Xue Mingzhao sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at the transparent bead in her dantian that had returned to its leisurely state, and suddenly let out a bright smile.
Her tone was so incredibly gentle it could melt ice. “Little Transparent, since you're so amazing, do you have a way to change your color?”
The Chaos Spiritual Root instantly blew its top. “I will say this one last time—I am the Chaos Spiritual Root! The Qi of Chaos has no form or appearance, no beginning or end. It is both clear and turbid, neither empty nor real. It devours the essence of the sun and moon, and absorbs the marrow of yin and yang. All spirits are born from me, and all phenomena are transformed by me! I am not some ‘Little Transparent’!”
Xue Mingzhao nodded after hearing this. “Right, so you're a transparent bead. It must have been hard for you to come up with so many words to describe yourself.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root trembled all over in sheer anger. “You country bumpkin! You don't know quality when you see it!”
“Fine, fine, fine, I don't know quality,” Xue Mingzhao readily corrected herself, her tone becoming even gentler. “Then, great Chaos Spiritual Root, do you have a way to change your color?”
The Chaos Spiritual Root snorted coldly, its tone filled with arrogance, acting exactly like a member of royalty being asked to wear cheap street clothes:
“The Chaos Spiritual Root is as clear as thousand-year ice, as pure and void as suspended crystals of the nine heavens. It lacks even a single trace of impurity, untainted by a speck of dust. When merged into the Qi of the dantian, it is like a drop of water falling into an abyss, leaving no trace behind. How could this form of mine ever be compared to those vulgar reds and greens?”
Xue Mingzhao held back her irritation. “So you can do it?”
“Give up on that idea,” the Chaos Spiritual Root said resolutely. “It is impossible for me to transform into the appearance of other ordinary spiritual roots. The Chaos Spiritual Root has its own dignity.”
Xue Mingzhao fell silent for a moment. Then, she reached toward the side of her pillow, picked up her dagger, unsheathed it, and pointed the cold blade—gleaming in the morning light—directly at her dantian.
“What are you trying to do?” The Chaos Spiritual Root's voice suddenly grew alert.
Xue Mingzhao's tone was as calm as if she were discussing the pleasant weather. “Since you won't cooperate anyway, if someone discovers one day that there's a talking transparent bead in my dantian, both of us will be captured and studied.”
“Since that would be a fate worse than death, I might as well cripple you right now. At worst, I'll just live out my life as an ordinary mortal.”
“You...” The Chaos Spiritual Root's voice trembled with rage. “Do you have no shame? You're actually threatening a spiritual root!”
Xue Mingzhao spun the dagger in her hand, remaining silent.
The blade reflected the morning light, casting a small, cold glint in her eyes.
The Chaos Spiritual Root fell silent for a long moment.
Then, under Xue Mingzhao's watchful gaze, that bead, which was as clear as ice, trembled slightly.
Its color began to change bit by bit.
From transparent emptiness, it transformed into a crimson spiritual bead as deep red as pigeon blood, flowing with radiant light. It hung quietly in the center of her dantian, looking as beautiful as a ruby taken from a jewelry box.
Satisfied, Xue Mingzhao withdrew her dagger. She examined the newly transformed bead in her dantian and praised it sincerely, “It looks quite nice.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root ignored her, the entire bead radiating a low-pressure aura of silent humiliation.
Xue Mingzhao clapped her hands, hopped off the bed, smoothed out her robes, and walked toward the door.
After taking two steps, she paused, looked down toward her dantian, and smiled. “I'm going to Master's place to test my spiritual root again in a bit. If the test doesn't show a fire spiritual root, you just wait.”
Chaos Spiritual Root: “...”
Once again, she dragged the half-asleep Su Ye out of bed to act as her driver.
Upon arriving at the entrance of Su Mingyuan's bedchamber, Xue Mingzhao took a deep breath to suppress her excitement. She walked in properly and bowed. “Master, your disciple wishes to test her spiritual root once more.”
Su Mingyuan, who was sitting cross-legged on a futon regulating his breathing, opened his eyes at her words. Looking at his young disciple before him, he sighed silently in his heart.
This child had probably flipped through books all night again, still refusing to give up hope.
Oh well, letting her test one more time to completely shatter her hopes might finally allow her to settle down and live a peaceful life.
He nodded warmly. “Very well, Master will accompany you.”
When they arrived at the Testing Platform, the testing stone stood quietly in the center of the hall, exactly as it had yesterday.
Su Ye leaned against a pillar by the entrance and yawned, thinking to himself that his junior sister would finally give up this time.
Xue Mingzhao pressed her palm against the testing stone.
In the next instant, the entire testing stone suddenly lit up.
A crimson light soared into the sky, reflecting across the entire hall like a sea of fire.
Su Ye's yawn caught in his throat, his mouth hanging open as he forgot to close it.
The crimson light on the testing stone glowed steadily, exceptionally pure and without a single trace of other colors.
This was... a supreme-grade fire spiritual root!
Su Mingyuan turned to look at Xue Mingzhao and reached out to probe her dantian.
The third level of Qi Condensation!
His fingers paused slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief. “Mingzhao, you've successfully drawn Qi into your body?”
Xue Mingzhao withdrew her hand and nodded obediently, looking as innocent as could be. “Last night, your disciple tried the method in the Qi drawing scripture. I don't know what happened, but the spiritual energy suddenly entered my body.”
She paused, then added, “Perhaps the testing stone really was broken the day before yesterday.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root silently rolled its eyes in her dantian. Broken, my foot!
Without missing a beat, Xue Mingzhao continued to spin her tale. “Yesterday, I borrowed a few books from the Library Pavilion. I tried doing what was written in them, and to my surprise, it actually worked.”
“Then, thinking that since I could cultivate now, I should practice a bit more. After a night of diligent effort, I barely managed to reach the third level of Qi Condensation.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root rolled its eyes even harder in her dantian.
“Barely? Diligent?”
“You clearly sat down cross-legged and immediately threatened me, and you call that diligent?”
Su Mingyuan looked at Xue Mingzhao with excitement, repeating “Good, good!” twice. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkled with his laughter. “It has been so many years since the Grand Primordium Sect last produced a supreme-grade spiritual root! Reaching the third level of Qi Condensation overnight... a genius, a true genius!”
The day before yesterday, he had personally examined Xue Mingzhao's dantian. It was completely empty, without the slightest foundation of spiritual energy.
This testing stone had been used in the sect for centuries and had never once made an error.
Going from having no spiritual root to the third level of Qi Condensation overnight was not something that could be explained by a “broken testing stone.”
But he did not press her. His young disciple had her secrets; if she was unwilling to speak of them, he would not ask.
“Indeed, the testing stone was broken,” Su Mingyuan said, smoothing over the lie for her without a change in expression. “Your Martial Uncle Wen just repaired it last night. It is our fault for letting you bear the reputation of having no spiritual root for two days.”
Xue Mingzhao nodded vigorously. “Yes, Martial Uncle Wen worked hard.”
Leaning against the pillar, Su Ye was completely dazed.
In a single night, going from drawing Qi into the body to the third level of Qi Condensation?
Was cultivation really this easy?
He recalled his own past experiences.
Back when he was still the young master of the Mist Concealment Sect.
Every day, he had been piled with all kinds of high-grade spiritual pills and miraculous medicines, soaked in spiritual springs, and taught hand-in-hand by elders. Even with all that, it had still taken him a whole year just to complete drawing Qi into his body.
It took another three years to break through to Foundation Establishment, and five years to reach the third level of Foundation Establishment.
And yet, back then, his father had patted his shoulder and said, “My son has extraordinary talent.”
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