Chapter 9: 9. Chapter 9: The Biological Mother is Coming!

Chapter 9: The Biological Mother is Coming!

"Holy crap? Spiritual Roots?"

"Bro, we're actually starting the cultivation journey!"

"I've waited for this day for too long. I'm willing to die in this game in this lifetime!!"

The players were utterly ecstatic.

Cultivation.

The dream embedded in the very bones of every Chinese person.

To soar through the heavens and dive into the earth, surveying every mountain and river in this world.

Who wouldn't want that?

The moment they heard cultivation was coming, it felt like they could swing their hoes with even more vigor.

As for the phrase "the stronger the will, the stronger the spiritual root," it gave the players an ominous premonition.

It's not based on luck, is it?

Aren't we all supposed to start from the same starting line?

This was also Song Jiulai's question: "Spiritual root talent... there are differences among players too?"

The System said: "Of course. Why do you think most people in this world are ordinary mortals? Opening spiritual roots for players is already an act of defying the heavens—"

The System didn't finish, suddenly changing its tone: "It's predestined, and there's nothing I can do about it. Some are born with high talent, others are destined for low talent. It just is what it is."

Song Jiulai rubbed her chin: "Then why did you say my white spiritual root isn't important?"

In the Yunzhou Continent, spiritual roots do not follow the traditional Five Elements, because as long as one steps into the path of cultivation, basically every mental cultivation method can be practiced—provided you have the talent to absorb it.

One only looks at spiritual root talent, and that talent determines the upper limit of your cultivation speed.

This talent is detected by the 'Spirit-Sensing Stone.'

The Spirit-Sensing Stone doesn't have much other use; it only reacts to spiritual roots. A single touch reveals the truth. The Longevity Sect possesses one.

The lighter the color, the lower the talent.

White represents the most ordinary cultivators; Blue is average; Purple is excellent and worthy of the favor of great sects; Orange is the level required to become a closed-door disciple of a major sect.

As for Gold.

That is true "lucky emperor" talent—the legendary top-tier spiritual root.

Wherever they are, they are the chosen ones of heaven. They are discovered at birth and are raised in secret.

They would never be left to wander the world.

Spiritual roots are something you either have at birth, or you never have at all.

System: "You are different. Because you are bound to me, and my current energy is at zero, your talent is naturally the worst. I did my best."

Song Jiulai: "..."

She didn't think it was necessarily bad: "Then it's still quite good."

To be able to come to another world to start anew and even practice cultivation—what more could one ask for?

The System said: "Sometimes, choice is very important. Think about it: if the people you recruit have no talent and love causing trouble, wouldn't your life be over?"

"..."

True.

After all, in this place, you can actually die.

Aside from the System, her "golden finger," she had absolutely no other protection.

Staying low-key in the early stages was the way to go.

Song Jiulai actually hoped more players would have top-tier talent so they could carry her.

Her talent was not affected by the players. As long as she completed the System's tasks and the System became powerful, it could protect her. Even if the players eventually became powerful enough to bridge the space between the two worlds and some developed ill intentions, she would still have her final trump card.

She did all this because the mysterious System required it.

Having lived a second life was essentially a stroke of luck, and Song Jiulai treated it as a grand adventure.

But being too weak wouldn't work; as a Sect Master, she had to maintain her standing.

So she had to cultivate. She had to work hard at cultivating!

Song Jiulai murmured: "I hope they have high talent, but I also hope they don't grind too hard..."

Otherwise, it would be incredibly awkward if the Sect Master was still in the Qi Refining stage while others had already reached Foundation Establishment.

System: "Don't worry, they won't be able to discover your true level. At the very least, you can keep pretending to be a high-level expert in front of them."

"..."

Strange cries drifted from the distance. Unable to resist the temptation of cultivation, the players returned one after another, carrying various lengths of wood they had hacked down.

Forget building houses; it looked like they would have to squeeze into the courtyard for tonight.

They could actually choose to log off and rest.

A-Wu had also finished identifying the common spiritual herbs of the Yunzhou Continent with his five junior brothers and sisters.

