In the world of cultivation, some practitioners would enter seclusion for decades, even centuries…
A mere few years was something anyone could accept.
Having settled all matters, Feng Qingran stood up, walked into the cultivation formation, and sat down cross-legged.
In an instant, vast amounts of spiritual energy surged madly into her body.
Feng Qingran circulated the Five Elements spiritual power within her, refined it, and channeled it into her spiritual body—the process was incredibly smooth. The extraordinary meridians throughout her body cooperated in their circulation.
Feng Qingran, with her eyes closed, had long entered a state of cultivation.
She didn’t notice the massive vortex of spiritual energy that had appeared above her head. The vortex, seemingly unsatisfied with the energy from the Tenth Peak, extended tendrils to secretly siphon spiritual energy from the other mountain peaks.
Others on the various peaks of Lingyun Sect: Why does today’s spiritual energy feel less dense than usual?
Two years later.
Lingyun Sect, Summit of Cloudsoar Mountain.
Dark clouds churned, pressing down with the threat of thunder and rain.
Feng Qingran sat atop Cloudsoar Mountain, exerting all her strength to break through the barrier within her body.
The spiritual platform inside her began to contract and coalesce, slowly transforming into a fist-sized, pearl-like core.
Feng Qingran, observing the multicolored core within her, felt a doubt arise in her heart.
A Golden Core… shouldn’t it be golden?
However, before she could ponder further, the first heavenly tribulation lightning bolt struck down.
Below the mountain summit.
Mu Qianjue looked at the lightning bolt as thick as a baby’s arm, exclaiming in surprise, “This lightning… it seems to hold some deep-seated grudge against our junior sister, doesn’t it? My first bolt back then was only as thick as a little finger…”
Baili Wenliu stroked his chin. With his noble bearing and handsome features, a faint glint passed through his fox-like eyes. “Perhaps it’s because our junior sister is too monstrous. Reaching the Golden Core stage from the Foundation Establishment stage in just four years… maybe the very heavens find it intolerable…”
Thwack!
A slap landed on Baili Wenliu’s head.
Before he could even get angry, he turned to meet the gaze of Ning Shiyue, whose eyes were as radiant as a spring blossom.
“Um, Fifth Senior Sister… when did you get here?” Baili Wenliu asked, a look of guilt on his face.
Ning Shiyue adored Feng Qingran and usually wouldn’t tolerate him making sarcastic remarks about her.
“Hmph!” Ning Shiyue’s clear eyes sparkled, bright as the autumn moon. “If you don’t know how to speak properly, you could donate your mouth. After all, cultivation doesn’t require one.”
“Fifth Senior Sister, I was wrong, I just…” Baili Wenliu met her gaze and changed his tune. “I’m actually just envious, jealous… Who asked our junior sister to be so outstanding? She reached Golden Core in four years; she might even reach the Nascent Soul stage within four years too!”
Little did Baili Wenliu know, his words would prove prophetic.
“As if that needs saying. Our junior sister is amazing; she’ll surpass you in no time.” Ning Shiyue’s voice was like silver bells, pleased to hear Feng Qingran being praised.
Her divine sense had been damaged. Thanks to the pills and spirit fruits their junior sister had given her, she recovered quickly. However, their junior sister had also said she shouldn’t attempt any breakthroughs for the next few years and should try to draw fewer talismans.
Thus, she had no choice but to research poisons on Shiyue Peak…
Honestly, poisons were much more interesting than pills.
It was a pity there was no one for her to test the poisons on now.
Their Second Senior Brother, to avoid being a test subject, had simply run off on a training journey!
A brilliant idea suddenly sparked in Ning Shiyue’s shining eyes as she stared at Baili Wenliu. “Sixth Junior Brother, I’d like to ask for your help with something again?”
“Fifth Senior Sister… can I refuse?” Baili Wenliu instinctively took a few steps back.
He remembered the last time he tested medicine for Ning Shiyue, he nearly went bald…
The time before that, he almost turned into a woman…
The time before that, his legs turned into dog legs and he almost couldn’t change back…
“Sixth Junior Brother, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to test medicine. I remember you have beast-taming skills, right?” Ning Shiyue’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
She had grown tired of researching ordinary poisons.
She wanted to develop poisons that could work against cultivators—like Fourth Senior Brother’s hidden weapons—capable of catching people off guard and injuring them!
Mu Qianjue nudged Liu Canglan. “Senior Brother, what do you think about the feng shui of our Lingyun Sect?”
Liu Canglan’s gentle eyes held a hint of confusion. “What are you trying to say, Qianjue?”
“It’s just… I feel the peach blossoms on Wenliu Peak have been blooming quite beautifully lately. A pity you’ve been in seclusion, Senior Brother, and missed them.” Mu Qianjue waved his jade fan slightly, half-hiding his peach-blossom eyes.
Liu Canglan glanced sideways at Baili Wenliu and Ning Shiyue, who were whispering together, a warm, jade-like smile appearing on his face. “Just children playing around, Qianjue. You’re overthinking it. Better focus on your cultivation. If you keep this up, our junior sister will surely surpass you before long.”
As Liu Canglan spoke, the third tribulation lightning bolt struck.
Mu Qianjue’s peach-blossom eyes flashed with astonishment. “Senior Brother, you must be joking! I’m at the peak of the Golden Core stage, about to break through to Nascent Soul in a couple of years. Our junior sister just entered the Golden Core stage; she’ll need several years just to stabilize her realm…”
However, four years later, when Mu Qianjue stood in the same spot, his state of mind would be completely different.
Liu Canglan patted Mu Qianjue’s shoulder meaningfully. “Qianjue, you still don’t understand our junior sister.”
It wasn’t entirely due to their junior sister that they had reached their current cultivation levels. But a large part of it was Feng Qingran’s merit.
The cultivation manuals Feng Qingran had brought them—any single one of them, if revealed to the outside world, could stir up a bloody storm.
Truth be told, among them, their innate talent and aptitudes weren’t considered particularly good within the cultivation world.
He, for instance, possessed a triple spiritual root—a Profound Spiritual Root that many sects wouldn’t even accept.
