Chapter 11
Baek-Cheong opened her eyes feeling refreshed.
She washed her face with the clear water prepared by the Maidservants and changed into neat silk clothes.
Even though she had practiced her Technique/Spell late into the night and browsed the Nameless Forum, she didn’t feel any fatigue at all.
It was thanks to the circulation of the Mutual Generation of Five Elements continuously spinning and breathing vitality into her.
She cleared her throat in front of the mirror and checked her expression.
To receive spirit medicine from her father, appearing as an innocent, overwhelmingly talented, and pretty daughter was essential.
Having finished her preparations, Baek-Cheong headed to the Clan Head’s office.
Her father was in the office, processing a mountain of documents.
Recently, a problem had occurred at the Clan’s Spiritual Stone Mine, causing him headaches, so deep wrinkles were etched between his brows.
Baek-Cheong carefully called out from outside the door.
“Father, may I come in?”
At his daughter’s voice, Baek Mu-Jin immediately set down his brush and relaxed his stiff expression.
“Come in.”
Baek-Cheong walked in lightly, gathered her hands, and bowed her head.
“I don’t know if I’m interrupting when you’re busy with official duties.”
“I always welcome it when our Cheong-A comes to visit. So, did you take a break from Training and read the jade slip I gave you?”
When the question she had been waiting for came out, Baek-Cheong smiled brightly and nodded.
“Yes! I paused my Training for a bit just as father said and read the jade slip you gave me. As I was reading, it was so fascinating that I tried following along a little.”
Baek Mu-Jin burst into a hearty laugh.
“Haha, the Five Elements Shield is a Technique/Spell that even Cultivators in the Late Qi Condensation Stage find difficult to handle. Just understanding the principle of mixing energies is a great Talent.”
Before Baek Mu-Jin-Jin’s words could even finish.
Baek-Cheong raised her right hand and lightly drew up the energy from her Dantian.
The murky brown light of the Earth Element and the clear blue light of the Water Element rose above her palm.
The two energies did not repel each other but smoothly fused together, forming a single round defensive Barrier.
Thick Earth Water Dragon Shield.
A practical defensive Technique/Spell, where the flexible energy of water wrapped around the solid exterior of Earth energy to deflect external impacts, unfolded right before Baek Mu-Jin’s eyes.
A heavy silence descended upon the office.
Baek Mu-Jin’s mouth fell wide open, and his two eyes grew so large they looked like they would pop out.
“W-what is this…”
Her father jumped up from his Seat and examined the Technique/Spell spinning above Baek-Cheong’s palm.
It was undoubtedly the true basic form of the Five Elements Shield, without any tricks mixed in.
“Ch-Cheong-A. Are you saying you learned this in half a day?”
“Yes. I failed a few times last night, but when I mixed water and Earth, it quickly took shape. You’re going to praise me, right?”
At Baek-Cheong’s bright answer, Baek Mu-Jin lost strength in his legs and slumped down into his chair.
A young child at the 2nd-Stage Qi Condensation had fused two elemental energies to deploy a practical Technique/Spell.
It was the descent of a Genius Unprecedented in the history of the Baek Clan.
“Haha… Hahahaha!”
Baek Mu-Jin poured out a laugh mixed with pure joy.
He felt so pathetic about his past self, who had lamented his daughter’s Talent of having a Five Element Spiritual Root.
Outstanding comprehension was more than enough to make up for lacking aptitude.
“Of course I’ll praise you! Cheong-A is the true treasure of our Yeonha Baek Clan!”
As the mood ripened, Baek-Cheong subtly brought up her main point.
“But father. After using the Technique/Spell, my Dantian feels so empty. The energy drained right out, leaving me feeling hollow like I’m hungry. I want to try the other methods written in the jade slip, but it’s hard because I lack spiritual energy.”
She deliberately let her shoulders droop, pretending to be drained of energy, and put on a pitiful expression.
At his Genius daughter’s complaint, Baek Mu-Jin’s heart sank.
“Oh my, this father was short-sighted! Cheong-A’s Dantian has grown several times larger than normal Cultivators due to the Five Elements circulating, and since you even deployed a Compound Spell, the spiritual energy consumption must be extreme.”
Without a single inch of doubt, Baek Mu-Jin rationalized his daughter’s condition on his own.
Then, he fingered the ring on his hand, a Spatial Treasure, and nodded as if making a decision.
He formed a complex Hand Seal to open the ring’s space and took out two ornate jade boxes.
As the box lids opened, the inside of the office filled with Dense Spiritual Energy.
“This pill is the Ice Snow Pill made from the seeds of a thousand-year-old Ice Snow Lotus. The one next to it is the Supreme-grade Purple Cloud Pill. Both are precious pills only given out when the Clan’s core members are about to face a breakthrough.”
Baek-Cheong’s pupils quaked like an earthquake.
They were normally pills used by Foundation Establishment stage cultivators to manage their energy right before breaking through a Boundary.
They could be considered even more precious pills than the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill her grandfather had given her.
“To fill our daughter’s wide Dantian and properly learn the Five Elements Shield Technique, you will need at least this much. Don’t spare them and eat up. If it’s not enough, this father will even open the Clan’s Treasury to get you more!”
