Chapter 26
Baek-Cheong sprinted to her Abode, preciously hugging the jade box to her chest.
Only after latching the door shut did she let out the long breath she had been holding.
She placed the box on the table and carefully opened the lid.
Five Elements Pill (Five Elements Pill) radiates a soft, brilliant Five-Colored light.
Just looking at it made the Spirit Root in her Dantian cry out in thirst, churning madly.
Until now, her spirit energy absorption capacity had been nothing more than the Qi Absorption level of a dual Spirit Root at best.
But if she fully absorbed the Five Elements Pill, she could grasp the true aptitude of a Heavenly Spirit Root.
“Even a Spirit Root needs to be privileged.”
Baek-Cheong calmed her mind and body, sitting in the Lotus Position on the bed.
With trembling hands, she picked up the Five Elements Pill and tossed it into her mouth.
As soon as the pill touched the tip of her tongue, a bizarre phenomenon occurred.
Unlike the top-grade elixirs she had consumed so far, a rough and explosive tidal wave of spirit energy did not rush in.
Instead, Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal.
The warm Five Elements Qi, in which the five attributes were perfectly harmonized, melted softly like cotton candy.
The Five Elements Qi traveled down her esophagus, naturally moistening her Qi meridians like water seeping into a plant, and flowed into her Dantian.
The Five Elements Qi did not linger in her Dantian but flowed directly toward her Spirit Root, deep within, where it touched the roots of her soul.
The moment the root soaked up the energy.
Baek-Cheong’s consciousness was sucked into a distant Trance.
It felt as if she were contemplating the Principles of Heaven and Earth within a distant illusion where the universe was born and stars flickered.
She watched the magnificent sight of her Spirit Root, which had been scattered into five branches, using the harmonious energy of the Five Elements Pill as nourishment to weave into a single massive trunk and stretch toward the sky.
* * *
How much time had passed?
Baek-Cheong opened her eyes, breathing heavily.
“Huu…”
Darkness had already fallen thickly outside the window, and moonlight was illuminating the room.
She had been lost in a Trance for well over half a day.
The first thing Baek-Cheong felt upon regaining her senses was the flow of the surrounding spirit energy.
Even though she hadn’t deliberately steadied her breathing or focused on Qi Absorption, the Spirit Energy of Heaven and Earth drifting in the air was digging into her pores and pouring into her Dantian on its own.
It was on a completely different level from her previous dual Spirit Root’s Qi Absorption capacity - a monstrous speed that swept up the surrounding spirit energy like a vacuum cleaner.
“Is this the spirit energy a Heavenly Spirit Root breathes?”
Baek-Cheong smiled in satisfaction and took a deep breath.
Abundant spirit energy filled her lungs, making her feel refreshed and clear all the way to her head.
But her joy was brief; a strange sense of incongruity brushed past a corner of her heart.
It was a bland sensation, different from what she had expected.
“Something is strange…”
Harboring doubts, Baek-Cheong contemplated her inner self and closely examined the Spirit Root deep within her Dantian.
The Five Elements Spirit Root, which had been divided into five branches, had achieved quite a thick growth by borrowing the power of the Five Elements Pill.
Its past faint and murky complexion had completely vanished, and its presence had become distinctly clear.
“This kind of thing is a Heavenly Spirit Root?”
However, Baek-Cheong muttered, unable to hide her disappointment.
Her spirit energy absorption capacity had certainly increased by leaps and bounds, but the form of the Spirit Root itself and the energy it emitted were far from the mysterious and overwhelming status of a Heavenly Spirit Root.
It looked exactly as if the five elements of a Five Elements Spirit Root had been forcibly bulked up.
She didn’t feel the thrilling pleasure of having ascended to the ranks of a true Heavenly Spirit Root.
Unable to endure the frustration, Baek-Cheong moved her Divine Sense and connected to the Nameless Forum to find a solution.
“Fellow Daoist (913.14): A Heavenly Spirit Root feels this bland originally?”
