Chapter 1: The Li Family (Signed, Please Follow, Please Recommend, Please Favorite)

In the eastern part of the Profound Origin Continent, close to the sea, there flows a torrential river into the ocean. Due to the rapid currents that create wave after wave of white foam, it is known as the Bailang River. Consequently, the region through which it flows has been named Bailang County.

The Bailang Li family is the master of this territory spanning more than a hundred li.

It's said that this Bailang Li family is a legendary cultivator clan. Its ancestor was originally a mountain hunter who, by chance, saved a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect and, having Spiritual Roots himself, was taken into the Sect to cultivate.

Dozens of years later, the Li family ancestor stumbled upon great fortune and actually had a breakthrough in Foundation Establishment, securing his position within the Beast Taming Sect. However, due to some unexpected events, he had to leave the Sect and came to Bailang County, where he established the Li clan.

The Li clan has carried on its legacy for more than three hundred years, and with Li Zhirui of the ninth generation, the family's strength had yet to make further progress, lingering perpetually at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

However, fortunately, the emergence of Li Zhirui has shown the elders a glimmer of hope!

Because Li Zhirui possesses Water-Wood Dual Spiritual Roots!

Regrettably, the purity of Li Zhirui's Water-Wood Spiritual Roots is only fifty, which doesn't qualify him as a genuine genius. Yet, he is the first member of the Li family with dual spiritual roots in nearly a hundred years, and there's a great hope for him to break through to the Golden Core Realm.

The reason Li Zhirui isn't considered a true genius is that the number of Spiritual Roots determines the speed at which cultivators absorb Spiritual Energy, while the purity of Spiritual Roots determines the efficiency of refining the Spiritual Energy.

Although Li Zhirui can absorb Spiritual Energy quickly, his efficiency isn't considered high, and even falls short of some cultivators with Three Spiritual Roots but a purity reaching more than seventy-five.

At this moment, Li Zhirui was sitting in his room, swallowing the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth.

Li Zhirui sat cross-legged, his body emanating a faint rosy glow. With each inhalation and exhalation, two continuous streams of Spirit Light entered through his nose and mouth, purified by his meridians, and ultimately transforming into his own Mana.

After an indeterminable length of time, Li Zhirui's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, a sharp gleam flickering within the dark pupils, and his presence surged dramatically in an instant.

Pleasure filled Li Zhirui's handsome face, and his words were brimming with excitement and exhilaration, "I've finally broken through the latter stages of Qi Cultivation!"

Li Zhirui did not originate from this realm, or rather, his soul came from another world, someone who could be considered either lucky or unlucky, a fresh graduate just stepping into society.

Although his experiences from his previous life were meager and of little use in this world of immortals, demons, and ghost creatures, as an adult, his willpower was stronger than that of his peers, and he was acutely aware of the importance of cultivation.

Hence, even though Li Zhirui had relatively good talent, he did not dare to slack off in his cultivation and practiced diligently every single day, striving to improve.

After calming the excitement within his heart, Li Zhirui got up and strode towards the courtyard outside. Sensing his movements, Li Shiren immediately asked upon seeing Li Zhirui, "Zhirui lad, have you broken through?"

As one of the only three Foundation Establishment cultivators in the family, how could Li Shiren not see through Li Zhirui's realm? He asked the question simply because he wanted to hear the answer from Li Zhirui himself.

Upon receiving Li Zhirui's straightforward confirmation, Li Shiren said with excitement, "Eighteen years old and at the latter stages of Qi Cultivation! Such talent is rare even in the Beast Taming Sect! Our Li family..." is truly rising!

Perhaps to avoid putting too much pressure on Li Zhirui, Li Shiren swallowed the last few words.

"You consolidate your realm, I'll go inform the Clan Leader of the good news!" And with that, he turned to leave.

Unable to stop Li Shiren, Li Zhirui could only see him out the door. Once he was far enough away, he closed the gate.

Li Zhirui turned around and saw Da Qing, who had fallen into a deep sleep by the side of the pond, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Da Qing was a Rank 3 Spirit Beast, the Qingxuan Turtle, that the family had purchased with a hefty sum of money, specially contracted to Li Zhirui.

It should be noted that a Rank 3 Spirit Beast has the potential to grow to the Golden Core Realm. Although breaking through to the Golden Core is incredibly difficult, advancing to Foundation Establishment is not a problem, thus the Qingxuan Turtle held significant value.

The Li family spent a total of twelve thousand Spirit Stones to buy the just hatched Qingxuan Turtle, which shows how much hope they placed on Li Zhirui.

