Chapter 28: Implanting the Spiritual Root

Passing through the shimmering magical barrier, Su Haoming finally reached the center of the platform.

He glanced at Lin Yu outside the barrier, saw the anticipation and encouragement on his face, then sat cross-legged with nervousness, placing the seven-sided crystal near his dantian qi sea.

As Su Haoming closed his eyes, Lin Yu immediately activated the elemental reaction furnace.

In an instant, the gems embedded around the platform blazed with even brighter light.

Countless magical particles surged upward, forming an extremely complex magical array beneath Su Haoming.

At the same time, the seven-sided crystal floated up before him and slowly drifted into his body.

Throughout the entire process, Lin Yu held the Sacred Scripture, eyes fixed, ready to respond to any possible anomaly.

Fortunately, no anomaly occurred—Su Haoming absorbed the seven-sided crystal smoothly, transforming it into his dantian qi sea’s spiritual root.

About an hour later, Su Haoming opened his eyes, radiant and alert.

“Did it work?”

Xiang Yunye, waiting outside, asked anxiously.

“It worked!”

Su Haoming smiled, raised his right hand slightly, and immediately tiny flecks of blue spiritual light danced at his fingertips.

“It’s a mutated wind spiritual root!”

Lin Yu was surprised: “I didn’t expect you to have such a rare wind affinity!”

Su Haoming beamed: “A mutated spiritual root—that’s the protagonist’s treatment, right?”

Lin Yu shook his head: “No, the spiritual roots I created have no hierarchy or superiority; their potential is identical. What kind of elemental root you get depends solely on the nature of your mental force.”

“Ah…”

Su Haoming’s disappointment was visibly clear.

Xiang Yunye turned to Lin Yu: “So this counts as success?”

Lin Yu nodded: “Yes. The spiritual root has been implanted into the dantian qi sea. From now on, Xiao Su possesses the qualification to cultivate—he can directly draw magical energy from the outside world and absorb and transform it from all things.”

“Of course, right now he’s only at the first layer of Nourishing Qi—he can absorb and transform only food he eats, and his magical energy reserves are minimal, enough for at most three basic spells.”

Su Haoming grumbled: “Aren’t we calling it magical energy mimicking true qi? Why’s it suddenly called magical energy now?”

Lin Yu replied matter-of-factly: “I talked with Xiao Ye for a while, and we both agreed ‘magical energy’ is more appropriate.”

Su Haoming smirked, glancing at Xiang Yunye.

Xiang Yunye ignored the topic and smiled: “Three basic spells is already good. Wind spells are powerful—even three wind blades can kill over ten armored elites!”

Lin Yu frowned: “What wind blades? I specifically wrote ‘Shaoze Gale Wind’!”

Xiang Yunye smirked helplessly: “Fine, Shaoze Gale Wind…”

Su Haoming looked at the two, excited yet confused.

“What’s this Shaoze Gale Wind? Old Yun, where’d you read that?”

“Of course from the ‘Tai Chu Nourishing Qi Chapter’!”

Xiang Yunye waved the book in his hand, annoyed: “Do you know how long you sat there?”

“An hour. A full hour!”

“With that long a wait, should I just stand there doing nothing?”

Su Haoming’s eyes lit up: “So the Nourishing Qi Chapter has spells?!”

Xiang Yunye nodded with a smile: “Not just a few—many. These basic spells—no, magical techniques—are unique: no incantations needed. Instead, magical energy flows through specific meridians to trigger specific techniques.”

“For example, the Shaoze Gale Wind I mentioned is a technique along the Hand Taiyang Meridian.”

“It begins at Bingfeng point, passes through Jianzhen, Xiao Hai, Yanggu, Houxi, and finally exits at Shaoze point…”

Su Haoming eagerly: “So that’s the Shaoze! Interesting!”

Xiang Yunye stepped forward: “Enough being interested—it’s my turn now!”

“Oh oh!”

Su Haoming hurried off the platform, found his copy of the Nourishing Qi Chapter, and began reading eagerly.

Another hour passed, and Xiang Yunye also completed the spiritual root implantation.

