Chapter 5
Baek-Cheong walked briskly out of her Abode.
Her destination was the Library Pavilion, where the Clan’s vast knowledge lay dormant.
The warm morning sunlight poured down on the Clan’s garden.
The Family members, busy with their morning duties, spotted Baek-Cheong and stopped in unison to bow.
“Young Lady, have you been well?”
“Is your body feeling any better?”
A deep sense of pity lingered in the eyes of the Family members.
It was sympathy for the pitiful Youngest daughter who had received the Five Elements Spirit Root Judgment, considered the absolute worst Trash Talent in the Cultivation World.
“Thanks to you.”
Baek-Cheong gave a light nod and accepted their greetings.
In the past, she would have chatted with them to soothe her boredom, but right now, she was incredibly busy.
The desire to fuse five cultivation methods and post to her heart’s content in the Nameless Forum dominated her entire body.
Passing through the garden, she arrived in front of a massive Pavilion situated behind the main house.
The three characters for Hundred Scriptures Pavilion were written vigorously on an old, massive signboard bearing the traces of time.
It was a Pavilion that housed the martial arts and heart techniques collected by the Yeonha Baek Clan over hundreds of years.
At the entrance, an old man sat dozing off in a large rocking chair.
It was the Protector Elder Baek Un-Ho who managed the Clan’s Archives.
“Grand-uncle, have you been well?”
Baek-Cheong brought her hands together and offered a polite greeting.
Baek Un-Ho opened his eyes blearily and looked forward.
A strange light flickered in the old man’s eyes as he noticed the small, haggard Young Girl.
“It’s Cheong-Yi. The Clan Head surely told you to rest well for a few days. Why have you made your way here?”
“Lying in bed all day only made my body feel heavy and stifled, so I came out. I also wanted to read a book in the Archives to calm my mind and body.”
At Baek-Cheong’s calm reply, Baek Un-Ho let out a long sigh.
Even in Baek Un-Ho’s eyes, Baek-Cheong’s appearance looked incredibly pitiful.
It seemed like a desperate struggle to deny the despairing reality of her Five Elements Spirit Root and find some miraculous Secret Method in the Archives.
“It is not that I do not understand your feelings. You may browse the Archives on the first floor as you please. Do not overdo it, and just take a look around before heading back.”
“Thank you.”
Baek Un-Ho pulled a jade plaque from his sleeve and lightly dispelled the Barrier.
The heavy wooden door slowly opened with a creak.
Baek-Cheong quickly stepped inside the Library Pavilion.
The interior of the first floor was filled with the smell of old paper and the thick scent of ink.
Hundreds of massive bookshelves stood densely packed, and tens of thousands of books were neatly organized by section.
Precious items like jade slips containing important information were kept from the second floor upwards.
Baek-Cheong moved her steps without hesitation.
The Yeonha Baek Clan was a Clan that had specialized in Water Element cultivation methods for generations.
The Clan’s Basic Cultivation Method, the Yeonha Art, was also a Cultivation Method that handled the energy of water.
Therefore, there was a high probability that cultivation methods of other elements were left neglected in the miscellaneous section in the corner of the first floor.
“Wood, fire, Earth, metal.”
She weaved through the corner bookshelves, moving her gaze busily.
She needed the most basic introductory cultivation methods that handled the Five Elements Qi.
Cultivators usually delved deeply only into the one element that suited their spirit root.
Naturally, cultivation methods of other elements were either disdained or used merely for reference, making them unpopular.
She found the books she wanted on the bottom shelf of an old, dust-covered Bookshelf.
Green Leaf Art (Wood Element), Red Flame Art (Fire Element), Thick Earth Art (Earth Element), White Metal Art (Metal Element).
They were common, third-rate basic cultivation methods that anyone could easily obtain.
“Let’s finish this quickly.”
Baek-Cheong hugged the four thin books to her chest and took a Seat at a desk in the corner.
For a normal Qi Condensation Stage cultivator, it would take several full days just to memorize and understand the contents of a single book.
This was because the flow of meridians and the method of Qi Manipulation were incredibly complex and difficult to grasp.
But Baek-Cheong was different from the rest.
From the moment she awakened her spirit root, she was born with a Divine Sense close to one zhang, and when she reached the Qi Condensation Stage, 1st Level, her Divine Sense massively expanded to three zhang.
It was an overwhelming mental strength that defied comparison with cultivators of the same level.