Baek-Cheong put on an act of tearing up, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Thank you, father!”
Having packed the spirit medicines heavily in both hands, Baek-Cheong swiftly returned to her Abode.
She firmly locked her door and cheered in delight.
“Being Privileged really is the best.”
Now that she had obtained the pills she wanted, there was no time to delay.
It was the perfect opportunity to prove Dao Friend (718.44)'s hypothesis and grow her spiritual root.
She sat in the Lotus Position on her bed and opened the jade box containing the Ice Snow Pill.
She picked up the white pill radiating a freezing chill and swallowed it in one gulp.
The moment the pill traveled down her esophagus, a massive explosion occurred in her Dantian.
The energy of the thousand-year-old spirit herb surged in like a tidal wave and struck the Cycle of Five Elements Mutual Generation.
“Heugh!”
Baek-Cheong curled her body and swallowed a groan.
The Circulation Loop expanded as if it would burst, suffering from an extreme overload.
The energy spun madly, and a pain that felt like it would tear her Dantian to shreds swept through her entire body.
However, Baek-Cheong did not give up and exerted her concentration to forcefully control the circulation.
The Five Elements ground up and drank the massive spiritual energy of the Ice Snow Pill, converting it into highly pure true qi.
The converted true qi flowed through her blood vessels and seeped into the roots of the spiritual root located deep within her soul.
A bizarre sensation crawled up her spine.
The feeling of something invisible slowly growing thicker and harder.
The murky and thin stem of the Five Element Spiritual Root absorbed the clear energy and began to exude vitality.
The very breathing that drew in the Spirit Energy of Heaven and Earth changed.
“It’s really… growing.”
A smile full of joy spread across the lips of Baek-Cheong, who had become covered in sweat.
After several hours of a painful process, the spiritual energy of the Ice Snow Pill was digested.
The growth of the spiritual root was still slight, but it was a clear change.
The efficiency of gathering spiritual energy had jumped more than double compared to her days at the Qi Condensation Stage, 1st Level.
If she consumed the Supreme-grade Purple Cloud Pill as well, breaking through to the 3rd Stage Qi Condensation would only be a matter of time.
Unable to contain her excitement, Baek-Cheong logged into the Nameless Forum.
She couldn’t bear it without bragging about her amazing achievement.
She proudly left a post on the Chat Board.
“Dao Friend (913.14): Growing my spiritual root by eating Top-grade Spirit Medicine.”
[Even a Five Element Spiritual Root grows if you eat Heaven and Earth Spirit Treasures and run the Mutual Generation of Five Elements. I ate a thousand-year Ice Snow Pill and the spiritual energy absorption rate is insane.]
Reactions exploded immediately to the envy-inducing content.
[Dao Friend (11.23): A thousand-year Ice Snow Pill? A 2nd-Stage Qi Condensation is eating something that precious?]
[Dao Friend (88.4): Where did you pick up that nonsense about a spiritual root growing.]
[Dao Friend (401.7): This guy is always just bluffing. What is the Forum Admin doing, not blocking this guy.]
Amidst the countless mockeries, a reply from a certain Dao Friend was written seriously.
[Dao Friend (3.198): The growth of a spiritual root has clear advantages but also clear disadvantages. Even a Single Spiritual Root Holder with a Heavenly Spiritual Root needs spiritual energy as vast as the ocean to raise their stage, but if you grow a Five Elements Spirit Root, you will need five times as much as a Heavenly Spiritual Root, so be careful.]
Goosebumps rose on Baek-Cheong’s back.
To think that raising her stage would be five times harder than a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
But she had already crossed a river of no return.
“I-it should be fine…”
She pointlessly ignored the reply and exited the post she had written.
At the same time, she scoured the Nameless Forum searching for related information.
“It will be fine…!”
Unfortunately, whether it was the limit of her Divine Sense or a lack of information, no related information came up.
She wanted to ask Dao Friend (3.198) about its Veracity, but her pride as a Community Lurker wouldn’t allow it.
“At least it means I’ll be five times stronger than a Heavenly Spiritual Root!”
She had vaguely intuited it from the massive size of her Dantian.
She had merely turned a blind eye to the truth, as if escaping from a bleak reality.
“I have no choice but to become a pill-eating Cultivator…”
Baek-Cheong made a resolve at the reality she was forced to face.
Like the Privileged person she was, she planned to fill her ocean-like Dantian with the power of Heaven and Earth Spirit Treasures and pills.
To do that, she had no choice but to use her Ultimate Skill - acting cute - on her grandfather, the Core Formation stage Old Ancestor, or the other grandfathers.
“I need to achieve minor completion in the Five Elements Shield as soon as possible.”
Deploying the Technique/Spell only on her hand or a limited area like now was not enough.
At the very least, she had to deploy the Technique/Spell over her entire body or handle all Five Elements to deploy the true Five Elements Shield to even serve as a cute trick for her grandfathers.
“Before that…”
As soon as Baek-Cheong hardened her resolve, she logged into the Nameless Forum.
She checked the notifications pouring into the post she had written, one by one.
Even though no new replies had been posted after a long while, she browsed the Chat Board.
“Just this one…”
Skimming through the endlessly pouring posts, Baek-Cheong’s forum browsing showed no signs of stopping.