If they wanted to earn more money, they would have to go to the Flying Sparrow Sect tomorrow to buy more spiritual herb seedlings for cultivation.

Cultivating spiritual herbs required spiritual energy. Previously, A-Wu couldn't manage alone and could only handle two plots of land; now that there were people, they could handle dozens more!

Dinner was held in A-Wu's courtyard. The kitchen was right next to his private room. Song Jiulai had placed the steamed buns there to keep them warm.

The buns here were large and plump. The grain grown in this spiritually nourished soil yielded harvests even more impressive than in modern China.

Everyone was given two large buns, which were almost as big as their faces.

A-Wu and Song Jiulai ate meat buns separately. She was the Sect Master; she had the right to have special meals!

The players crowded around A-Wu's wooden house, squatting on the ground, gnawing on their buns and discussing things among themselves.

"Holy crap, even the sense of taste in this game is so insane. These buns are so fragrant."

"They're just a bit dry—didn't ferment well enough."

"Dipping them in condensed milk would be heaven."

"What do you mean condensed milk? Buns should be paired with bean paste!"

"What? Wouldn't chocolate sauce be even better?"

"Get out of Yunzhou Continent, you heretics!"

Even the few solo players were approached by the enthusiastic players, and they learned each other's names.

Zhou Xiao poked his head out: "When can we see my mom?"

Han Tian: "We'll go right after we finish these buns."

They had already conducted an experiment: aside from some unfamiliar flora, the land resources here were exceptionally fertile, and the physical reactions were identical to reality.

In other words, they could completely use modern techniques to build things.

Like building houses or reclaiming farmland.

Even the Senior Brother, A-Wu, was a cultivator who needed to eat, and his appetite was not small. He ate three meat buns—each larger than his face—in one go and still didn't look full.

He even made himself a bowl of noodles.

At the very least, the food supply couldn't be lacking in the early stages. There were only fifty people now, but what if more slots were opened in the future?

Han Tian speculated that the Longevity Sect was so poor that it definitely wouldn't be able to support them for long.

In a sense, his guess was quite accurate.

Han Tian didn't know how much heaven-defying technology or how massive a server capacity was required to support a game like this. He only knew that this game would surely cause a sensation nationwide and even worldwide. He had to seize the initiative.

"After the spiritual roots are activated, they should give us mission choices. Above us is the Flying Sparrow Sect; A-Wu said they are a sect for weapon forging. There's a high probability that an alchemy sect also exists. This proves there are many types of sects in Yunzhou. We don't belong to any specific category, so we're likely an ordinary sect that touches upon everything."

"The main quest will definitely have a direction of development, which should be a personal choice. The current goal for the sect is just one: make money first to develop the sect and maintain our daily consumption, allowing the sect to operate normally. Senior Brother said there's a mortal county town at the foot of the mountain. I want to ask Senior Brother to take me down the mountain tomorrow to observe the situation in person."

Han Tian analyzed everything while gnawing on his bun, leaving Zhou Xiao and Wu Dahu stunned.

Zhou Xiao immediately raised his hand: "Take me with you."

After all, A-Wu was a local NPC. Since he said there were mortal towns below, it must be safe.

Wu Dahu followed blindly: "Take me too."

A voice suddenly came from beside them: "Take me as well."

The three looked over; it was one of the solo players.

Han Tian had an impression of him. From the moment he entered the game, he wasn't like the others, looking around excitedly. Although he was shocked, he calmed down very quickly.

While chopping wood earlier, he had gone off by himself to another area for a long time.

His game ID was Jiang Ya.

Han Tian nodded directly: "Sure."

He also shared his own deduction: "If the mortal towns below the mountain are also fully modeled, then this game... will drive the world mad."

Wu Dahu laughed loudly: "Those bastards in the group who looked down on this game and refused to fill out their info, saying they'd wait for our feedback—they're going to regret it so much their guts will turn blue—"

At that moment, another system notification arrived.

【Please gather at the spawn point. The Sect Master is waiting for you.】

As soon as the notification dropped, the players' spirits surged.

Their "biological mother" was about to appear!