“Spiritual Root, only by Awakening a Spiritual Root can one gain the qualification to embark on the path of Cultivation. It’s just that this threshold has blocked countless people.”
Zhuang Buzhou tilted his head back and took a big gulp of wine, a fervent glint flashing in his eyes.
Over the years, he hadn't just heard about the trade fair; he had also pieced together clues, discovering that to become a Cultivator and step onto the true Dao of eternal life, the first prerequisite was to possess a Spiritual Root.
This Spiritual Root was crucial, so crucial that without it, it was almost impossible to become a true Cultivator and walk the great Dao of longevity.
Most importantly, not everyone possessed a Spiritual Root; in fact, it could be said that it only existed in a small percentage of people, varying in strength. Whether one possessed it also required special methods to detect. Even detecting it wasn't enough; if you had a Spiritual Root, you still needed to Awaken it, allowing the Spiritual Root within your body to Awaken. Only then could you use the Spiritual Root as a medium to connect with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi outside, absorb Spiritual Qi, and embark on the path of Cultivation.
Of course, whether one could embark on the path of Cultivation without a Spiritual Root was not absolute. It was just that the process and the difficulty of the path would be beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Moreover, possessing a Spiritual Root, no matter which path of Cultivation one took, would yield twice the results with half the effort. At any time, such a person could be called a Genius among Geniuses.
Those who Awaken a Spiritual Root are called Spiritual Masters, Immortal Masters, True Cultivators, or Lianqishi (Qi Refiners).
They possess a truly extraordinary Foundation.
Before Awakening a Spiritual Root and embarking on the Dao, in the mundane world, there is Martial Arts, Cultivating the Qi in the Dantian, condensing Internal Energy, and Cultivating True Qi. This is further divided into Acquired and Innate.
Acquired: sensing Qi, clearing Meridians.
Divided into twelve main Meridians and eight extraordinary Meridians.
For the twelve main Meridians, clearing every two counts as one layer. Clearing all of them results in Acquired Sixth Layer.
For the eight extraordinary Meridians, clearing every two counts as one layer. Clearing six of them can lead to Acquired Ninth Layer. The Ren and Du Meridians are the two most important ones; once cleared, there is an opportunity to open the connection between the human body and the outside world, which is the Bridge of Heaven and Earth. This is the most special layer, Acquired Tenth Layer.
After the Tenth Layer, one attempts to break through the Bridge of Heaven and Earth and open the Mysterious Aperture. Once successful, one can advance from Acquired to Innate, and Internal Energy transforms into True Qi. In the Jianghu, this is known as a Grandmaster. A Grandmaster's power allows him to move freely among thousands of soldiers. It can be said that he is already extremely powerful. However, without a Spiritual Root, once one reaches the Innate stage, the path is almost cut off. Even if one can draw a trace of Spiritual Qi from Heaven and Earth, compared to someone with a Spiritual Root, the difference is like heaven and earth.
With a Spiritual Root, once Awakened, one establishes a connection with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi outside. Upon Cultivation, one can directly absorb and refine it. An Innate Cultivator, however, can only absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi through the Mysterious Aperture. The speed is slow, and the effect is poor. The difference is obvious.
Most crucially, the Spiritual Root possesses other profound and extraordinary mysteries.
In these past few years, Zhuang Buzhou joined the imperial court and became a constable. He received an official Cultivation Technique called “Zhou Tian Gong.” This Cultivation Technique had no major distinguishing features, only one point: it was perfectly balanced and divided into Small Heavenly Circulation and Great Heavenly Circulation. Small Heavenly Circulation involved opening the twelve main Meridians, while Great Heavenly Circulation involved breaking through the eight extraordinary Meridians. It allowed for easy transition to any Cultivation Technique and was the most widely circulated Cultivation Technique in the Jianghu.
He also received an external martial art, “Iron Cloth Shirt,” a blade technique, “Wind Chasing Blade,” and a lightness skill, “Grass-Skimming Flight.”
After all, he was just a constable, so these were ordinary Cultivation Techniques issued from above.
However, Zhuang Buzhou did not disdain them. In modern times, there was only traditional Chinese martial arts and internal boxing, and even traditional Chinese martial arts were gradually declining, no longer present in the public eye. Now that he had the opportunity to Cultivate, even if it was only Martial Arts, there was nothing to complain about.
For over three years, he had dedicated himself to Cultivating diligently every day. It seemed that during the process of Transmigration, Zhuang Buzhou’s Physique had been tempered and purified by the power of time and space, like a cleansing of marrow and tendons. A large amount of Acquired Impurities were removed, and he even reverted to eighteen years old. When he Cultivated, he easily passed the hurdle of sensing Qi, and his Meridians were much tougher than those of normal people. His Cultivation yielded twice the results with half the effort. Over these years, one Meridian after another was cleared.
As of now, he was already an Acquired Tenth Layer Martial Artist.
In Qingyun City, he could be considered a grand master.
The cases he had handled and the criminals he had apprehended over the years were quite astonishing. As long as he took action, no matter how bizarre the case, he could solve it. People respectfully called him Heavenly Eye Divine Constable, implying that he possessed a Heavenly Eye, and no matter how strange the cases were, they could not escape his Dharma Eye. He could easily uncover the truth and find the real culprit.
However, none of this was what Zhuang Buzhou desired most.
Embarking on the Immortal Path of longevity was his greatest dream.
