The next day, I was woken up by the sound of birds chirping.
Warm sunlight streamed in through the cave entrance.
I walked out of my cave abode.
I saw my senior brothers practicing their sword techniques on a platform halfway up the opposite mountain.
That platform wasn’t paved with stone or brick, so dust was flying everywhere—every single sword strike kicked up a cloud of ash.
Yet my senior brothers seemed completely oblivious to it.
And their sword moves were actually very beautiful to watch.
Eldest Senior Brother’s sword light was like flowing water. With a single swing of his sword, even the air trembled.
Su Ning’s sword aura was a vibrant teal-green, nimble and elegant—with one thrust of his sword, the surrounding weeds grew wild.
Yup, Wood Spiritual Root confirmed.
Yan Chuan’s greatsword (he insisted it was a sword) emitted a fiery red sword aura. As he swung his sword, the entire platform radiated heat.
I suspect he could moonlight as a barbecue cook during battles.
Murong Zhuo’s sword aura was golden, glittering brightly—it should be a Earth Spiritual Root.
No wonder he’s so good at digging caves.
Gu Chenguang’s sword aura was an icy blue, presumably a Water Spiritual Root, because a thin layer of frost had formed on the ground where he was practicing.
I think standing next to him in the summer would feel really refreshing.
I was mesmerized watching them practice.
It wasn’t until my senior brothers noticed me that they flew over one after another.
— “Good morning, Little Junior Sister!”
— “Did you sleep well?”
— “There aren’t any mice in your cave, right?”
I shook my head: “No mice, it’s just a bit hard.”
Su Ning nodded: “A bit hard is good, it’s good for your spine!”
I was skeptical: “Is that true?”
Murong Zhuo laughed: “It’s fake—he was asking me to pound his back yesterday.”
Su Ning blushed in embarrassment: “…Shut up!”
I was speechless: “…”
I looked at Eldest Senior Brother: “By the way, what spiritual root does Eldest Senior Brother have? How come I can’t tell?”
Su Ning chimed in first: “Eldest Senior Brother has a White Spiritual Root, also known as a Heavenly Spiritual Root!”
I was puzzled: “Besides Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, there’s a Heavenly Spiritual Root?”
Yan Chuan said proudly: “One in a hundred thousand! It allows dual cultivation of multiple elements, and the cultivation speed is twice that of an ordinary spiritual root!”
I let out a “Wow.”
Then I remembered something: “Is there a Black Spiritual Root?”
Murong Zhuo nodded: “Yes, also called Dark Spiritual Root. Usually, it only appears in geniuses of the Demon Race.”
My heart skipped a beat.
Dark Spiritual Root? Demon Race genius?
Then why don’t I have a Dark Spiritual Root?
My dad clearly said I was a genius.
Could it be because I only have half the bloodline?
Sigh, being a half-blood is such a hassle.
I asked cautiously: “So… is the Dark Spiritual Root… very powerful?”
Gu Chenguang nodded: “Very powerful, as rare as the Heavenly Spiritual Root, and the cultivation speed is extremely fast too. But…”
He lowered his voice: “The cultivation world holds a prejudice against Dark Spiritual Roots, viewing them as spiritual roots belonging to the Demon Race. So cultivators with Dark Spiritual Roots usually hide their spiritual root attributes and pretend to have other ones.”
Me: “…Oh.”
Got it.
I have to hide my demon bloodline well.
Otherwise, I might be captured as a demon spy.
Shen Qingchen patted my head: “Today, familiarize yourself with the sect first. Starting tomorrow, I’ll teach you body tempering.”
He then handed me a small booklet: “This is the secret manual for Qi Qi Gathering / Qi Drawing. Take a look at it. If you can learn it, that’s great; if not, it doesn’t matter, we can gradually guide you in a few years.”
I took the booklet: “In a few years?”
Su Ning explained: “The body of someone with mixed spiritual roots is like a sieve—it’s very difficult to successfully draw Qi into the body.”
Yan Chuan chimed in: “So we’ll first teach you body tempering and sword techniques. After you gain some comprehension, you can learn Qi drawing.”
Murong Zhuo said with regret: “Although you have exemplary bone structure, you have mixed spiritual roots, so you should be mentally prepared—there’s a chance you might never be able to draw Qi into your body in your whole life.”
Gu Chenguang patted my shoulder: “It’s fine even if you can’t draw Qi into your body! Once you become a body cultivator, a single punch from you can shatter a mountain! By then, even those talisman cultivators from the Qingyun Sect will have to take a detour when they see you!”
I blinked: “Is Qi drawing really that hard?”
Shen Qingchen glitched a look at me, then sat cross-legged: “I’ll demonstrate it once.”
He closed his eyes.
The surrounding air suddenly shifted.
A breeze blew in, carrying spiritual energy that surged into his body.
His body emitted a faint white glow, soft as moonlight.
I was mesmerized watching him.
Soon, Shen Qingchen opened his eyes: “This is Qi drawing—absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to make it your own.”
I realized: “Oh~”
Then I imitated his posture, sitting cross-legged and closing my eyes.
At first, I couldn’t feel a thing.
But gradually, I seemed to sense tiny specks of light.
Red, yellow, blue, green, brown.
They drifted back and forth around me.
I tried to attract them.