Ever since Li Zhirui was identified with dual spiritual roots at the age of five, the Qingxuan Turtle had been by his side. When he turned eight and his meridians were no longer so fragile, allowing him to begin cultivating, he naturally broke through the first layer of Qi Cultivation. Then, under the care of his family elders, he formed a contract with the Qingxuan Turtle.

This was not about enslaving the Qingxuan Turtle, but rather a mutually beneficial contract relationship, such as both parties benefiting when one's cultivation level increases.

However, there are two sides to everything; while the contract brings benefits, it also comes with drawbacks, one of which is that the difference in cultivation realms between the cultivator and the Spirit Beast cannot exceed one major realm, or else their cultivation would stagnate.

And this brings us to the cultivation technique practiced by Li Zhirui, the "Wanling Sutra"!

As a vassal family of the Beast Taming Sect, most members of the Li family cultivated the "Wanling Sutra," and Li Zhirui was no exception.

As the fundamental cultivation technique of the Beast Taming Sect, the "Wanling Sutra" is of quite a high grade, ranging from Qi Cultivation Realm all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm, and is very comprehensive, essentially the foundation upon which the Beast Taming Sect was established!

Anyone who cultivates the "Wanling Sutra" can form a contract with a Spirit Beast at each major cultivation realm, to enhance their own strength.

At the same time, contracting Spirit Beasts with the same attributes can even bring certain enhancements to one's own cultivation, in other words, it increases the purity of the cultivator's Spiritual Root.

But as everyone knows, the majority of Spirit Beasts cultivate at a very slow pace; to ensure a Spirit Beast's faster cultivation speed, a cultivator must invest a substantial amount of resources.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, cultivators would not contract with a new Spirit Beast every time they break through a major cultivation realm.

If the Li family had not made significant contributions to the Beast Taming Sect in the past, it would have been impossible for them to obtain all the methods from the Qi Cultivation Realm to the Golden Core Realm.

And the currently slumbering Da Qing was affected by Li Zhirui's breakthrough and was digesting the benefits brought about by the contract.

Knowing that Da Qing would not awaken anytime soon, Li Zhirui turned and returned to his room. The moment he activated the warning Formation, his figure suddenly vanished!

The next instant, the environment around Li Zhirui changed completely as he arrived in a personal space filled with various first-grade Spiritual Medicine and Spirit Grain.

The space was not large, about two square miles in area, and it included a small mountain that took up most of the space, only a few dozen meters high; at the foot of the mountain was a lake about fifteen meters across, as well as a large Spirit Field full of Spiritual Objects.

This modestly-sized personal space was Li Zhirui's golden finger that came with him as a transmigrator.

After years of exploration, Li Zhirui had nearly unlocked all the functions of the space. To sum it up, there were two main points:

First, if Spirit Stones were buried near Spiritual Medicine or Spirit Plants, their growth speed would accelerate, with a single Spirit Stone potentially speeding up the growth of a Spiritual Object by one month!

Since the maturation period for a first-grade Spiritual Medicine is generally one year, meaning that if one consumed twelve Spirit Stones, the Spiritual Medicine could mature instantly.

The problem, however, is that the value of a first-grade Spiritual Medicine on the market is about ten Spirit Stones, and the price would decrease with a bulk order. So, this ability was not as exaggerated as Li Zhirui had once thought.

Of course, to say it was useless would be going too far; it all depended on how Li Zhirui utilized it.

The second function of the space was also related to consuming Spirit Stones; however, this time it involved throwing them into the lake to enhance the Spiritual Energy of the entire space.

Li Zhirui had also discovered another feature of the space: no matter the attribute, even for Spiritual Medicine or Spirit Plants with special growth environment requirements, they could all grow healthy and robust in this space.

...

Li Zhirui walked up to the Spirit Field he had tilled and proficiently used the Spirit Rain Skill to water the Spiritual Medicine and Spirit Grain.

To the left of the Spirit Field was the green Spirit Grain, each stalk laden with heavy heads of grain, emitting a fragrance teeming with life as one drew closer.

To the right were various types of Spiritual Medicine, ranging from the most common Golden Bud Grass to the more precious Spirit Nurturing Fruits, a dozen or so kinds of Spiritual Medicine growing neatly in the field.

After thoroughly watering the Spirit Field, Li Zhirui walked among them, pulling out the weeds that competed for Spiritual Energy, and checked for any parasitic pests. After completing this series of tasks, an hour had already passed.

Yet Li Zhirui did not leave the space but headed towards the small mountain because it too was planted with a large amount of Spiritual Medicine and Spirit Plants.