Jiang Li, Yu Banxia, and the others boarded the sect's flying ship again. However, this time, it seemed a little crowded.

After all, there were more than two thousand children on the ship. They could only make do with a few people sharing a room.

Soon, the flying ship returned to the sect. When they disembarked, Jiang Li discovered in surprise that many of the children who had fainted earlier had already woken up.

After asking around, he learned that after the inspection by the sect's professionals, these children were in a state of extreme thirst for spiritual qi because of unknown reasons. Because their spiritual qi demand was unable to be satisfied, they spontaneously fell into a slumber.

The solution was very simple. They only needed to use a simple array formation to pour the spiritual qi of one to two spirit stones into the unconscious child's body and they would automatically awaken.

This matter was done together with the test of spiritual root grade.

Jiang Li, Yu Banxia, and the rest took their rewards from the outer sect affairs hall.

Yu Banxia and the others got 300 spirit stones, while Jiang Li got 500 and also a special one-time use token!

(A portion of the rewards was taken away by the elders.)

It was very inconvenient to have a large bag of 500 spirit stones, so Jiang Li directly exchanged 400 of them for four precious medium-grade spirit stones from the counter.

The exchange rate between medium-grade and low-grade spirit stones was generally 1: 100.

However, due to the rarity of medium-grade spirit stones, in the outside world, the exchange rate between medium-grade and low-grade spirit stones was slightly higher. It could only be maintained under the supervision of the sect.

Therefore, as long as the person-in-charge made use of this position, he would be able to earn a steady income from the price difference. It was quite a good job.

At that time, the inner sect senior brother of the outer sect's affairs hall acted a little displeased. 𝒷𝓮𝒹𝓃ℴ𝓿𝓮𝓁.𝓬𝓸𝓂

Yu Banxia and the rest did not dare to frown. However, Jiang Li felt that everyone would be on equal footing after the outer sect competition. Why would he be afraid?

Moreover, he was a rich inner sect disciple after all. Wasn't it too demeaning to bear grudges for these few spirit stones?

He completely ignored him and acted as if he did not see it, decisively exchanging for the spirit stones.

When he returned to his room, he directly stuffed the spirit stones into the Yin Burial Coffin. Jiang Li did not care about anything else and directly ran to the window at the head of the bed and picked up the ordinary clay pot.

It was exactly the same as before he went out. There was still nothing growing.

After pushing aside the soil, the spiritual root seed was still lying there perfectly fine. It did not seem to have changed at all and there were no signs of sprouting.

However, Jiang Li noticed that the two spirit stones beside the seed had already completely lost their luster. The spiritual qi within had already completely disappeared, becoming an ordinary jade stone with a poor quality.

"It's good that there's a change. I'm just afraid you're a dead seed."

"But the soil doesn't seem to be attractive to this thing."

Jiang Li took the seed and slowly observed it while consolidating the information in his mind.

He did not know much.

1: This seed is called a spiritual root seed and it has the ability to absorb spiritual qi from spirit stones.

2: The spiritual root seed originated from a certain Scaled Demon tribe.

3: More than two thousand children who had spiritual root aptitude were affected by external forces.

Jiang Li could only temporarily assume that those 2,000 children had their spiritual roots obtained because of the spiritual root seed.

Then, where did this spiritual root seed come from? Was it really just a natural treasure, or was there some other purpose?

Even refining a magic artifact used up half of his blood. It would not be so simple to obtain a spiritual root for no cost whatsoever.

Jiang Li was now rather wary of whatever he picked up.

After some thought, he went out and ran to the outer sect kitchen to grab a live fish that was nearly 10 kilograms.

He returned to the small house and found a large basin of water.

He looked at the spiritual root seed in his hand and then at the live fish in the basin.

"You're in for a treat."

Jiang Li first took out the Immortal Opportunity Stone and carefully tested this fish. This was called the control variable method.

Otherwise, if this fish was talented and actually had a spiritual root, then his experiment would have been for nothing.

After waiting for a moment, there was indeed no reaction.

Jiang Li took out the spiritual root seed, opened the fish mouth, and stuffed it in.

The first thing he tried was the simplest way of swallowing.

After all, illnesses were often caused by ingestion. The two thousand children could not do too many strange things in their lives.

If the spiritual root seeds had different forms and were mixed in the wild berries to be eaten by them, it was very possible.

Jiang Li moved a bench to sit at the side and stared at it without blinking.

One minute, two minutes. The big fish in the basin did not react at first, but slowly, it started to feel uneasy.

The fish flipped its tail wildly, as if in pain.

Two minutes later, the spiritual root seed that he had stuffed into the fish earlier was actually spat out.

After the fish spat out the seed, it even showed signs of resisting the seed. It swam to the side of the large wooden basin and tried to maintain a distance from it.

What was going on?

Jiang Li picked up the seed from the water basin and looked pensive. He leaned close to smell it.

Other than the addition of a fishy smell, there was also an additional pungent smell on the seed that made people want to vomit.

However, when the seed was held in Jiang Li's hand, the pungent smell quickly vanished, and it transformed into an alluring fragrance that caused Jiang Li to secrete a large amount of saliva.

