The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 248: Roots, Aptitude, Attributes

As Li Lang spent some more time pondering the relationship between aptitude and the talent to maintain control over more than one attribute, his eyes naturally landed on the column of his spreadsheet that recorded the number of spiritual roots one had.

“Those with one to seventeen spiritual roots are categorized as grade one aptitude. Eighteen to thirty-five makes up the next level, then thirty-six to fifty-three. This goes all the way up to one hundred and eight, which is what cultivators of this world theorized to the be maximum. I have so far characterized these spiritual roots as the filter and muscles for manipulating Qi. Why am I seeing a trend of multi-attribute talent with a lower number of spiritual roots?”

“Just to confirm, you’re not asking me, right, Master?”

“Sorry, Ruby. Don’t mind me. Just talking to myself,” Li Lang replied as he continued to go over his data with a frown.

“It’s okay. No need to apologize. Just let me know if you need me to do anything!”

“I’m fine for now unless you can simulate cultivators with varying numbers of spiritual roots for me.”

“Sorry, Master. I have the ability to simulate many things at the same time, but that I can’t do.”

“It’s okay. That wasn’t a serious question either. You’re already helpful enough. I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to research half the things I do without your ability. I am nothing but thankful to have you.”

“Hehe, I am a powerful Origin Artifact, after all. I doubt the likes of Blue, Green, and Orange can keep up with all the stuff Master works on. Only I can do it! Anyway, Master, I wanted to tell you the results from the auto-analyzer are in. I’ve sent them to your computer. The auto-analyzer is currently waiting for—”

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“Wait, that’s it!”

“Master? What’s it?”

“Good job, Ruby. Just let me focus for a few moments, okay?”

“Understood, Master!”

A new theory developed rapidly within Li Lang’s mind. All it did was explain how spiritual roots correlated with the talent of controlling multiple attributes, but he was still excited about it. While it didn’t have any immediate uses, being able to verify this would drastically change his recruiting policy in the future.

If he was right, and given that the drawback wasn’t that severe, he could recruit talented individuals no sect or organization could ever discover.

It wasn’t certain that multi-attribute techniques were stronger. Having a deep mastery of one element was a perfectly viable method of cultivation. However, the flexibility gained from controlling just one more type of Qi could not be underestimated.

Nightmoon Valley became so well known because the night and moon attributes could synergize so well together. Ma Kong and Zhu Yi were noticeably stronger when together, and the likes of Sima Xue and Jian Beiyun surely had even more trump cards from their mastery of both attributes.

The caveat was in control.

While these trump cards couldn’t be disclosed, Li Lang learned the basic theory about the strengths of complementing attributes compared to a single element or not specializing in any attributes at all. Having control meant the cultivator could freely manipulate the balance of the Qi within their reserve. If Sima Xue was facing someone specialized in an element that countered her night attribute, she could swap out the majority of her Qi for that of the moon attribute. The night Qi would then simply play a supporting role, becoming fuel for the other attribute instead of becoming useless.

And that was just the basics. Specific combinations of elements could produce more effects that could provide various advantages for the cultivator.

“Okay, please let me out, Ruby. I must go discuss my idea with Wei Ping.”

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Without a word of complaint, Ruby carried out her orders and Li Lang soon found himself back in his room within the Crucible.

As the master of this Spirit-grade artifact, it wasn’t hard for him to track down the location of the people within it. Without any detours, he found Wei Ping practicing his techniques outside, at the foot of the mountain, by the entrance to the main part of the pocket realm.

“Are you planning to hone your skills against some Qi beasts out here?” Li Lang asked as he closed the sturdy stone gates behind him.

“No. I j-just want to feel the wind.”

“Hm, well, I hope you can spare me some time. There’s something I want to talk about.”

“I heard about W-Wu San. Are you planning to get us t-to perform the same tests?”

