Chapter 52
Baek-Cheong left the Supreme Clan Head’s Hall and arrived at her Abode with staggering steps.
The massive, terrifying Blue Giant Star she had faced in her Trance, and the fleeting moment when the Circulation of Five Elements was about to collapse, scrambled her mind into a complex mess.
Tens of thousands of thoughts bit at each other’s tails in an endless loop, but because she had wandered the Mental World for five days, her extreme fatigue had reached its limit.
“Ah… I should get some sleep first.”
Without even taking off her robe, Baek-Cheong collapsed onto the soft bed.
The moment her head hit the pillow, she helplessly fell into the swamp of a deep, deep slumber.
.
.
.
Two days passed.
Baek-Cheong was dead to the world in her deep sleep.
A quiet yet wondrous change was taking place inside her Dantian.
Even the fraction of the Five Elements Qi that hadn’t been stolen by the Blue Giant Star was enough to grow her spirit roots.
“Yaaawn.”
Finally waking from her long slumber, Baek-Cheong stretched refreshingly.
As soon as she sat up, a lightness and vitality she had never felt before circulated through her entire body.
The first thing she noticed was the dramatic change in her natural Qi Absorption rate.
Even without entering Meditation or consciously controlling her breathing, the surrounding spiritual energy poured in with just her everyday breaths, filling her Dantian.
“Yeah, this is a real Heavenly Spirit Root.”
With an excited heart, Baek-Cheong assumed the Lotus Position and contemplated her inner self to examine the state of her Five Elements Spirit Root.
The Five Elements Spirit Root situated right in the middle of her Dantian had cast off its previously murky and faint colors, emitting a brilliant and clear light like five stars densely embedded in the night sky.
Overcoming the cursed aptitude of a Five Elements Spirit Root, it had perfectly evolved into a monstrous spirit root where each individual element possessed a purity and Qi Absorption rate rivaling a Single Spirit Root.
However, upon examining the Five Elements Spirit Root closely, she felt a subtle sense of incongruity.
“But why does the light feel a bit faded?”
Even though the Five Elements Spirit Root was clearly shining like stars, there was a murky feeling to it, like looking at stars through a window.
But because it was distinctly different from when she had the Fake Heavenly Spirit Root, she couldn’t say it wasn’t a Heavenly Spirit Root.
“Could it be…”
Baek-Cheong realized the reason, goosebumps rising down her spine.
Because of the nutrients stolen by the Blue Giant Star, the Five Elements Spirit Root hadn’t been able to grow properly.
“What in the world was that?”
She contemplated her inner self once more, thoroughly examining her Dantian and spirit root.
However, the Blue Giant Star didn’t emit even a hair’s breadth of presence, as if it had been a mere illusion.
No matter how much she dug around, only the Five Elements Spirit Root remained firmly in place; the sixth Heterogeneous Qi had long since vanished without a trace.
“…Nameless-Emon!”
Unable to endure her curiosity, Baek-Cheong made a Nameless Forum Connection.
And she wrote a serious question post on the Q&A Board.
『Dao Friend(913.14): Do hidden spirit roots also act up?』
[I entered my Mental World during Cultivation, but besides my original spirit root, another huge and scary energy appeared and tried to eat my existing spirit root. When I woke up and checked, that energy didn’t leave a single trace. This is like a hidden spirit root lying dormant, right?]
It was a post she had put her own effort into, detailing the bizarre phenomenon she had experienced in her Mental World.
However, even though the Nameless Forum was overflowing with miscellaneous chatter as the Cultivation Hundred Arts Debate entered its final stages, her serious question received no attention and was thoroughly ignored.
“Ah, this is really pissing me off.”
Baek-Cheong pouted and revised her strategy.
If asking politely didn’t work, she had no choice but to leave a stimulating Provocative Question.
Therefore, she wrote a chat post and gave it a title that would draw attention.
『Dao Friend(913.14): I got six spirit roots, what do I do?』
[I definitely had a Five Elements Spirit Root originally, but suddenly my spirit roots increased by one. But when I try to find it, I can’t see it. What do I do?]
Sure enough, the moment she posted it, Dao Friends flocked in and left replies.
[Dao Friend(243.109): Six spirit roots, my ass.]
[Dao Friend(11.23): You idiot, don’t you even know about latent spirit roots?]
[Dao Friend(45.88): But is a case like that even possible?]
Raw replies poured in from the Dao Friends, who had lost some of their dignity due to the fierce Cultivation Hundred Arts Debate.
However, even amidst the chaos, answers attempting somewhat serious contemplation caught her eye.
[Dao Friend(333.2): It could be the Manifestation Process of a Mutated Spirit Root. However, the fact that it hid its presence is strange.]
[Dao Friend(112.5): It’s a bit ambiguous to call it an immortal spirit root.]
But the clear and refreshing answer she wanted still didn’t appear.
Baek-Cheong racked her brain once more and wrote a new post.
『Dao Friend(913.14): I had six spirit roots in my Mental World?』
[There was a beautiful natural landscape made of the five elements. But suddenly, a Blue Giant Star covering the sky popped out and sucked everything up as if absorbing nature.]
This time, she twisted the description of her Mental World to be a bit more provocative and intuitive.
