Lin Mo was initially overjoyed, but then a puzzled expression crossed his face…
What the hell was this mutated attribute Sword Spirit Root?
There was no mention of such a thing in the original owner’s memories!
[Reminder: The mutated attribute Sword Spirit Root is also a type of Heaven-Spirit Root. While it does not grant special enhancements to five-element techniques, it provides a significant boost to sword-based techniques.]
…
He was already a sword cultivator, and now he had a Sword Spirit Root on top of that. Was this system trying to push him toward immortal ascension through the sword?
[Reminder: The probability of drawing a mutated spirit root is one-tenth of the probability of obtaining a single-attribute Heaven-Spirit Root. So, host, you should eat well, sleep well—your next life will be here soon!]
…
Ha! This damn system just cursed me to die?!
Lin Mo couldn’t be bothered to argue with it and instead turned his attention to a more pressing question.
“System, now that I have a Heaven-Spirit Root, has the regret point cost for forming a ninth-grade Golden Core been reduced?”
[Yes. Given your current talent, your probability of forming a ninth-grade Golden Core on your own has increased to 30%. Now, you only need to spend 7,000 regret points to guarantee success.]
7,000 wasn’t too bad, especially considering he had just farmed 8,800 regret points from his ungrateful junior sister.
Lin Mo focused his thoughts and summoned his personal status panel.
Personal Status Panel
- Host: Lin Mo
- Bloodline: Human
- Physique: Sword Heart Clarity
- Aptitude: Sword Spirit Root
- Cultivation Level: Late Foundation Establishment
- Techniques:
- Profound-grade, Upper: Lingqing Technique (Fourth Layer)
- Profound-grade, Mid: Rejuvenation Technique (Fourth Layer)
- Profound-grade, Low: Three Thousand Sword Arts (Fifth Layer)
- Yellow-grade, Mid: Golden Light Shield (Seventh Layer)
- Yellow-grade, Low: Earthbound Sprint (Ugh…)
- Abilities:
- Cooking: 5.1
- Farming: 1.3
- Formation Mastery: 1.5
- Alchemy: 1.6
- Strategy & Chess: 1.8
- …
- Regret Points: 3,100
His aptitude was now flawless, but his techniques… nothing truly impressive.
And that Earthbound Sprint technique… it was too embarrassing to look at.
Might as well hide it from the panel.
At this point, he was already a cultivation genius.
Techniques below the Earth grade were things he could easily cultivate on his own—spending regret points on them would be pure extravagance.
Take the Yellow-grade Mid “Golden Light Shield”, for example. Even without using the system, he could perfect it to the tenth layer within days.
[Host, I truly didn’t expect you to be this stingy. You have a system and still choose to manually cultivate? Tsk. For reference, fully upgrading a Yellow-grade technique costs:]
- Upper-tier: 800 regret points
- Mid-tier: 600 regret points
- Lower-tier: 300 regret points
Lin Mo chuckled internally.
“It’s my choice. My points, my rules. You expect me to waste regret points for something I can cultivate myself? A few hundred regret points still count as regret points, you know!”
“By the way, system, where did the spirit roots I pulled earlier go?”
[They’re stored in your inventory.]
“Can I transfer these spirit roots to other people?”
[Reminder: As long as you have enough regret points, nothing is impossible.]
[Additionally, replacing someone’s spirit root requires their explicit consent. If they refuse, the regret points spent will not be refunded.]
Hmm… the system was definitely shady, but it was still pretty powerful.
Leaving those extra spirit roots unused would be a waste.
Besides, he still had that Fire attribute Heaven-Spirit Root sitting in the inventory.
For now, he didn’t have a perfect use for it, so he decided to leave it stored.
Two days later, it was finally time for the new disciples of the Qingling Sect to embark on their first training expedition.
Over the past two days, Lin Mo had advanced the “Three Thousand Sword Arts” to the sixth layer.