“Not exactly. I want to bounce my idea off of you. I can’t exactly verify it until more of my students break through, but it’s too important to put off for now. It could change our criteria for recruiting our next batch of students.”

“I-I thought that was still a long way away. Didn’t y-you say it would strain our resources and t-time too much if we accepted any more students?”

“Yes, but things around us tend to take an abrupt turn without caring for my plans. We should make preparations ahead of time.”

Having heard Li Lang admit that, Wei Ping alternated between staring at him and the gates behind him.

“Don’t give me that look,” Li Lang protested. “I know my—actions can sometimes be disruptive. But I can’t predict everything! How in the world could I possibly have known that I would take control of the pocket realm?”

“I’m n-not blaming you. Let’s hear about your new dis-discovery.”

Taking a deep breath, Li Lang began to explain his suspicions to Wei Ping. The more he talked, the more interested Wei Ping became. The conversation eventually turned back to the attributes they should select and their expectation for the cultivation manuals the pocket realm could offer them.

This went on for most of the day until Wu San showed up, following Li Lang’s instructions to look for him when he was ready. He fit right in, as his question was on the same topic as his teachers’ discussion.

“Teacher Li, Teacher Wei, I was thinking of practicing a water-attribute technique and now I’m unsure if that is still the right path. Could you expound on the merits and demerits of practicing techniques that comprise two attributes?”

Wei Ping and Wu San naturally turned to Li Lang for answers. It made him raise an eyebrow.

“I think you’re better at explaining, Wei Ping. You got the same rundown as me, and you’re more concise with your words.”

“I wasn’t t-the one who received private tutoring from the princess of Nightmoon Valley. Y-You are definitely more knowledgeable on t-the subject matter.”

The two stared at each other for a short moment before Li Lang cleared his throat. They were in the presence of a student and childishly engaging in a staring contest against Wei Ping’s wooden mask would not show his best side.

“Well, I can go over the basics. Just remember, we’re still new to this as well. There may be some gaps in our knowledge.” Wu San earnestly nodded and used his gaze to urge his teacher to continue. “Well, multi-attribute techniques—heck, that’s been a mouthful with how often I say it. Apologies, let me restart. The effectiveness of multi-attribute techniques, which will henceforth be known as MATs, is entirely dependent on the attributes they are associated with. I’m sure you won’t be able to find any Earth-grade cultivation manuals with an egregious combination of attributes, but you definitely want to spend more time to find one with the best synergy that you are compatible with.”

“Compatible?” Wu San parroted.

“Yes. There are certain tests you can do to evaluate your affinity with certain elements. I haven’t standardized these tests yet, but I think you can at least figure out which attributes you’re good with by repeating the MAT test you did earlier. You should be able to feel which ones you have greater control over. Do take note that this affinity could be trained, so if there are certain elements you want to focus on, you’ll have to put in the extra work. I won’t let you practice a technique until you’ve proven you have some affinity for the relevant attributes.”

Li Lang couldn’t help but think of the bell he used for his artificer affinity test. He was willing to bet each craft had a similar test, but he just hadn’t come across them yet. It was up to the mentors to decide if it was something they looked for in their students. Li Lang could see why these affinity tests weren’t that popular considering they only measured a person’s current affinity and not their potential. According to his artificer teacher, affinity could be improved over time. It was more practical to use other tests and observe their students over time.

Still, Li Lang didn’t want his students to blindly pick any element they wanted, thinking they would gain the necessary affinity sooner or later. It was possible some people were just a bad match for certain attributes, especially the more exotic ones. He had no idea if the affinity ceiling for each person was unique or not yet. He’d rather err on the side of caution.

“Hmm, I understand. I am willing to try different combinations.”

Li Lang nodded, happy to see his student’s eagerness to experiment. He swiftly brought up various heavenly resources of different attributes and laid them on the ground atop a mat.

“Have fun. Remember to note down your results lest you forget. I’ll be meditating nearby if you need me.”