This thing… knew how to choose a host?

The expression on Jiang Li's face became extremely interesting.

This was just like how you would find it hard to accept the toy doll if it really moved one day even though you treated it as family.

Jiang Li knew that everything was possible in the cultivation world, but to think a seed could still be picky by changing its smell, he was quite surprised.

"However, if you can only change your smell and have no other ability, then I'm sorry."

Jiang Li rummaged through his house and could not find anything. He then ran out and knocked on Lu Qianqian's door to borrow a few needles and threads from her.

While Lu Qianqian was still confused, he rushed back.

The big fish in the basin seemed to have sensed something and started to squirm uneasily in the basin.

However, in the next second, Jiang Li's palm grabbed its throat.

The fish mouth was ruthlessly opened again. As a grass-eating fish, its teeth were barely sharp.

The spiritual root seed was stuffed into the fish mouth again. Jiang Li did not wait for it to spit it out. He picked up a needle and thread and directly sewed the fish mouth shut.

His skills were not good. The stitches were a little ugly and rough, but they were definitely sturdy enough.

Soon, the large fish struggled as before. However, its mouth was sealed, and it could not spit out.

He took another thin rope and tied the Immortal Opportunity Stone to it.

The fish struggled more and more, its fish eyes already somewhat bulging out.

However, Jiang Li did not care. He only replenished the water in the water basin from time to time to make up for the amount of water that splattered because of the big fish's struggles.

After a full ten minutes, the unlucky fish finally slowly calmed down. It looked exhausted, and even its swimming became a little crooked.

However, the Immortal Opportunity Stone hanging on his body released a layer of misty light.

"Oh look, a fish with a spiritual root."

Jiang Li grabbed the fish that was already dizzy. His dual-attribute spiritual qi seeped into its body, and he started to check it inch by inch.

Indeed, just like the two thousand children, there was no foreign object in its stomach.

That spiritual root seed had actually transformed from a solid seed to a spiritual root without a body?

A green light flashed in his hand, and Jiang Li used the Zombie Puppet Technique. A moment later, a cold smile appeared on his lips.

Hmph, since when can a fish resist my control?

But why was the fish not asleep?

Could it be that the two spirit stones it absorbed previously had already filled the gap in spiritual qi, so it would not fall asleep after forming a spiritual root?

It was possible.

Appraisal!

[Name: Maha Scaleless Fish]

[Type: Aquatic Animal]

[Age: Mature]

[Gender: Male]

[Nutrition Source: Green Algae]

[Habit: Swimming]

[Note: Not recommended for consumption.]

After throwing an appraisal skill, he discovered that the bottom line of the fish had changed from "soup can be made" to "not recommended for consumption", just like the spiritual root seed.

Now, Jiang Li could basically confirm that the spiritual root seed was the root reason why 2,000 children had spiritual roots.

However, Jiang Li still did not know the origins of this thing.

However, spiritual root aptitude was determined by birth. This was common knowledge in the cultivation world. Now, it suddenly appeared on a large scale. This kind of mysterious seed that could easily create spiritual roots only needed to be consumed.

One could imagine just how important this matter was. As a Qi Refinement cultivator, he definitely did not have the confidence to intervene.

At most… it was just beating around the bush. First, he would search for more information, in case he could adapt to the situation in the future.

Jiang Li thought for a moment before casting his gaze towards the large fish in the basin.

Then, it seemed that this fish was already useless. So, what could he do to retrieve the spiritual root seed? It was impossible for him to really teach a fish to cultivate.

Currently, he did not know a reliable source to get spiritual root seeds. It was still a very precious sample. He could not give up easily.

That Scaled Demon treated this thing as a treasure and entrusted it to its tribesmen. Clearly, it should more or less know the effects of this seed.

Therefore, this seed had most likely been consumed before. Logically speaking, there should be a way to remove the spiritual root seed.

Could it be that the Scaled Demon's white body was related to this?

But under what circumstances would the Scaled Demon turn white?

Jiang Li pondered for a long time, but he did not have any clue. He had not even had the time to cultivate previously, and he did not have the time to study aquatic creatures like the Scaled Demons.

Then, he would put aside the Scaled Demon and think from another angle.

Spiritual roots were invisible and formless. What could affect them?

A moment later, Jiang Li thought of something, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Cough cough, Brother Fish, no matter what, I've let you see the scenery of the cultivation world, so don't blame me later on. If you can survive, I'll set you free."

He reached into the small coffin in his arms, and after exploring for a while, he grabbed a few black pills from inside.

Waste pills! Waste pills again!

After excessive pill poisoning, it would begin to permanently damage the spiritual root. Then, could the spiritual root seed still stay in such a body?

"Hey, Fishy, it's time to take your medicine."

Jiang Li held the waste pill and leaned forward. Crystal tears flowed out from the eyes of the Maha Scaleless Fish.

Alright, that was just a joke, the eyes of a fish could not produce tears.

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Li picked up a dried seed from the water basin. He was very satisfied.

As for the fish, it did not get the chance to be released in the end. After the spiritual root seed was spat out, its entire body suddenly became limp and it could not be any more dead.