The green-eyed man sat at the counter, idly stroking the large golden rat in his arms.
Just then, Xiao Fei approached with a basin of chicken soup, his face a picture of fawning eagerness.
"Senior! Fei Fei stewed this old hen and ginseng soup, it's exceptionally delicious. I specifically brought a portion for you to taste."
The green-eyed man didn't stand on ceremony, took the chicken soup, and took a sip. He smacked his lips; it was indeed very flavorful.
He then tore off a chicken leg. The leg was fragrant, tender, rich but not greasy, and cooked to perfection.
"Slurp, slurp!"
"Gulp, gulp!"
"Crunch, crunch!"
Despite being considered a senior expert by Xiao Fei, the green-eyed man displayed none of the demeanor of one. He ate with his mouth smeared in oil, casually wiping his greasy hands on his clothes.
Sometimes, he even let the large golden rat in his arms stick its head into the bowl to eat a few mouthfuls.
After eating his fill, the green-eyed man crossed his legs and used a long fingernail to pick out residual meat fibers from between his teeth, then popped them back into his mouth.
"Unsolicited kindness usually hides ulterior motives. Tell me, boy, what's your objective?"
Xiao Fei's ulterior motive exposed, he didn't feel embarrassed and chuckled.
"Senior truly has eyes like a torch. All my petty schemes are hidden from your discerning gaze."
"Heh heh! I've come to ask for your guidance on cultivation techniques."
Xiao Fei's "Evergreen Technique" only had the first four levels, and he had reached the limit of his progress.
There were two shops in Star Moon City specializing in selling cultivation manuals. Xiao Fei had visited them; not only were the prices exorbitant, but the sheer variety was overwhelming, leaving him unsure of how to choose.
Thinking of the senior expert residing in his home, he decided to inquire first, to gain some understanding of cultivation techniques before making a selection.
After listening to Xiao Fei's detailed explanation, the green-eyed man stroked his sparse, uneven beard with his oily hand.
"When cultivating techniques, one must first understand spiritual roots. There is no single 'best' technique; only a technique that suits one's own spiritual roots is a good technique."
"The most common spiritual roots in the world are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water – these five elemental roots. Additionally, there are ice, wind, and lightning roots, which are variations of the five elements."
"Everyone is born with spiritual roots, but the quality of these roots varies in strength, good or bad."
"Cultivation geniuses with good spiritual root aptitude can achieve in one year what takes others decades. Those with poor spiritual root aptitude cannot cultivate at all."
"The majority of people in the world have spiritual root aptitude that is too poor to cultivate, making them ordinary individuals."
Xiao Fei had heard many people mention spiritual roots during this time, but never with such specificity.
"Then how does one determine a person's spiritual root aptitude?"
"Spiritual root aptitude requires testing with specialized artifacts. After tens of thousands of years of development in the cultivation world, spiritual root testing artifacts have become very mature, capable of representing each person's spiritual roots with precise numerical values."
"The best spiritual root aptitude is 100 points. Such a genius might not appear in the cultivation world for hundreds of years. Anything below 20 points makes cultivation impossible. Most people's spiritual root aptitude is below 20 points."
"I happen to have such an artifact. As I'm in a good mood today, I'll test it for you for free."
As the green-eyed man spoke, a white light flashed in his hand, and a round white jade disk appeared.
"Place your hand on the center of this jade disk."
The green-eyed man installed two spirit stones onto the disk, which immediately emitted a faint glow.
Xiao Fei placed his palm on it as instructed. He felt nothing, but the jade disk suddenly shone brightly, the light condensing into numbers in the air.
The numbers flickered, starting from one or two points and steadily rising, now approaching twenty.
Xiao Fei felt a bit nervous. He guessed that this number was the aptitude points the green-eyed man had mentioned. After cultivating for a while, especially comparing himself to Huang Feifei, he had a rough idea that his aptitude might not be very good.
At this point, the value had risen to fifty and was still climbing. It seemed his aptitude wasn't bad after all!
When the numbers reached seventy or eighty, Xiao Fei began to believe that his aptitude was indeed not bad. Perhaps he was a young genius, merely hindered by an unsuitable cultivation technique.
Finally, the numbers settled quietly at 100.
"Senior, am I really that once-in-a-millennium genius?"
Xiao Fei could barely contain his excitement. He was truly a genius after all. It seemed the responsibility of sweeping across the cultivation world and saving the world would fall upon him. Alas! It couldn't be helped; with great power comes great responsibility. His heart felt weary!
At the same time, he felt a bit envious of the green-eyed man. Despite his shabby appearance, he had the opportunity to befriend a man who was about to stand at the pinnacle of the world.
No! He mustn't get arrogant. He needed to be more low-key and humble.
However, the green-eyed man was only slightly excited. A full 100 points in spiritual roots was indeed rare; it indicated at least above-average aptitude.
"Don't rush. This is just the total value. We still need to look at the individual spiritual root values."
The green-eyed man said this, then cast a spell at the jade disk. The disk immediately displayed five colors: green, red, yellow, white, and black.
First, a number appeared within the green light representing the wood attribute, rising just like before, but stopping at 20.
The green-eyed man shook his head casually. Twenty points for the wood attribute alone meant only 80 points remained.
Next, the red representing fire, the yellow representing earth, the white representing metal, and the black representing water all stopped at 20.
It turned out Xiao Fei possessed all five spiritual roots, with each element evenly allocated 20 points. Each elemental root was at the minimum level required for cultivation.
Xiao Fei's earlier triumphant arrogance vanished, replaced by a dejected slump.
"Hahaha... With your aptitude, not even one in ten thousand years would produce someone like you."
The green-eyed man felt a touch of schadenfreude, but what he said was true. An aptitude like Xiao Fei's, with 100 points evenly distributed across the five elements, was indeed a once-in-ten-thousand-years occurrence.
"However, don't be discouraged. At least you're much stronger than most ordinary people who can't cultivate. Throughout history, many who reached the peak, those of astonishing talent, didn't necessarily have good spiritual root aptitude. There was once a cultivator named Han with extremely poor aptitude who, through diligent effort, successfully cultivated to the highest realm. Several other cultivators named Lin and Ye also rose from being considered 'waste' to crushing all sorts of rare treasures under their feet..."
The green-eyed man listed several more examples of individuals with disabilities but strong wills who achieved success through hard work, helping Xiao Fei regain some confidence.
Just then, Huang Feifei emerged from the backyard. Xiao Fei immediately pulled her over.
"Senior, could you test Feifei as well?"
"Hmm, bring your hand over."
Xiao Fei pulled Huang Feifei along, allowing her to undergo a spiritual root test. Huang Feifei's results came out quickly and were much better than Xiao Fei's. Her five spiritual roots were: Wood: 36 points, Fire: 35 points, Earth: 1 point, Metal: 1 point, Water: 23 points. Huang Feifei's aptitude allowed her to cultivate wood, fire, and water elemental techniques, with wood and fire being more prominent, making her more suited for wood and fire-based cultivation. Her earth and metal spiritual roots were too poor for cultivation. Although Huang Feifei's total cultivation aptitude was only 96 points, her aptitude for cultivating any wood or fire technique was better than Xiao Fei's.