Infiltrating the world of cultivation

At dawn, the first rays of sunlight pierce the horizon, auspicious purple clouds rise from the east, and all things are renewed.

In front of a residence in the northeast corner of Mine Area No. 3, Wang Chao lay flat on his back, eyes closed, brows furrowed, as if burdened by unresolved sorrow.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that Wang Chao's feet were firmly gripping the ground; he had maintained this posture for two hours.

This is the strongest Qi-inducing posture he summarized after studying countless Taoist classics and cultivation novels.

The dynasty, known as "Five Hearts Facing Heaven," had reached the point of desperate measures.

At this moment, Wang Chao's face was flushed, like a cooked crab, with an unnatural brilliance. His body was trembling slightly, as if he was enduring great pain.

Ah!

Wang Chao winced in pain and involuntarily groaned. He could no longer maintain the position of facing upwards, and his body curled up like a shrimp, his forehead covered with fine beads of sweat.

This is a normal reaction after taking the Spirit Nourishing Pill. He had experienced this four times before. The Spirit Nourishing Pill is a pill taken by cultivators, and its effects are too strong for ordinary people.

Suddenly, Wang Chao's tense body relaxed. After moving around a bit and realizing that he was not seriously ill, Wang Chao stood up from the ground, looking exhausted.

"Sigh, another failure. What went wrong?" Having been at the mine for almost a month, he had come to a deep understanding of the difficulty of cultivating immortality, which was to defy the heavens and was extremely difficult.

You thought you would be bullied by the old miners, but as it turns out, you were overthinking it.

When he went to the mine to work, not only did the old miners bully the new miners, but nobody paid any attention to him. He was just a new miner, and everyone knew there was nothing to gain from him.

Instead of wasting time looking for trouble, you might as well go to the mines and dig up some spirit stones, which you can then exchange with immortals for some pills to improve your cultivation.

Before you become powerful, no one pays attention to you, there are no cheers, not even voices criticizing or insulting you. You are all alone, silently enduring loneliness.

Since you have chosen the path of cultivation, you must grit your teeth and persevere. Without the determination of a general who dies in a hundred battles and a brave soldier who returns after ten years, how can you talk about standing out from the crowd?

At the mine, the word Wang Chao heard most often was "defying the heavens." At first, Wang Chao didn't take it seriously and even laughed at it in his heart. What did God do to you that you keep talking about defying the heavens?

Looking back now, this defying the heavens wasn't entirely without reason. If gods stand in my way, I'll kill them; if Buddhas stand in my way, I'll destroy them. If the heavens dare to obstruct me, I'll shatter this blue sky and sea.

This was a testament to great perseverance, and Wang Chao was deeply moved. Before this, he had always considered himself an outsider, his Earthly background too heavy. But now, he was gradually beginning to understand what it meant to be a cultivator like himself.

We cultivators should strive for continuous self-improvement.

The dynasty's five Spirit-Nourishing Pills have been completely used up, while others can ascend to the Innate Realm in broad daylight with just one.

He swallowed five pills, and apart from his body becoming increasingly powerful, he didn't even manage to condense any internal energy. As for the spiritual power of immortals, he couldn't even dream of it.

What went wrong? The effects of five Spirit Nourishing Pills would have caused anyone else to explode and die, but Wang Chao felt nothing at all, as if he were eating candy.

With such powerful medicinal effects, where does the energy go?

Wang Chao couldn't see inside his body yet, but he could sense that the spiritual power of the Spirit Nourishing Pill disappeared without a trace after passing through his dantian, as if it had evaporated.

At first, Wang Chao could explain the effects of the medicine by saying that it improved his physique, but now that the powerful medicinal power of the five Spirit Nourishing Pills had not made him advance any further, it was a bit strange.

Without any guidance from his predecessors, Wang Chao pondered for a long time but still could not find the answer.

Without advanced equipment to track the whereabouts of the spiritual energy, the dynasty was at a loss and could only watch helplessly as the spiritual energy disappeared.

