(It's another Monday tomorrow, and Wang Yu still needs everyone's continued support. He hopes to remain on the bestseller list, as that would significantly increase the chances of securing a major contract with the editor. As long as he stays on the list, Wang Yu will keep writing 6,000 words every day! Please keep voting for this book!) Thus, the two walked along, chatting casually—though in truth, it was Han Li asking questions and the young man answering. Through this conversation, Han Li subtly gathered information about the cultivation world, learning many fundamental facts that most cultivators should know. For instance, cultivators are generally divided into three stages based on their attainments: the lower, middle, and upper stages. The lower stage comprises five levels: Qi Cultivation, Foundation Building, Condensation, Yuan Yin, and Divine Spirit. The middle stage includes three levels: Qi Immersion, Body Integration, and Great Ascension. Once the cultivator reaches the upper stage, there remains only one final milestone—the Journey Through the Storm—after which they can ascend to the immortal realm and live in harmony with the heavens and the earth. Yet, as easy to say as it may sound, truly practicing it is far from achievable! As for advancing through the three great stages, even reaching the very first stage’s highest level—the Hua Shen stage—according to this young man, there has not been a single person in the entire Yue state. Even those who hover around the Yuan Ying stage are rare, with only a few elderly beings blessed with exceptional fortune. According to the young man, the lifespan of a cultivator is closely tied to their cultivation stage. Each advancement in stage signifies a doubling of one’s lifespan. In the mortal world, living past a hundred years is already a rare achievement. A cultivator who successfully establishes a foundation can easily live into their twenties and beyond—this is quite normal. Should someone manage to form a Golden Dan, living into the four or five hundred-year mark becomes quite feasible. And if, by sheer luck, one achieves a miracle—such as forming a Yuan Ying—then congratulations: even reaching a thousand years of age is not beyond the realm of possibility! As the young man spoke, he kept sucking his lips, deeply admiring the ancient beings who could live for a thousand or eight hundred years—how extraordinary that was, ten times longer than ordinary people! Han Li, listening by the side, was utterly stunned. Although he had suspected that immortals would live much longer than commoners, he hadn't expected such a remarkable difference—living for over a thousand years! That truly sounded like a thousand-year turtle, Han Li thought with a touch of sarcastic amusement. Yet, if even Yuan婴 stage cultivators could achieve such longevity, what about those at the Huashen stage and beyond, or even higher levels? Wouldn't they be even more astonishingly long-lived? Han Li finally couldn't hold back and gently probed the question. "Who knows? Maybe they live even longer, or perhaps they simply never die at all," the young man said casually. "It's said that any cultivator who truly reaches the Stage of Divine Spirit Transformation and achieves a complete, perfect mastery of it must leave our world and go to another, higher-dimensional realm—specifically what that realm or world is, and whether anyone has ever returned, no one knows, and indeed, no one has ever come back." "Yet if no one has returned, then how are the stages beyond Divine Spirit Transformation categorized?" Han Li thought with some frustration, though he realized that asking this question of the young noble before him would likely go unanswered. He decided to hold it in. Beyond the cultivation stages, Han Li had also gained a general understanding of the cultivation sects and families in the Yue Kingdom. He wasn't familiar with the details of the sects elsewhere, but regarding the overall situation of cultivation sects and families throughout the entire Yue Kingdom, the young man spoke with remarkable clarity and confidence. From what he said, Han Li learned that in the Yue State, there were seven major and minor sects—Masked Moon Sect, Huang Feng Valley, Ling Shou Mountain, Qing Xu Sect, Hua Dao Workshop, Tian Qu Fort, and Ju Jian Sect. Among these, the Masked Moon Sect was the strongest, followed closely by Ling Shou Mountain, while the others were all of comparable strength with no significant disparities. If these sects were the towering trees supporting the entire cultivation landscape of the Yue State, then the cultivation families were like various branches and vines, dependent on these sects to survive and thrive in the realm. According to the young man, in a rather mysterious tone, any cultivation family with a few generations of history traced its ancestors back to disciples of these sects—their lineage being carried forward through those disciples. This phenomenon stemmed from the shared trait among all cultivators—their "spirit root" or "spirit essence." What exactly is a "spirit root," most cultivators simply did not understand. Yet they all knew that if a person lacked a "spirit root," there was no point even considering cultivation—since one simply couldn't sense the spiritual qi, let alone develop magical abilities! Those born with a "spirit root" were exceedingly rare among ordinary people, even said to be one in ten thousand, or one in ten thousand miles. Nevertheless, even among those with a spirit root who managed to embark on the path of cultivation, only a small fraction succeeded—most people simply lived ordinary lives. It was difficult to identify such individuals, as they were widely scattered, leaving cultivation sects deeply troubled by the challenge of recruiting disciples. Moreover, possessing a "spirit root" did not automatically meet the requirements of a sect—since there were indeed distinctions among spirit roots, ranging from good to poor. Generally, "spirit roots" are categorized by the five elemental properties—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Most people possess a combination of these five or four elemental attributes. While such individuals can sense the celestial spiritual energy, their cultivation progress is often disappointing, typically only reaching the third or fourth level of the foundational five-element techniques before stagnating. As a result, they rarely surpass