But unlike Su Haoming, his mental force leaned toward earth and water affinity—he had a dual water-earth spiritual root.

“Earth is the origin of all things, the root of all life; water is the blood and qi of earth, like the flowing veins.”

“Though all elemental spiritual roots have equal potential, there are still differences in early and late-stage practicality. Yunye, your water-earth dual root is a minor treasure in early cultivation!”

Hearing Lin Yu’s praise, Su Haoming, who was holding the Nourishing Qi Chapter beside him, rolled his eyes and grumbled: “When it’s me, you say there’s no hierarchy—when it’s him, it’s a ‘minor treasure.’ Lin Brother, you’re biased!”

“I’m just stating facts.”

Lin Yu shook his head, then smiled: “So far, the Nourishing Qi Chapter has only nine layers. In my design, after the ninth layer, the dantian qi sea will be completely filled, and magical energy will liquefy, meeting the basic requirement of the Foundation Establishment Chapter.”

“After that, the liquid magical energy crystallizes into a core—that’s Golden Core.”

“At that point, you can use elemental transformation techniques. Your lifespan will no longer be limited by your physical body—you’ll live as long as all elemental beings, free and unbound in this world!”

Elemental transformation techniques?

Su Haoming and Xiang Yunye exchanged glances, both seeing anticipation in each other’s eyes.

Lin Yu smiled: “Of course, all this is just my current hypothesis. As you cultivate, unexpected changes might occur.”

“...Better not have any changes. Crystalizing magical energy is fine enough!”

Su Haoming muttered.

Xiang Yunye nodded vigorously, agreeing that Lin Yu’s promises were already more than enough.

“One more question.”

Xiang Yunye said seriously: “Our world has no magical energy. Relying solely on food conversion—won’t cultivation be extremely slow?”

Lin Yu smiled: “Don’t worry—I’ve already considered this.”

He flipped his right hand and produced a blue crystal.

Su Haoming asked curiously: “What’s this?”

Xiang Yunye didn’t hesitate: “I’m guessing spirit stone!”

“Correct!”

Lin Yu snapped his fingers, smiling approvingly at Xiang Yunye: “Good job, Xiao Ye—you’re finally catching up to my thinking!”

“...”

Xiang Yunye smirked, unsure whether to respond to the praise.

Lin Yu continued: “Thanks to Xiao Su, I discovered magical energy instantly dissipates in your world. Since then, I’ve been working on solving this.”

“This spirit stone contains an internal circulation rune matrix I constructed. It reabsorbs dissipated magical energy, achieving a delicate balance between inflow and outflow—so the magical energy remains locked inside, impervious to any external force.”

Su Haoming raised his hand: “Then how do we absorb it?”

Lin Yu smiled: “Very simple—join its internal circulation.”

“Your spiritual roots serve this purpose. As long as you make physical contact and circulate true qi through the microcosmic orbit, you can absorb its magical energy by integrating into the stone’s internal circulation.”

Xiang Yunye praised: “No wonder you’re Lin Brother—truly ingenious!”

Lin Yu smiled, flipped his hand again, and produced two spirit stones, handing one to each.

“To maintain this internal circulation, I’ve infused these spirit stones with massive magical energy—by cultivation world standards, they’re at least top-grade spirit stones. With your current levels, just one stone is enough to reach the liquefaction stage!”

Su Haoming and Xiang Yunye exchanged glances, hesitating as they took the spirit stones.

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow: “What, don’t trust me?”

“Of course not!”

Su Haoming quickly shook his head and sighed: “I just feel that since you joined the group, we’ve been taking from you constantly, while you’ve needed nothing from us in return. This… we feel unworthy.”

Xiang Yunye beside him nodded: “I feel the same.”

Lin Yu’s brow relaxed, and he smiled: “That’s a difference in our perspectives.”

“To me, your existence itself is meaningful. Forget world rules—for the magical energy cultivation system alone, without your help, I’d need at least another ten years to reach where I am now.”

“Moreover, your willingness to participate in the experiment has been immensely helpful.”

“From this angle, these things are your rightful rewards.”

“If anything, I feel I’ve given too little!”

(End of Chapter)