[Somehow managed to grow my Five Elements Spirit Root and I think it became a Heavenly Spirit Root, but it feels kinda bland. On the outside, it just looks like a fat Five Elements Spirit Root. Is this right?]
She posted a question on the Chat Board, unfiltered, about the confusing situation she was experiencing.
As soon as the question spouting bizarre nonsense went up, a line of red notifications followed without fail.
There were the usual cold reactions from the Fellow Daoists.
[Fellow Daoist (11.23): Last time you said it was a Five Elements Spirit Root, now it’s a Heavenly Spirit Root? What’s next, a Ten Thousand Spirit Root?]
└Fellow Daoist (244.28): Seriously not funny, go die.
[Fellow Daoist (932.4): To the Q&A Board.]
[Fellow Daoist (201.9): The Old Monster of Qi Condensation Stage is at it again… Did you miss your medication time? I told you Spirit Roots can’t be grown. If you keep this up, the Heavenly Dao will smite you!]
Various replies were posted, ranging from criticism and mockery to constant reminders of her incorrect board usage.
Baek-Cheong lightly brushed past the curses and examined the replies, until she found a meaningful reply left by an unfamiliar Dao Friend.
[Fellow Daoist (444.11): That’s a Fake Heavenly Spirit Root, yep.]
“Found it!”
Baek-Cheong was delighted by the words that seemed to know the condition she was experiencing.
She urgently moved her Divine Sense and replied to the unfamiliar Dao Friend.
[Fellow Daoist (913.14): What’s a Fake Heavenly Spirit Root?]
A moment later, a notification rang, and a detailed explanation was posted.
[Fellow Daoist (444.11): It’s when a Multi-Spirit Root Holder has one specific Spirit Root manifest with such an outstanding presence that the energies of the other Spirit Roots are completely buried. This phenomenon is called a Pseudo-Heavenly Spirit Root. I’m in charge of the Spiritual Root Examination for Initiate Disciples at my Sect, so I’ve seen a lot of Spirit Roots, and it happens occasionally.]
It was content that seemed to accurately describe her condition.
Because she had forcibly grown her Spirit Root with the Mutual Generation of Five Elements and various medicinal pills, her spirit energy absorption capacity had increased to the level of a Heavenly Spirit Root, but her fundamental aptitude itself had not transformed into a Heavenly Spirit Root.
[Fellow Daoist (913.14): What about a real Heavenly Spirit Root?]
When Baek-Cheong asked, Fellow Daoist (444.11) answered.
[Fellow Daoist (444.11): I’ve only heard stories about Mid-Heavenly Spirit Roots and above, so I’ve never seen one, but even a Low-Grade Heavenly Spirit Root shines brilliantly like a star in the Dantian. The energy itself is on a different level from the murky Multi-Spirit Roots.]
Finally, her curiosity was clearly resolved.
She hadn’t obtained the greatest privileged aptitude in the Cultivation World; instead, she was stuck as a Fake Heavenly Spirit Root, burdened with a fat Five Elements Spirit Root that had only grown in size and had increased her Qi Absorption capacity.
“It was just a placebo…”
Baek-Cheong let out a dejected sigh and lay spread-eagle on the bed.
She felt embarrassed by herself for having rejoiced, intoxicated by the idea of having a Heavenly Spirit Root.
Then, suddenly, a phrase from the Fellow Daoist’s explanation caught in her mind.
“One specific Spirit Root manifests with such an outstanding presence that the energies of the other Spirit Roots are completely buried?”
If so, which attribute of her Five Elements Spirit Root was currently manifesting so strongly that it covered up the other attributes?
Baek-Cheong closed her eyes and contemplated her inner self again, examining her Spirit Root.
However, she only felt the fattened Five Elements Spirit Root perfectly fine; she couldn’t sense any sign of a specific Spirit Root overwhelming the others with its presence.
“…I don’t know. It just makes my head hurt.”
Baek-Cheong shook off the complicated thoughts and gave up.
