Chapter 4
“Hmm..”
Nine unfurled Pou and checked her status.
[User : Eun (銀) Nine (羅引/Nine)]
[Talent: Five Spiritual Roots 0 / 10000]
[Constitution: Talisman Dao Sacred Body (符道聖體) 0 / 10]
[Arts: Lifespan-Severing Art 8-Star 0/15000 / Introductory Talisman Dao Art (符道入門訣) 7-Star 1300/15000 / Body Tempering Art—12th Revision 3-Star 50/200]
[Current Realm: Lifespan-Severing Stage 80%]
Her talent was listed as Five Spiritual Roots, her constitution as Talisman Dao Sacred Body, and she was learning three cultivation arts in total.
Lifespan-Severing Art, which absorbed spiritual energy; Introductory Talisman Dao Art, which covered talisman theory; and Body Tempering Art—12th Revision, which refined the body.
They were all fundamental arts that formed the foundation of cultivation.
Nine's gaze shifted to her constitution.
“Talisman Dao Sacred Body…?”
It had been a strange point from the very beginning.
Nine had originally possessed a cursed body with no constitution at all.
Yet she had a constitution—and not just any constitution, but a Sacred Body (聖體), one of the highest ranks?
Constitutions had ranks, too.
The human race, so fond of classification and systems, had assigned ranks to bodily talents as well.
There were complicated, profound theories behind it, but Nine knew nothing about that sort of difficult academic stuff.
All she knew was that constitutions and talents were each divided into five levels.
Spiritual roots were simply classified as Five Spiritual Roots. Likewise, constitutions were divided into the Five Dharma Bodies (五法體).
She only knew for sure that they were ranked Spirit (靈), Dharma (法), True (眞), Sacred (聖), and Immortal (仙).
Spirit Bodies were the lowest, and Immortal Bodies the highest.
So Talisman Dao Sacred Body meant she had the second-highest and most exceptional constitution.
It was an incredible talent, ranked on par with Two Spiritual Roots.
Kneading, kneading.
Nine felt herself up here and there, grinning.
She had an idea why she'd obtained Talisman Dao Sacred Body.
Spiritual roots were a talent belonging to the soul and mind, while constitution was limited solely to the body.
Apart from her chest, which flaunted its presence beyond all doubt, everything about her newly female self was exceptional.
Baseless confidence surged through her, and she pictured herself becoming a Core Formation cultivator and ruling the world.
One wave of her hand split the sea, and tens of thousands fell silent just to hear Nine speak.
Her subordinates brought her credits and spirit stones without her lifting a finger.
That was how she'd stand at humanity's summit and enjoy a carefree, long life.
“Heehee….”
Her lips curled into a beaming smile.
Her aspiration to do anything for cultivation welled up.
Holding a low-grade spirit stone glowing pure white, she sat in the center of the room.
The cultivation room had a basic Spirit-Gathering Formation installed.
Normally, the formation ran on electricity alone, but using a spirit stone doubled its effectiveness.
She crossed her legs and placed the low-grade spirit stone between them.
But because of her swelling chest, she couldn't see it.
‘I really can't get used to this.’
Her chest was so big she couldn't see what was below.
But Nine had a positive mindset.
Instead, she decided to feel pleased, thinking this was the dignity of a great cultivator.
Nine straightened her back and slowly closed her eyes.
Her serious training was beginning.
***
Vmmm….
The cultivation room was shrouded in quiet darkness.
There, a young girl with long white hair and an adorable face sat cross-legged.
If she ate well and grew up healthy, she'd become pretty enough to make plenty of men cry, but for now she was only a little girl.
The low-grade spirit stone on the floor emitted a faint light.
The spirit stone gradually disintegrated, turning into white motes that scattered into the air.
The Spirit-Gathering Formation absorbed the white motes—clumps of spiritual energy—and activated.
The Spirit-Gathering Formation's function was to draw spiritual energy from the air into one place.
An immense amount of spiritual energy converged on Nine, sitting with her eyes closed at the center of the cultivation room.
Nine recited the mantra of the Lifespan-Severing Art.
“Following the Nine Palaces' formation, I cultivate against Heaven and declare my mandate; this is the first Severing of Lifespan.
