Will the Senior Brother Return to the Sect? - Chapter 2

Testing spiritual roots was a task that required no further instruction from Wen Qixue; Su Xuanlin was already familiar with the process and channeled his spiritual energy into the Spirit Source Stone.

Shortly after, the stone displayed a deep, dark red color that Su Xuanlin recognized well.

Su Xuanlin withdrew his hand and said, “This is the color. Everyone says it indicates a Fire Spiritual Root.”

Wen Qixue looked at him with a peculiar expression. “That ancestor of yours, surely he didn’t tell you that you had a Fire Spiritual Root as well, did he?”

Su Xuanlin blinked and shook his head. “It is said that the ancestor went against tradition and left home many years ago, so he was not by my side when I tested my spiritual roots.”

“Because so many people have told me that I have a Fire Spiritual Root, I never doubted it.”

The wandering spirit before him, whose origin was unknown, was the first person to ever question his spiritual root attributes.

Wen Qixue continued to explain to Su Xuanlin, “The manifestation of a Fire Spiritual Root on the Spirit Source Stone is a very vibrant red, often with streaks of bright yellow. This dark red of yours is clearly not a Fire Spiritual Root—or, at the very least, it is not only a Fire Spiritual Root.”

When discussing his own roots, Su Xuanlin sat up straight and asked, “Then, Honorable One, do you mean to say that I might have multiple spiritual roots, with a trace of fire attribute among them?”

If that were the case, it would be plausible.

People with three or more spiritual roots are referred to as having “Mixed Spiritual Roots.” Because they possess so many, they require a vast amount of spiritual energy to cultivate. Furthermore, since the purity of mixed roots is generally low, these individuals cultivate much slower than those with a single root.

Thinking back to how the “Honorable One” inhabiting this puppet body had mentioned that his root purity was not low, Su Xuanlin looked at Wen Qixue with a glimmer of hope.

However, Wen Qixue’s answer defied his expectations: “It should not be that.”

“If you had multiple roots and at least one of them was a Fire Spiritual Root—even if it were extremely weak it would not prevent you from absorbing energy consistent with your own nature after practicing fire-attribute techniques. Your current situation only indicates that you have no Fire Spiritual Root at all.”

Su Xuanlin seemed to understand, yet not fully, and could only let out a slow “Ah.”

Seeing his bewildered expression, Wen Qixue sighed and shared his theory: “You are most likely a mutant spiritual root, but the degree of mutation is average. It simply carries some fire attributes on top of your original root. That is why you can use fire-style techniques, but if you want to cultivate properly, you must practice techniques aligned with your primary attribute.”

This time, Su Xuanlin understood.

He asked with almost desperate urgency, “Honorable One, then do you know what my spiritual root actually is?”

Wen Qixue replied frankly, “I do not.”

Su Xuanlin froze for a moment, then lowered his gaze. “Then, is there any way to find out?”

Wen Qixue did not hold back and told him what he knew. “Artifacts like the ‘Spirit Analysis Disk’ can clarify spiritual root attributes, but most of these are large and are only found within major sects.”

He gestured toward the ground. “Originally, those with mutant spiritual roots can only thrive in large sects. In a small sect like this, you cannot even find cultivation techniques suitable for you.”

Upon hearing this, Su Xuanlin felt as if he had been struck by a blow. He looked utterly dazed. “I… can I go to one?”

Wen Qixue answered quite casually, “Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

He then looked at Su Xuanlin and asked, “Do you have any important people or things you wish to keep in this sect?”

He was considering that if the boy had anything he valued in this sect, he would make a trip to retrieve the person or the items.

This was only a small sect, even smaller than his previous sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Being small was one thing, but they didn’t even have a sect-protecting formation, which was why Wen Qixue had been able to scan the entire sect with his divine sense without anyone noticing.

He felt that even though he was not yet accustomed to this puppet body, he could rely on his years of experience and enter or leave this sect without being discovered.

Although he was not sure if the boy’s ancestor had hidden any ill intentions when crafting this puppet, the man had at least helped him awaken early. He had used the materials he prepared on his own body, so helping the other party now and sending him to a reliable sect could be considered settling this karma.

Wen Qixue then heard the boy reply, “No. After the ancestor passed away, there was nothing left in Yuanwu Gate worth caring about.”

The three words “Yuanwu Gate” at once strange and familiar made Wen Qixue pause in surprise.

He looked the person across from him up and down and asked, “Are you Su Xuanlin?”

Su Xuanlin blinked, appearing incredulous. “Honorable One, do you actually know me?”

Wen Qixue slapped his own forehead.

It really was Su Xuanlin!

The reason Wen Qixue had prepared heavenly materials to reshape his body in advance was that during his Golden Core lightning tribulation, he had been carelessly invaded by the soul of an entity from another world. He had tried countless methods but failed to expel the foreign soul.

He had asked his master at the Heavenly Sword Sect, but nothing could be found. Furthermore, at that time, his “heaven-favored” junior brother had just joined the sect, and his master did not have much energy to spare for him.

Thus, Wen Qixue had been forced to cultivate while carrying this foreign soul.

