“You don’t even know what a spiritual root is?”
Xie’s father said, “It sounds vaguely familiar.”
But he genuinely couldn’t remember where he had heard it before.
Wang Yuerong couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “You’ve definitely never read cultivation novels. A spiritual root is basically the threshold for cultivation. Only those who possess a spiritual root can cultivate.”
She had read similar novels in her younger years, where the protagonist went from a useless nobody to an immortal, with an exhilarating and satisfying plot. Even now, she still vaguely remembered some of it.
“Cultivation?” With his wife’s reminder, Xie’s father, who was practically a primitive caveman when it came to these things, managed to recall a few things.
His brows twitched. As though he had realized something, he suddenly sucked in a cold breath.
“Don’t tell me it’s what I think it is?”
Wang Yuerong gave an “Mm-hmm.” She, too, hadn’t encountered the term “cultivation,” something that existed only in novels, for many years. After saying it, she instinctively looked toward Xie Zhiyu. It wasn’t until she saw her nod that she confirmed she hadn’t gotten it wrong.
Xie’s father froze completely on the spot.
Ignoring him, Wang Yuerong looked at Xie Zhiyu and continued, “Nannan, does that mean that starting today, I’ll be able to cultivate?”
She lowered her head and stared at the flame in her hand.
Thinking of the spells in cultivation novels that could summon wind and rain, as well as lifespans comparable to those of immortals, even her usually calm heart began to boil with excitement.
Xie Zhiyu nodded again.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at the flame that was about to go out. “Mom, the fact that you awakened your spiritual root immediately after the spiritual energy revival means your talent is very high.”
That was what the system had told her.
It said that Wang Yuerong’s spiritual root was Human-Rank Upper-Grade, which meant her cultivation talent was quite good.
Those words immediately made Xie’s father anxious.
He looked at his daughter expectantly. “What about me? What about me?”
Surely his wife couldn’t awaken a spiritual root while he didn’t?
This time, Xie Zhiyu answered very quickly. “Dad, you’ll definitely awaken a spiritual root too.”
What a joke.
Never mind whether her father would actually awaken a spiritual root. Even if he really couldn’t cultivate, she was a livestream seller who had sold spiritual roots just minutes ago. No matter what, she would find a way to give him one.
Her tone was completely confident, and that certainty immediately reassured her father.
However, he only panicked for a moment in front of his family. Once he regained his composure, he noticed that Xie Zhiyu was teaching Wang Yuerong how to control the flames she was producing. Since there was nothing for him to do for the moment, he began thinking.
Xie’s father was forty-nine years old and worked as an independent investor. Recently, he had been inspecting a company he was considering investing in, so he had taken Xie’s mother with him on a business trip. They had only just returned when they encountered the spiritual energy revival outside.
Perhaps ordinary people wouldn’t have noticed, but Xie’s father had some assets and connections, so he had already connected this event with the frequent fluctuations within the upper levels of society recently.
He seemed to have realized something.
By the time Xie Zhiyu finished teaching her mother how to properly perform the technique for controlling the flames, half an hour had passed.
Middle-aged Wang Yuerong had already become completely excited by this novel cultivation technique. She didn’t even have time to ask how her daughter had learned it. She simply lowered her head and silently recited the incantation. Every now and then, a flame would shoot up, only to disappear again.
She had clearly become completely absorbed in it.
The questioning Xie Zhiyu had expected never came, and she couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief. She moved her slightly sore shoulders and carefully placed Xiao Hei, who had been sleeping on her lap the whole time, onto the sofa.
The sleeping cat let out a soft,娇娇的 meow. Feeling safe at home, it merely stretched out its pink paws and clawed at the air a couple of times without waking up.
Xie Zhiyu picked up her glass and took a sip of water. Just as she was about to rest, her father suddenly shouted in a booming voice:
“Immortals above, spiritual energy, come forth—”
“Pfft—”
The water that had just entered Xie Zhiyu’s mouth was immediately sprayed out.
“Cough, cough, cough—” She patted her chest and hurriedly wiped her mouth with a tissue.
“Meow?!”
Xiao Hei, who had been sleeping soundly just moments ago, was also startled awake. It sat upright, its fur slightly puffed up, warily staring at Xie’s father, who was currently squatting in a horse stance.
In its impression, this seemingly serious but secretly flamboyant male owner would absolutely never perform such an action in front of everyone.
For example, only when he was home alone would he drop his serious facade, pick up the sleeping cat, and frantically bury his face in its fur.
Today’s male owner was not normal.
Xie’s father’s actions successfully attracted everyone’s attention. Even Wang Yuerong, who was still excited about cultivating, couldn’t help looking over, only to be rendered speechless.
“Old Xie, what are you doing?” she asked.
Xie’s father didn’t answer.
Holding his breath, he changed his hands into a somewhat strange position. As his voice fell, the points of light hidden in the air faintly gathered around his fingertips.
There were very few of them, though. To everyone else, it merely looked as if his fingertips had become slightly brighter.
Xie’s father, who hadn’t exercised in a long time, couldn’t hold the position for much longer.
He relaxed his stance and wiped the sweat from his face before finally having the chance to answer Wang Yuerong.
“Wife, look.” He pointed at his phone, where a video was playing on the illuminated screen.
Xie Zhiyu and Wang Yuerong leaned closer and saw a middle-aged man dressed in strange clothing on the screen.
