Spiritual Roots

'Hehe~ with this girl around, it will be a lot of fun!' Ye Chen thought to himself as he saw Li Mei glaring at him coldly.

However, he didn't say anything now and looked at Zhen Yunqi, who was waiting for his answer.

He had a feeling that his divine powers weren't normal; nevertheless, he didn't care and replied with a faint smile.

"My divine power allows me to accelerate the growth of herbs by hundred times, moreover, regardless of their tires," he said as if it was nothing.

But Zhen Yunqi and even Li Mei weren't calm when they heard him, as their mouths opened wide with shock.

'Th-this is too much!!!' Zhen Yunqi exclaimed in her heart and took a deep breath to calm down the fear rising inside her.

There was no way she wouldn't be scared because he said it was a hundred times, moreover, regardless of tires.

The herbs were divided into nine tiers, from Tier 1 to Tier 9.

In which Tier 1 to Tier 4 herbs took about a few months to a hundred years to reach maturity.

As for the above tiers, they took an exceptionally long time, amounting to two hundred to a thousand years.

There were also some rare ones that took about ten thousand or even hundred thousand years.

Although the cultivators can have a long lifespan, they can't live for that long, especially in the world where fights and death are daily matters.

Because of this, every power sought for ways to accelerate the growth rate of herbs, and if they got to know that someone could accelerate it by hundred times regardless of tiers, there was bound to be blood flow like a river.

Even if Zhen Yunqi spread the news to every power, there was no way they would let her go and anyone from the Azure Cloud Sect.

'I must keep this secret forever and make sure that no one finds out about him or his divine power,' she thought with a grim expression, when Ye Chen continued further.

"I also have another divine power, which is to condense spirit stones; however, it depends on my cultivation and the amount of spiritual Qi on the mountain" he added without any care.

With the soul contract, there was no need to worry about them spreading this.

Moreover, they were beauties, so he should give them some benefits so they could return some too.

As from other divine powers, he wasn't planning to tell them since it was for his own use.

Nevertheless, just two of them were enough to made Zhen Yunqi's body tremble in fear.

"Y-you are a monster!" she exclaimed with a shocked look as she calmed down herself while wondering if his existence was a good thing or not.

However, there was nothing she could do; hence, she sighed deeply and took out the brush and special ink.

"Let me hide your golden mark first," she said, moving closer to him.

Ye Chen didn't refuse and nodded at her standing in his place.

After this, Zhen Yunqi didn't hesitate and started drawing a complicated inscription on the golden mountain symbol.

It didn't take too long, and within a minute she was done. After this, she gathered some Qi on her finger and gently pressed between his eyebrows.

Ye Chen felt a faint warmth spreading from the point where she touched him, like a cool breeze brushing against his mind. Then the golden mark and inscription drawn by her disappeared without leaving any traces.

"This should be enough, but I need to give you an identity, so I decided to declare you as my personal disciple. With this, you can roam inside the sect without any problem," Zhen Yunqi notified as she stored her brush and ink in a spatial ring.

Hearing her, Ye Chen was surprised, but he didn't care too much and looked at Li Mei with smirk, who was stunned at her master's words.

"Junior sister Xiao Mei, from now on, I will be your senior brother. If you have any problems, you can come to me even at night; we will discuss everything in detail there," he said with a sincere look, but his teasing tone betrayed him.

Watching him like this, Li Mei's face flushed red, and she couldn't help but fume.

"Master!!! Don't take this scoundrel as your disciple; he will tarnish your reputation!" she shouted; her voice filled with anger and shame.

If her gaze could kill anyone, then Ye Chen would've died thousands of times already.

However, Zhen Yunqi didn't care about her and looked at Ye Chen.

"Before I announce you as my disciple, I want to know the grade of your spiritual root and record it. This will help to keep things in control, and no one will be dissatisfied after knowing your talent," she said.

Even though the sect practically belonged to her, it didn't mean there was no opposition. Especially since she wanted to give him that spot, which would make someone dissatisfied.

So, it was better to prepare and show his talent to others. As for his real identity, no one will know about it except her and Li Mei.

Ye Chen didn't know about her arrangements; nevertheless, he nodded.

"I don't have any problems with this," he replied with a nonchalant expression.

Hearing him Zhen Yunqi didn't hesitate and took out a transparent orb.

"Spiritual roots are divided into four grades: Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Heaven. They are further divided into low, mid, and high tiers. The higher the grade and tier, the more successful you will be in the cultivation path."

"The orb in my hand can assess the spiritual roots, and for each grade it will display three different colors: yellow, blue, green, and white. As for small tier's, the orb will display it directly through text," she explained and continued.

"Just place your hand on the orb and concentrate a little. As long as you have a spiritual root, the orb will be able to assess the grade," she added and gestured him.

Seeing this, Ye Chen didn't delay and placed his hand on the cold orb.

Just as he was about to concentrate, the orb let out a slight hum and started to shine brightly without any warning.

Witnessing this, Li Mei was shocked, and her mouth opened wide once again.

"A heaven-grade spiritual root!" she exclaimed with a dumfounded expression as the orb shined with white light and, along with the words, high tier.

'Mine is only a high-tier Earth-grade spiritual root! How can I kill him with this?' she thought, feeling remorseful at her poor talent.

Zhen Yunqi didn't know her thoughts; if not, she would scold her.

The heaven-grade spiritual root was something that only appeared once in thousands of years.

She was not surprised at Ye Chen having this because he was a mountain spirit, moreover, someone with two divine powers, so it made sense for him to have the heaven-grade spiritual root.

Because of this, she wasn't shocked too much and recorded everything in photographic jade with a calm look.

'With such talent, no one will be able to oppose my decision, and if they still dared to! Humph, then they can't blame me,' she muttered in her heart and looked at Ye Chen.

"You have a high-tier Heaven-grade spiritual root; with this, you will be able to cultivate much easily and faster than anyone else. Even Li Mei's talent, which hadn't appeared in hundred years, can't hold a candle to you," she said with a serious look.

Ye Chen couldn't help but smile brightly at this before glancing at Li Mei, who was still dumbfounded.

"Junior sister Xiao Mei, you should call me respected and honourable senior brother from now; if not, don't blame me for bullying you," he teased.

Hearing him Li Mei was about to fume and retort, but Zhen Yunqi coughed lightly, making her back out.

"Ye Chen, come with me to the main hall now. I should announce your status in the sect," she said and grabbed his arm with her slender fingers.

Before Ye Chen could say something, she waved her hand, and spiritual Qi enveloped his body, making him float a little.

Just as they were about to fly away, Ye Chen seized Li Mei's delicate hand.

"Xiao Mei, you will be bored on the mountain alone, so come with us," he spoke with a smile, ignoring her resistance.

"Master!!!" Li Mei cried for help as she failed to escape from his clutches; however, Zhen Yunqi ignored her once again.

It's not like that she didn't care about her disciple, but it was a good thing for her to be with Ye Chen.

Moreover, she had left a secret protection in her body so Ye Chen couldn't harm her unless he became stronger than her.

Because of this, she dared to leave Li Mei here alone and let her get dragged by Ye Chen in the air.