Canglang Mountain, nestled in the miasma-ridden region of Northern Yan, was surrounded by dense forests and overlapping ridges. Its nickname reflected its geography: eight mountains, one river, and a portion of arable land. Despite its poverty-stricken setting, resilient clusters of villages were still scattered throughout the area.

In the past, the mountain people of Canglang led harsh lives, battling with the land for grain, the mountains for water, and the elements for survival. Yet, ten years prior, their livelihood abruptly improved. Not only did each household have surplus food, but every village also constructed ancestral halls with green bricks and pottery tiles.

Shu Village was one of them.

At dawn, within the ancestral hall of Shu Village, a line of children were seated in an orderly manner. They all restrained their lively and playful nature, their mouths filled with green medicinal herbs. Yet soon, a child began to bounce around, coughing incessantly, quickly spitting out the bitter medicine, his small face etched with an expression of pain. As time passed, more and more children could no longer endure and, one after another spat out the medicinal herbs and left the ancestral hall.

Only three children remained in the ancestral hall.

A faint mist of spiritual energy was continuously emerging from the crowns of two of them. However, this phenomenon was absent in the child with a slightly larger head.

"Hold on! You must completely absorb the effect of the Enlightenment Herb!" he muttered to himself.

"I can already feel it, just a bit more of the Enlightenment Herb and I will be able to awaken my spiritual root like Erdan, qualifying to enter the Mystical Dragon Sect!"

The big-headed child's name was Shu Han.

Since he had a large head, he was thus given the nickname Big Head. Perhaps because of his larger head, Shu Han was more astute and clever compared to other children. The story of how Big-Head captured the mountain bandits at night was widely known.

Two autumns ago, a drought had spread around Canglang Mountain. Many honest farmers had turned into bandits just to survive. One night, after the village had turned off its lights, a group of people snuck into Shu Village, only to run into Shu Han who had gotten up to use the restroom.

These bandits were not extremely wicked, intending only to knock Shu Han unconscious. Any ordinary child would've been terrified, yet Shu Han reacted swiftly. He pretended to be the village idiot and insistently declared that they were there to buy grain. The bandits followed his lead, asking Shu Han to show them the granary. Shu Han lied that for safety's sake, the village chief had hidden all the grain in the ancestral hall. After leading them into the hall, he quickly slipped out through a small hole and locked the door behind him, trapping the bandits inside.

After the incident, everyone in Shu Village praised Shu Han, saying his big head held great wisdom.

Seated atop the ancestral hall was a middle-aged man donned in silk robes, embroidered with lifelike bamboo shoots—a stark contrast to the village chief standing beside him in coarse linen. Holding a cup of hot tea, his eyes shone brighter than any of the villagers. He watched the children below with a degree of satisfaction, remarking, "The children are all doing well, especially Erdan. He appears to have a deep spiritual root. Goudan's performance is also commendable, it's just a pity for Big-Head. There's still no sign of him awakening his spiritual root..."

The white-bearded village chief bowed and nodded, "Immortal Master Zhang, does Big-Head still have a chance?"

Immortal Master Zhang pondered for a moment, "I quite like Big-Head. He's not only intelligent but also has tenacity. Consuming the Enlightenment Herb without an awakened spiritual root is like swallowing burning charcoal. It's rare for a child to persist like this. Give him two more days. If there's still no sign by then, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

The village chief rubbed his hands together, smiling, "Immortal Master Zhang, if our Shu Village produces three children with spiritual roots, could we perhaps receive additional subsidies? Once the children leave, they never come back. We have to give their parents an explanation."

Immortal Master Zhang glanced at him, snorting, "If Big-Head truly succeeds, building another ancestral hall for your village wouldn't be an issue. Don't bother me about this anymore."

"Of course, of course..."

Eventually, enduring the fiery sensation, Shu Han managed to fully assimilate all the medicinal potency of the Enlightenment Herb.

At this time, Erdan and Goudan also woke up. Their faces bore no signs of pain but rather exhibited a refreshing and clear demeanor. This scene stirred a yearning within Shu Han, intensifying his resolve to awaken his spiritual root.

"The Immortal Master said that entering the Mystical Dragon Sect is far better than becoming a scholar," he reminded himself.

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"As long as I enter the Mystical Dragon Sect, I will be able to lead a wealthy life with my parents and younger sister outside the mountain. I could also see the grand world that Immortal Master Zhang mentioned."

With this thought in mind, Shu Han took out a worn-out hemp bag and began picking up the spit-out Enlightenment Herb. He knew that the medicinal strength of these herbs had not yet dissipated. After a slight rinse, he could consume them again. If he didn't have the natural gift like Erdan, then he must make up for it with hard work.

Watching Shu Han pick up the Enlightenment Herb, Goudan sneered, "Big-Head, just give it up! You aren't destined for this! It's quite decent to be a carpenter like your father."

"Goudan, say that one more time, and I swear I'll give you a good beating!"

Erdan got up, rage simmering in his eyes as he raised his fist.

Goudan retreated with a chuckle, "Erdan, Big-Head is bound to spend his life in the village, but we will surely go to the Mystical Dragon Sect. There's no point in losing our temper over Big-Head. My mother said we need to look after each other in the future!"

"Dare to speak again!"

