Chapter 127: Knowledge on Spiritual Roots

　　And just like that, the two of them walked together while chatting lazily, randomly about all sorts of topics. Although they were ‘chatting lazily’, it was better to say that Han Li was the one asking the questions while the youths was the one answering. From the mouth of the youth, Han Li finally obtained some news about the world of cultivators as well as finally understanding some of the fundamental facts about that world.

　　For example, the levels of cultivation could be cla.s.sified into the lower realm, middle realm and higher realm.

　　The lower realm consisted five stages: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation. The middle realm consisted of Void level, Integration Level, and Great Ascension Level. And upon reaching the higher realm, it could be said that one truly stepped into the realms of Immortals. Cultivators at the higher realm could fly through the skies and visit the Immortal realm with a lifespan as long as that of heaven and earth.

　　However, it was easier said than done! It was extremely tough to cultivate to such a level.

　　Not to mention cultivating all the three realms. Even in the most basic, the lower realm, there was no one in the history of State of Yue who had successfully cultivated to the peak of the Deity Transformation stage. At most, they were stuck in the Nascent Soul stage. But even then, reaching Nascent Soul was exceedingly rare. Only a few eccentrics with great luck and karmic fortune would be able to do so.

　　According to the youth, an individual’s lifespan was directly linked to his cultivation level, and each successive breakthrough would prolong his lifespan.

　　Mortals, at most, could only live for 100 years, but even that was very rare among mortals.

　　For cultivators who successfully stepped into Foundation Establishment, they would have a lifespan of 200 years. This was very common. And if an individual was lucky enough to reach Core Formation, his lifespan would be further doubled to 400 and 500 years. And…if that individual somehow managed to meet a fortuitous encounter through have extreme luck and managed to form his Nascent Soul, then, congratulations! His lifespan would be extended to a 1000 years! As along as the person in question was a cultivator, this was all within the realm of possibility!

　　Suddenly, the white-robed youth stopped here. He was extremely envious of those eccentrics with a lifespan of 800 to 1,000 years. These people had ten times the lifespan of a normal human!

　　Han Li was awestruck as he listened by the youth’s side, but he had already guessed that lifespan of cultivators would be longer when compared to that of ordinary humans. But what he hadn’t expect was that the differences in lifespan would be so ridiculous! 1,000 years of life, wouldn’t that mean that the eccentric had become a 1,000 year-old tortoise? Han Li thought in his heart somewhat maliciously.

　　But if just reaching the Nascent Soul stage would enable you to live so long, what about Deity Transformation stage? And the further stages in the middle and higher realms? How long would they live then?

　　Han Li finally couldn’t bear it anymore and indirectly asked..

　　“Who knows?” Maybe they can live forever, enjoying eternal youth?” The youth exclaimed.

　　“Legend has it that cultivators who reached the ‘Great Perfection’ circle of the Deity Transformation stage have to leave this world and travel to a higher realm in another s.p.a.ce. But as to where and what the higher realm is, no one knows, because no one has ever returned from there.”

　　“No one has ever returned? Then how do we determine the different levels of the Deity Transformation stage?” Han Li asked somewhat dejected;y. However, the youth in front of him probably could not answer this as well.

　　Other than the different levels in cultivations, Han Li now had a general understanding of the cultivation clans and sects within the State of Yue.

　　The youth may not know matters of other places, but regarding the State of Yue’s cultivation world, the youth seemed quite knowledgable as he proceeded to explain in great details.

　　From his mouth, Han Li knew that in the State of Yue, there existed a total of seven cultivation sects: the Masked Moon Sect, Yellow Maple Valley, Spirit Beast Mountain, Clear Void Sect, Saber Transformation Dock, Heavenly Imperial Fortress, and the Giant Sword Sect. Out of these seven, the Masked Moon Sect was the most powerful. Spirit Beast Mountain was a close second, and as for the rest, their power levels were roughly evenly matched.

　　If one were to say that these various cultivator sects were the great tree providing support for the whole of State of Yue, the other various cultivator clans and families would be the leaves and branches that depended on the great tree for survival.

　　And according to the youth, the ancestors from the Immortal cultivators clans were once disciples of the cultivator sects. The bloodline of the sect disciples eventually flowed out over the generations and slowly became a cultivator clan.

　　Thus, one could say from this that all cultivators possessed something called ‘spiritual roots’.

　　‘Spiritual roots’. What exactly were they? Not even Immortal cultivators know everything about them, but what they did know was that if a person lacked spiritual roots, that person couldn’t aspire to traverse the path of cultivation. After all, if one had no spiritual roots, how could he even absorb Spiritual Qi? And if Spiritual Qi couldn’t be absorbed, how could he become an Immortal cultivator?

　　Of course, those who were born with spiritual roots were extremely rare among the commoners. It could be said that there would only one would be born with spiritual roots in a batch of tens of thousands, and thus, there were only a selected few who would be able to embark on the pathway to become an Immortal. But still, the majority of those with spiritual roots lived out their lives as a commoner since it was extremely difficult for individuals to know if they possessed spiritual roots or not, causing great headache to recruiters from the Immortal sects.

　　Even possessing spiritual roots did not guarantee that one was qualified to enter the Immortal sects. This was because there were differences in grade among spiritual roots.

　　As the saying went, spiritual roots could be categorised into five categories: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The majority of cultivators had roots an impure mixture of four or all five of the attributes. Although these people was able to absorb Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, they would progress extremely slowly in terms of their cultivation. At most, they could only reach the third or fourth level of the Qi Condensation stage before reaching a bottleneck that halted all hopes of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

　　Spiritual roots with a mixture of four or five attributes were known as “false spiritual roots” in the Immortal world, while spiritual roots of two to three attributes, were known as “true spiritual roots”. Those with true spiritual roots would naturally cultivate many times faster when compared to those with false spiritual roots.