However, Wen Qixue was very clear that while he could cultivate with it now by suppressing it, he could not cross the next lightning tribulation while carrying it.

The Heavenly Dao would never allow a soul that did not belong to this world to continue existing; once discovered, it would surely be obliterated.

In other words, he could not survive the Nascent Soul lightning tribulation.

Because of this, he had prepared a great lightning formation to temper his heavenly materials and had focused on refining his soul during his Golden Core stage, hoping to preserve his consciousness during the tribulation to reshape his body later.

However, this foreign soul was not entirely useless. For some reason, his memories contained a short period of this world, though it unfolded from the perspective of his “heaven-favored” junior brother.

In that junior brother’s perspective, Su Xuanlin was a “villain.”

In the life of that junior brother, Su Xuanlin did not appear until many years later.

It was said that at that time, Su Xuanlin had become “demonic” due to a cultivation deviation and had slaughtered everyone at Yuanwu Gate who had raised him.

Ironically, although Yuanwu Gate was small, one of its elders was a close friend of the junior brother’s companion, which led to a bitter feud between the two sides.

Su Xuanlin was no pushover; after turning demonic, his cultivation skyrocketed, and he stubbornly fought back for many years without dying.

It was said that an elder from the Heavenly Sword Sect someone so powerful that no one in the cultivation world dared to exchange three blows with him finally stepped in and took him away, ending the conflict.

Wen Qixue did not entirely believe the records in the foreign soul’s memory. While the rumors about the “heaven-favored” junior brother were true, that invincible elder was likely a fabrication.

At least, having spent over a hundred years in the Heavenly Sword Sect, he had never heard of such an elder.

Furthermore, if there truly were an elder that powerful, the Heavenly Sword Sect would not still be just a middle-tier sect today.

Though he did not know what would happen to Su Xuanlin, if this was his destined future, it would be good to avoid the path of “turning demonic.”

Wen Qixue looked back at the so-called Yuanwu Gate and let out a long sigh, saying to Su Xuanlin, “Do you intend to stay here, or will you leave?”

Su Xuanlin did not hesitate to reply, “I want to leave.”

He realized it now. Yuanwu Gate was a small sect, and since he had lost the protection of his ancestor and others were coveting the puppet left behind for him, it would be difficult for him to survive here.

It would be better to just leave.

However, he added, “But outside Yuanwu Gate lies Yuanwu City. The city is protected by the gate, and I fear there are many spies there. Even if we go, we likely won’t find peace.”

He had been in this situation at Yuanwu Gate for quite some time; surely, anyone who needed to know in Yuanwu City already knew.

Wen Qixue took the lead and stepped outside the gate. “The world is vast; Yuanwu Gate is not the only place. If Yuanwu City is not an option, then we shall just leave this place entirely.”

Su Xuanlin watched Wen Qixue’s retreating figure and silently swallowed his saliva.

One day, he hoped to have that same nonchalant spirit.

He hurried to follow.

Yuanwu City.

After walking for a while, Wen Qixue flexed his ankles. “Even though this is a puppet, it’s still quite tiring after walking for so long.”

It was mainly because he was not yet accustomed to the puppet body. Even though he had tempered his soul as much as possible before his death, controlling a puppet body with just a soul was still quite taxing.

Moreover, they did not have any flying artifacts.

Wen Qixue could not understand why a master craftsman, who had spent so much effort preparing a Golden Core puppet for someone, had failed to include a single flying artifact!

Surely they couldn’t expect someone who hadn’t even reached the Foundation Establishment stage to start flying on a sword!

At this thought, Wen Qixue remembered one thing.

He still had no weapon!

He looked at Su Xuanlin. “Do you have any spiritual stones?”

Su Xuanlin nodded and took out the storage bag again. “I have some; they were left by the ancestor.”

Wen Qixue did not take them, instead asking, “Did your ancestor leave you any weapons? Anything will do for now.”

Su Xuanlin remembered hearing the man mention that he was a sword cultivator and immediately reacted, pulling a silver-white longsword from the storage bag. “Honorable One, here.”

“This was prepared by the ancestor for when I reached Foundation Establishment, but…”

He had never reached Foundation Establishment; even now, he was only at the fourth layer of the Qi Refining stage.

The Su family ancestor was an artifact refiner and had forged many weapons for him, ensuring he would never lack one no matter his future needs.

Wen Qixue raised an eyebrow at the sight of the longsword. He took it and skillfully performed a sword flourish. “Not bad.”

Su Xuanlin gave a shy, awkward laugh. “This is one of the few swords I have that was not forged with fire-attribute materials. I heard that when the ancestor was refining it, he ran out of fire flint, but compared to the fire-attribute weapons, this should be more suitable for you.”

Wen Qixue nodded, then patted Su Xuanlin on the head. “Let’s go!”

Su Xuanlin followed closely, asking in a rush, “Honorable One, where are we going?”

Wen Qixue slung the sword across his back. “To get some travel funds, rent a carriage, and check if there are any teleportation formations nearby. We can’t rely on the few spiritual stones your ancestor left to walk to other cities, can we?”

“That would be a long way off!”