During these days, apart from the three-point routine of the dining hall, the academy, and his quarters, Lin Donglai devoted himself to reading widely, greedily absorbing knowledge.
He had attended the clan school for two years in the past, so he could read.
The *Compendium of Cultivation* distributed by the Green Wood Gate to outer sect disciples was comparable to a grand treatise of the cultivation world.
It introduced the powers and factions of the cultivation world, common heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and illustrated guides to various demonic beasts.
In the sections on fortuitous encounters and heavenly materials, Lin Donglai came across an entry on "Heaven and Earth Spirit Roots," and felt it was connected to the mysterious seed he could see whenever he closed his eyes.
According to the Compendium, in the cultivation world, spirit plants were graded as unranked, first-tier, second-tier, third-tier… corresponding to the stages of Fetal Breath, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Purple Mansion…
And if a spirit plant, with a chance of one in ten million, received the creative favor of heaven and earth, it could transform into a Heaven and Earth Spirit Root.
Heaven and Earth Spirit Roots were uniquely blessed; each one possessed its own unique ability.
But the ability most celebrated in the cultivation world was the conversion of ordinary land into spirit land. A Heaven and Earth Spirit Root naturally carried the effect of a spirit-gathering formation, equivalent to a tiny spirit vein.
Planted in land with a spirit vein, it could also purify the spiritual qi and help the vein advance.
Most importantly, a Heaven and Earth Spirit Root could be refined through secret arts and used as a substitute for a spirit root, allowing even those without spirit roots to set foot on the path to immortality.
For those who already possessed spirit roots, obtaining one was icing on the cake—equivalent to double cultivation efficiency.
Heaven and Earth Spirit Roots were extremely rare. Once one appeared, it would trigger a bloody struggle to claim it.
Closing his eyes and stilling his mind, Lin Donglai sensed the changes in the mysterious seed.
He murmured inwardly, "Are you a Heaven and Earth Spirit Root?"
This dao seed breathed in unison with Lin Donglai as he cultivated the Primordial Tuning Breathing Technique.
Every time he practiced the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Bone Forging Stance Method—when his muscles cramped, strained, and ached all over—and then cultivated the Primordial Tuning Breathing Technique, Lin Donglai could clearly feel a cool, refreshing breeze emanating from the seed's breathing, soothing and healing the various visible and hidden injuries his training inflicted.
It was as if he had taken a dedicated healing medicine and received a therapeutic massage besides.
The Fetal Breath stage consisted of only four layers: Primordial Nurturing, Muscle-Tendon Changing, Marrow Cleansing, and Fetal Breath Qi Nurturing.
Primordial Nurturing was a long-term endeavor that relied chiefly on eating—breathing in and out, expelling the turbid and taking in the pure. Qi Refining cultivators could do it, and Foundation Establishment cultivators could too; there was nothing much to say about it.
Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, however, had a clear benchmark: the Innate Realm of the martial path. Once the Conception and Governing Vessels were opened and the innate fetal breath strengthened, one could use it as a guide to draw qi into the body.
The effectiveness of Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing also depended on one's spirit root aptitude. Those with good spirit roots had an affinity with spiritual qi and progressed quickly; those with poor aptitude were repelled by spiritual qi and progressed slowly.
Even with the dao seed assisting his cultivation, Lin Donglai still felt his progress was slow.
He murmured inwardly, "Looks like my aptitude really is terrible."
"For the top ten in the First Ascent on the Road to Immortality, the rewarded Muscle-Tendon Changing Pills and Marrow Cleansing Pills—one pill is enough to change the muscles and cleanse the marrow, and even slightly widen the meridians. A pity that's not something a five-spirit-root like me can obtain."
That day, as he cultivated as usual, he heard Ding Zhen talking with Luo Jie and Yu Jiang in the courtyard.
"Xue Hong, who took the spirit root test with us, has been explicitly named as a disciple by a Foundation Establishment elder of Violet Lightning Peak."
"His father sent over quite a few spirit stones overnight too!"
"Xue Hong is aiming for a top-three spot in Drawing Qi into the Body. The likes of us can only serve as background props—passing the Hundred-Day Assessment would already be thanks to our ancestors' blessings."