With his Sword Heart Clarity physique, his sword technique cultivation had already been exceptionally fast. Now, with the Sword Spirit Root, his progress was nothing short of unstoppable.
Even in other cultivation techniques, though not as explosive as his sword techniques, his progress had still accelerated significantly.
Such was the power of a Heaven-Spirit Root—whether in cultivation speed or comprehension of techniques, it was far superior to a Dual-Spirit Root.
Of course, there was another issue—Lin Mo couldn’t resist and ended up doing more lottery pulls over the past two days.
A total of thirty random draws—and not a single useful thing came out.
However, something unexpected happened—his music and formation mastery skills had somehow skyrocketed to level 7.
Lin Mo didn’t fully grasp the significance of level 7, but based on the original owner’s memories, his talent in cooking was already quite decent, and after over a decade of refinement, his cooking skill was only at level 5.
This suggested that level 7 was something extraordinary.
After all, the system had stated that the maximum level was 10, and anything the system defined as max level was likely beyond normal comprehension.
As the lead disciple for this training expedition, Lin Mo arrived early at Qingling Sect’s main plaza to await the gathering of disciples.
Aside from him, the leading disciples from the other eleven peaks were also present.
Lin Mo recognized all of them—each was an outstanding inner disciple of their respective peaks.
Nearby, whispers circulated among the gathered disciples.
“Look, isn’t that Lin Mo, the senior brother from Qingzhu Peak? I didn’t expect him to be leading the team again this year!”
“Shh, be careful with what you say! I heard he’s notorious for being harsh and ruthless. Just recently, a disciple in charge of tending the spiritual fields made a mistake, and he beat him half to death. Tsk, tsk, truly merciless.”
“Hah, if he dares to do such things, he should be able to handle people talking about him. Besides, Lin Mo is the most disliked person on Qingzhu Peak. If a conflict breaks out, who would stand up for him? Plus, we’re all at the late Foundation Establishment stage—why should I be afraid of a guy who cultivates Water and Wood techniques?”
The mockery and gossip did not stir any reaction from Lin Mo.
He simply continued sipping his tea, calm and unbothered.
As for the one running his mouth the most—Lin Mo knew exactly who he was.
Liu Bao, an inner disciple from Dashi Peak, specialized in fire-attribute techniques and was considered one of the stronger disciples in the Qingling Sect.
Seeing Lin Mo remain unfazed, Liu Bao sneered and spat on the ground.
“I thought someone who bullies his junior disciples would at least have some backbone, but turns out he’s just a coward!”
Lin Mo continued sipping his tea, his expression neither pleased nor angry.
He knew exactly what Liu Bao was trying to do.
The Qingling Sect had strict rules against inner-sect fighting, and as the eldest senior brother of Qingzhu Peak, Lin Mo was expected to set an example.
If he broke the rules, his punishment would be far worse than that of an ordinary disciple.
Clearly, Liu Bao was well aware of this.
However, after seeing that Lin Mo wasn’t taking the bait, Liu Bao grew bored and turned away, heading toward his group of junior disciples.
But just as he reached them…
Lin Mo lightly flicked his finger.
A barely noticeable thread of sword energy shot forth.
Liu Bao suddenly felt his leg go weak, and the next moment—
BAM!
His face smashed straight into the ground.
The sect plaza was packed with disciples, and upon seeing this, many immediately burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! Did he seriously just trip and fall?”
Liu Bao sprang up in rage, his aura surging, his face burning with fury.
The disciples who had been laughing instantly fell silent, afraid of provoking him further.
After all, the ones leading this training expedition were among the top inner disciples of each peak.
To them, there was only one explanation—
Someone had sneak-attacked Liu Bao.
After all, how could a Foundation Establishment cultivator simply trip and fall?
Liu Bao scanned the crowd, his eyes blazing with anger, before finally locking onto Lin Mo.
“You… was it you?! Are you behind this?!”
