"Hope?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Li immediately looked at Fan Zhengping with wide, burning eyes. When a person is driven to utter despair, what else could they crave more than a sliver of hope? As long as hope remained, anything was possible.
"Yes, hope." Fan Zhengping nodded. "As mortals, you naturally have no choice in your fate. But if you possess spiritual roots, Master might treat you as he treats me and take you in as disciples."
Spiritual roots.
At those two words, the strength drained entirely from Lu Li's limbs. He slumped, saying with a bitter smile, "We participated in the Qingyang Sect's awakening ceremony. We have no spiritual roots."
"No spiritual roots?" Fan Zhengping frowned. He stared at Lu Li for a long moment, as if weighing some weighty decision, before finally speaking. "Wait here."
With that, he strode swiftly toward the main hall. Lu Li's instincts flared, and he instantly thought of making a run for it, but a glance at the heavy, locked doors nearby made him slump right back down.
Setting aside the fact that Fatty Chen and Qin Shouren were still locked in their rooms, Fan Zhengping's speed alone meant escape was entirely out of the question.
Only a moment later, Fan Zhengping hurried back. He deposited a heap of jade bottles onto the table, sat down, and said, "These are Awakening Spirit Pills I've been refining on the side-one hundred and twenty in total. I'm giving them all to you. Divide them amongst yourselves. If anyone manages to awaken a spiritual root, let me know, and I'll plead with Master to spare your lives."
"Awakening Spirit Pills?" Lu Li looked at the pile of jade bottles and shook his head. "We've already taken those."
"I know," Fan Zhengping explained. "Truth be told, in the cultivation world, five-element spiritual roots are far from the worst. Below them lie six, seven, eight, nine, countless variations known as mixed spiritual roots. Awakening those requires a massive quantity of Awakening Spirit Pills."
"Of course, even if someone with such roots manages to awaken, their cultivation speed is slower than a crawling turtle. They might never break through to the first layer of Qi Refinement in their entire life. Still, it's infinitely better than having no hope at all."
So there was such a thing.
Lu Li's extinguished dream of cultivation flared back to life. Even if it was only a mixed spiritual root, as long as he could tread the path, he would never give up.
"Thank you, Senior Brother." Lu Li swept all the jade bottles into his arms. No matter the result, he had to try.
After exchanging a few more words, Lu Li eagerly hurried back toward the cell block.
He stopped at cell number three first, pulled out four jade bottles, and passed them through the small opening to Chen Zhong while explaining what had happened. To his surprise, Fatty Chen cursed him for acting like a lickspittle and refused to take them.
Helpless, Lu Li set the bottles on the ground outside the door, then moved on to Qin Shouren's cell. Though Qin Shouren was feeling wretched, the mention of hope made him accept the bottles without a moment's hesitation.
Watching from a distance, Fan Zhengping muttered to himself that this kid had both a steady head and sharp instincts. If he actually managed to awaken a mixed spiritual root, perhaps he really could scrape his way into the first layer of Qi Refinement one day and wield immortal methods.
Seeing that the distribution was finished, Fan Zhengping locked the doors securely and left.
Back in his own cell, Lu Li sat cross-legged on the filthy straw and began swallowing the pills.
Such a massive stash of Awakening Spirit Pills was something even a prominent sect like the Qingyang Sect would never squander on mere mortals. To acquire them, he truly owed a debt to Fan Zhengping's lingering shred of conscience.
As the first pill slid down his throat, Lu Li stared intently at his own skin, waiting for a reaction. Nothing happened.
A quarter of an hour later, Lu Li let out a hollow sigh and shoved another pill into his mouth.
...
Unawares, three hours slipped by. Lu Li had already consumed a full eighteen Awakening Spirit Pills, yet his body remained entirely unresponsive.
Right then, a fist suddenly shoved through the small ventilation hole in the adjacent wall, accompanied by Qin Shouren's trembling, breathless voice: "Mud Monkey... Mud Monkey, look! Did I... did I actually awaken?"
Lu Li started. He lunged forward, grabbed Qin Shouren's hand, and stared at the faint wisps of multicolored Qi swirling around the skin. His breath caught in his throat. "Beast... holy shit, you actually did it!"
