Chapter 4: Harm Others for One's Own Benefit

  There are many inner disciples of the Three Water Spirit Roots, but it's not easy to become a direct disciple of the elders. Elder Shi is already giving Huang Shu Lang quite a bit of face.

  "Get out!"

  Huang Shu Lang helplessly lowered his head, he also saw that the various elders had no intention of taking him seriously.

  "Ah, yes! Disciple has another important matter to report." Huang Shu Lang suddenly remembered something even more important.

  "What else? Hurry up and say it." Some of them, excluding Yan Lao and Sun Lao, were getting impatient. Huang Shu Lang had already delayed their communication for quite some time this time around.

  "This time when I went to Shijiazhuang to collect disciples, I also discovered a child with the root of Tuli, and brought him back together..."

  "Slap!" An invisible palm slapped Huang Shulang's face, and his left cheek instantly swelled up.

  "We are the Water Spirit Sect, bringing back a disciple of the Earth Spirit Root. Have you forgotten the humiliation we suffered at the hands of the Earth Spirit Sect during the last Five Spirit Sect martial arts competition?"

  Huang Shu Lang touched his swollen face and said in a low voice: "I... I brought him back, because this person has five earth spirit roots."

  "What! Five spiritual roots, and all of them are earth spiritual roots!" Upon hearing this, several elders could no longer remain seated.

  Four identical spiritual roots are extremely rare, and five identical spiritual roots are a once-in-a-thousand-year genius. In the history of Wulingmen, there was an elder in the Golden Elixir period with five fire spiritual roots. However, after Wulingmen split up, it has never been heard that this sect had a disciple with five identical spiritual roots again.

  After a while, several people slowly came out of their shock.

  Unfortunately, regret, anger, and a hint of jealousy filled the hearts of several elders. If this person had five Water Spirit Roots, they would naturally go crazy for him and even provide the best resources within the sect for Ishikawa to use. Five Spirit Roots have an extremely high chance of forming a Golden Elixir. Once a Golden Elixir cultivator appears, unifying the other four doors under Water Spirit's control would be as easy as turning one's hand over.

  However, the five earth spirit roots made them very entangled.

  "The disciple is also uncertain about the decision, so I brought him back. Please let the elders make a decision." Huang Shu Lang said in a low voice.

  "Good, you've done well on this matter. Does anyone else know about the disciple with the five-element spiritual root?" The Elder's face visibly relaxed a lot.

  "Only a few of us who went to collect the disciples know about it, but I've already instructed them to keep this matter strictly confidential." Huang Shu Lang said with immediate understanding.

  "Alright, you go down first and receive the 200 pieces of low-grade spirit stones for cultivation. As for other rewards, we'll give them to you in a few days. This matter is of great importance, we need to discuss it immediately."

  "Yes, Master." Huang Shu Lang respectfully retreated, this time although he was not accepted as a direct disciple by the elder, but two hundred pieces of low-grade spirit stones were still a considerable income, let alone the elder also mentioned other rewards.

  …………

  In the deacon's chamber, five elders sat together in silence.

  After a long time, the elder steward suddenly spoke up: "It is said that five people with the same spiritual roots can sense the heaven and earth's primordial energy on their own. If this child has already started cultivating, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop him."

  "The Tuli Gate and our Shuilin Gate have a feud as deep as the ocean, this person absolutely cannot be let off. Who knows that after hundreds of years, he may form a Golden Elixir and still help the Tuli Gate unify the Five Spirit Gates. Even if we have a favor to repay him, it will inevitably lead to us bowing our heads in submission."

  "Elder Yan's words are extremely reasonable. However, this child has an extremely high innate talent. Killing him would be a waste of heaven's gift. Not killing him, he can also cultivate on his own."

  "We can't kill him, and there's no other good way." Old Sun said viciously: "If he were in a remote rural area, even if he cultivated himself, when his lifespan was approaching, he might not be able to break through the foundation period. But now, he has entered the immortal gate, and it is even more difficult to stop him from cultivating."

  The other four shook their heads, apparently killing Ishikawa was a last resort. Ishikawa and the Tianyun Zun were both from Shijia Village, and might even be related to each other. If Tianyun Zun had exhausted his lifespan and passed away, it would be fine, but if he achieved Yuanying, then killing Ishikawa would be enough to bring about the downfall of the Water Spirit Sect.

  Old Sun seemed to know what everyone was thinking and said: "We don't necessarily have to take action ourselves, with so many people in the martial arts world..."

  "Cloud Master Brother, how should we deal with this child?" The executive elder said after considering Sun Changlao's words and spoke to a cultivator who had not spoken before.

  Everyone's eyes were focused on him, and Yun Lao was the most senior and had the highest right to speak.

  "I will take this child as my personal disciple and pass on to him the highest and most profound water-based cultivation method of our sect." Yun Changlao said word by word.

  "What?" The crowd exclaimed in surprise, knowing that Yun Lao's disciple selection was extremely strict. He valued not only the spiritual root but also the degree of hard work in cultivation, family background and so on.