Baek-Cheong spread the Green Leaf Art open on the desk and focused her Divine Sense.
Her Divine Sense and eyes rapidly scanned down the text.
The characters written on the paper poured into her head as if they were alive and moving.
It was an ignorant and violent memorization method utilizing Divine Sense.
In just half a Shichen, she completely crammed all the Meridian Manipulation methods contained in the four books into her head.
“Memorized it all!”
Standing up from her Seat, Baek-Cheong slotted the books back into their original places.
As she came out to the entrance, Baek Un-Ho, who was sitting in his chair, asked with a surprised face.
“Are you coming out already? Did you find the book you wanted?”
“Yes. It was a great help in Clearing away my distracting thoughts.”
Baek-Cheong left a polite bow and exited the Hundred Scriptures Pavilion.
She quickened her pace, leaving behind Baek Un-Ho’s strange gaze piercing the back of her head.
Now it was time to return to her room and dive into actual practice.
As soon as she returned to her Abode, she closed the thick door and locked the latch.
She thoroughly blocked off the outside so as not to be disturbed by anyone.
She climbed onto the bed and sat up straight in the Lotus Position.
Exhaling a long breath, she calmly settled her excited mind.
“Let’s get a grip.”
Manipulating the five elements simultaneously was a dangerous gamble that could cost her life if she wasn’t careful.
If the Heterogeneous Qi clashed within her body, she could fall into Qi Deviation and her blood vessels could burst.
Baek-Cheong recalled the computer games she used to enjoy in her past life.
It was the sensation of controlling multiple characters at once or processing information with several internet windows open.
She had to precisely split her mind into five branches and control them.
She took the jade bottle her father had given her out of her robes.
She popped a Spirit Gathering Pill into her mouth and quietly rolled it under her tongue.
Her plan was to melt the pill and forcibly replenish her spiritual energy whenever her stamina ran low.
“Huu…”
Closing her eyes, she began by manipulating the most familiar Yeonha Art.
The Water Element spiritual energy scattered in the air slowly seeped in through her nose and skin.
The cold energy of water quietly began to pool in her Dantian.
It was when the water energy had circulated her entire body once and settled into a stable orbit.
Baek-Cheong split her mind and recited the Incantation for the Green Leaf Art.
She forcefully pulled the Wood Element energy from the spiritual energy.
Warm, vibrant blue spiritual energy flowed into her body and headed toward her liver.
Water generates wood (Water generates wood).
The water energy pooled in her kidneys gently embraced and nurtured the wood energy flowing to her liver.
The two energies connected naturally without clashing.
A faint vibration occurred in her Dantian.
“Good, next.”
Third, she manipulated the Red Flame Art.
The hot Fire Element energy burrowed toward her heart.
The Wood Element energy gathered in her liver flowed to her heart, amplifying the energy like throwing firewood into a blaze.
Wood generates fire (Wood generates fire).
A heat that felt like it was burning her chest surged up, but Baek-Cheong gritted her teeth and maintained control.
Cold sweat formed on her forehead and began to drip down.
Circulating three meridians simultaneously rapidly depleted her mental strength.
She bit down on the Spirit Gathering Pill hidden under her tongue, pushing its hot medicinal efficacy into her Dantian.
Using her recovered mental strength, she manipulated the fourth, the Thick Earth Art.
The heavy Earth Element energy sank toward her spleen.
The Fire Element energy blazing in her heart seeped into her spleen, solidifying the firm Earth.
Fire generates Earth (Fire generates Earth).
A pain like her internal organs twisting struck her entire body.
Four different energies swirled inside her body, running rampant as if they would tear her blood vessels apart at any moment.
“Heup!”
Because she bit her lip so tightly, she tasted the metallic tang of blood.
If she stopped here, all the energies would run wild and she would become a crippled person.
She had to fit the final piece into place.
Baek-Cheong squeezed out all her remaining mental strength and began to manipulate the White Metal Art.
The sharp Metal Element energy flew toward her lungs.
The Earth Element energy accumulated in her spleen embraced the Metal Element, sheathing its sharpness.
Earth generates metal (Earth generates metal).
The Metal Element energy gathered in her lungs flowed back to her kidneys, adding its strength to generate water energy.
Metal generates water (Metal generates water).
Water, wood, fire, Earth, metal.
The Five Elements Qi formed an unbroken, circular loop and began to interlock and revolve.
