"Ugh!"

An average-looking boy sighed with a stiff expression after he failed again.

This was the 49th time in the past 3 months that has failed.

Even with Lin Xuan's mental fortitude, frustration and despair were beginning to overwhelm him.

A corner of his mouth showed a trace of a bitter smile.

He shook his head and looked at his hand, "Is my innate talent really so low?"

Lin Xuan tightly clenched his fists; his fingernails cutting into his palm. But he didn't seem to feel the pain.

Lin Xuan who was 17 years old, has been a member of the Whirlwind Cloud Valley Sect for the past three years. Whirlwind Cloud Valley was a small martial sect with nearly a thousand disciples, and Lin Xuan was an Outer Sect Disciple.

It has been three years, and the other apprentice disciples that entered the sect with him had already entered the mid-level of Spirit Condensation, even a few geniuses had entered the fifth layer, but Lin Xuan was still hovering in the first layer.

Lin Xuan's progress was slow, but it wasn't because of his lack of effort. In reality, he put in the most effort among all the outer sect disciples. When the others practiced twice, he practiced three times, and when the others meditated for an hour, Lin Xuan meditated for three hours. But even with all his hard work, his results were minuscule and he was left far behind by the others, which filled Lin Xuan with frustration.

Cultivation was divided into eight stages: Spirit Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Separation and Reunion, Profound Grotto, Spirit Severing, and Tribulation Ascension. Each stage was divided into seven layers, the first two for early-stage, the third and fourth layer being mid-stage, fifth and sixth were considered late-stage, and the seventh layer was the peak-stage. Those in the seventh layer would only be one step away from the next stage.

Although Immortality was difficult, it was something that could be achieved with time. For example, the first 2 layers of Spirit Condensation were simply crossing the threshold, and people with good talent can pass it with only two months of practice, and if one didn't have much talent, three to five months would be enough. However, this only applied to people who had Spiritual Roots. Without it, even if one put in two times, no ten times the effort, he still wouldn't even be close to those with the Spirit Roots.

Simply put, it is a wasted effort.

And unfortunately, Lin Xuan had no Spiritual Roots.

In the beginning ordinary people like Lin Xuan with no spirit roots, even if they wanted to set foot on the path of cultivation, there would be no sect willing to accept them. But Lin Xuan was an exception because three years ago, he happened to save a Whirlwind Cloud Valley Elder, who was seriously injured. The Elder in gratitude recommended Lin Xuan to become a disciple of Whirlwind Cloud Valley Sect.

For three years, Lin Xuan practiced hard and never slacked off. He trained even during the coldest days of winter and during the hottest days of summer. He sweated much more than the others, but even so, he was still left behind.

For those that pursued Immortality, talent was the most important thing, it was something impossible to make up for with efforts alone.

After washing up, Lin Xuan felt that he had reached the peak of the first layer, the distance to the second layer felt small, but that small gap was like a huge stretch to Lin Xuan. Without a Spiritual Root, it was almost impossible for him to cross this gap.

After a long time, Lin Xuan loosened his clenched fist. Frustrated and in an attempt to drive out the depression in his heart, he sat down again with his legs crossed and started to examine his body.

The technique that he is using was a cultivation skill that allowed one to examine their Dantian and qi passages.

As he looked into his Dantian, he felt the feeling of emptiness, the only presence was a trace of pale blue gas, which was the Spiritual Qi. But the gas was small, and very thin too, due to Lin Xuan's low talent.

The so-called cultivation meant going against heaven's will. But in order to do so, one must have the greatest power, one had to go through all kinds of difficulties to control the five elements, absorb the world's aura, refining, and finally to use the power for oneself.

This faint trace of spiritual power was the result of Lin Xuan's three years of practice, which was a pathetic amount compared to others. All because of his lack of a Spiritual Root.

His road of cultivation therefore would be much more difficult than that of others.

Under the guidance of his Spiritual Sense, threads of Spiritual Qi that were as thin as a hair started to gather together and intertwine. After time, the Spiritual Qi gradually grew to the thickness of a pinky.

Lin Xuan's head was surrounded by a white mist and his whole body soaked in sweat. Just gathering the Spiritual Qi required all his effort. Compared to the average person, he really was walking on thorns.

After gathering a good amount of spiritual power, Lin Xuan did not relax for even a moment and started to circulate the Spiritual Qi through his heart, to the Dantian, and into his meridians as the teachers taught him to do.

For Cultivators, the Dantian was where the Spiritual Qi gathered. After that, the Qi was circulated to the eight arteries, and when the Spiritual Qi resolved through the eight arteries from head to toe, it would be called a complete cycle.

And for every revolution of the cycle, it will enhance the Spiritual Qi in the body. Although the change is small, it will eventually add up. So by doing this several times a day, the Spiritual Qi will gradually grow.

Of course, with the thousands of Cultivation Methods, each skill's complete cycle was not the same, and the effects were also very different.

A Complete Cycle, although it was a required practice for all cultivation paths, was not an easy thing for those of the outside world, but not very hard either.

Spiritual Qi did not need to flow through the heart, said an Elder once so very clearly, so as long as the requirements were met, the Spiritual Qi would flow. But it would flow its own way because each individual had different meridians.

Some people have vigorous meridians that can withstand more Spiritual Qi, and also able to withstand faster flows of power, while others have weak meridians and their situation would be the exact opposite. In general, the better the roots, the stronger the meridians. He had to be careful about each step, because if he increased his speed, not only would he fail to complete the cycle, it would also damage his meridians.