From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 85 Turtle Spirit Technique
There is an inconspicuous shop on the street in the county town.

The shop had no signboard. The front door was half a meter wide, with two wooden doors, one of which was closed, allowing only one person to pass through.

This is the only shop in Tonggu County that tests spiritual roots.

Xu Xiaoniu saw someone walking out of the shop with a lost look on his face, so he walked in.

He came here as instructed by his father to test his spiritual roots for cultivation.

The furnishings in the shop were simple. A white-haired old man was lying in a rocking chair, dozing off leisurely with his eyes closed.

Next to it was a wooden box with an opening on the top and the words "one tael of silver" written on it. It was obviously a box for money.

Further in, there is a wooden table with a crystal clear ice-like crystal on it.

One tael of silver is used to test the spiritual roots. Obviously, it is impossible for the cultivator to test it personally, but it is tested with spiritual root crystals.

Cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi training cannot detect their spiritual roots because their control over spiritual energy is very weak and the spiritual energy will dissipate uncontrollably after leaving the body.

Only when one reaches the late stage of Qi training and spiritual energy is integrated into one's consciousness can one use spiritual energy to detect whether others have spiritual roots.

However, cultivators in the late stage of Qi training disdain to earn such a small amount of money.

"Uncle, I put the money down."

Xu Xiaoniu took out one or two taels of silver, and seeing that the old man ignored him, he put the silver into the wooden box and walked away.

Just when he was about to ask what to do, he saw a piece of rice paper pasted on the wall next to him with a few big words written on the paper: [Don’t ask].

Below these large characters was written the instructions: Place the palm of one hand on the Spiritual Root Crystal, concentrate and calm your mind, empty your thoughts, and wait for three breaths. If the Spiritual Root Crystal shows no reaction after three breaths, then there is no Spiritual Root.

He placed his palm on the crystal as instructed and waited quietly. Five colors emerged from the ice-white crystal: light gold, tender green, aqua blue, fiery yellow, and earth.

"Master, the spiritual root crystal has color, which means I have spiritual roots, right?"

Xu Xiaoniu asked, the paper only wrote about the situation of "no spiritual roots", but did not write about the situation of having spiritual roots.

"Ok?"

Pei Qianfeng opened his eyes and looked at the Spiritual Root Stone: "Yes, five-element pseudo-spiritual root."

About a hundred people come to his shop every day, and it is too troublesome to ask each of them, so he put up the paper.

Five-element pseudo spiritual roots are not uncommon, and one appears every few months.

Possessing the lowest level of pseudo-spiritual roots, one can only become a low-level independent cultivator in the immortal cultivation circle, struggling for a little bit of resources. If one comes from an ordinary family, it is common for the family to be broken up and the whole family to die.

"Who are you? What's your family background?"

Pei Qianfeng asked casually. This was his habit. Knowing the other person's identity and family background, he could roughly judge his future situation.

"Xu Xiaoniu, from the Xu family in Baihe Village."

Xu Xiaoniu's father said that the fact that he had spiritual roots needed to be made known to others, so he did not hide it.

Xu Xiaoniu? Baihe Village?
Pei Qianfeng felt the name sounded familiar and suddenly stood up from his rocking chair. "County Lieutenant Xu? Are you the Xu... Lord Xu who just got his military officer status?"

"Yes."

"Pei Qianfeng of the Pei family, greetings to Master Xu."

Pei Qianfeng bowed to Xu Xiaoniu.

He was able to run a spiritual root testing business here, so he wasn't from an ordinary family. The Pei family was a Qi-refining cultivator family in Tonggu County, and their power was no less than that of the county magistrate, the Lu family.

"I've heard of the Pei family's great name for a long time. Thank you for being so polite, Mr. Pei."

Xu Xiaoniu bowed in return.

"Don't dare."

Pei Qianfeng waved his hands repeatedly. Although he was a member of the Pei family, he was just an ordinary person. He had the lucrative job of testing his spiritual roots because of his close blood relationship with the Pei family's patriarch.

"Master Xu, you are a registered official, and you have also been diagnosed with spiritual roots. Your situation is much better than that of ordinary casual cultivators. Just talking about cultivation techniques, they are hard to come by in the secular world, but in the imperial court, you can buy them if you have merit or spend spirit stones.