[Dao Friend(88.4): Ah, it’s that thing.]
[Dao Friend(117.2): Sounds like the Star Absorbing Great Art that Mortals learn lol.]
[Dao Friend(11.23): Stop writing derivative posts.]
Most of the Dao Friends still didn’t know the exact reason and just cluttered the post with nonsense.
Just as Baek-Cheong was about to punish them with frustrated replies, calling them useless bastards.
A reply from a certain Dao Friend was refreshing, like a single ray of light.
[Dao Friend(237.309): It’s a Unified Spiritual Root. To think a Five Elements Spirit Root Holder would attempt unification… I believe you called yourself a Qi Condensation Stage cultivator before, but are you already facing Ascension?]
They remembered she was in the Qi Condensation Stage, yet mistook her for a Cultivator right on the verge of Ascension.
It was definitely a Dao Friend who had replied to her before.
“Who is this?”
She usually had a good memory, so she retraced her thoughts.
It didn’t take long for her to recall that this was the Dao Friend who had lectured her about breakthroughs a while ago.
[Dao Friend(913.14): No? I’m still in Qi Condensation.]
At her blunt reply, Dao Friend(237.309) also showed clear signs of bewilderment.
[Dao Friend(237.309): How could a Qi Condensation Stage cultivator awaken to the profound mysteries of Five Elements Unification… No, aside from that, how have you not lost your spirit root and fallen to a Mortal yet?]
Earlier, they had been speaking as if they were familiar with her phenomenon.
[Dao Friend(913.14): Lose my spirit root? Why?]
Fascinated yet puzzled, Baek-Cheong asked back.
[Dao Friend(237.309): …After attempting Five Elements Unification with a Five Elements Spirit Root, have you not felt your Five Elements Spirit Root declining or its energy being sucked away?]
Dao Friend(237.309) asked as if they found it absurd.
[Dao Friend(913.14): Ah, my spirit root used to grow whenever I ate a Top-grade Medicinal Pill, but that has stagnated.]
Swallowing dryly, Baek-Cheong confessed the truth exactly as it was.
[Dao Friend(237.309): Tsk, this is why the Privileged are…]
Dao Friend(237.309) continued the story, albeit displeased.
[Dao Friend(237.309): Currently, Dao Friend(913.14)'s state is caught on the Boundary due to a discrepancy between your enlightenment and your realm. Because of that, the Unified Spiritual Root exists but doesn’t reveal itself, acting as a latent spirit root. Originally, the Unified Spiritual Root should use the Five Elements Spirit Root as nourishment to properly form itself, but while it’s a latent spirit root, it doesn’t reveal itself, so only the Five Elements Spirit Root becomes nourishment, causing you to fall to a Mortal. Even if you’re surviving on Top-grade Medicinal Pills for now, as the days pass, the might of the Unified Spiritual Root will grow, so you’re practically terminally ill.]
Baek-Cheong felt a chill down her spine at the more detailed answer than she had expected.
Suddenly, a strange sense of incongruity and curiosity surged up.
[Dao Friend(913.14): Aha, but how do you know that in such detail, Dao Friend?]
└Dao Friend(237.309): Because out of curiosity, I bought Five Elements Spirit Root Holders and experimented on just under a million of them.
Faced with an unimaginable reply, she flinched and trembled.
It was a crazy Cultivator who had bought Five Elements Spirit Root Holders like livestock out of curiosity and ground them up as cruel Experiment Material.
‘He’s a crazy bastard…’
Feeling cold sweat flowing down her spine, Baek-Cheong hurriedly cut off her Nameless Forum Connection.
Fortunately, it was close to impossible for a Cultivator staying in the Lower Realm to cross boundaries and come looking for her, so she could feel relieved.
“Anyway, terminally ill?”
However, even without the crazy Cultivator, she was facing an unexpected problem.
She locked herself in her Abode all day, contemplating her inner self and observing the state of her Five Elements Spirit Root.
And she confirmed that the crazy Cultivator’s words were undeniably true.
The brilliant light of the Five Elements Spirit Root was subtly fading.
However, she couldn’t even sense the identity of whatever was swallowing the Five Elements Spirit Root like nourishment.
If things continued like this, it was clear she was terminally ill, destined to fall to a Mortal before she could properly achieve Five Elements Unification.
“To think I’m terminally ill!!!”
Baek-Cheong wailed at the despairing situation.
She sank into gloomy thoughts for a moment before suddenly grabbing the Storage Platform placed beside her.
Then, she took out a jade bottle containing a Top-grade Medicinal Pill from the Storage Platform and swallowed it.
The pill immediately went down her esophagus, and a vast energy poured down into her Dantian.
At that, the declining momentum of the Five Elements Spirit Root stopped dead, as if it had been a lie.
“What, it’s no big deal.”
Baek-Cheong relaxed as the situation was easily resolved.
Soon after, she looked at the jade bottles piled up like a mountain on her Storage Platform containing Top-grade Medicinal Pills.
“Even if it takes away a lot of energy later, I can just eat that many Top-grade Medicinal Pills.”
She spoke as if it were nothing and lay down on the bed, idling away.
At the very least, it isn’t an urgent situation right now.