Chapter 6: Spiritual Roots

Pfft! A wave of laughter rippled through the classroom.

It was simply too hilarious: The burly Cheng He had bullied his weaker classmate, only to be effortlessly thrown over Li Zhen’s shoulder and slammed onto the ground.

Cheng He felt pain coursing through every inch of his body, but worse than the physical agony was the burning humiliation. Li Zhen, who he’d tormented throughout elementary school, had just bested him in one fell swoop.

In truth, Li Zhen had held back his full strength. During these days off at home, he’d been acclimating to this new body. Had he not restrained himself, he feared he might have accidentally killed Cheng He on the spot.

Though Cheng He deserved it for mistreating Li Zhen’s predecessor, killing someone at school wasn’t an option. Getting embroiled in trouble over a bully like Cheng He wasn’t what Li Zhen wanted.

Li Zhen found an empty seat and sat down, feeling a surge of satisfaction from teaching Cheng He a lesson. At least he’d avenged his predecessor.

After a moment, Cheng He staggered to his feet. He shot a venomous glare at Li Zhen but didn’t press the matter further. There seemed to be something different about Li Zhen now.

Li Zhen began sizing up the other students in the classroom. Their gazes were filled with scrutiny, surprise, and interest—yet no fear.

While his display of combat prowess had caught everyone off guard, these classmates would all become Qi Refinement cultivators someday. To them, such fighting ability truly amounted to little in the grand scheme of things.

Every student harbored an air of arrogance within them. Since successfully channeling their first qi, they were keenly aware of the divide between themselves and ordinary mortals.

This predecessor was truly a failure! Li Zhen lamented inwardly.

There were two other classmates present, but his memories revealed little interaction with them. It seemed the original Li Zhen had been reclusive, making few friends at school.

Well, that simplifies things, he thought. At least dealing with his social ties won’t be complicated.

Soon, the classroom returned to its usual cacophony, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

The last few students filed in, accompanied by a female teacher.

Noticing her arrival, the students fell silent and turned their attention to her.

“Good morning, class! I’m Ms. Zhang Wenyu, your homeroom teacher. Over the next three years, I’ll accompany you on your journey through middle school!” she announced with a warm smile.

Li Zhen sensed the aura emanating from Ms. Zhang’s arm—it was unmistakably that of a mid-tier first-rank magical artifact. He wondered what specific artifact she wielded and began to form an estimate of her true strength based on this clue.

“Now, everyone, please rearrange yourselves according to the seating chart!” Ms. Zhang instructed.

The seating arrangement appeared on the screen at the front of the classroom. Li Zhen’s new spot was in the first row, near the door.

After a brief flurry of movement, the students settled into their assigned seats.

“Place your hands on the table to receive your personal identity bands!” Teacher Zhang instructed.

Li Zhen rested his hand on the surface. A blue light flashed across the tabletop, and moments later, a drawer slid open automatically, revealing an identity band.

This was no ordinary item; while common folk used identity cards, only cultivators were granted these specialized identity bands.

Following Teacher Zhang’s guidance, Li Zhen slipped the band onto his right wrist.

With a soft click, the identity band conformed precisely to his wrist, as if custom-made for him alone.

Instantly, his own information materialized before his eyes:

Staring at the data superimposed on his retina, Li Zhen felt a jolt of astonishment. Most students had rough estimates of their spiritual roots, and he recalled that his predecessor had secretly tested his own once.

At the time, although his spiritual root hadn’t fully matured, even accounting for its potential growth, there was no way it should have reached a value of 21.17.

This indicated a mid-grade wood elemental spiritual root—a significant leap from the previous measurement of 9.4, which had led his predecessor to hope optimistically for merely a low-grade wood elemental root.

Such a dramatic enhancement in a short span couldn’t be explained by mere maturation of the spiritual root alone.

He couldn’t help but recall the dark green branch consumed by his Dragon Heart Space. Although he didn’t know its exact quality, it was undoubtedly a wood attribute spirit object.

This seemed like the only plausible explanation. His thoughts involuntarily focused on that half-eaten dark green branch within the Dragon Heart Space.

