Fire Spirit Root

  Over the past ten or more days, Ye Chen's spell practice has progressed quite smoothly and gradually became more refined, thanks to his willingness to spend spirit stones on spiritual wine and the small portion of spiritual wine brewed in the Xianfu Wine Pavilion.

  Xiao Qing was refining the Yuanqi Dan in the Lian Dan Pavilion, and another batch had been successfully produced. Ye Chen could take a Yuanqi Dan every day to enhance his yuanqi and upgrade his Yuanshen cultivation by one layer during the Lian Qi period. The enhancement of Yuanshen was the most crucial aspect, and Ye Chen naturally did not dare to slack off in this regard.

  It was almost noon on this day, inside Yunshi Cultivation Institute.

  Ye Chen stood alone under the scorching sun, sweat dripping down his slightly thin cheeks, his coarse linen shirt already soaked through, almost to the point of being able to wring out water. He stood motionless, silently circulating the internal force within his body, continuously releasing fireballs.

  Yun's practice field was just a low-ranking small practice field and wasn't well-known in Tianyun Xianyuan City.

  Those who come here to practice their skills are all Qi Refining stage cultivators who have purchased skills from the Yun family's secret recipe store. Most Qi Refining stage cultivators do not often come to the Yun clan's training grounds, and even if they do, they will leave hastily after staying for only half a day or so.

  After all, most of the Qi-refining cultivators in Xiancheng are busy working to earn spirit stones to maintain their living and cultivation. They are not cultivators from large immortal families who can focus solely on their cultivation without worrying about running out of spirit stones.

  The younger generation of the Great Immortal Families all have their own cultivation venues and wouldn't come to a small place like the Yun Family's Cultivation Grounds.

  Several mid-term cultivators of the Yun family's cultivation ground will only appear when there are many people. If they see that there are only a few people in the cultivation ground, or if there is no one, they will leave and attend to their own affairs, or go cultivate on their own.

  It's only during the noon break and evening break that a large group of Qi Refining Stage cultivators will rush here to cultivate, seizing the spare time to practice their spells, making the cultivation grounds extremely lively.

  When Yun Xin and several other young disciples of small immortal families were present, the Yun family's cultivation grounds were the most lively. Often, there were even fifty or sixty young people, first- and second-level Qi Refining stage cultivators. There were too many people, which made it unsuitable for cultivation. The low-ranking cultivators gathered together, excitedly chatting about various topics in Xian City.

  Ye Chen discovered that for more than ten days, during the morning and afternoon when most of the monks were busy with their work, there was no one to disturb him, making it the most suitable time for him to practice his magic. During this period, in the empty training field, he alone practiced in the training field, facing the large and small mysterious iron balls in the courtyard, releasing his magic as he pleased.

  Ye Chen made good use of this period of time and devoted himself to practicing magic.

  Yun Xin took a few books of secret spells and left the house, planning to set up a stall on the street to sell the spells. The Yun family was just a small immortal cultivation family, and as a member of the Yun family, although she had no worries about food and clothing, her family would give her some, but she also needed to work to earn spirit stones.

  She usually relies on this to earn some spirit stones for her own use.

  Yun Xin suddenly thought of something and came to the Yun family's training ground, looking inside for a moment, and saw a familiar thin figure, releasing fireballs one by one.

  "Huh, Uncle Wu, he's come to practice magic again today!"

  Yun Xin was shocked.

  At the entrance of the Grand Courtyard, the old man called "Fifth Uncle" by Yun Xin glanced at the figure inside and said, "This young fellow has been coming here every day for over ten days, arriving at dawn and leaving in the evening. His cultivation of magic is very diligent, and his progress seems to be quite rapid. Xiner, didn't you say he was your new friend? How much do you know about him?"

  "I only know that his name is Ye Chen, he's a small scattered cultivator from a small country in Yunzhou. I don't know anything else about him. I tried to chat with him and asked him questions, but he didn't want to say much either. Fifth Uncle, let me go take a look at how his fireball technique training is going, I'll talk to you later."

  Yun Xin had some minor complaints as she entered the courtyard.

  Ye Chen did not know about the conversation between the old man and Yun Xin outside the hospital.

  Ye Chen stood in the training ground, facing the training equipment in front of him, and concentrated all his energy on his training.

  His divine consciousness stirred, and a small fireball suddenly appeared in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, the fireball drew an arc and shot towards a dark iron ball hanging ten zhang away in front of him.

  "Boom!"

  A small fireball that wasn't very large accurately hit the center of the Xuan Tie Ball, exploding and sending sparks flying everywhere, stirring up a layer of scorching hot air.

  The Xuan iron ball hanging on the iron railing was shaken violently by a fierce explosion, and its surface turned deep red.

  However, the explosive power of the small fireball was still insufficient to destroy this low-grade spiritual artifact.