"After all, the earlier you draw qi into your body, the greater the sect rewards. I hear the rewards are spirit stones directly—first place gets a hundred, top three get fifty, top ten get ten. With those rewards, he might break through to mid Qi Refining within two years, and by then, when he takes an elder as master, his future will surely be boundless."
Lin Donglai recalled what the elders had said when they entered the sect.
The top ten in the First Ascent on the Road to Immortality had to be fought for.
Who would have thought that Drawing Qi into the Body also had to be contested for order of completion.
The monthly stipend of an outer sect disciple at Qi Refining First Layer was only two spirit stones.
Lin Donglai was no longer completely ignorant; he naturally understood that a hundred spirit stones was no small sum.
"I've come to terms with it. We can't win the race in cultivation, but we still have to cultivate hard, not give up on ourselves, and reach Qi Refining Second Layer sooner. When the two-year Immortal Sprout period ends, maybe I can land an easier menial post."
Time flew by. It had been over two months since Lin Donglai arrived at Immortal Sprout Peak. Clearly, he felt small progress with each session of cultivation, yet he still had not succeeded in Muscle-Tendon Changing… let alone Marrow Cleansing to condense vital blood for refining the dao seed.
And the first Hundred-Day Assessment was approaching. Though he didn't know what standard the assessment would use, on Immortal Sprout Peak, indeed only disciples with low-grade four spirit roots or low-grade five spirit roots remained who had not yet completed Drawing Qi into the Body.
The first to complete Drawing Qi into the Body took only three days, the second only five, the third seven—all of the top ten finished within ten days.
In the first month, nearly thirty or forty people completed Drawing Qi into the Body.
During these days, almost every day a few Immortal Sprouts completed Drawing Qi into the Body and departed for Lingxi Peak to study foundational cultivation methods, basic spells, the hundred arts of cultivation, and deeper knowledge of cultivation.
Still, Lin Donglai was not entirely without gains. After a month of cultivating the Primordial Tuning Breathing Technique alongside the seed, the mysterious seed began to develop spirituality, sending over simple thoughts like "yearning for sunlight," "yearning for water," "yearning for the earth's qi."
Whenever the seed sent such thoughts, Lin Donglai would need to bask in the sun, drink large amounts of water, and stand barefoot upon the earth.
"Perhaps the fruits of those spirit meals I ate in the dining hall and my cultivation of the Primordial Tuning Breathing Technique have all gone into this."
……
Three days before the first assessment, the weather was clear.
Lin Donglai still had not completed the Muscle-Tendon Changing portion of his cultivation.
Those Qi Refining disciples who had already drawn qi into their bodies naturally had no need for the assessment.
Those who had succeeded in Muscle-Tendon Changing, or begun Marrow Cleansing or condensing fetal breath, presumably had nothing to fear either.
But eating spirit meals and spirit soups every day and still not achieving even minor completion of Muscle-Tendon Changing, remaining stuck at Primordial Nurturing—Lin Donglai was the only one.
Even Ding Zhen had begun Muscle-Tendon Changing; his strength had grown, his walk had become light and brisk, and he was starting to resemble a martial arts expert.
"Donglai."
Ding Zhen took out two spirit stones.
The spirit stones looked like jade, with clear cutting marks, each about the size of a chicken egg, just right for gripping in one's palm.
"Look what this is?"
Lin Donglai was surprised. "You haven't even reached Qi Refining First Layer—where did you get spirit stones?"
Ding Zhen said, "I borrowed them from Xue Hong. I'll pay him back after I become an outer disciple. He gave me five spirit stones, and I plan to split two with you."
Lin Donglai hadn't imagined Ding Zhen could work up the courage to borrow spirit stones, and even share two with him. For a moment his feelings were complicated—he was even a little moved.
Ding Zhen went on, "There's a little market between Immortal Sprout Peak and Lingxi Peak, open on days with a seven in them each month. Today's a market day!"
"This little market was formed spontaneously by the menial servants and some outer sect disciples in early Qi Refining. We can use these spirit stones to buy some pills from the alchemy apprentices."