Chapter 20: The CEO Who Has No Roots

The click-clacking of a keyboard can be heard within the place just outside of the CEO's own office. Ying Yue He was typing as fast as she could, the woman was in a frenzy. And yet she ended up deleting every single word that she wrote. The young woman ended up looking at the time on her desktop's screen and sighed aloud, "And I thought I was going to be the late one."

Yang Li was never the type to come in late or take leaves, he could have been said to be married to his work. "So why isn't he here right now?" Her voice sounded more irritated than she thought it would be. She gazed around the room and resisted the urge to hit her head on the table—most of the other employees were on different offices and levels.

She had no one to talk to… and for a moment, she felt lonely.

And it was pretty annoying that it had to be right now. She could have her bouts of loneliness after work, but not right now—she still had her own tasks to do. But she couldn't do it. Her first thought was the traffic, but the man always left early to come here early so that wasn't it. What if the man took a sudden leave? They would still have informed her at least.

"...did he die?" Ying Yue He's brows furrowed together as she reached for the suit coat draped on her chair's back. Millions of thoughts were running through her mind, scenarios of accidents that came, an assassin coming and planting a bomb in his car—she slapped a hand over her face. "You need to quit watching those crime shows, they're not helping."

And yet she chewed on her lip, "Maybe he's sick?" But was she even hired by the man to take care of them this much?No. She ought to be more concerned about finishing the documents so the man's workload didn't have to increase. Dragging back her gaze to the unflinching screen, the woman cracked her fingers before setting off to work.

But it was at that moment that he arrived.

Yang Li stepped through the corridor, and the man's pace was fast but each step he did was deliberate and timed, almost a soldierly cadence to each step. His brows were slightly knotted together, perhaps the only indicator that he was bothered of his own arrival.

However, just the sight of him was enough to make Ying Yue He push herself off the chair to greet him, "Good morning, Mister Li."

"Ah, good morning to you too. Miss He." He nodded at her briefly as he reached for his office doorknob.

The man was no doubt in a rush, but she managed a smile, "Mister Li, would you like some coffee?" Ying Yue He was positive that the man would be able to connect the dots between their previous coffee date before and her offer now.

Yang Li glanced at her, "Oh, I'm fine. No thank you."

The door shut closed right after—but it was akin to getting the door slammed right on her face. She should have really said, 'this one is for last night'... but she would still have ended up being rejected wouldn't she? Ying Yue He sunk back to her seat and dragged herself back to her desktop. And she didn't even get the chance to return the suit coat.

Ying Yue He squeezed her face for a moment, squishing her cheeks and trying to lighten up her mood. "I can give it back later."

And so, the secretary set back to work.

.. .

Yang Li arrived back into his office and nearly staggered down to his chair. He let out a cough and saw a black fume leave his mouth.And the man couldn't even react as his chest burned, somehow it felt like his lungs were burning but despite that, he had managed to come here alone.

The moment he had stepped out of his car in the parking lot, he was assailed by a nauseous and head-wrecking pain. But now that he was in his office, the terrible sensation was vanishing, if only by a bit. The man pulled himself together as he rubbed his forehead for a moment and wiped the corner of his mouth. Contrary to his expectations, the creature had decided to stay with the bamboo plant and so he could only ask the System. 'How terrible is the qi condition in the city?' That was the only thing he could attribute for his condition right now—his environment. Somehow, Granny Lanfen's remark of the air being polluted was applicable to him.

[ The Six Evil Qi Is Always Present ]

He frowned and wished he had a glass of water, he was too tired to open his briefcase for the documents or cross-check it with the internet. And so he continued, 'If it's always around then why was… wait, this is because of the Qi Condensation Stage isn't it?' It wasn't his environment that had changed, but his body itself.

[ Yes And No. ]

Yang Li raised a brow, massaging the pressure points on his hands. 'Can you clarify.'

[ The 'Host' Body Is Not Fit For Qi Condensation Stage ]

His eyes narrowed for a moment, he wanted to ask why they offered it into the store—but a lot of things were available to purchase in the market, things that weren't exactly beneficial for people in the first place. 'Should I have bought the Harem Cultivation Scripture first? If I had done that, would I not experience the backlash?'

[ The 'Host' Would Still Experience The Invasion of The Evil Six Qi ]

Yang Li blinked at the screen in front of him. Neither options prevented him from not experiencing this? How would he be able to conduct his work when simply standing outside the city was enough to make his body weaken? He coughed and watched a lesser amount of black smoke rise out of his body. 'What is the reason for this then?'

[ The 'Host' Has No Spiritual Roots ]

He checked his status screen to confirm that…and found that it was true.

[ Gender: Male ]

[ Age: 28 ]

[ Cultivation: Qi Condensation First Stage (1/9) ]

[ Constitution: None ]

[ Bloodline: None ]

[ Roots: None ]

[ Fame: Olympian Corp: 1000 ]

[ Sect: None ]

[ Cultivation Methods ]

[ Harem Cultivation (Mortal) ]

Power: Extremely Weak to Divine Grade

Comprehension: Beginner (0/32)

Stage: Qi Condensation (1/9)

[ Martial Arts Methods ]

None

[ Skills ]

None

What was the importance of spiritual roots? He had managed to get into the first stage of qi condensation regardless of his lack of it. Yang Li turned on his laptop and set out to find answers, he still coughed and his lungs were in a terrible condition—but he worked past it. If anything, it was like a terrible case of asthma.

Spiritual Roots - figuratively, the very foundation (roots) of one's body and soul. Associated with a person's innate talent and elemental affinities ( ImmortalMountain )

To step in Qi Condensation, you have to guide your body's latent spiritual qi into your meridians and use the force of your qi to guide it open. Because of this, people without spirit roots cannot enter Qi Condensation via normal means since the spirit root is the source of the latent qi in your body. (Nine Star Hegemon Body Art Wikia)

Yang Li stared at the pieces and bits of information that he found. They were possibly not truly word-for-word accurate, but if it was true… "I shouldn't have been able to cultivate into the first place then?" He shook his head. He frowned as he realized that he was talking aloud.

In addition to not appearing like a muttering fool, he didn't want to do it for the satisfaction of the 'viewers'. It was one of the reasons why the Panda didn't want to come with him in the first place… they had a minor disagreement about it.

But that would have to be put on for later.

If he wasn't able to absorb and guide his latent spiritual qi… then he was absorbing other qi. 'I've been absorbing the qi all around me because of my lack of roots?'

[ Yes ]

Neither the Panda nor the System mentioned it to him, but the fault eventually still laid on him for not checking much either. 'What about other cultivators?'

[ All Cultivators Do Gather Qi Strands From Heaven and Earth. Lack Of Spiritual Root However Increases Dependency on External Qi ]

"And the Roots Unlockment is worth 5000 charm points." Yang Li rubbed his face. He really should have been more careful the first time… and even if he had still received the 2500 CP and not 10,000 CP, the man should have delayed himself from buying instead.

[ You Have Gained 100 Charm Points ]

The sudden notification made him stop for a moment. The number was incomparable to the 'sponsor' he received from the Heavens earlier, but it was still a good amount. "This couldn't be from Miss He at all."