"Hahaha! I awakened! I have spiritual roots! I can cultivate!" Qin Shouren jerked his hand back, roaring with laughter and pacing wildly inside his cell.
A moment later, Lu Li heard Qin Shouren dash over to share the good news through the wall he shared with Chen Zhong. A heavy thud echoed as Fatty Chen scrambled toward the jade bottles left by his door, tumbling over himself in his haste.
By nightfall, Lu Li had devoured forty Awakening Spirit Pills. Still, there was not the slightest sign of an awakening. His heart felt as though it had turned to ash, and he collapsed powerlessly back onto the dry straw.
Early the next morning, Lu Li was jarred awake by another outburst of excitement from Qin Shouren-Fatty Chen had succeeded as well.
Stunned and battered by the blow, Lu Li fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Around noon, Fan Zhengping returned to unlock the doors and let the three of them out for some fresh air.
Learning that both Chen Zhong and Qin Shouren had successfully awakened their spiritual roots, Fan Zhengping looked genuinely astonished and promised to put in a good word with Master so they could stay on as pill boys.
"Mud Monkey, I still have twenty-five Awakening Pills left here. Take them and try again." Seeing Lu Li sitting off to the side in low spirits, Qin Shouren hurried back to his room and returned with three jade bottles.
Chen Zhong emerged from his quarters as well, holding out another three bottles. "I've got twenty left, too. On the immortal path, our three brothers leave no one behind."
Lu Li initially wanted to refuse. Spiritual roots that failed to stir after forty pills were bound to be utterly worthless even if they did awaken. But meeting the fierce, hopeful gazes of his friends, he swallowed his pride and took the bottles.
Whether because he had been starved of company for too long or simply felt moved, Fan Zhengping spent the afternoon explaining the basic concepts of cultivation to Chen Zhong and Qin Shouren. Lu Li sat nearby, listening in a haze of incomprehension, his chest tightening with bitter envy.
When dusk finally fell, Fan Zhengping concluded his explanation.
The group then headed to the kitchen to prepare a meal. Despite the grim circumstances, the atmosphere was warm and lively.
Lu Li remained absent-minded throughout. As soon as dinner ended, he retreated to his cell and resumed his desperate binge of the pills.
Disappointment came like clockwork. By the end of the night, he had swallowed another thirty pills, yet still felt nothing. Only five Awakening Spirit Pills remained in the final bottle.
The next morning, Lu Li refused to leave his cell.
Chen Zhong and Qin Shouren came by to offer clumsy words of comfort, but finding no way to help, they eventually left him in peace.
"No. I refuse to give up like this."
Lu Li glared at the last remaining jade bottle, fighting through bone-deep exhaustion as he popped open the cork.
One pill.
Two pills.
Three pills.
Suddenly, a blinding radiance erupted from Lu Li's body. Gold, green, blue, red, brown, white, purple, black, and bright yellow-nine distinct hues of dazzling light burst straight through his flesh.
"This!"
Lu Li shook violently with a surge of raw adrenaline. He threw back his head and roared, "I've awakened! I've actually awakened!"
Startled by the commotion, Chen Zhong and Qin Shouren bolted into his cell. When they laid eyes on Lu Li's current state, they rubbed their eyes in sheer disbelief. "What... what in the world is happening to him?"
When they had awakened, their Qi manifestations had been faint and wispy-nothing remotely resembling this terrifying spectacle. Lu Li looked less like a cultivator awakening a root and more like a human-shaped beacon of burning light.
Even Fan Zhengping rushed in, staring at Lu Li with a dry throat as he swallowed hard. "Is... is this really what an awakening looks like?"
Chen Zhong and Qin Shouren froze, exchanging bewildered glances. "Wait... is this not an awakening?"
"I... I honestly don't know," Fan Zhengping muttered, his expression twisting in profound confusion. He had never heard of an awakening like this in his life. Unfortunately, he was only at the first layer of Qi Refinement; rumor had it that only high-level Foundation Establishment masters could directly probe the true attributes of a newly awakened spiritual root.
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