Chapter 313: The Secret of the Mage's Spiritual Power and Divine Soul

Research into the Sun Family Ancestor, a Third-Grade Mage, commenced swiftly.

The Spiritual Roots in his body—Top-Grade, Middle-Grade, and Lower-Grade—were all related to wind.

Their combination and lineage were truly extraordinary.

Meanwhile, Qi Suian made casual conversation with the Sun Family Ancestor.

With the help of his AI chip, he subtly probed for information and managed to learn a few things about the Sun Family Ancestor.

The man came from a large city, born a mere commoner. By a stroke of luck, he obtained a Mage's legacy and, after refining a Spiritual Root, embarked on the path of a Mage.

Unfortunately, with no background or status, his journey was fraught with hardship.

He drifted between various prominent families, only to be cast aside in the end.

Luckily, he was just a disposable pawn, never valued by the true powers-that-be. This allowed him to flee, albeit in a wretched state, and eventually find his way to Pinghu City to lord over the locals.

Go back? Impossible. The big cities were too much of a rat race; even a Third-Grade Mage was just a pawn there.

In Pinghu City, by contrast, the Sun Family Ancestor lived a comfortable life, having long lost the fierce drive of his younger years.

Break through to Second-Grade? That was a fantasy reserved for his good-for-nothing descendants. How could he not be aware of his own physical condition?

A breakthrough was completely out of the question. The only reason he could hope to live out his natural lifespan was because his upper-grade Spirit was sustaining him.

The Sun Family Ancestor was actually quite philosophical about death, feeling little fear.

Most of his time was spent planning for his descendants; for himself, the focus was mainly on stabilization and life extension.

He never thought about breaking through.

If he were to attempt a breakthrough, he would have to throw the entire Sun Family's resources into it, and even then, he'd only be gambling on a ten-percent chance of success.

It was better not to try. Besides, no one important paid any attention to a place like Pinghu City.

Qi Suian then casually asked about Vermilion Town, but the Sun Family Ancestor, of course, knew nothing.

He didn't even know such a place existed.

'But he made a mental note. If I ever get out of this, I need to look into that place.'

'After all, Qi Suian wouldn't ask about it for no reason.'

'Lower-Grade Spiritual Roots are like skills, Middle-Grade are like equipment and items, and Top-Grade are like talents. However, they are limited in scope—all are talents for borrowing power from the world and communing with nature.'

Through his research and experiments on the Sun Family Ancestor, Qi Suian quickly deduced the nature of the different Spiritual Root grades.

'But they're all growth-oriented, not static.'

'There's no inherent difference between Spiritual Roots, only a difference in their abilities.'

'So the Spiritual Root rankings in the *Atlas of Spirit Search* must only be considering them in isolation.'

'With excellent synergy, even just three single-skill Lower-Grade Spiritual Roots, a treasure implement with a single ability, and a Taoist Scripture with a single effect could produce a powerful result.'

'The rankings are therefore a misdirection, intentionally leading people to pursue Spiritual Roots with multiple skills, diverse abilities, and stacking effects.'

Qi Suian couldn't help but think that the former Yunhan Dynasty had also been run by prominent families. They likely added the rankings to the atlas deliberately, as a way to weaken the common Jianghu Mages.

'As for the Mage families? They have complete legacies; they would never be misled.'

Take the Sun Family Ancestor, for example. He had obtained a complete legacy, which was why he hadn't gone down the wrong path.

His own Spiritual Roots were all synergistic. Otherwise, he never would have broken through to Third-Grade amid such fierce competition.

Unfortunately, he was just one step short before his path forward was severed. Had he continued to strive, he might not have reached First-Grade Mage, but becoming a Second-Grade Mage would still have been possible.

'Spiritual Power is a secretion from the Spiritual Root, merely in energy form. This is why a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root can merge into it.'

'It then combines with flesh and blood, allowing it to travel through the capillaries. At this stage, the human and the Spiritual Root are fused even further.'

'The resulting offspring will possess Spiritual Root genetic fragments far superior to those of Mages from the lower three grades.'

'The Spirit of an upper-grade Mage, then, originates from the fusion of a Spiritual Root with one's mind and soul, ultimately forming an entirely new spiritual structure.'

'Simultaneously, the Spiritual Root genetic fragments have already permeated the spiritual and other derivative levels.'

'At this point, it becomes difficult to remove, even through possession or reincarnation.'

Qi Suian muttered under his breath. He had also discovered why it becomes harder for Mages to have children the higher their grade.

It wasn't because their immense power damaged their life force, but because the Spiritual Root genetic fragments within their bodies grew increasingly complex.

A couple needed to share common Spiritual Root genetic fragments to successfully conceive—in other words, they needed to have the same symptoms among their hereditary "diseases."

Only then could these identical fragments couple, leading to successful conception.

This change was already creating an effect akin to reproductive isolation.

'This thing is really something else,' he thought. 'It's on the verge of completely taking over its host.'

If this were to continue, humans with Spiritual Roots would likely merge completely with them, forming a new "Spiritual Root race."

Or, to be blunt, Parasite People.

And that possibility might be just around the corner. The moment the hereditary "diseases" within them become active would be the moment the Mages begin to transform.