In addition, you still have a slight chance of being promoted to an immortal official."

Pei Qianfeng lowered his voice when he said this. He and Xu Xiaoniu had no conflict of interest. The reason he said so much was because he saw his bright future and wanted to establish a good relationship with him.

"An opportunity to be promoted to an Immortal Official? How can you say that?"

Xu Xiaoniu was curious, as he had not known this secret before.

Pei Qianfeng leaned closer and whispered a few words.

"I see. Thank you for letting me know." After thanking him, Xu Xiaoniu exchanged a few words of greeting before saying goodbye and leaving.

----

Lu Yisong happened to be at the county government office.

Xu Xiaoniu found Lu Yisong and said that he had detected five types of spiritual roots and wanted to buy some immortal cultivation techniques from the court.

"Have you detected the spiritual roots? Five-element pseudo-spiritual roots?"

Lu Yisong was not puzzled about Xu Xiaoniu's detection of spiritual roots, but was puzzled about why it was a five-element spiritual root.

"Is this your first time testing your spiritual roots?"

"Yes, Lord Lu."

This wasn't a lie. In Xu Xiaoniu's opinion, this was indeed his first time testing his spiritual roots.

Lu Yisong didn't believe this. He still firmly believed that there was some connection between Xu Xiaoniu and Yan Yijin.

"Okay, come with me."

As he said this, he took Xu Xiaoniu to a closed quiet room.

"As a military officer with a proven spiritual root, you can purchase some basic cultivation techniques from the imperial court. Here's the catalog. Choose the one you want from these twenty or thirty cultivation techniques, and then give me a spirit stone.

I'll contact the county government, and they'll send someone to deliver the technique you've chosen."

Lu Yisong handed a jade slip to Xu Xiaoniu.

A flawless white jade slip with clear handwriting engraved on it.

Xu Xiaoniu looked at the jade slip and saw the names of various exercises and their brief introductions.

["Qingmu Longevity Technique": A wood-based technique, practicing it can extend one's lifespan by twenty to thirty years...]

Renshui Health-Preserving Exercise: A water-based exercise, practicing it can impart healing properties to spiritual energy...

……

"Although these techniques cannot be called top-tier, they are still much better than the worst techniques used by ordinary casual cultivators."

The "worst" level of martial arts that Lu Yisong mentioned is the "Tuyuan Jue" practiced by Lin Changtian and others.

After browsing carefully, Xu Xiaoniu chose one of the exercises called "Xuan Tu Gui Ling Jue".

This is an earth-based cultivation method, characterized by its rich spiritual energy and defensive nature.

"Master Lu, this is a spirit stone."

He took out the spiritual stones hidden in layers from his pocket, which were the gift from Jiang Hao to him for his marriage.

Lu Yisong accepted the spirit stone and reminded him, "When the technique is sent back from the county government office, you must memorize its contents here. Imperial court rules prohibit copying or rubbing it. You can only memorize it and practice it yourself, and you must not pass it on to others."

Violators will be punished by death and their entire family will be implicated."

"Yes, I noted it down."

Xu Xiaoniu was shocked and secretly sighed at the strict control of the court over martial arts.

----

Half a month passed.

The county government sent the "Xuan Tu Gui Ling Jue".

Xu Xiaoniu learned this technique and used a spirit crystal given to him by his father to successfully draw Qi into his body, open up his Qi sea, and embark on the path of cultivating immortals.

Although he knew that military officers had the opportunity to be promoted to immortal officials, it was only a slight chance and was actually very difficult.

His military officer salary was thirty taels of silver per month, more than enough to support an ordinary family.

Military officers’ benefits also include tax exemption on 500 acres of land each year. The Xu family currently does not have so much land, so they began to slowly acquire more land.

Xu Xiaoniu and Xu Xiaogou, both lacked spirit stones, and practiced slowly with their five-element pseudo-spiritual root qualifications.

Xu Xiaoyun's wine shop business was going smoothly, and with Xu Xiaoniu's background, the business was even more prosperous.

Xu Xiaoan was in Baihe Village, taking care of farm work while taking care of his parents.

Xu Fugui practiced in the space within his body, where there was abundant and rich spiritual energy, and his efficiency was several times faster than practicing in the outside world.

(End of this chapter)