Stone Village;
This was a small village on the outskirts of the Green Turtle Region. In this village, around a thousand people lived.
Among these people, there was a family of four. The eldest son of this family was currently facing a massive problem.
'What should I do? Should I take this risk and unlock my Spiritual Root? Or, should I abandon those thoughts?'
This eldest son was only twelve. His name was Shanks Storm. He was clutching his hair, trying to come up with a decision, but unable to.
In front of him was a blue panel that showed several texts.
[Host: Shanks Storm
Age: 12
Realm: None
Cultivation Technique: None
Spells: None
Martial Arts: None
Spiritual Root: None
Luck: 5]
This was a weird thing that appeared five days ago. Initially, he didn't know what to do with it.
But after a lot of research, he eventually understood most of these things.
Putting aside name and age, the realm referred to the cultivation realms. Only immortal cultivators were aware of it.
So, he couldn't find out more about the realm. A similar thing happened to Cultivation Technique, Spells, and Martial Arts.
These things were out of his reach. No mortals were allowed to find these thing and even if they could find them, they couldn't use them.
Because to become a cultivator, one would need a Spiritual Root.
The person had to be born with the spiritual root to become a cultivator. So, the destiny for cultivation was fixed from one's birth.
Shanks didn't have that destiny. He was a person with no spiritual root.
But when he was fiddling with this thing, he realized that he could actually inherit the Spiritual Root.
Simply by consuming his luck. It would consume twenty points of luck.
And an amazing thing was that he could still unlock the Spiritual Root while not having enough luck points.
His luck was quite good. After his birth, his parents went from barely covering their daily expenses to gaining a huge plot in the village for free.
Originally, that land was supposed to be useless, and for his birth, his parents were forced to sell their previous land.
So, they not only got money for their own land, but within two years of inheriting the new piece of land, they managed to grow crops.
At that time, they just thought it was a coincidence, and they got lucky.
They did get lucky, but it was only because of Shanks. After that, they kept getting lucky until they managed to build a two-floor house in the village.
Originally, they used to live in a thatched house.
This made Shanks understand the importance of luck. So when he was given a chance to awaken the Spiritual Root by consuming his luck, he hesitated.
Especially after realizing that there was a chance that his luck could go negative.
And going negative should be referred to as being unlucky.
He wasn't sure, but that's what he deduced after gathering a lot of information about luck and cultivation.
So, this was a gamble, and it was a big gamble for him. Losing every bit of luck to become a cultivator could backfire in a big way.
But he wasn't willing to remain a mortal.
He wanted to become an immortal, fly on a sword, and hold the sun and moon in his hand.
This was a desire born in him when he learned about cultivators.
And coincidentally, the immortal cultivators were coming to his village in just five days.
That was supposed to be five days ago.
That's also why he was able to gather so much information in just two days. Otherwise, the information about cultivation was tightly hidden from children.
Today was the day immortal cultivators were supposed to arrive in his village. So, he had to make a choice.
Risk everything to become a cultivator or be content with what he has.
"Brother, brother, immortal masters are here!"
A sweet and soft cry came from outside his room.
The door opened, and a little girl ran towards him. She was only six years old. Her face was round and cute.
A big smile was plastered on her face as she ran in.
Hearing that, something in his heart clicked.
His world wasn't nice and easy to live in. Even in his village, they had been invaded three times in a hundred years.
All three times, they were saved by immortal cultivators. His grandparents died in the third invasion.
These invasions were done by Demon Beasts.
They were unique creatures born in the Forest of Agarot. They weren't aware how these demon beasts were born.
All they knew was carnage.
These Demon Beasts would attack villages and kill thousands of people.
If the support of the immortals hadn't come, mortals would've died a long time ago.
Not all cultivators should be called immortals, but they were. Because they had been saved by the same people who didn't seem to age.
For a mortal, living for sixty or seventy years was a long time, but it wasn't the same for the immortals.
They could remain young for a very long time.
This was very enticing for mortals, even for him. But at this moment, he had made up his mind.
He chose to close the panel, sweeping his hand in the air.
"Let's go and watch, Selena!"
He patted his sister's head and took her in his arms.
"Brother, are you going to become immortal?" Selena wrapped her arms around his neck and asked.
"Nope!"
With a small smile on his face, Shanks shook his head.
Just as he left his room, a middle-aged woman walked towards him.
"Shanks, let's go and test your Spiritual Root! You have always been our lucky charm. You will definitely have a Spiritual Root."
Hearing his mother's words, Shanks shook his head.
"Mom, I probably don't have it. But let's go and watch!"
As they left the house, they met his father in the front yard. He seemed to be waiting for him.
Just like his mother, his father also encouraged him to test his spiritual root but he simply rejected that idea.
After all, despite everything, he did have a small hope for becoming a cultivator. Maybe not now, but maybe in the future.
That was his intention, and that's why he didn't want to test his spiritual root.
"Immortal Masters are here! Immortal Masters are here!"
Several adults were running around, shouting for the people of the village. Those who were inside their homes started coming out.
Soon, they reached the center of their village. There was a large field that had an extra podium.
This wasn't there before. So, Shanks just assumed it was crafted there just before the immortals' arrival.
Shanks saw three people. Unlike others, they wore a blue silk garment. There were two men and one female.
Surprisingly, all three of them looked very young. Now he was beginning to understand why they were called immortals.
Although their face were different, there was no indication of passing of age in their face.
Of course, it could also be because he was seeing them for the first time.
The female cultivator waited until the crowd gathered around them. After seeing nearly a thousand people, she finally spoke.
"Today, we have come to Stone Village to select individuals who have a fate with the cultivation."
"Their fate has been sealed the moment of their birth, but the spiritual root takes time to mature. Your children need time to grow."
"So, we usually go around the world, finding children with spiritual roots every decade or so."
"That means some might have missed their chance of becoming a cultivator before now have another chance."
"But, only children between the ages of ten and eighteen are allowed to join our sect!"
She paused, letting the crowd understand the meaning of her arrival. Then, people started talking to each other.
They started pushing their children to the front. When Shanks found his mother pushing him, he shook his head and held her hand.
His father saw this and sighed.
He didn't know why his son was so hesitant about becoming a cultivator.
'Maybe he is embarrassed to go out there and find that he doesn't have a spiritual root.'
His father didn't believe that his son didn't have the spiritual root. If anything, his son should be the only one in this village to have a spiritual root.
Simply because his son was a gift from a god to them.
At this moment, the female cultivator continued.
"Remember, we come from Azure Sword Sect. Once you are found with a spiritual root, we will take you to the sect."
"The moment you join our sect, your fate with your family will be severed because of your identity."
"Of course, you can risk disturbing the life of your family and your future to reconnect this fate."
"So, if someone doesn't want to leave, you shouldn't come forward! This is your last chance."