With eyes wide as saucers, Erdan lunged at Goudan, ready to give him a beating, but was held back by Shu Han.

"Big Brother Big-Head, if he dares to speak to you like this, I'll beat him to death!"

Shu Han shook his head, pocketed a bag of Enlightenment Herb, and pulled Erdan out of the ancestral hall.

Erdan's anger hadn't subsided, "Big Brother Big-Head, he's always insulting you. Let me punch him once, I guarantee I'll shut his foul mouth."

"Hey, I think Goudan is right."

"Huh?"

Erdan's eyes widened into perfect circles, "Big Brother Big-Head, are you okay?"

Shu Han scratched his head, "If I don't awaken my spiritual root in the future, then I'll really not be like you guys. You'll be going to the Mystical Dragon Sect, you should get along with Goudan, it's always good to have someone watch your back. But, if I do awaken my spiritual root, won't that be slapping Goudan in the face?"

Grinning, Erdan said, "Big Brother Big-Head, I believe you can do it. Here, this is what I have left from this morning."

Erdan handed over an intact Enlightenment Herb to Shu Han.

"Erdan... you..."

Erdan laughed heartily, "I don't need it anymore. Immortal Master Zhang told me long ago that I'm sure to enter the Mystical Dragon Sect. By then, I can have as many Enlightenment Herbs as I want, and even more valuable treasures than the Herb! Big Brother Big-Head, we must go to the Mystical Dragon Sect together."

"Alright!"

Returning home, Shu Han hurriedly ate his breakfast, pocketed a bag of tattered Enlightenment Herb, and walked towards the upper reaches of the creek. This secluded place had few visitors and no disturbances. After washing the bag of Enlightenment Herb in the creek, Shu Han immediately started to consume them.

The bitten Enlightenment Herb had lost most of its medicinal power, yet still gave a burning sensation in his chest and lungs.

Gritting his teeth, by the time Shu Han consumed the second one, he felt a scorching heat all over his body, wishing he could plunge into the creek to cool off.

"I feel I'm so close! Immortal Master Zhang will take Erdan and Goudan away soon. I must awaken my spiritual root before they leave!"

There were eight Enlightenment Herbs in the bag, but these eight caused Shu Han to suffer from morning till evening.

As the sun set, the reddish light bathed Shu Han's young face. Slowly opening his eyes, the look in them revealed more despair than anything else.

All of the collected Enlightenment Herbs had been used up, yet the feeling of awakening his spiritual root was just a bit off. It was like the saying among the elders, "Don't beat a dead horse." The goal seemed close enough to touch, yet no matter how hard Shu Han tried, he couldn't reach it.

"Ah!" Shu Han cried out in frustration. Goudan's taunting words echoed in his ears. He clutched the intact Enlightenment Herb left by Erdan, feeling nothing but bitterness. At this point, he realized that even if he had ten more herbs, he still wouldn't be able to awaken his spiritual root.

Looking at his reflection in the creek, Shu Han laughed in despair and mocked himself, "You're not destined for this. You might as well stay in the village for the rest of your life."

With that, he tossed the Enlightenment Herb into the creek, along with the tiny hope in his heart. After sitting by the creek for a while, Shu Han gathered his emotions and began to walk home along the creek.

As he walked, he saw the Enlightenment Herb he had just thrown away floating in the creek. Suppressing the urge to pick it up, Shu Han continued walking.

Suddenly, he saw another Enlightenment Herb flowing past him. Strange! Had he thrown two? No, that wasn't right! As he puzzled over it, another one flowed down from upstream.

Shocked, Shu Han hastily stepped into the creek and picked up the Enlightenment Herb. Then, he looked upstream and sure enough, another one was coming down. With a belly full of questions, Shu Han went upstream and astonishingly picked up nine herbs along the way!

Holding back tears of joy, he looked further upstream and saw that the source of the Enlightenment Herbs was a pitch-black jar sunk in the creek. Shu Han pulled out the jar with effort and in the setting sun, he was astounded to see the jar was full of fresh Enlightenment Herbs!

"How is this possible?"

He poured out all the Enlightenment Herbs from the jar and was astounded to find there were as many as thirty-eight! Shu Han was dumbfounded, not knowing why this ancient jar contained so many fresh Enlightenment Herbs, but he knew that his awakening of the spiritual root now held hope!

He picked up the small jar and examined it, but the dark jar gave no indication of its special properties. He tried to put an Enlightenment Herb into it, and then a magical thing happened. The jar began to emit a faint blue light, and the single Enlightenment Herb at the bottom of the jar had actually become two!

Next, two became four, four became eight, and in the time it took to make a cup of tea, Shu Han had another jar full of Enlightenment Herbs! This miraculous phenomenon had a massive impact on Shu Han's young heart. His mind went blank for a while before it started spinning again.

To confirm his suspicions, he emptied the jar of Enlightenment Herbs and threw a stone in it. Very quickly, the stones multiplied at an even faster rate, filling the jar. The black jar could actually duplicate items! Shu Han might have been young, but he knew the value of this jar.

He looked around to see if anyone was nearby, then quickly started to dig a hole to bury his hoard of Enlightenment Herbs. Carrying only one herb and the jar, he pretended to have found nothing and ran back to the village.