“After the spiritual energy revival, if an ordinary person fails to activate their spiritual root immediately, you can try performing this movement and reciting this incantation…”
The man in the video was demonstrating exactly the same movement Xie’s father had just performed. However, judging from the power displayed, the man in the video was clearly much stronger. Even his body was faintly glowing.
Xie’s father awkwardly explained, “I just wanted to try and see if I could awaken my spiritual root.”
Unfortunately, his cultivation talent was genuinely terrible. Even though he followed both the movements and the incantation exactly, he could only gather a tiny amount of spiritual energy.
Forget awakening a spiritual root. If this had been a cultivation world, he probably would’ve been the kind of ordinary person who accomplished nothing his entire life.
Thinking of this, Xie’s father sighed sadly.
Fortunately, his emotions came and went quickly. A second later, his attention shifted again.
“Could I really be unable to cultivate? Is there something wrong with this incantation? But this video is the most popular cultivation video online right now.”
Xie’s father muttered as he fiddled with his phone, trying to find another video teaching people how to cultivate.
“Dad, don’t worry. You’ll definitely be able to cultivate. There’s no need to worry.”
Xie Zhiyu smiled as she returned to the sofa.
She opened her own phone. She didn’t even need to search for it—the exact video her father had been watching immediately appeared in her feed.
“Oh my goodness.”
The system’s voice rang out in her mind. “It’s only been an hour since the spiritual energy revival, right? How does this video already have more than ten million likes?”
The number was even more outrageous than it had expected.
It was obvious that the golden-light phenomenon from earlier had spread like a virus, reaching the point where everyone knew about it.
To many people, what had originally seemed like an ordinary day had unexpectedly become the day the world changed.
This unknown transformation made everyone uneasy. They could only search for reassurance online, so a series of videos related to the spiritual energy revival, cultivation, and similar topics quickly became popular.
Xie Zhiyu opened the video’s comment section.
The video, with more than ten million likes, had over a million comments. She skimmed through them and found that the highly liked comments were mostly people reporting that the incantation and movements were genuinely effective.
Some people had even awakened their spiritual roots after performing the movements for only a short while.
Because of this video, many people had also learned about the sect to which the middle-aged man belonged.
—Longxiao Sect.
Some people had even begun entertaining the idea of joining this hidden sect.
“Looks like I’m not the only one trying to fish in troubled waters,” Xie Zhiyu muttered inwardly.
There wasn’t just this one video, either. A video lasting more than ten minutes couldn’t possibly have appeared at exactly this moment unless it had been prepared in advance.
Xie Zhiyu was practically drooling over this enormous wave of traffic.
She couldn’t help but ask the system, “Can I post a video too?”
If one more person saw it, perhaps the popularity of her livestream would increase as well.
However, the system seemed somewhat troubled.
“According to the rules, that’s not allowed.”
It was a livestream shopping system, so all products could only be sold through livestreams. Xie Zhiyu could certainly post videos if she wanted, but any popularity gained from them wouldn’t be recognized by the system’s rules.
However, Xie Zhiyu immediately noticed a loophole in what it said.
“You mean that if I personally post a video, the popularity won’t be recognized by the rules, but if someone else posts a similar video promoting me, then it will count, right?”
The question was a little convoluted.
The system confirmed it. “That’s right. If the host actively posts a video related to herself, the popularity it generates won’t be recognized by the rules. But if someone else voluntarily posts a related video, the rules don’t care.”
Got it.
Didn’t that basically mean she couldn’t promote herself, but if other people voluntarily promoted her, that was perfectly fine?
In other words, the rules were basically made for her benefit.
Putting that thought aside, she closed the first video and returned to her bedroom, intending to try the incantation just like her father.
The system noticed what she was thinking.
It immediately stopped her. “Wait, host.”
“What is it?” Xie Zhiyu stopped what she was doing.
“Did you forget something?” it reminded her indirectly. “You received a reward after your first livestream. Aren’t you going to check it?”
Its reminder came at exactly the right time.
Xie Zhiyu slapped her forehead, clearly having genuinely forgotten about it. She quickly opened the system panel to take a look.
The moment she opened it, the rewards eagerly popped up and appeared before her eyes.
【Congratulations on completing your first livestream. Current fame: Completely Unknown.】
【Congratulations on reaching 300 Popularity Points.】
【Calculating rewards.】
【Congratulations, you have received the following rewards: Qi-Guiding Into the Body Incantation, Foundation Establishment Incantation.】
The timing of these rewards couldn’t have been better.
Xie Zhiyu couldn’t help praising the system.
“System, you’ve really matured. You even know how to secure benefits for your host now.”
The system practically floated with pride after being praised.
“Of course! These are all things you can use right now.”
“You have excellent talent, host, so you should use the best incantations. Those incantations and movements from the videos, well…”
It didn’t finish its sentence, but Xie Zhiyu understood what it meant.
A warm current silently flowed through her heart, and the corners of her lips lifted.
“Thanks.”
Her tone was sincere.
The system immediately crashed for a moment. It took several seconds before it recovered.
“I-I, uh… n-no… you’re welcome.”
It didn’t even know what it was saying.
An unfamiliar emotion welled up inside it. It didn’t dare think too deeply about it, so it hurriedly changed the subject.
“Stop chatting. Host, hurry up and awaken your spiritual root, then guide the qi into your body.”
“My host can’t be too weak,” it said.