“Captain Zhuang.”
As he was drinking, a thin, monkey-like man with bright eyes walked in. He scanned the tavern, and upon seeing Zhuang Buzhou, his eyes lit up. He quickly stepped forward, sat down in front of him, and called out, not bothering with formalities. He picked up a wine cup, poured three in a row, and drank them all in one gulp.
“Sorry to have kept Captain Zhuang waiting,” the thin man said, his expression showing a respectful awe towards Zhuang Buzhou.
Given Zhuang Buzhou's deeds in this area over the years, coupled with the uniform he wore, he was an incredibly important figure in the eyes of ordinary citizens.
“No matter, I just arrived not long ago. How is the information you were asked to gather? Do you have any definite news?”
Zhuang Buzhou looked up at the man in front of him. His name was Li Erhou, and he had a nickname outside called Skinny Monkey. In Qingyun City, he was the best broker, and his news was the most well-informed. If you wanted to inquire about something, he was the right person to ask.
However, when Zhuang Buzhou looked at Skinny Monkey, what he saw was not just a person. Above his head, he could also see a peculiar number.
Twenty-three
Seven
Fifteen
Six
Forty-five
Thirty-six
Moreover, the last number, thirty-six, was constantly changing: thirty-five, thirty-four, thirty-three, decreasing continuously, with a frequency like the passage of time.
“Twenty-three years, seven months, fifteen days, six hours, forty-five minutes, thirty-two seconds,” a thought flashed through Zhuang Buzhou’s mind.
This was a special ability he had Acquired after Transmigration, perhaps due to that gourd. His eyes could see time, which meant he could see the remaining Lifespan of living beings. The numbers that just flashed by represented Li Erhou’s true Lifespan: twenty-three years and over seven months. Once the numbers reached zero, it would be the moment his Lifespan ended. In other words, under normal circumstances, Li Erhou could live for over twenty-three years.
Of course, this did not include factors such as accidental death or unforeseen circumstances. Too many factors influence Lifespan, happening every moment. Perhaps you have twenty-three years of Lifespan now, but the next second you get sick and die, or are assassinated, then your time instantly returns to zero.
These numbers only represent how long you can live under normal circumstances, without disaster or illness. You possess this much time, and time is equal to Lifespan, but Lifespan is not equal to time.
“You have twenty-three years of Lifespan, but I don’t even have ten years,” Zhuang Buzhou thought with a bitter smile.
If he could see others’ time and Lifespan, he could naturally see his own.
His own Lifespan was fifty years, six months, and twenty-one days.
If calculated carefully, he could definitely live for over fifty more years, so why was it less than ten years? But looking closely at the changes in the numbers afterward, he would understand.
Fifty seconds, forty seconds, thirty seconds.
Other people’s Lifespan time decreased by one second at a time, but his decreased by ten seconds at a time. The rate of time decrease was ten times that of a normal person. It should be noted that when he first discovered his special ability to see time, Zhuang Buzhou saw that his remaining time was over eighty years. Adding the twenty-plus years he had lived before, under normal circumstances, he should definitely live to be over a hundred, which would certainly be considered long-lived. However, the rate of Lifespan decrease was actually ten times that of a normal person. Not counting before, it was certain that before Transmigration, his Lifespan time was absolutely normal, but after appearing in this world, his time began to decrease tenfold. In just three years, thirty years of Lifespan had been consumed. The remaining fifty years now seemed like they would be exhausted in just over five years.
If time ran out, there was no doubt he would kick the bucket.
Upon realizing this, Zhuang Buzhou felt a chill in his heart.
Without knowing one's Lifespan, even if death came in the next moment, no one could feel anything. The most terrifying thing was witnessing one’s own time slowly draining away, like seeing a battle sword constantly stabbing oneself. That kind of fear was truly a great terror.
It was as if he was being dragged into Hell every moment.
“I don’t know what this damned ability is for. I can only see time, but I can’t make any changes. I can’t control time, nor can I influence Lifespan. If I continue to live an ordinary life, I will die in five years. Since I’ve come to this world, even if I die, I must give it a try. Transcendence, only by embarking on the path of Cultivation can I truly have a chance to change my fate and find out why my time is decreasing tenfold.”
Who would want to die when they could live? Especially watching their own Lifespan head towards its end.
This feeling was a torment every single moment.
It was precisely because of this that Zhuang Buzhou devoted himself to martial arts and Cultivation every day, hoping to Breakthrough to Innate and see if his Lifespan could increase after the Breakthrough. Could the decreasing time be slowed down?
This was also the true reason why Zhuang Buzhou was so determined to find a way to embark on the path of transcendence.
It was like having a knife pressed against his back, forcing him to act.
“I’ve already found out. The trade fair is in three days, at the abandoned manor near the mass grave outside the city. It used to be called Green Willow Manor. It’s said that the manor had a lot of willow trees, but because of an evil spirit, the entire manor, the whole family, died out. Since then, it’s been abandoned. Normally, no one dares to approach it easily. Anyway, that manor is very eerie. If I hadn’t confirmed it repeatedly, I would have thought this news was fake and wouldn’t have dared to report it to you, Captain Zhuang.”
Skinny Monkey did not hesitate and reported the information he had gathered.
He made a living in Qingyun City, and being able to maintain a good relationship with a constable like Zhuang Buzhou was absolutely desirable.