I might have been playing a fake cultivation game.

Section 080 Retesting Spiritual Roots

Should we retest the spiritual root?

Zhou Yunshen paused for a moment, then, as if struck by a thought, typed back: "Do you have a higher-level spirit-testing platform?"

Administrator: "Yes."

Zhou Yun Shen's spirits lifted, and he typed: "Okay, I can retest my spiritual root. Where can I do that?"

Administrator: "You don't need to go anywhere. Just focus on your cultivation. In a few days, our people will come to you with a new spirit-testing platform."

Zhou Yunshen: "Alright, then I'll wait for you at Luchuan Prefecture."

When Zhou Yun looked away from his phone screen, he took a deep breath, his heart racing.

He had previously suspected that his spiritual root was more than just grade one. After breaking through to the late Foundation Establishment stage for the first time, he felt even more strongly that his spiritual root was more than grade one.

But speculation is, after all, just speculation.

Now, the opportunity to verify our guesses is finally coming.

Several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

September 20, 2026, morning.

Zhou Yunshen was still asleep when his phone, which he had placed next to his pillow, suddenly vibrated and rang.

After being startled awake, Zhou Yunshen rubbed his eyes, picked up his phone, and saw that the word "safety" was clearly marked on the screen.

Upon seeing these two words, Zhou Yunshen's previously confused mind instantly cleared up.

They are from the National Security Bureau.

Previously, the security bureau personnel did not label the phone numbers when they made calls.

Perhaps to prevent players from rejecting the Security Bureau's calls as scam calls, the telecommunications company in Xia Kingdom later added a label to the Security Bureau's phone number.

Zhou Yunshen answered the call immediately.

"Hello, is this Mr. Zhou Yunshen?" A polite female voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I am Zhou Yunshen." Zhou Yunshen said as he got out of bed.

"Mr. Zhou, our staff who are responsible for testing your spiritual roots have arrived in Luchuan City. I'd like to let you know that I'll send you their photos right away. Their current location is..." the female voice said politely.

Shortly after the call ended, Zhou Yunshen's account on the game forum received three photos.

The three men all appeared to be young men around twenty years old, dressed in black monk robes, making them easy to identify.

Zhou Yunshen carefully examined the three photos, picked up his gaming phone, and clicked the Soul Transmigration icon.

A moment later, in Luchuan Prefecture, at the Yunlai Restaurant, Zhou Yunshen met three government officials.

Zhou Yunshen sized up the three people in front of him.

The three of them were also sizing up Zhou Yunshen.

Zhou Yunshen said, "I didn't expect that all three of you are Foundation Establishment cultivators."

The staff sent by the government to test his spiritual roots turned out to be three Foundation Establishment cultivators, which surprised him.

It's important to know that, up to now, the total number of Foundation Establishment players in the entire Xia Kingdom is only a little over a thousand.

Among the three, the tallest one cupped his hands towards Zhou Yunshen and transmitted his thoughts, saying, "Mr. Zhou, we came from the Heavenly Martial Divine Kingdom. The journey was quite long, and there were some dangers along the way. This kind of thing is difficult for a Qi Refining cultivator to handle."

Zhou Yunshen nodded upon hearing this and asked via telepathy, "When did you join the government?"

The Foundation Establishment player smiled and replied via telepathy, "I entered the government three years ago after passing the national civil service examination."

"I see." Zhou Yunshen's face showed a look of sudden realization.

Not long after, in a private room at the restaurant, the tall Foundation Establishment player took out a jade pendant from his person and gently squeezed it.

The jade pendant suddenly shone brightly, transforming into a protective barrier that enveloped the private room.

Only after the restriction was completely stable did a Foundation Establishment player next to him solemnly take out a golden disc from his storage ring and carefully place it on the table.

This disc was more than twice the size of the spirit-testing platform in the Chen residence, and it was densely engraved with complex runes.

"How should I test it?" Zhou Yunshen asked.

The tall Foundation Establishment player pointed to the groove in the center of the disc and said, "Take a drop of blood from the tip of your tongue and place it in this groove, and that will do."

Zhou Yunshen nodded upon hearing this.

