In other words, it served the purpose of substituting for one's innate cultivation aptitude.
The fundamental aspect of cultivation aptitude lay in a commoner's ability to sense various malevolent energies and yang energies, with varying degrees of attraction and connection. This led to the division into five quality grades.
However, the spiritual root technique involved cultivators using artifact-refining methods to forge a type of magic staff—though it was actually called a spiritual root.
A spiritual root itself possessed the ability to sense various malevolent energies and yang energies, and could be used to attract them.
For instance, Quan, with his low-grade aptitude, had a smaller interface for malevolent and yang energies. But by holding a spiritual root, this interface would enlarge, and the attraction to external malevolent and yang energies would increase.
This was how, without altering Quan's innate cultivation aptitude, he could communicate with external malevolent and yang energies through an artifact, thereby accelerating his cultivation speed.
Spiritual roots were divided into five elemental attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
In addition to these attributes, there were also various mutated spiritual roots.
Furthermore, spiritual roots of different attributes also had quality grades, similarly divided into mid-grade, high-grade, supreme-grade, and transcendent-grade.
Artifact refiners among cultivators forged spiritual roots of various attributes using the flesh of exotic beasts, or even ferocious beasts, supplemented by precious ores. They would then inscribe various runes onto the spiritual roots, causing them to form formations.
Once this step was completed, the artifact known as a spiritual root would be formed.
Even cultivators with low-grade or even extremely low-grade cultivation aptitude need not fear. By holding a spiritual root artifact, they could possess cultivation aptitude comparable to mid-grade or high-grade cultivators, leveraging the artifact's power.
The specific grade they would be comparable to depended on the grade of the spiritual root installed.
Quan obtained a forty-centimeter-long fire-attribute spiritual root from the cultivation group.
This was a fire-attribute spiritual root inscribed with fire-attribute formations, appearing fiery red.
It was also a high-grade fire spiritual root.
Quan held it in his palm and entered the chamber filled with malevolent energies. He felt that after possessing the spiritual root artifact, his attraction to various malevolent energies had greatly increased.
If, before, he could only absorb a wisp of malevolent energy per second without the spiritual root artifact.
Now, with the spiritual root artifact, he could absorb nine wisps of malevolent energy per second.
This cultivation efficiency was immediately boosted ninefold.
Before acquiring this high-grade fire spiritual root artifact, Quan's cultivation speed was merely that of a low-grade cultivator, a mere one.
After obtaining this high-grade fire spiritual root artifact, Quan's cultivation speed rose to that of a high-grade cultivator, with a cultivation speed reaching nine.
Quan could sense that possessing this high-grade fire spiritual root artifact was like an external circuit that simulated cultivation aptitude, enhancing his attraction to malevolent energies.
Having personally experienced the power of the high-grade fire spiritual root artifact, Quan finally understood why Mo, when he went to the Qingyang Tribe to spread the teachings, didn't just select a few disciples with good aptitude from the commoners and leave. Instead, he took away a large group of commoners and even bloodline humans who were willing to cultivate.
This was because the issue of aptitude had essentially been resolved by the cultivation group.
Before entering the chamber, Quan personally witnessed the cultivators giving each commoner entering the chamber a high-grade spiritual root artifact.
With a high-grade spiritual root artifact, regardless of whether a commoner's innate cultivation aptitude was low-grade, mid-grade, or high-grade, their cultivation speed would be consistently the same as that of a cultivator with innate high-grade aptitude.
Most importantly, these spiritual root artifacts did not consume many cultivation resources, nor did they take up the cultivators' time. They could be used immediately upon acquisition.
There were no strict limitations or conditions, and they could be mass-produced.
The mass production of spiritual root artifacts led to a fact: spiritual root artifacts were more important, and the amount of innate cultivation aptitude became less significant.
With a high-grade spiritual root artifact, anyone could achieve the cultivation speed of a high-grade cultivator. Given this, did one's innate cultivation aptitude, whether low-grade or mid-grade, truly matter?
This was precisely why Mo did not consider the cultivation aptitude of the many commoners in the Qingyang Tribe when recruiting so many people, allowing anyone willing to come to Mount Taihang.
This was because cultivation aptitude was of great importance to the Taihang Mountain cultivation group that initially pioneered the path of cultivation hundreds of years ago. Often, finding one cultivator with high-grade aptitude would cause the entire cultivation group to celebrate for a long time.
However, in the current era, such high-grade cultivation aptitude was no longer valued by the cultivation groups. After all, as long as one held a spiritual root artifact, they could possess high-grade cultivation aptitude and obtain a spiritual root artifact of any desired attribute.
So, who would still value their innate cultivation aptitude?
Of course, Quan also understood that high-grade spiritual root artifacts had a limited lifespan. Due to mass production, they often became unusable after five to ten years.
However, this was inconsequential. One could simply replace it with another high-grade spiritual root artifact.
If an artifact was damaged, it could be remade. It wasn't a person being damaged.
In today's era, all low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade cultivation aptitudes were rendered useless, as they were all equivalent with the substitution of spiritual root artifacts.
Only supreme-grade and transcendent-grade cultivation aptitudes held some value, because while the artifact refiners of the Taihang Mountain cultivation group had figured out how to mass-produce high-grade spiritual root artifacts, they had not yet figured out how to mass-produce supreme-grade and transcendent-grade spiritual root artifacts.
Although some powerful artifact refining masters could forge supreme-grade spiritual root artifacts—or rather, supreme-grade spiritual root treasures—they could not achieve mass production. Therefore, innate supreme-grade and transcendent-grade cultivation aptitudes still held some value.
Quan felt fortunate to have been born into this era to begin cultivating, rather than in the era hundreds of years ago when the immortal path was just being opened. In that era, he would have been a prime example of low cultivation aptitude. Even if he had abandoned the path of bloodlines, he might not have achieved much on the path of cultivation.
But in this era, it was different. Every commoner would be bestowed with a high-grade spiritual root artifact, allowing Quan to cultivate at a speed comparable to that of a high-grade cultivator.
Quan felt this was sufficient. With high-grade cultivation aptitude, as long as one was diligent and had opportunities, they could still reach the Core Formation realm. He did not delusionally aspire to have supreme-grade or transcendent-grade cultivation aptitude.
Inside the chamber, various types of malevolent energies were present.
Quan knew that malevolent energies had been categorized by senior cultivators into five natures.
The first type of malevolent energy was visible, tangible, and could be felt. It possessed shape and was solid.
This type of malevolent energy was the most common and widespread, often emanating from exotic beasts.
The second type of malevolent energy was visible, tangible, and could be felt, but it was not fixed but flowed like a liquid.
This type of malevolent energy, although lacking a fixed shape, was still visible.