Anticipation, apprehension...

Gazing at Elder Li, Chu Mu’s heart was a tempest of emotions more complex than ever before...

The answer...

"Qi and Blood Cultivation focuses on cultivating one’s Qi and Blood and nurturing the five viscera. Its ultimate goal is to foster the growth of one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit."

"The slightest growth in your Essence and Qi is reflected directly in your physical body and can be clearly perceived."

"Spirit, however, is imperceptible and difficult to manifest."

"Therefore, Qi and Blood Cultivation uses the symbiotic relationship between Essence, Qi, and Spirit. By cultivating Essence and Qi, you stimulate the growth and refinement of your Spirit, ultimately leading to the Divine Appearance!"

"For this reason, in the Cultivation Realm, Qi and Blood Cultivation is also known as Concentrating Spirit!"

"Once you have achieved Concentrating Spirit, you can sense the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, which is the state of cultivation beyond that of Qi and Blood."

"As for Spiritual Qi..."

At this, Elder Li paused for a moment, glanced at Chu Mu, and then continued, "Heaven and Earth give rise to Spirit Veins, and Spirit Veins produce Spiritual Qi, the very source of power for all paths of cultivation."

"If you must have a definition for Spiritual Qi, you can think of it as... a more advanced and profound type of energy than the grain essence you absorb during Qi and Blood Cultivation."

"In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, Spiritual Qi is also referred to as Spiritual Power, or simply Spiritual Energy."

Chu Mu keenly grasped the key point and asked without hesitation, "Excuse me, Elder Li, but is it absolutely necessary to surpass the Qi and Blood realm to sense Spiritual Qi?"

Elder Li replied, "Once you achieve Divine Appearance, you can sense it. Without Divine Appearance, it doesn’t matter if your Qi and Blood Cultivation reaches Great Success or even Perfection; you will still be unable to sense Spiritual Qi."

"The ultimate goal of Qi and Blood Cultivation is simply to achieve Divine Appearance."

"It’s not that your Qi and Blood must reach a certain level of strength for Divine Appearance to occur; it just means that the stronger your Qi and Blood, the greater the chance of it happening."

"Even an ordinary person with no cultivation whatsoever might achieve Divine Appearance due to certain experiences or fortunate encounters. As long as they possess Spirit Root Talent, they can then easily sense Spiritual Qi and set foot upon the Immortal Path."

"However, even if you haven’t achieved Divine Appearance, and though you cannot perceive Spiritual Qi, it is still ubiquitous. Subtly and over time, the human body can still be nourished by it."

"It’s like that unusual fluctuation in your Qi and Blood you just sensed. If the Spiritual Qi in an area is dense, an ordinary person could lie around at home all day and, through its subtle nourishment, cultivate their Essence, Qi, and Spirit to the peak of the mortal realm in a year or two at most. Achieve Divine Appearance, and the Immortal Path awaits."

Chu Mu asked, "Then... is there a difference between achieving Divine Appearance after reaching Great Success in Qi and Blood Cultivation, and achieving it before?"

"Of course there’s a difference!"

Elder Li stated with conviction, "Once you achieve Divine Appearance, you can perceive and perform the Breathing of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. No matter how poor your talent is or how inefficient your Breathing, you are still gathering the Spiritual Qi forged by Heaven and Earth!"

"All the grain essence you painstakingly refine through years of Qi and Blood Cultivation cannot compare to the effect of a single breath of Spiritual Qi entering your body after achieving Divine Appearance."

"Stuck at the threshold of the Immortal Path, wasting away for decades in the secular world—you tell me, isn’t that a difference?"

Chu Mu pressed his lips together, momentarily at a loss for words.

He had mastered his Sword Technique, yet its chilling blade was useless before a Resentful Soul.

’He cultivated his Qi and Blood, only to be told now that it was just a process, not the final objective?’

’Decades of his bitter struggle couldn’t even compare to someone else lazing around for a year or two?’

After some hesitation, Chu Mu asked tentatively, "Where... is the Spiritual Qi dense?"

"Hahaha..."

Elder Li burst out laughing, yet his smile held a strange, desolate quality. "You’ll understand clearly enough when you step onto the Immortal Path."

Taking in this sight, Chu Mu couldn’t help but frown. As thoughts churned in his mind, he asked again, "Excuse me, Elder Li. After Concentrating Spirit, you mentioned specific talent determines the Immortal Path. What is this talent, and what are the realms of the Immortal Path?"

