No matter how Evan Yang tried, he couldn't feel any 'qi' moving through his body like the wooden slip described. Everything felt just as usual. He asked Tiger Sun for advice, but the result was the same. Even Tiger Sun was baffled. "No way," he muttered, "you're an outer disciple, so you should at least have some spiritual roots. How can you not be able to cultivate even a bit of qi?"
This 'qi' is actually a form of spiritual energy. When cultivators train, they follow the flow of qi within their bodies to absorb spiritual energy from the outside world. The stronger a cultivator is, the more spiritual energy they can take in and store—and all of it is kept in the dantian.
Evan Yang sat there stunned. "Is it because I don't have spiritual roots that I can't cultivate any spiritual energy?" he wondered, feeling unwilling. Seeing everyone else able to cultivate, he'd thought he could at least manage a little—but now he couldn't even gather ordinary qi.
Tiger Sun noticed Evan Yang was silent and called out, "Evan?"
"Hm?" Evan snapped out of it and pushed down his frustration, then told Tiger Sun everything that had happened today. When Tiger Sun heard Evan had no spiritual roots at all, and had only gotten into the sect through connections, his expression shifted, but he forced a smile. "Don't worry, Evan," he said, "even if you weren't born with spiritual roots, you might still be able to remake them later!"
"Remake them?" It was the first time Evan Yang had heard there might be hope for him to cultivate. His eyes lit up as he asked eagerly.
Tiger Sun patiently explained spiritual roots in the cultivation world to Evan Yang. Some people are born with spiritual roots—some ordinary, some excellent—but plenty are born without any at all. That doesn't mean they can never cultivate, though. If they encounter some great fortune that transforms their bodies, their spiritual roots might be remade. But such miracles are rare, and not everyone is lucky enough to experience them.
Evan Yang had just started to feel hopeful, but when he heard how rare such miracles were, he couldn't help but feel disappointed again. Seeing this, Tiger Sun quickly comforted him, "As long as there's even a sliver of hope, you can't give up. Get some rest—tomorrow you'll have to report to Logan Luo. If you don't sleep well, the chores will wear you out."
Evan Yang smiled quietly and said nothing. He lay back on his bed, closed his eyes, but didn't try to cultivate. Instead, his thoughts drifted to his father and their years of hardship, then farther back to memories of his mother. If anyone saw him at that moment, they'd notice two lines of tears slipping from the corners of his eyes. Before he knew it, he'd fallen asleep.
Early the next morning, Tiger Sun woke Evan Yang up. Seeing Evan still groggy, Tiger Sun shouted, "Get up, or you'll get chewed out again!" It was Evan's first day living in the manor, so he didn't dare slack off and hurried to get up. When they stepped outside, many disciples were already busy—plowing fields near the manor, hauling water, chopping wood, washing clothes. Evan was stunned. "What's all this?" he asked.
Seeing Evan Yang still confused about what outer disciples did, Tiger Sun quickly explained the daily chores, then hurried off to his own work. Evan stood there alone until he remembered Logan Luo's orders from yesterday. Only then did he snap out of it and rush off to report to Logan.