To confirm his suspicion, all he needed to do was compare the cut end of the remaining branch with the one he held in his hand.

However, he decided to keep the half-cut dark green branch, planning to find an opportunity to appraise its quality. After all, every spirit object he had encountered so far paled in comparison to this dark green branch.

In addition to the dark green branch, there was also a crystalline pendant in the Dragon Heart Space. Its spiritual aura indicated a first-rank low-grade item, perfect for testing purposes.

The crystalline pendant required no appraisal; Li Zhen already knew it wasn’t particularly valuable.

Only someone like Li Zhen would think this way; for other students or even lower-level cultivators, a first-rank low-grade spirit object would be considered precious.

His recent experiences since arriving in this world—coming into contact with multiple high-quality spirit objects in such a short time—had shaped his perspective.

“Devour!” He commanded the Dragon Heart Space to consume the crystalline pendant.

As his order was executed, blue light flashed from the crystalline pendant, rising and being absorbed by the Dragon Heart Space.

After the blue glow faded, the crystal pendant lost its spiritual essence, now appearing as an ordinary ornament.

On Li Zhen’s retina, the information displayed on his identity bracelet had changed:

Li Zhen’s eyes widened in shock at the newfound ‘Water 7’ entry in his spiritual root data.

Before consuming the crystal pendant, he hadn’t possessed a water elemental spiritual root.

He was now certain that the Dragon Heart Space, by devouring spirit artifacts, could enhance his innate spiritual roots.

“Your elementary school teachers have taught you how to assess your own spiritual root grades,” Teacher Zhang began explaining. “Spiritual roots with less than ten points are considered pseudo-spiritual roots, while those between eleven and twenty points are classified as low-grade…”

“Teacher Zhang, I’ve got a fire spiritual root of twenty-eight points!” Cheng He excitedly interrupted.

Teacher Zhang cast a surprised glance at Cheng He. Despite having fifty-three students in this cultivation class, based on past records, it was exceedingly rare for any student to possess a spiritual root exceeding twenty points.

For ordinary people with no history of powerful cultivators in their lineage, the chance of birthing a child with high-quality spiritual roots was infinitesimal—practically zero.

Generally speaking, when two cultivators have a child, there’s a possibility that the offspring’s spirit root could surpass both parents’. This is why even mid-tier spirit root students occasionally appear in schools.

“Cheng He, you shouldn’t have disclosed your spirit root,” Teacher Zhang cautioned helplessly. “The Xian Kingdom discourages cultivators from revealing such information; laws exist to protect our privacy!”

She knew her reminder came too late for Cheng He, who had already made his announcement. Her words were more aimed at alerting other students.

Unfazed by Teacher Zhang’s warning, Cheng He looked around smugly at his classmates, casting a particularly provocative glance at Li Zhen.

Li Zhen noticed Cheng He’s challenge but ignored it. Since acquiring the Dragon Heart Space, his future far surpassed anything Cheng He could achieve, regardless of his current lower spirit root value.

Teacher Zhang warned against disclosing spirit root values due to countless painful lessons learned through bloodshed.

With a fire spirit root of 28 points, Cheng He had the potential to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. At the very least, he could advance to the late stages of Qi Refinement.

In Yunxi County, even the late stages of Qi Refinement made one a formidable master. The principal of Yunxi Second Elementary Middle School was herself a cultivator in this stage.

A mid-grade spirit root alone could attract attention from enemies of the Xian Nation; Cheng He had inadvertently exposed himself to danger.

History is riddled with instances where outstanding students were assassinated due to their spirit roots. This led to strict confidentiality laws within the Xian Nation. Unless a cultivator chose to reveal their own spirit root information, no one else could obtain such data by any means.

“Students,” Teacher Zhang warned, her gaze sweeping over them all, “do not spread news about Cheng He’s spirit root!”

She planned to report this incident afterward, requesting that both the school and the Security Bureau keep an eye on Cheng He’s safety.

Having lost interest in further explaining spirit roots, she recalled Li Zhen’s memory, which included details about spirit root grading: