Obtaining the Spiritual Root

Zhou Yue returned to the desolate land where he was born.

After wandering for a whole day, he had nothing to show for it.

A mix of emotions overwhelmed him—his damnable competitive spirit was truly dead this time.

"Old Zhong, I’m coming to find you guys now."

"Wait, don’t! It’s not even dawn yet—"

[Player "No Break, No Stand" has joined the world.]

"Holy crap! Why are there so many zombies!?"

"That’s why I told you—"

"Damn it! Stop killing them, stop—ahhh!!!"

……

……

[Achievement Unlocked: Dig Three, Fill One (Seems like… you’ve stumbled upon a little trick.)]

Seeing the sudden achievement prompt, Zhong Yi had an epiphany and knocked away the dirt block above his head.

Sure enough, daylight had arrived.

In his past life, the achievement system from Minecraft served as a hidden tutorial prompt.

Lu Ze had added some extra achievements to the original game.

For example, the [Dig Three, Fill One] achievement would unlock the first time a player survived until morning by digging three blocks down and filling one back in.

"So it’s called [Dig Three, Fill One]? Dig three, fill one—fitting name."

Zhong Yi nodded thoughtfully.

"Senior Brother, look! The demonic creatures outside are all on fire!"

Mu Yawen, who had climbed out first, exclaimed in amazement as he watched the zombies fleeing with flames licking at their bodies.

"So the monsters are afraid of sunlight? Heh, let’s press our advantage!"

Zhong Yi’s suggestion was met with unanimous agreement.

Bare-handed combat didn’t feel safe, so each of them dug up a dirt block to wield as a makeshift weapon, charging forward to deliver righteous four-on-one beatdowns.

The spectacle had the live-stream chat rolling with laughter.

[LMAO, getting jumped by three true disciples—this zombie died a glorious death.]

[A shining moment for demonic creatures!]

[Honestly, holding a dirt block makes no difference…]

[Probably just for morale.]

[New here—is this a new illusion realm? Is it fun?]

[Super fun! Go buy one, especially at night!]

……

In the original game, zombies killed by sunlight would still drop loot.

But considering the sheer numbers would drastically lower the difficulty, Lu Ze modified the modpack’s settings.

Now, monsters killed by sunlight wouldn’t drop experience or items.

"Beat it! Beat it!! Nice punch, Junior Brother Mu!!"

The group reverted to the most primal fighting style, ganging up on the zombies with their fists.

One after another, they took down four zombies and two skeletons.

Seeing zombies drop rotten flesh and skeletons drop bones and arrows, they wanted to keep expanding their gains.

But under the scorching sun, the remaining monsters either fled or perished.

The surroundings fell eerily quiet.

Only a few zombies lingered in the distance, watching them with hostility.

They quickly began looting the battlefield.

Aside from rotten flesh and bones, each slain monster dropped several colorful glowing orbs.

"What are these?"

Zhong Yi approached curiously.

With a "ding," the orb flew into his body.

The experience bar above his health instantly filled more than halfway.

"Experience orbs?"

Zhong Yi immediately understood.

Just then, Mu Yawen suddenly shouted:

"Holy crap!! Senior Brother Zhong, I’ve reached Qi Refinement… and I awakened a spiritual root!!"

"What!?"

Hearing this, the other three turned to stare at Mu Yawen.

"I just hit Level 1, and it says [Qi Refinement]… then it told me I awakened a fifth-grade Fire Spiritual Root?"

Mu Yawen carefully reread the description, then examined his fist.

Deep in thought, he punched a nearby tree—on the fifth strike, his fist suddenly ignited with flames, setting the wood ablaze!

"I get it! Everyone, grab the experience orbs! Reaching Level 1 unlocks Qi Refinement and awakens your spiritual root!"

Zhong Yi declared immediately.

Hearing this, the Zhou siblings hurriedly scooped up the nearby orbs.

Zhong Yi picked up one orb, instantly leveling up from 0 to 1.

Just as Mu Yawen had said, [Qi Refinement] now appeared next to his level.

A prompt materialized before him:

[You have awakened:]

[Wind Spiritual Root (Fifth-grade): Movement speed increased. Slight chance to evade enemy attacks.]

"I awakened a spiritual root too! A fifth-grade Wind Spiritual Root!"

The wave of new gameplay mechanics and content thrilled Zhong Yi.

Nearby, Zhou Qiaoling cheered:

"Wow! I got a fourth-grade Thunder Spiritual Root—attacks deal bonus lightning damage with a small chance to paralyze enemies!"

The live-stream chat erupted.

[Experience orbs? More like condensed spiritual energy.]

[LOL! Elite disciples with top-tier roots getting hyped over low-grade ones.]

[Watching this, I totally get their excitement!]

[Kinda makes me wanna try it… this world-exploring vibe is fascinating.]

[They’re like pioneers of this realm.]

[Might even become its first immortals!]

[What about Senior Disciple Zhou? Why hasn’t he said anything?]

……

"Right, Old Zhou, what about you? What’s your spiritual root?"

Zhong Yi asked curiously.

"I… I’m still a bit short of leveling up…"

Zhou Yue replied gloomily, his face dark.

The experience orbs dropped by monsters varied in size, containing different amounts of experience.

Zhou Yue’s luck was abysmal—three orbs still left him shy of Level 1.

"No worries, there are still spiders over there! Let’s go help you farm them!"

Zhong Yi reassured him.

With that, he led the charge toward the black spiders.

As he ran, his speed wasn’t noticeably faster, but the wind-trail effect at his feet was undeniable.

After sprinting ahead, Zhong Yi turned and waved at Zhou Yue. "Keep up, Old Zhou!"

"Great idea! Perfect chance to test out these fists!"

Mu Yawen threw a punch, instantly setting nearby leaves on fire.

"……"

Zhou Yue gulped.

He had a sneaking suspicion these two were flexing their spiritual roots at him.

He glanced at Zhou Qiaoling, who was moving leisurely, without a hint of showboating.

‘At least my little sister isn’t rubbing it in…’

He thought to himself.

"Come on, why are you just standing there?"

Zhou Qiaoling walked up and playfully patted his shoulder.

Zhou Yue immediately convulsed on the spot.

"Damn it!! You shocked me!!! You did that on purpose!!!!"

……

With their spiritual roots enhancing their combat, the two spiders didn’t stand a chance.

The four of them quickly ganged up and finished them off.

After absorbing the experience orbs, Zhou Yue finally reached Level 1.

"So, Old Zhou, what’d you get?"

Zhong Yi asked eagerly.

"Let me check…"

Zhou Yue glanced at the system prompt.

"Fifth-grade Earth Spiritual Root."

Zhou Qiaoling teased without mercy: "Sounds about as basic as it gets…"

"Even Old Zhou got fifth-grade? Guess that’s the lowest tier."

Zhong Yi concluded.

Zhou Yue’s face darkened further: "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"By the way, what’s the special effect of your Earth Spiritual Root?"

Zhong Yi pressed.

"Let me see…"

Zhou Yue opened his system panel and took a closer look.

Then he froze in place.

[Earth Spirit Root (Grade 5): When digging soil, gain double the amount. Has a small chance to activate when mining ores.]