"Are you trying to obtain my Sun Clan's legacy?" the Sun Family Ancestor asked when he saw Qi Suian fall silent.

He had wanted to speak earlier, but Qi Suian had used his Fei to physically mute him.

A Spirit can operate without a body, but the Fei was an entity of pure spiritual intent, an externalized evolution of the mind.

It might not be powerful enough to act against the Sun Family Ancestor's Spirit directly, but it was more than capable of forcing him into silence.

However, now that the research was over, the Fei had been withdrawn, allowing him to speak.

"No, I'm studying Spiritual Roots. Do you have any suggestions?" Qi Suian retorted.

'What's so special about the Sun Family's legacy? It's just more Mage lore. To me, it's not much different from the *Nine Extremes Celestial Path*.'

'The content might differ, but the underlying principles are more or less the same.'

'Mages, as a subject, held little research value for him.'

The Sun Family Ancestor himself, however, did have value. For one, Qi Suian had extracted many useful Spiritual Root genetic fragments—or, as he saw them, fragments of special constitutions and symptoms of hereditary diseases.

He had also confirmed that, with the right timing, he could change the very species of Spiritual Root-bearing humans in an instant.

After all, these were fragments of the Spiritual Root's own "genes." It was no wonder they manifested as hereditary diseases in humans; a "special constitution" was simply the positive expression of the same.

"The synergy of Spiritual Roots? That's not something..." The Sun Family Ancestor failed to grasp Qi Suian's meaning.

"No, not their synergy. The Spiritual Root itself," Qi Suian cut him off. "Let's start with a simple question: where do wild Spiritual Roots come from?"

This question truly stumped the Sun Family Ancestor.

His first instinct was to say they came from Spirit Demons. But before a Spirit Demon acquires a Spiritual Root, it's just an ordinary animal or plant.

The Spiritual Root comes first, then the Spirit Demon.

"I... I honestly don't know. What's the point of studying that?" the Sun Family Ancestor asked, confused.

'Once you become a Mage, everything is about struggle.'

'Struggling for resources, for better Spiritual Roots, for greater power.'

'Who had time to think about such questions?'

"For you, it really is meaningless."

"You just have to follow the path laid by your predecessors," Qi Suian said as he began to dissect the Sun Family Ancestor's head.

He was preparing to extract the Top-Grade Spirit Root: Cyan Nether Gang Wind from the man's skull.

The man's value was exhausted. Qi Suian was ready to conduct an in-depth study of the Top-Grade Spiritual Root.

The reason he chose this specific root, rather than one from the batch he had previously seized, was because this one was deeply integrated with the Sun Family Ancestor.

Since Qi Suian already had the Sun Family Ancestor's data, studying it would be far more efficient.

In truth, he had been quite excited about Top-Grade Spiritual Roots when he first learned they were essentially artificial, implantable talents.

But his interest waned the moment he discovered they were all limited to borrowing power from the world and communing with nature.

'Unless it came from the Doomsday Game, a power like this would be like a holy relic in any other world; even if it didn't become completely ineffective, its power would be drastically reduced.'

'The talents, skills, and equipment from the Doomsday Game, on the other hand, seemed to possess a certain universality.'

'The Tai Sui God had experienced so many different Doomsday Worlds without a single issue of incompatibility.'

'You could say the rewards from the Doomsday Game were stingy, but you could never say they were poor quality.'

'In the end, it looks like I'll still have to rely on my Abyssal Virus.'

Qi Suian knew the Spiritual Root system probably wouldn't help him break through his current limits.

He didn't want to create any hidden dangers for himself, yet he was unwilling to give up the benefits the Spiritual Root system offered.

'As a boss, not having a second-stage transformation just feels... incomplete.'

Qi Suian narrowed his eyes. He mused that by combining the Spiritual Root system with his Abyssal Virus, he might be able to create a new skill.

The rough idea was to first modify himself, creating a foundation—a "special constitution" that would effectively serve as new hardware.

Next, he would use the Abyssal Virus to infect, erode, and assimilate a Spiritual Root, turning it into "software" that he could then install onto his new "hardware."

The process wasn't difficult. The hard part was designing the "special constitution," and, following that, choosing the right Spiritual Root.

There were countless varieties of Spiritual Roots. Choosing a good combination from among them would be no easy task.

Qi Suian planned to use the Nine Extremes Body as a template.

Three Spiritual Roots wouldn't be enough. Even nine wouldn't be quite enough.

He wanted more.

All in all, it was an incredibly complex modification.

From research and development to cultivation and implementation, the entire process would consume enormous amounts of time and resources.

Qi Suian did a rough calculation and came up with an astronomical figure.

But if he succeeded... even without any growth in his base strength, he might not be able to completely dominate the Spirit Demon sealed beneath Vermilion Town, but he could at least fight it on even terms.

When he couldn't increase his power vertically, he would expand it horizontally.

Qi Suian was greedy. He would take on any knowledge he didn't possess, any Extraordinary system he hadn't yet encountered.

Especially if it could make him stronger.

"AI chip, you need to speed up."

"I've already shown you the plan. If you don't speed things up, I won't have the resources for my research," Qi Suian stated bluntly.

The resources he needed were, of course, from the Spiritual Root system itself. That meant he could only plunder them from the Spirit Root World; he couldn't produce them on his own.