Chapter Four: The Bond of Wood

“Oh! You all have them!”

“No, these are all we have,” said a pretty girl.

“What’s going on?”

“Niuhong Tian said he would keep them for us. Today, he stopped you to ask for spirit stones,” the beautiful girl explained.

It seemed that every child here had been given a spirit stone, but for some reason, the three of them had not received theirs. Niuhong Tian didn’t know either; he probably wanted to assert his authority and maybe earn a spirit stone in the process.

“Oh! So that’s the story!” As long as they weren’t second-generation cultivators, it should be manageable.

Wen Yue quickly grabbed one, took another, and handed the rest to the pretty girl. “It seems they don’t like letting you keep them. Better let them hold onto theirs. But I’ll help keep yours, alright?”

“Sure! Sure!” Niuhong Tian nodded hurriedly.

“I welcome you to come for revenge!” Wen Yue said as he stood up and released Niuhong Tian.

“Not daring! Not daring!” Niuhong Tian quickly bowed.

If it weren’t for that sinister look in his eyes, it might have been more convincing. Wen Yue didn’t mind; releasing him wasn’t about gratitude. After all, Wen Yue had put in tremendous effort. Recovery wouldn’t come easily.

It seemed that Niuhong Tian’s followers weren’t truly loyal either. Even when they were beaten to the point of barely standing, no one offered a helping hand.

Watching Niuhong Tian limp away, Wen Yue returned to his own room.

Once inside, Wen Yue closed the door firmly and even wedged a chair against it. Though it was hardly effective, it did bring some sense of security.

Wen Yue couldn’t sleep at all. This day—no, he wasn’t even sure how long—it was unclear how long he had been unconscious. The experiences during his awakening filled Wen Yue with lingering fear and a sense of helplessness.

Originally, as a transmigrated woman with a happy family, supernatural abilities, a space from her past life, and knowledge from her previous world, she planned to bring her family to a comfortable life. Life was supposed to be beautiful.

But plans rarely survive contact with reality. That day, hearing the town was testing spiritual roots, Wen Yue went along to try it out. Unexpectedly, she truly had a spiritual root and the aptitude for cultivation. Wen Yue had barely rejoiced before arriving here.

Although cultivation was possible anywhere, this was certainly not the Demonic Sect! Even with Niuhong Tian’s howls today, no one else was stirred. Perhaps everyone was used to it, or more likely, no one cared. Knowing the selfish nature of the Demonic Sect’s leadership, it was clear they lived by the law of the jungle—survival of the fittest.

Elsewhere, someone would intervene, but here, it was as if no one noticed from start to finish.

Realizing the harshness of survival now, Wen Yue didn’t want to waste time. Since sleep was impossible, he decided to cultivate for a while.

For some reason, he quickly entered meditation—perhaps because he had come to terms with things, or maybe the fight had eased his mind. His thoughts cleared completely, focusing on imagining the tangible forms of the Five Elements.

Old Zhao’s advice was to visualize the element matching your spiritual root. If you had a water root, imagine water—a vast ocean, rivers, lakes—to better comprehend the spiritual energy.

Wen Yue was fortunate to have all Five Elements, so he could cultivate any root. Normally, one would focus on the strongest root, but Wen Yue did not even know which was the strongest.

When the Five Element Sect tested spiritual roots in the town, they used basic spirit stones that glowed when a root was detected. Wen Yue’s five-root nature caused the stones to emit five-colored light, though with varying intensities.

If all five lights were identical, it meant balanced elements, perfectly aligned with the sect’s cultivation methods. If Wen Yue truly had balanced elements, he likely wouldn’t be here; those two testers would have reported to the sect’s leaders at once.

These were just Wen Yue’s speculations, and ultimately, not important anymore.

Not knowing which root was strongest, he decided to test each element one by one or focus more on whichever he preferred.

Gold felt the most powerful to Wen Yue, so he started with the metal root. When thinking of gold, he involuntarily pictured glittering gold ingots. Had he been poor in his past life? His mind only conjured gold ingots when focusing on metal.

That was wrong. Gold represented sharp weapons—knives, swords, guns—even airplanes and cannons were made of metal. Unsure if this was right, Wen Yue pictured all the weapons he could think of, even everyday metal objects, but nothing stirred.

Next, he tried fire, which also felt strong to him. He imagined forest fires, cooking flames, lighters’ sparks. What else? The sun—also a giant ball of fire.

Still no response. By this point, he was growing tired, perhaps from intense concentration. He resolved to try one more element; if he still felt exhausted, he would just sleep. Old Zhao had warned against cultivating when mentally drained, as it could cause problems—though he never specified what problems.

What next? Wood. This was actually Wen Yue’s favorite root.

In a past period of his former life, Wen Yue had almost fallen into depression, feeling no connection to life or meaning in living. Sensing his own imbalance, he sought ways to adjust without much success until he randomly bought a pack of cucumber seeds online.

He planted a few in pots, carefully following instructions for watering and fertilizing. Soon, they sprouted.

Seeing those tiny shoots break through the soil moved him to tears. At that moment, he truly felt life’s presence and realized he was alive. The visible seedlings, like him, held life.

With meticulous care, the shoots grew, blossomed, and bore cucumbers—each unusually artistic, none simple.

After researching online, he learned they were under-watered. An old farmer advised heavy watering, even flooding if possible.

Wen Yue doubled the watering, sometimes twice daily, and the results were impressive. Every node produced a beautiful cucumber. Moreover, as the main vines reached the top, new cucumbers sprouted from lower branches.

His days were filled with tending and harvesting cucumbers, and his depression seemed to vanish.

Thus, Wen Yue developed a deep fondness for plants. The color green came to symbolize life.

Thinking of cucumbers led him to their seeds—how they could root, sprout, grow, bloom, and eventually bear seeds again. Life was truly wondrous.

At that moment, Wen Yue envisioned a seed breaking through the earth, rapidly growing into a towering tree, which soon bore offspring. Countless saplings sprouted around, growing and reproducing in endless cycles, forming a vast forest.

He felt immersed in the forest, surrounded by vibrant vitality. Then he imagined standing on a boundless prairie, feeling the infinite life force. Next, he was in fields, then a garden—each place filled with life’s energy.

Wen Yue understood this sensation: he was truly perceiving spiritual energy. With effort, he could draw it into his body. Yet, in the perilous Demonic Sect, caution was paramount, so he chose to abstain.