And then…
They surged toward me like crazy!
Like a child starving for three years seeing braised pork belly, like a sword cultivator who had been poor his whole life laying eyes on a spirit stone mine!
Frenzied, surging, and pouring into my body as if it cost nothing at all!
I opened my eyes in fright.
I found my senior brothers staring at me, dumbfounded.
To be precise, they were staring at my hand.
In my hand sat a small, multi-colored sphere.
Five colors—faint, yet clearly visible.
I frowned: “It’s these five colors again. When I tested at the Qingyun Sect earlier, it was also these five colors, but they said it’s called Five Spiritual Roots and that it’s bad.”
All the senior brothers petrified as a group.
Including Shen Qingchen.
A moment later.
Su Ning cried out in shock: “Y-Y-Y-You drew Qi into your body?!”
Yan Chuan was delighted: “And even condensed five-elemental spiritual energy!”
Murong Zhuo was puzzled: “But Little Junior Sister doesn’t seem to have any spiritual power at all!”
Gu Chenguang stroked his chin: “Mixed spiritual roots… and hasn’t gone through systematic cultivation… so isn’t it normal that she can’t store spiritual energy?”
Shen Qingchen stared tightly at the tiny colorful sphere in my hand, his brows deeply furrowed.
I blinked: “So, this is drawing Qi into the body?”
My senior brothers: “You didn’t know?”
I shook my head: “No, my dad never taught me how to cultivate. He said I was a genius and that he couldn’t teach me, so he told me to figure it out myself.”
Everyone: “…………”
My senior brothers exchanged glances, then surrounded me in the middle and began discussing in hushed tones.
Su Ning asked cautiously: “Do you guys still remember that legend?”
Yan Chuan hesitated: “Are you saying… Chaos Spiritual Root?”
Murong Zhuo said solemnly: “The five elements being mixed isn’t trash—it’s that chaos hasn’t been opened yet!”
Gu Chenguang quickly flipped through an ancient book:
“According to ancient records, when the Chaos Spiritual Root first emerges, all five elements manifest in a chaotic, disorderly fashion.”
“Once one reaches the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, the five elements merge into one, allowing one to devour the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and ignore elemental attribute counters.”
He gasped for air: “The so-called ‘mixed’ is merely a deceptive facade set up by the Heavenly Dao to protect the source of chaos!”
He raised his head, stammering: “Th-Th-That’s… that’s the legendary top-top-top-tier spiritual root that’s extremely rare to come across even in ten thousand years!”
After he finished speaking, all the senior brothers stared at me at once.
Their eyes looked as if they were staring at a broken bowl picked up from the roadside, only to discover after wiping it clean that it was a priceless antique.
Shen Qingchen suddenly reached out and held my wrist.
A warm stream of spiritual power entered my body.
His expression changed from serious to surprised, and then to grave.
After a long moment, he nodded in confirmation: “Her speed of absorbing spiritual energy is ten times that of an ordinary cultivator.”
All the senior brothers gasped in unison.
I tilted my head: “So, am I very amazing?”
The senior brothers all nodded fanatically.
Su Ning excitedly rubbed my head, turning my hair into a bird’s nest: “You’re a genius! A genius! A genius rare to see in ten thousand years!”
“Then am I very amazing right now?”
“Not yet.”
“What about in the future?”
“In the future…” Su Ning paused, “In the future, you’ll be super amazing!”
Yan Chuan looked up, his rimmed eyes red: “Little Junior Sister, you will be extremely powerful in the future.”
Murong Zhuo nodded: “So powerful that all the major sects will fight over you.”
Gu Chenguang chimed in: “So powerful that the Qingyun Sect will beg you to go to them in tears.”
Shen Qingchen didn’t say a word, but the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
I smiled too.
Thinking to myself: So when dad said I was a genius, he wasn’t lying to me after all.
………………
Su Ning suddenly spoke up again: “We’re doomed!”
Everyone looked at him.
He had a complex expression: “The Chaos Spiritual Root… costs a ton of money to nourish—it’s not something a few steamed buns can raise.”
Yan Chuan froze: “That’s right. After Little Junior Sister draws Qi into her body, she needs to consolidate her foundation and cultivate her origin. A normal Origin-Nourishing Pill costs 100 mid-grade spirit stones a piece.”
Murong Zhuo was stunned: “With her cultivation speed, how many spirit stones will it take to sustain her for a month?”
Gu Chenguang directly pulled out a notebook and listed down a breakdown:
— Little Junior Sister’s Qi Refining Stage Raising Costs:
— Origin-Nourishing Pill (must be taken after drawing Qi to consolidate foundation): 100 mid-grade spirit stones.
— Low-grade Spirit Gathering Array (disposable type): 100 mid-grade spirit stones.
— Spiritual Herb Medicinal Bath (per session): 100 low-grade spirit stones.
— Spiritual Fruit Nutritional Supplement (monthly): 50 mid-grade spirit stones.
— Daily Spiritual Qi Supply (daily): ???
Before he could even finish writing, he silently shut the notebook, swallowing nervously: “We can’t afford to raise her.”
Everyone fell silent.
I fell silent as well.
So when my dad said he couldn’t teach me…
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to teach.
It was that he couldn’t afford to teach.
Poverty is the greatest barrier standing in front of a genius.