  "After ten days of cultivation, I can finally instantly cast a low-grade small fireball and accurately hit a fixed target!"

  "Hitting a fixed target is just the simplest step in practicing magic. Next, you need to practice hitting quickly moving targets with magic. This requires more precise control of divine sense and needs continuous strengthening of cultivation."

  Ye Chen felt empty inside, his magical power almost depleted.

  Yun Xin had just entered the courtyard when he saw Ye Chen suddenly release a fireball, and he couldn't help but be shocked. "Instantly releasing a small fireball, how did you cultivate it so quickly?! I spent nearly two months cultivating the small fireball back then. Is your Fire Spirit Root very high?!"

  "What is Huǒ Líng Gēn? What is Huǒ Líng Gēn?"

  Ye Chen was stunned for a moment, and then heard Yun Xin's crisp voice coming from behind him. He couldn't help but turn his head to look back, somewhat perplexed.

  "Impossible! You don't even know what a Fire Spirit Root is. Then why did you want to buy the 'Fireball Technique' manual?!"

  Yun Xin's face suddenly turned very strange.

  "Because 'Fireball Technique' is the cheapest, others cost twenty or thirty spirit stones, but this one only needs ten! Of course I'll buy this first."

  Ye Chen shook his head and said, "And another thing, when I first came to you to buy the spell manual, you didn't say that it required a Fire Spirit Root to cultivate! I bought the 'Fireball Technique' manual and directly learned the small fireball seal inside."

  "I thought I knew my spiritual roots, so I bought the 'Fireball Technique' manual and didn't even ask questions before selling it to you. But you actually have a fire spiritual root, and by coincidence, you managed to learn the technique. You don't even know your own spiritual root, yet you can learn the fireball technique so quickly, with a cultivation time that's dozens of times shorter than mine! It's infuriating!"

  Yun Xin stomped her foot, laughing and crying at the same time, "Then do you know Da Wuxing Xiao San Qi Yi An?"

  "I'm aware of this, I've read many secular classics that mention it. All things in the world are transformations of these nine major elements. The Five Elements are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Three Oddities are ice, wind, and thunder. And then there's one more, which is diametrically opposed to all other elements. I've just never heard of a Ling Root before."

  Ye Chen nodded seriously and looked at Yun Xin. In fact, his cultivation speed was not necessarily faster than Yun Xin's, but the effect of his uninterrupted cultivation for a day could be compared to Yun Xin's ten or more days.

  "In this world, martial artists are as numerous as ants. Only those with a spiritual root can ultimately break through the ninth layer of body refinement and cultivate their yuan soul. However, it's also said that no one can know whether a martial artist has a spiritual root or not. Because a martial artist's soul power is too weak, it's impossible to detect whether they have a spiritual root or not. Only when a martial artist breaks through can it be known that they have a spiritual root."

  Yun Xin explained in detail.

  "The spiritual root also determines which school of magic a cultivator can practice."

  Her pretty face smiled and said, "Forget it, this is very complicated and can't be explained for the time being. I'll go set up a stall to sell my secret manual and earn some spirit stones first, I haven't earned any today yet! I'll tell you in detail later when I have time!"

  Yun Xin walked out of the yard with a light and quick pace.

  The old man standing at the gate looked at her with a smile on his face and couldn't help but laugh. "You have a good impression of him? If this kid can enter one of the nine great immortal sects in Yunzhou in the future and become a disciple, I'll go talk to the master of the house and let him be our son-in-law! What do you think, Xin'er?"

  "What's wrong with you? You don't have any interest in me at all."

  Yun Xin's cheeks flushed red, she pouted and turned around, running swiftly to the street to set up her secret recipe stall.

  The old man looked back at the figures in the training ground with a profound gaze.

  This girl had no good feelings towards the two young sons of Wu and Yuan families, but instead was somewhat interested in this worldly little monk from a secular country.

  But then again, family background is important, but it can't decide everything. This young man may not have much of a foundation, but if he works hard and practices diligently, his talent is sufficient, once he enters the Nine Great Immortal Sects, his status will naturally soar, and it's worth recruiting him as the son-in-law of the Yun family.

  "Should we recruit him and have him work for the Yun family?"

  The old man was worried in his heart.

  Many Qi-refining stage cultivators in Xiancheng spent their entire lives without being able to cross the fourth layer of the Qi-refining stage. For a small immortal family, early-stage Qi-refining cultivators were simply not useful at all.

  What if I'm seeing things wrong, this kid is getting too close to Yun Xin, it's a bit improper.

  "No rush! Let's observe for a year and a half, see how things go. He's only a first-layer Qi Refining cultivator, far from meeting the requirements to enter the Nine Great Immortal Sects. At least he needs to reach mid-Qi Refining period, four layers or above, to have the qualifications to attempt the Nine Great Immortal Sects."

  The old man said in a low voice, "Make up your mind."