Chapter 57
Baek-Cheong looked Jin-Wi up and down without erasing the smile from her lips.
His appearance, though he was neatly dressed in the Biun Sect’s ceremonial robes, could not shake off his boyishness, but the aura he exuded was certainly on a different level from that of a normal Qi Condensation Stage cultivator.
“So this is a genuine Heavenly Spirit Root.”
Baek-Cheong was intrigued, as her own Heavenly Spirit Root had been artificially elevated.
She had raised her aptitude to the level of a Heavenly Spirit Root with the Inscribed Five Elements Pill, but she was curious about the actual gap between herself and a Legitimate Heavenly Spirit Root Prodigy who was born perfectly endowed.
“Senior Jin-Wi, if it wouldn’t be an intrusion, may I ask you one thing?”
As Baek-Cheong approached with sparkling eyes, Jin-Wi stepped back, flustered by the sudden proximity.
“Ye-Yes? Wh-What do you mean…”
“How much spiritual energy comes in when a Heavenly Spirit Root breathes normally? And what is your Dantian Size?”
Among Cultivators, asking about meridian operation or Dantian Size was an incredibly sensitive and rude question, much like prying into a martial artist’s Martial Art.
At this, Jin-Wi blushed and hesitated, but as if bewitched by Baek-Cheong’s clear and bold eyes, he unconsciously began to spill honest answers.
“W-Well, my Qi Absorption feels like water rushing in when you open your mouth underwater… Even normally, spiritual energy flows in without me being conscious of it… And I heard from my Eldest Senior Disciple Brother that my Dantian Size is about ten times that of other Late Qi Condensation Stage Cultivators.”
As Baek-Cheong heard Jin-Wi’s answer, her mind quickly ran the calculations.
A Qi Absorption level akin to swallowing water underwater.
It was either similar to or slightly superior to her own Qi Absorption, which poured in as naturally as breathing.
If Jin-Wi were at least a Mid-Grade Heavenly Spirit Root, she could be said to be keeping up in Qi Absorption because, despite having a Low-Grade Heavenly Spirit Root, she possessed five of them.
On the other hand, there was a decisive difference in Dantian Size.
Ten times the size of a cultivator of the same level was certainly vast, but compared to her own abnormal Dantian - which had become like a vast ocean the moment she achieved Five Elements Mutual Generation and had ballooned to the fifth power upon breaking through to the 5-Star level - it was nothing more than a cozy reservoir.
“In the end, it was only my Dantian that was insanely huge.”
Baek-Cheong was able to objectively grasp her own condition.
Her Qi Absorption barely scraped the level of a Mid-Grade Heavenly Spirit Root, yet the vessel of the Dantian she had to fill was dozens of times larger than those of others, meaning that a Realm Breakthrough through natural methods would inevitably be absurdly slow and arduous.
However, she did not feel even a hair’s breadth of jealousy or inferiority toward a natural-born Heavenly Spirit Root.
Rather, she felt a sense of satisfaction at having figured out her own level.
“Hmm, I see. That’s amazing.”
While Baek-Cheong nodded and muttered to herself.
Baek Gyu, who had belatedly grasped the flow of the conversation, cleared his throat and spoke up.
“Cheong-A, it is against etiquette to ask so openly about another cultivator’s Training.”
At Baek Gyu’s gentle scolding, Baek-Cheong snapped out of her thoughts and realized her mistake.
“Ah, senior Jin-Wi… I apologize for daring to commit such rudeness due to my short-sightedness.”
When Baek-Cheong bowed and meekly apologized, Jin-Wi became even more restless and waved his hands.
“No! I wasn’t offended at all! I-I also had many questions after hearing of Young Lady Baek’s reputation.”
Baek Gyu smiled warmly at the blushing Jin-Wi’s fresh reaction.
It was nice to see young prodigies interacting purely, free from the politics and calculations of the Cultivation World.
“Yes, it’s not bad for peers to get along without reserve. I will go over there to greet the elders, so you two can relax and chat comfortably.”
As Baek Gyu stepped away, a playful glint returned to Baek-Cheong’s eyes.
Baek-Cheong was not one to just let a Legitimate Heavenly Spirit Root prodigy go when he was right in front of her.
“Senior Jin-Wi, then can I ask you one more thing I’m curious about?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. Please ask anything.”
“How many techniques/spells do you know how to handle, senior?”
At Baek-Cheong’s repeated rude question, Jin-Wi was momentarily flustered before slightly revealing the pride hidden beneath his shyness.
“From our Biun Sect’s basic techniques to 1st-tier top-tier spells… I handle roughly eight Techniques/Spells. All eight have reached the Realm of Great Accomplishment, to the point where the Sect elders praise my solid foundation.”
To have achieved Great Accomplishment at the age of the Late Qi Condensation Stage in eight Techniques/Spells was an achievement well worth boasting about.
But that was not Baek-Cheong’s intention.
“No, not how many you’ve learned… I mean how many you can deploy at once, simultaneously.”
When Jin-Wi made a puzzled expression, failing to properly understand Baek-Cheong’s question, Baek-Cheong raised her right hand, figuring that seeing is believing.