"As for talent, that’s determined by one’s Spirit Root. Spirit Roots are predestined, formed from the permutations of the Five Elements. You can think of a Spirit Root as the medium through which a person communicates with Heaven and Earth. Without this medium, you cannot sense the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, even if you achieve Divine Appearance."

"And since it is a medium, it naturally follows that the better and purer the medium, the higher the efficiency of communication with Heaven and Earth. This is precisely what determines the quality of one’s Spirit Root Talent..."

"In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, those with a single type of Spirit Root are called Celestial Spirit Roots, signifying that they are the darlings of Heaven."

"Those with a Celestial Spirit Root are blessed by Heaven and Earth. Without even knowing it, they can instinctively breathe Spiritual Energy from birth. They often step onto the Immortal Path by the time they are a year old. Once on the path, with the affinity for Spiritual Energy that their Celestial Root provides, their cultivation progress naturally far surpasses that of ordinary people."

"Below the Celestial Spirit Root is the Earth Spirit Root, which refers to those with two types of Spirit Roots. The name implies that the gap between it and a Celestial Spirit Root is as vast... as the distance between Heaven and Earth!"

"Although this type of Spirit Root is far from as Extraordinary as a Celestial Spirit Root, one’s cultivation progress is still far beyond that of those with lesser Spirit Roots."

"In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, a predecessor once conducted many experiments on this matter. If you were to quantify the Spiritual Qi sensitivity and intake of a Celestial Spirit Root as a ten, an Earth Spirit Root would only be a one or a two!"

"An Earth Spirit Root is only a one or a two?"

Chu Mu was dumbfounded, finding it utterly unbelievable.

’If an Earth Spirit Root is only a one or a two, what about the ones below it?’

Elder Li didn’t answer, simply continuing on his own accord:

"Those with three or four types of Spirit Roots have what is called a Pseudo Spirit Root. Their normal cultivation speed is only about one-fifth that of an Earth Spirit Root."

"As for the worst, the Five Spirit Roots... it is called a Wasted Spirit Root. Its normal cultivation speed is only about one-tenth that of a Pseudo Spirit Root."

"Pseudo and Wasted—the names are quite literal."

"However, aside from the Celestial, Earth, Pseudo, and Wasted Spirit Root types, there are also Mutated Spirit Roots, which are formed from permutations of the Five Elements."

"For example, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Yin, and Yang. Although these are called mutations, they actually fall within the category of Celestial Spirit Roots. In fact, in some respects, they are even more outstanding than a standard Celestial Spirit Root."

"However, because Mutated Spirit Roots are formed from the mutation of multiple types of Spirit Roots, their affinity for Spiritual Qi is still far inferior to that of a Celestial Spirit Root. This affinity, which dictates cultivation speed, is only about half that of a Celestial Spirit Root..."

"As for the realms of Immortal Cultivation..."

Elder Li looked at Chu Mu and shook his head. "All of that is still too far off for you. There’s no benefit in saying more."

"You only need to remember one thing, Brother Mu. In the end, how things turn out... is still up to you." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Chu Mu asked, surprised, "Up to me?"

"Yes."

Elder Li continued, "Cultivators seize the very fortune of Heaven and Earth, gathering immense power unto themselves. Power is something that can be wielded as one pleases."

"How it all turns out... that still depends on you."

The sheer amount of information contained within those few sentences was almost too much for Chu Mu to handle. For a moment, he couldn’t even process it all.

As a tide of thoughts surged through his mind, Chu Mu forced them down and asked, "Excuse me, Elder Li, but why is that?"

"A Cultivator’s immense power is gathered within themselves, but all of this power comes from external forces. Qi and Blood Cultivation absorbs external Essence Qi; beyond that, one performs Breathing of the Spiritual Qi created by Heaven and Earth."

"The source of the power is the same; one’s mindset toward that power is the key that determines the difference."

"Some people pursue power regardless of the consequences or cost, becoming nothing more than puppets to that very power."

"There are also those who walk the grand and righteous path, one step at a time. They cultivate power but are not shackled by it, casting aside the false to preserve the true, seeking to discover unknown verities..."

"The Immortal Path is long. Whether one truly seeks the truth or not is decided in a single thought."

...