the foundational stage throughout their lives. Therefore, spirit roots with five or even four attributes are referred to as "pseudo-spirit roots" in the immortal cultivation world, distinguishing them from "true spirit roots"—those with two or three attributes, which enable faster cultivation. In contrast, those with a single, pure elemental attribute are known as "heavenly roots," signifying favored by heaven. Individuals with such roots cultivate at two to three times the pace of ordinary spirit-rooted cultivators. Moreover, when they reach the peak of the foundational stage, they do not encounter the typical bottlenecks faced during the transition to the condensed stage, allowing them to smoothly enter the condensed phase. If the astonishing speed at which someone cultivates leaves other immortals in awe, then the fact that "Heavenly Root" cultivators can achieve Dan stage without any bottlenecks truly makes other immortals envious—so much so that they nearly choke on their admiration. After all, among ten Qi cultivators, only one typically succeeds in reaching the Foundation stage with the aid of a Foundation Pill. Yet among one hundred Foundation-stage cultivators, only one might successfully attain the Dan stage. This stark disparity in success rates surely makes other immortals deeply covet the unique advantages of "Heavenly Root" cultivators. Consequently, whenever a "Heavenly Root" cultivator appears, various immortal sects fiercely compete to secure them—since such a talent effectively guarantees a powerful Dan-stage master for the sect, significantly enhancing its strength. However, the occurrence of such extraordinary "Heavenly Root" cultivators is so rare that their probability is nearly negligible, with such individuals typically discovered only once every few centuries by immortal sects. Yet there exists another type of spiritual root—though not a "Heavenly Root"—that falls outside the Five Elements classification, and such roots appear more frequently, with one emerging every twenty to thirty years. These so-called "variant roots" arise when two or three of the Five Elements blend and undergo mutation and refinement. For instance, a "Thunder Root" formed from the fusion of a "Earth Root" and a "Water Root," or an "Ice Root" resulting from the transformation of a "Metal Root" and a "Water Root," as well as other variant roots such as "Shadow Roots" and "Wind Roots." While cultivators with variant roots do not possess the innate immunity to the Condensation Stage bottleneck, their cultivation pace is no less impressive than that of those with Heavenly Roots. Moreover, if they can find cultivation techniques compatible with their specific attributes, these individuals often become outstanding masters, typically surpassing three or four ordinary cultivators of equivalent strength. Thus, cultivators with variant roots are highly valued and welcomed by major cultivation sects. But in the past, even ordinary "True Spirit Roots" were hard to find—let alone rare talents like "Heavenly Roots" or "Varied Spirit Roots."仙 sects simply couldn't afford to test every child in every household. After all, only one out of every ten thousand people was born with a Spirit Root, and among every five or six such individuals, only one would truly possess a True Spirit Root. Under such stringent conditions, it became a remarkable occurrence in the history of the cultivation world that certain smaller sects had dwindled down to just a few members—some with only cats and dogs—nearly losing their entire lineage. Eventually, through careful study, some dedicated individuals discovered that Spirit Roots tended to appear more frequently among descendants sharing the same bloodline. For instance, if one of a couple possessed a Spirit Root, their children had a one-in-four chance of inheriting it as well. Of course, if both parents possess spiritual roots, the likelihood of their offspring inheriting such roots increases significantly—having children who all possess spiritual roots becomes no rare occurrence. This discovery greatly excited those who were particularly interested. Under their initiative, many young disciples from various sects were sent out by their senior mentors to establish families and careers in the secular world, with the expectation that once they had children, they would return to their sects to continue their cultivation. As a result, when these sects faced a shortage of disciples, they would directly select children with spiritual roots from among the families of their disciples, significantly raising the proportion of true spiritual root holders. Thus, the long-standing challenge of a shortage of disciples within the sects was finally alleviated. Although the probability of ordinary people giving birth to children with spiritual roots remains low, the overall number of such individuals continues to grow, and families with a lineage of spiritual roots consistently produce new generations of disciples. As time went on and gradually branched out, these eventually evolved into the current cultivation families. While they may not possess the most advanced cultivation techniques, they do have a solid collection of more fundamental cultivation methods, gradually becoming the outer wings of various cultivation sects and gaining a certain degree of independence. Thus, behind each cultivation family, there generally stands a supporting cultivation sect that cannot be overlooked. This young white-clad youth had rarely spoken so freely and confidently before. The feeling of being listened to intently made him eager to express himself, significantly enhancing his admiration for Han Li. Without hesitation, he shared all the cultivation-related information he knew, displaying a clear sense of pride and display before Han Li. Han Li, in turn, listened with great pleasure and occasionally interjected with comments, encouraging the youth to speak even more freely. Yet unfortunately, the hillside perpetually shrouded in mist was not far from the small village. After walking for several hours, the two finally reached the foot of the slope. Such a short distance greatly annoyed Han Li. He had still not finished hearing about the affairs of the immortal realm and longed to turn around and go through it all again. Of course, he knew this was impossible, so he could only watch the silent youth, his eyes shining with anticipation as he gazed at the mist.