class of the cultivation world, possessing enough resources, so that even if they are not good enough and have poor aptitude, they can make up for it with rare and precious treasures.
For ordinary cultivators, spiritual roots and aptitude are of paramount importance.
Although Wang Wu was a rogue cultivator, he had a deep understanding of the cruel survival environment in the cultivation world. He did not know Mei Shiyu's true identity or which sect he belonged to, but his cultivation was not shallow and he must be a person of importance. If he were to take on a disciple, it would not only be a matter for one person, but also require the opinion of the sect, since it was related to the sect's reputation.
All of Wang Wu's words to him came from the bottom of his heart; there was no intention to belittle or provoke him.
Mei Shiyu looked at him and suddenly asked, "Brother Wang, I've heard that wandering immortals like you live a carefree and leisurely life. Tell me the truth, if you were to take on disciples, wouldn't innate talent be less important?"
Wang Wu thought for a moment and said, "Hmm...maybe so. I found my godson not long ago. He said he also wanted to cultivate immortality. My first reaction...wasn't to test his spiritual root, but rather that if he really wanted to take this path, I would do my best to help him."
Mei Shiyu said, "Putting myself in your shoes, I feel the same way you do."
"But you're not..."
"I have already resigned from the sect."
"Ah this..."
Li Tingyun stood behind them, completely unconcerned, and chuckled.
He asked the system in his mind, "Sixth brother, what would the test result be if my spiritual root was dug out?"
【what? 】