The massive cycle of the Mutual Generation of Five Elements was achieved within her body.
A miraculous resonance occurred.
Along with a humming vibration, a massive spiritual energy vortex formed with Baek-Cheong’s body at the center.
The Five Elements Spirit Root, which had been called a mixed root and had repelled the Spirit Energy of Heaven and Earth, transformed through the Circulation of Five Elements into an absorber that ravenously sucked in spiritual energy of all elements.
The surrounding air churned, and the objects in the room trembled faintly.
“It worked!”
It felt as if a frustratingly clogged drain had been blown wide open.
An immense Amount of Spiritual Energy, incomparable to her past cultivation speed, poured down into her Dantian.
As if mocking the limits of the Five Elements Spirit Root, clear and refined energy flowed ceaselessly through her blood vessels.
The nonsense from Dao Friend (718.44) about its rivaling the Talent of a Heavenly Spirit Root was proven to be the truth.
The pain that had been crushing her entire body melted away like snow.
Instead, an overwhelming euphoria, as if every cell in her body was filling with joy, took its place.
Maintaining her Meditation, she repeated the Circulation of Five Elements several times.
“…?”
However, there wasn’t even the slightest sign of True Qi accumulating in her Dantian.
It was filled with the daunting feeling of trying to fill a massive dam with a small hose, but she focused on gathering spiritual energy until she finished a Grand Cycle.
* * *
A long time had passed.
Baek-Cheong slowly opened her eyes.
Deep within her black pupils, a Five-Colored light faintly flickered and then vanished.
Her body felt light enough to fly, and her mind was as clear as a deep lake.
She clenched and unclenched her fists, realizing the power overflowing within her body.
“I was tricked!”
However, the spiritual energy gathered in her Dantian was minuscule.
It was because, as her Five Element Spiritual Root grew due to the five cultivation methods, her Dantian expanded as if it had become five separate ones.
“The Amount of Spiritual Energy gathering has definitely increased, but…”
It was certainly five times greater than when she only manipulated the Yeonha Art.
But just like before, for someone with a Five Elements Spirit Root, there seemed to be no difference in the speed it would take to reach the 2nd Level from the 1st Level of the Qi Condensation Stage.
“It’s not exactly wrong, though…”
Just as Dao Friend (718.44) had said, it might be on par with a Heavenly Spirit Root.
Above all, they only said the speed at which spiritual energy accumulated was fast; they never said she could raise her cultivation level quickly, so it wasn’t a lie either.
“Still, it did help with my forum posting…”
A laugh slowly leaked from the corners of Baek-Cheong’s mouth.
It was the joy of knowing she could write posts to her heart’s content in the Nameless Forum, backed by her abundant spiritual energy.
“Nameless Forum, just you wait.”
Baek-Cheong connected to the Nameless Forum without delay.
A Translucent Window floated in the air, and the Chat Board of the Nameless Forum opened before her eyes.
The Forum Board was still being endlessly updated with new shitposts.
Because her Dantian had transformed into an inexhaustible spring through the five elements circulation, she no longer needed to worry about Spiritual Energy Depletion.
Baek-Cheong confidently pressed the write button.
Fully utilizing the skills from her past life, she began to ruthlessly carve out provocative and stimulating sentences.
“Dao Friend (913.14): Is the level of the Cultivation World for real?”
[Because Qi Condensation cultivators these days are wasting time on the Nameless Forum instead of cultivating, the future of the Cultivation World is dark.]
She whipped up a post that lightly drew aggro.
Because it was quite a long sentence, a lot of spiritual energy drained away.
However, the Five Elements Qi constantly circulating within her body replenished the evaporated spiritual energy in the blink of an eye.
“Infinite forum posting is complete.”
Baek-Cheong pressed refresh and stared at the screen.
Replies from enraged Dao Friends began to attach themselves like crazy to the post she just uploaded in real-time.
[Dao Friend (33.19): Mind your own business, you a mere Qi Condensation cultivator.]
[Dao Friend (77.21): That hit so close to home that I think I’m getting Qi Deviation!!!]
[Dao Friend (812.4): 913.14, you again? Use the spiritual energy you waste on shitposting to cultivate instead.]
“Puhuhu.”
Watching the pouring replies, Baek-Cheong giggled.
The path of grueling Training is necessary to survive in the harsh Cultivation World.
Even that arduous path had been reduced to nothing more than an excellent means for Baek-Cheong to shitpost on the forum.