Now, the dynasty only has thirty-eight spirit stones left. After deducting the thirty-three stones to be handed over at the end of the month, there are still five spirit stones left. The reason why Zhao Yuanbao is so at ease with everyone mining is because these miners do not have cultivation methods.

Even if those mining tycoons were lucky enough to obtain cultivation methods, it would still be useless without talent or spiritual roots. For them, spirit stones were just a form of currency.

This innate spiritual root is of utmost importance; it is equivalent to the entry ticket to cultivation. Without an innate spiritual root, it means you cannot enter the immortal realm.

Wang Chao once doubted whether he lacked innate spiritual roots, otherwise why he had not yet reached the stage of Qi induction.

The month's tasks have been completed, and Wang Chao still has five spirit stones on hand. He plans to go to the market to see if there are any opportunities.

Working in isolation is ultimately not advisable; it's essential to communicate with others and share resources.

The market is a trading platform for cultivators, located in the very center of the intersection of the Nanshan mining area. It is open for five days at the end of each month. There are many people there, and you can communicate with them and resolve many doubts.

It wasn't just cultivators; miners with spare time would also go to stroll around. Even though they knew they lacked spiritual roots and couldn't enter the immortal sect, the miners still tirelessly went to the market.

Even without the destiny to become an immortal and the ability to cultivate, it's still a good thing to exchange some elixirs to improve one's martial arts cultivation and prolong life. It always feels like a waste not to spend the extra spirit stones.

The market town was like a small town, lined with shops, and looked just like the market town of Fengnan City.

However, the items sold in the shop were cultivation-related items such as flying swords, talismans, and pills.

The price of a hundred low-grade spirit stones at a time left the dynasty, which only had five spirit stones, feeling quite strapped for cash. It seems that no matter where you are, you can't get anywhere without money.

Wang Chao didn't really intend to buy anything; he just came to take a look, broaden his horizons, and also to see if he actually had any spiritual roots.

After consuming five Spirit Nourishing Pills to no avail, Wang Chao began to doubt whether he truly lacked spiritual roots, otherwise why hadn't he reached the stage of Qi Induction yet?

In the southeast corner of the market, a long queue had formed. Wang Chao curiously stepped forward to take a look, patted the shoulder of one of the people in line, and asked him a question.

"Hey buddy, what's going on here? Why are so many people queuing up?"

The person being questioned impatiently tried to slap Wang Chao's hand away, but after trying, he found that he couldn't budge it.

You must know, he was a martial artist at the peak of the acquired realm, and in the secular world, he was considered a local overlord. He was surprised that the dynasty remained completely still, and thought to himself that he had encountered a master.

Wang Chao withdrew his hand. He had done it intentionally. It wasn't that he was bullying the weak, but that only those with strength would be respected.

Sure enough, after seeing that Wang Chao was no pushover, the man didn't show any displeasure and spoke slowly.

"You're a new miner too, right? This is the only place in the market where you can test your spiritual roots. It only costs three spirit stones to get tested. If you have spiritual roots, you might be chosen by an immortal."

"Testing spiritual roots? Is it an essential talent for beginners in cultivation?" Wang Chao's eyes lit up upon hearing this, as he himself did not know whether he possessed spiritual roots.

It only costs three spirit stones, which isn't a lot, but it's not a small amount either, so it's worth a try.

"It is precisely because of innate spiritual roots. If one has spiritual roots, one can accumulate spirit stones and exchange them for immortal scriptures from the steward. Once one successfully cultivates them, one will leap over the dragon gate and be separated from the mortal world." The person in line had endless longing in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Wang Chao's eyes lit up. To begin cultivating immortality, one must have spiritual roots. Wang Chao silently joined the last person in line, eager to give it a try.

Wang Chao was very uneasy. He was afraid that the test result would show that he had no spiritual root. If he had no spiritual root, he would have no choice but to go to Wei and seek refuge with Li Hu. But would he really be willing to do that?