He bit his tongue, and in the excruciating pain, he spat out a drop of blood.

The drop of blood congealed but did not disperse, and drifted down to the groove in the center of the disc.

As the drop of blood merged into the groove, the disc instantly emitted a bright, dazzling golden light.

As the light dimmed, a flame shot up from the center of the disc, rising more than three feet high, and then hovered above the disc, remaining suspended.

Upon seeing this strange phenomenon, all three staff members wore expressions of astonishment.

Zhou Yun Shen asked somewhat nervously, "What was the result? How should we interpret it?"

The tall Foundation Establishment player snapped out of his daze, his voice a little hoarse, and said, "Only those with superior spiritual roots can exhibit phenomena like soaring into the sky. One foot represents yellow, two feet represents black, three feet represents earth, and four feet represents heaven. The colors represent the five elements. Mr. Zhou, you possess a superior earth spiritual root of the fire element!"

"Earth Spiritual Root?" Zhou Yunshen was taken aback. "Does that mean... there's also a Heavenly Spiritual Root above that?"

He felt a slight sense of regret.

After all, he was a first-grade spiritual root before. From first to ninth grade, first grade is the best.

Now, above him, there is an additional Heavenly Spiritual Root.

His spiritual root wasn't the best.

A Foundation Establishment player standing to the side said, "Yes, there is another Heavenly Spiritual Root, but this Heavenly Spiritual Root only exists in legends. It is said that the Creator Immortal Venerable of the Xuan Yuan World possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and after that, the Heavenly Spiritual Root has never appeared again... So, Mr. Zhou, your Earthly Spiritual Root is already extremely powerful, almost the ceiling of this world."

As he said this, the Foundation Establishment player's face was full of envy.

A moment later, Zhou Yunshen walked out of Yunlai Restaurant.

Zhou Yunshen originally wanted to treat the three Foundation Establishment players from the government to a meal at the restaurant as a token of his gratitude, but they politely declined.

The reason given by the other party was that they were in a hurry and had to leave Xuan Nan Kingdom soon to go to other countries to test the spiritual roots of other first-grade players.

Then, the other party solemnly told Zhou Yunshen that his earth spirit root was too astonishing and hoped that he could keep it a secret and not spread it around in the game world or among the players, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

Zhou Yunshen thought to himself, "Is he the kind of person who likes to show off everywhere?"

He was also afraid that the government would publicize this matter everywhere.

Leaving Yunlai Restaurant and walking on the bustling street, Zhou Yunshen's steps were somewhat unsteady.

My mind was filled with the results of this test: a super-grade earth spirit root.

Although it wasn't the highest Heavenly Spiritual Root, which made him feel somewhat regretful, upon closer reflection, this Earthly Spiritual Root was actually quite extraordinary.

This is a spiritual root second only to the Creator Immortal Venerable of the Xuan Yuan Realm. Many immortals in this world probably don't even have such a good spiritual root. This is truly exceptional.

"If every point of cultivation aptitude could raise my spiritual root by one grade, then working backwards, without these five points of cultivation aptitude, my initial spiritual root would probably be... grade three."

The initial cultivation aptitude of other players can also be deduced by working backward.

For example, Chen Xin'an has a third-grade spiritual root. He started with three points of cultivation aptitude. If we work backwards, his initial spiritual root should be a sixth-grade one.

This also shows that players' initial spiritual roots are generally not very high.

His initial spiritual root of grade three should already be considered to be among the highest level.

From a big data perspective, this data is actually normal.

After all, among the native inhabitants of the Xuan Yuan Realm, those with top-grade spiritual roots are extremely rare, perhaps one in tens of thousands.

A first-grade spiritual root is one in a million.

As for the players, the total number of players in Xia Kingdom is only about 70,000 to 80,000.

With such a small population, it's already extremely impressive that a few people like him, with an initial spiritual root of grade three, can emerge.

As Zhou Yunshen was pondering these things, suddenly his head went dark.

He subconsciously looked up and saw a dark cloud floating in the sky above his head.

The dark cloud is still expanding rapidly.

Zhou Yunshen immediately thought of a name—Du Huaimin!

Du Huaimin is at it again!