Regardless, it was a fact that her spirit energy absorption capacity had increased tremendously, so there was nothing bad about it.
Since she had become a Fake Heavenly Spirit Root anyway, she started scheming to visit Yak-seon and get more Five Elements Pills to grow it even further.
* * *
The next morning.
Baek-Cheong visited the Pill Refining Room with much lighter steps.
When she opened the door and entered, Yak-seon was tidying up around the Pill Furnace.
“The Five Elements are shining brightly.”
As soon as he saw Baek-Cheong, Yak-seon let out an exclamation of Admiration and approached.
His sharp Core Formation stage senses immediately recognized the change in Baek-Cheong’s disposition after consuming the Five Elements Pill.
“It’s thanks to the medicinal pill you gave me yesterday, grandfather Yak-seon.”
Baek-Cheong smiled brightly and carefully broached the subject to get to her main point.
“…By any chance, could you give me a few more Five Elements Pills? I think they would be a huge help to my Cultivation.”
At the shameless request, Yak-seon let out a hearty laugh.
“Haha, I could give you as many as you want. However, controlling the medicinal properties of the Vermilion Silver Grass and balancing the Five Elements is a task that takes a lot of effort even for me, so it takes quite a while to make them.”
Just as a look of disappointment was about to flash across Baek-Cheong’s face, Yak-seon’s voice became deliberately strict.
“And if you’re planning to take additional Five Elements Pills to grow your Spirit Root further, it would be best to give up on that entirely.”
“Huh? Why?”
When Baek-Cheong asked with wide eyes, Yak-seon stroked his beard and warned her.
“The Five Elements Pill is a Heaven-Defying Pill that artificially grows the innate limits of a Spirit Root set by the heavens. One pill might be overlooked, buried among the endless fortuitous encounters of the Cultivation World, but if you try to defy fate by consuming multiple Five Elements Pills… you might offend the Heavenly Dao, get struck by a heavenly tribulation, and turn to ash.”
At Yak-seon’s firm warning, Baek-Cheong let out a deep sigh inwardly.
“I guess getting a free ride isn”t that easy.'
The Laws of Heavenly Dao did not easily permit shortcuts.
Just as she was about to nod, trying hard to soothe her regret.
Yak-seon smiled benevolently and patted Baek-Cheong’s shoulder.
“Anyway, you came at a good time. The important Pill Refining This Old Man was pouring his heart into has finished safely, so I will start teaching you Pill Refining again from today.”
Baek-Cheong’s vision went dark at the unexpected words.
Blinded by the Five Elements Pill, she had walked right into the swamp of Pill Refining on her own two feet.
She racked her brain urgently to find an excuse.
“Ah, well… To commemorate reaching 4th-Stage Qi Condensation, I was thinking of learning a new Cultivation Art… I’ll come back later!”
Baek-Cheong tried to back away and escape the Pill Refining Room.
However, Yak-seon let out a fake cough and casually threw out a remark.
“Ahem. I heard from Clan Head Baek that not too long ago, you used This Old Man’s name to deceive people and enter the Eastern Region.”
Baek-Cheong’s footsteps stopped dead in their tracks, as if she had tripped over a stone.
As the price for her lie being exposed, a perfect surveillance network was laid out between her father and Yak-seon.
There were no more loopholes left to escape through.
Baek-Cheong awkwardly pulled up the corners of her mouth and slowly turned her body to face Yak-seon.
“Haha… Yes, grandfather Yak-seon. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the day I could receive your teachings too.”
The light gradually faded from Baek-Cheong’s eyes.
And just as she was contemplating a satisfying session of forum-browsing during Pill Refining.
“Last time, it was urgent, so I couldn’t properly correct your wavering Pill Heart (Pill Heart)… This time, I will teach you strictly so that your Pill Heart does not waver.”
She was blocked in advance, as if he had seen right through her inner thoughts.
Suddenly, she was in danger of not even being able to browse the forum.
'I’m truly doomed…'
Baek-Cheong had no choice but to swallow her tears and nod.