Chapter Forty-Four: The Legend of Innate Aptitude (Part Two)

A violent tremor jolted Lei Yan awake.

“I was opening the five murals inside the main hall. How did I end up here…? Oh, right. When the final mural was activated, five beams of light knocked me unconscious…”

His thoughts raced as he suddenly recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness. Looking around, he discovered that he was inside a bubble radiating five-colored light. Outside it, streams of radiant color flowed like a tunnel through space.

The moving currents of light struck the bubble’s surface, causing it to shake violently.

The surroundings seemed strangely familiar to Lei Yan, yet he could not remember where he had seen them before. Then, without warning, a dazzling white light burst into view.

The bubble exploded as though it had been pierced. A howling wind immediately roared beside his ears. Lei Yan instinctively spread his true essence over his body, but he was still hurled heavily onto the ground. The impact was so violent that he nearly felt as though his body had fallen apart.

“Where is this…?”

Lei Yan could scarcely believe his eyes. The space around him was bizarre beyond imagination. There was no earth beneath his feet; instead, the ground was formed from a transparent energy, resembling the surface of a barrier. Every step he took sent ripples spreading outward.

Stranger still, the surroundings seemed utterly vast. Lei Yan’s supernatural perception had been greatly restricted, allowing him to sense only a dozen or so feet around him. To the naked eye, the place appeared endless, yet in all that emptiness there was not a single living thing. Aside from ribbons of light drifting through the air, there were no flowers, grass, trees, people, or buildings anywhere to be found.

A deathly silence enveloped the entire space, filling the heart with an instinctive fear.

Just as oppression, silence, and terror swept over Lei Yan, that familiar feeling appeared once more. In this vast, lifeless realm, he easily discerned the direction from which it came. The sensation was radiating from the surrounding lights.

Seeking a way out was an instinctive response for anyone trapped in such a predicament, and Lei Yan was no exception. He slowly followed that familiar feeling forward.

There was no sense of direction in this place. Lei Yan could only rely on his instincts. In the blink of an eye, six identical pavilions appeared before him, floating in midair. Wrapped in drifting mist, they looked like something from a dreamlike celestial realm. Arched bridges woven from five-colored light connected the pavilions to one another.

“Could this be where the Medicine Sect’s treasure is hidden?” Lei Yan wondered silently as he stepped onto one of the bridges.

“Hum!”

The instant his right foot touched the bridge, a powerful force transported him directly before one of the pavilions.

A gate formed from gathered red light stood several yards tall, radiating extraordinary majesty. Lei Yan slowly pushed it open. A dazzling radiance burst from within, so bright that he could not open his eyes.

A moment later, a vast hall appeared before him. Even Lei Yan, whose resolve was firm, was stunned by the sight.

The floor was paved entirely with spirit stones, each one glowing faintly. Their gentle radiance cast the hall in a hazy light. Five pillars of brilliance stretched toward the ceiling, supporting the entire space. Beneath those five pillars lay five spirit stones the size of small tables.

Spirit stones were minerals capable of storing the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth. They could be used to establish formations or assist in cultivation. In the cultivation world, a person was fortunate to possess even a few spirit stones. Yet this hall was so extravagant that spirit stones had been used to pave the floor.

Lei Yan could hardly believe his eyes.

His brows suddenly drew together as he felt himself being watched. Raising his gaze, he saw a chair at the far end of the enormous hall, crafted from an unknown crystal. The milky-white seat emitted wisps of mist, and upon it sat an old man whose body appeared almost ethereal.

“A phantom?”

Lei Yan slowly approached the old man.

Suddenly, an aged laugh echoed through the lavish hall.

“Several thousand years have passed. At last, someone has managed to reach this place. I thought I would never live to see it. Hahaha…”

“He is not a phantom.” Lei Yan’s heart tightened, and he immediately became vigilant.

“Child, there is no need to be nervous. Tell me—what generation of the Medicine Sect are you?”

The old man slowly rose and drifted toward Lei Yan.

“My master never told me which generation I belong to. Which senior of the Medicine Sect are you?” Lei Yan asked cautiously.

From the old man’s tone, it was obvious that he was an ancient monster who had lived for several thousand years. If Lei Yan made even the slightest mistake, he might very well die here.

A smile appeared on the old man’s face.

“I founded the Medicine Sect myself. Who do you think I am? As for your master, it is rather strange that he never told you which generation you belong to.”

“Disciple Lei Yan pays his respects to the Grand Patriarch.”

Lei Yan dropped to one knee and bowed respectfully.

“Rise.”

The old man spoke softly.

“How powerful.” Lei Yan was inwardly astonished. He had not seen the old man make the slightest movement, yet a gentle force had already lifted him to his feet.

“After several thousand years, the Medicine Sect has finally produced another person who possesses all five roots.”

A faint ripple suddenly appeared in the old man’s eyes.

“All five roots? What does that mean?” Lei Yan could not help asking. He had never heard of such a thing. Even the books he had read contained no explanation of it.

“You do not know?”

A trace of surprise appeared on the old man’s face. In the next instant, he seemed to remember something. With a sigh, he murmured to himself, “It is no wonder you are unaware. After that incident, I fear no one in the Medicine Sect remembers this matter anymore.”

“That incident? What incident? This old man certainly has a story to tell,” Lei Yan thought.

“Sit. It has been a long time since I have spoken with anyone. Let us have a talk.”

With a wave of his hand, a cylindrical stone rose from the ground.

Lei Yan did not stand on ceremony. He sat directly upon the stone, which resembled a chair, and asked, “Grand Patriarch, what did you mean by the five roots?”

“The five roots refer to the five elemental root-bones: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Root-bones determine one’s innate talent. A person with fire root-bones will be exceptionally sensitive to the Dao of Fire and will find it easier to achieve breakthroughs during cultivation. By the same principle, a person with wood root-bones will be more attuned to the Dao of Wood, while someone with water root-bones will be more sensitive to the Dao of Water…”

The old man explained slowly.

“So the five roots are the root-bones of the five elements. Those who possess them have greater innate talent for comprehending the Dao of the five elements. But there are three thousand Great Daos, and one need only comprehend a single Dao to ascend. It is not necessary to comprehend the Dao of the five elements.”

Lei Yan nodded.

“Correct. Very correct.”

The old man stroked his beard and smiled.

“There are indeed three thousand Great Daos. But all things in the world are formed from the origins of the five elements. Those origins are the foundation of everything. Tell me—which is easier: studying the foundation itself, or studying the things that evolve from that foundation?”

Lei Yan froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

The old man was right. The origins of the five elements were the foundation, much like raw materials. Naturally, it was far easier to study the raw materials directly. The myriad things of Heaven and Earth were created by processing those materials. To study them, one would first have to break them down into their fundamental components and then analyze them. How complicated would that be?

“That is why, no matter which Dao you comprehend, you can never escape the origins of all things,” the old man declared with force.