  However, soon everyone understood the reason. Yun Zhanglao passed on to him the water-based technique, while Shi Chuan was a earth spiritual root, even if he tried his best, there would be no progress, and there was even a possibility of going crazy.

  Yun Lao said: "If this child really has five spiritual roots, then let's proceed accordingly. If he only has four earthly spiritual roots, send him back."

  The other four elders nodded in agreement: "Elder Yun is indeed thorough in his consideration."

  Ishikawa, who was still fast asleep, had no idea that he had caused so much trouble for the five elderly men.

  The young monk brought them back and gave them some food. After that, he left them in the house to sleep for a night and would make arrangements for them the next day.

  When he woke up, the sky was just slightly bright, Ishikawa looked at several children who were all asleep, and found a corner to sit cross-legged and meditate.

  "Ah...breath..." A sense of comfort that cannot be put into words filled his entire body. Moreover, Ishikawa discovered that with the stone on him, his breathing efficiency had increased by 40% to 50% compared to before.

  "It seems this treasure is indeed a good thing." Ishikawa inserted his hand into his bosom and stroked the warm jade stone.

  "Hey kiddo, I didn't lie to you!" A voice suddenly appeared in Ishikawa's mind.

  "Who! Who!" This stone was Ishikawa's treasure, and this sudden voice couldn't help but startle Ishikawa.

  "Who else could it be? You ungrateful kid!" A phantom figure appeared before Ishikawa.

  "Old... old beggar!" Ishikawa stared at the person in front of him in surprise, unable to speak. He was well aware of the speed he had achieved after using the Divine Movement Symbol, so how could the old beggar have caught up?

  Looking at Lao Jiaohuazi's illusory figure again, it was clear that he wasn't a real person. Ishikawa couldn't help but exclaim: "Mountain God!"

  "Alright, alright, you little brat. You've already joined a cultivation sect and yet you still believe in mountain spirits? Let me tell you, there's no such thing as gods or immortals in this world. The 'gods' you speak of are just cultivators with some minor magical abilities."

  "Xiu Zhen?" Ishikawa looked puzzled, it was the first time he had heard of these three words.

  "Alright, I'll teach you a thing or two." The old beggar put on an air of seniority and said: "This world is full of yuanqi. Some people are born with spiritual roots, which allows them to cultivate using yuanqi. The most basic one is the breathing technique you just practiced."

  Ishikawa nodded and said, "No wonder those immortals only chose a few people, it turns out they were choosing people with spiritual roots."

  "It's a piece of cake!" The old beggar nodded excitedly and said, "Cultivation can be divided into different stages based on the level of cultivation: Qi Refining Stage, Foundation Building Stage, Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, and Spirit Severing Stage. Each stage has a huge gap between them. A Golden Core cultivator can easily handle hundreds of Foundation Building cultivators, and their lifespan is also over 500 years. As for the Spirit Severing cultivators, they can move mountains and fill seas, and even break through the void to enter the legendary Spiritual Realm. Calling them immortals wouldn't be an exaggeration. Because their lifespan is thousands of years long."

  As he said this, a hint of longing flashed in the eyes of the old beggar.

  Ishikawa nodded vaguely, these were really too shocking for him, the gods who were high above in his eyes could actually be reached through cultivation.

  The old beggar continued: "Among the same ranks, there is also a big gap. For example, the Qi-refining stage can be divided into ten layers. The person who brought you here today is only in the third layer of the Qi-refining stage. I suppose you will surpass him within a few months."

  "Really?" Ishikawa couldn't help but jump up, Huang Shu-lang's two ice picks today made him marvel, that was indeed a genuine immortal technique.

  "What's all the racket about!" Gou Sheng was woken up by Ishikawa and mumbled in a daze before turning over and falling back asleep.

  Ishikawa was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. The old beggar and the jade stone were his secrets, and he didn't want others to know. He had also heard the story of "Holding a treasure and being guilty" from the elderly villagers many times before.

  The old beggar suddenly disappeared from view again.

  "Alright, young one, just be more careful in everything you do. I won't appear again from now on, if you want to say something, think about it in your mind and I'll know."

  "Old Calabaza... senior, how should I address you from now on? How did you appear in the stone too, are you a cultivator as well?" Ishikawa asked several questions in a row.

  "Knowing too much won't do you any good." The old beggar said mysteriously, "Remember, if you want to live a long life, you must conceal your true abilities and strictly guard your secrets."

  "I understand." Ishikawa sat cross-legged and began to breathe deeply, thinking to himself: "As long as I work hard at my training, eventually one day...

  I can also become a fairy who summons the wind and rain, no, I am a cultivator!

  …………

  Inside the yellow jade stone, an old man the size of a tobacco pipe sat cross-legged, this person was the old beggar who had just communicated with Ishikawa.

  The old beggar opened his eyes and muttered to himself, "Hundreds of years have passed, I don't know what changes have occurred in the Five Spirits Sect, and the Water Spirit Sect is also unknown. Since I've persisted for over a hundred years, I'm not afraid to wait a few more days. As long as I can see the Master, everything will be settled, and this child's qualifications seem pretty good, hum..."