Soon after, from the tips of Baek-Cheong’s five fingers: Flame Projectile, Water Stream Art, Earth Wall Art, Wind Blade, Illumination Art.
Five Basic Techniques of different attributes bloomed and deployed simultaneously without a single inch of collision.
“…!”
At that, Jin-Wi’s eyes widened as if they were going to pop out.
Even the prominent great cultivators of the Biun Sect couldn’t dare to think about Multi-Technique Deployment due to the limits of their meridians and Divine Sense.
Furthermore, the sight of her so smoothly controlling the mutually incompatible energies of the Five Elements was a realm he simply could not understand with his still-lacking cultivation knowledge.
“H-How… do your meridians not get twisted? What about your Divine Sense…?”
As Jin-Wi stammered his question, Baek-Cheong dispersed the Techniques/Spells and answered honestly.
“What do you mean how? You just empty your brain, divide your Divine Sense wide open, and then push the energy along your meridians, and it just works on its own?”
However, Jin-Wi instantly understood those esoteric words and accepted them as a serious teaching.
And with his eyes wide open, he began to concentrate energy in his Dantian.
First, he divided his Divine Sense into two branches and simultaneously deployed a Water-Attribute Spell in both hands.
Following that, beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he divided a third Divine Sense and added another Water-Attribute Spell.
His meridians expanded, and the signs of energy subtly clashing were evident, but with his overwhelming aptitude as a Heavenly Spiritual Root Holder, he barely managed to maintain three Techniques/Spells.
“You’re quite good.”
Baek-Cheong watched with interest and spat out a dry remark.
Encouraged by this, Jin-Wi stubbornly attempted to deploy a fourth Technique/Spell.
But that was his limit.
“Keugh!”
The moment his Divine Sense split into four branches, the water-attribute energies in Jin-Wi’s meridians expanded and caused a backlash.
Jin-Wi hastily withdrew the energy and heaved rough breaths.
His face had turned pale from the unreasonable attempt at Multi-Technique Deployment.
“I can somehow manage up to three… but from four onwards, neither my meridians nor my Divine Sense can endure it at all.”
When Jin-Wi bowed his head in shame at his failure, Baek-Cheong rejoiced inwardly and felt satisfied.
No matter how much of a Legitimate Heavenly Spirit Root prodigy from a Great Sect he was, her Divine Sense Division and Multi-Technique Deployment were talents he could not easily imitate.
“Hey, deploying three on your first try is incredibly amazing.”
Having resolved her various curiosities, she no longer felt any interest in Jin-Wi and offered a rough, perfunctory farewell.
“It seems my mother is calling me, so I’ll be going now. Enjoy the banquet, senior Jin-Wi.”
Baek-Cheong lightly turned around and disappeared into the crowd of the Banquet Hall.
Jin-Wi blankly chased Baek-Cheong’s retreating figure with his eyes until she was completely out of sight.
Then, he looked down at his own hands, which were trembling from deploying three Techniques/Spells.
His pride as the Biun Sect’s number one prodigy was shattered to pieces, and the overwhelming Multi-Technique Deployment Baek-Cheong had shown became deeply embedded in his mind.
To be exact, it was only Baek-Cheong’s figure that remained, flickering before his eyes.
“I too… will definitely Master Multi-Technique Deployment…”
Jin-Wi bit his lip tightly and clenched his fists.
The Mid-Grade Heavenly Spirit Root prodigy had caught fire in a completely wrong direction.
“A Legitimate Heavenly Spirit Root is nothing special either.”
On the other hand, Baek-Cheong fled to the corner of the Banquet Hall, yawning inwardly.
She had satisfied her curiosity about the Heavenly Spirit Root prodigy, and the major events were roughly wrapping up.
“Mother, I’m too tired, so I’ll head back to my Abode first.”
Making an excuse to her mother, Baek-Cheong slipped out of the Banquet Hall without looking back.
She quickened her pace at the thought of holing up in the corner of her cozy room to exchange nutritionless nonsense posts with the Dao friends of the Nameless Forum.
* * *
It was only after several days had passed that all the official schedules of the boring and lengthy New Year’s Banquet finally came to an end.
However, under Baek Mu-Yeong’s leadership, one more small social gathering was arranged between the Baek Clan and the Biun Sect’s Delegation.
“Ah… I should have just said I was going into Secluded Cultivation and surfed the forum in the Eastern Region.”
Baek-Cheong lost her mind at the never-ending schedule.
If there was any relief, it was that her uncle actively led the atmosphere, so attention wasn’t focused on her.
No,
“Young Lady Baek.”
Jin-Wi looked at Baek-Cheong and happily struck up a conversation.
And just as he opened his mouth to say something, as if to boast.
“So you’re the one who bewitched our Youngest Junior Disciple?”
“Mo, Eldest Sister Mong-Yo…?”
The woman called Mong-Yo approached, showing interest.
Then, she playfully ruffled Jin-Wi’s hair.
“Indeed, she’s incredibly cute, enough for Junior Disciple Baek to boast about her to the point of annoyance.”
Meeting Baek-Cheong’s eyes, a smile played on her lips.