Yet Heaven's net may be wide-meshed, but it lets nothing slip through, so walk the path of the Heavenly Dao.
Only those who reach the end of the path can escape it.”
Those three lines were all there was to the mantra of the Lifespan-Severing Art.
Its effect was to absorb spiritual energy and convert it into spiritual power.
It was short enough for a three-year-old to memorize in a minute, but that didn't mean it was lacking.
There was no record of who first discovered the Lifespan-Severing Art.
But every human being began cultivation with the Lifespan-Severing Art.
Many introductory cultivation arts had been developed since the cultivation civilization began, but none surpassed the Lifespan-Severing Art.
The most supreme and purest cultivation art was the Lifespan-Severing Art.
Auspicious spiritual energy flowed along the curves of her body.
Nine's body, absorbing spiritual energy like cotton candy, glowed faintly.
However, her talent—Five Spiritual Roots—held her back.
Ninety-nine percent of the spiritual energy she absorbed dissipated pointlessly through her meridians.
Only one percent of the spiritual energy truly became Nine's.
Nine forcibly grasped the remaining spiritual energy and circulated it according to the Lifespan-Severing Art's mantra.
The spiritual energy moved along her meridians.
It began at the heart, the center of the body, passed through the lungs, liver, pancreas, and kidneys, then returned to the heart.
The spiritual energy completed a Minor Circulation and once again became a single mote of spiritual power, settling in her heart.
“Haa….”
Nine let out a small breath and narrowed her eyes.
Flutter!
Pou, floating beside her, unfurled on its own and displayed Nine's status.
[Talent: Five Spiritual Roots 1 / 10000]
[Arts: Lifespan-Severing Art 8-Star 1 / 15000]
[Current Realm: Lifespan-Severing Stage 80%]
Each of the values had increased by one point.
However, her realm hadn't risen at all.
That was because she was still in the middle of cultivation.
Her realm would advance only once spiritual power gathered in her lower dantian.
Nine placed a blank sheet of paper—the foundation of a talisman—right in front of her knees, then neatly set the ink beside it.
Nine carefully extended her right hand and took up the brush.
It was an old brush she always used, but the feel of it in her small, soft hand was quite unfamiliar and awkward.
Nine recalled what her mother had taught her when she was little.
Cultivation was transcendence.
Then what was one transcending?
To that question, which humanity's sages had asked endlessly, countless seekers had each offered their own answer.
To cast off one's mortal bones (凡骨) made of flesh and blood.
To break free of the shackles of lifespan and attain immortality and eternal life.
To usurp and claim the laws of Heaven.
If there were a hundred people, there were a hundred paths.
If there were ten thousand people, there were ten thousand paths.
They were all their own paths, each with its own answer.
But in the modern cultivation world, those countless answers had been gathered together, and various grand Great Daos (大道) established.
Every child grows up exposed to the Great Daos and eventually walks one.
Nine was no exception.
The path Nine walked was the Great Dao of Talismans (符籍大道).
The path of drawing one's own world on a tiny piece of paper.
All the foundation stones of cultivation rested upon the Dao.
Nine took a short breath and reached out.
The brush tip, lightly soaked in ink, slid smoothly across the blank paper.
Normally, she'd have started sweating bullets at this stage.
With the aptitude of Five Spiritual Roots, even channeling the spiritual power in her heart to the tip of the brush was difficult.
“Hee. Just as I thought….”
Excited words spilled from Nine's lips.
Spiritual power flowed freely through her meridians without the slightest hindrance.
It was like going from walking along an unpaved road to driving down a perfectly paved highway, without a hint of resistance.
The fingertips gripping the brush trembled pleasantly.
The paper's texture, the ink's consistency, even the fine angle of the brush hairs—
Every sensation was so vivid to Nine it raised goosebumps.
It was a sense of unity, as if she and the talisman had become one.
Savoring that sensation, Nine lowered her eyes and focused on drawing the talisman.
The brush in her hand moved of its own accord, composing the talisman in one fluid stroke.
The black ink traced the talisman's pathways, drawing the foundational Dao-script characters that imbued it with an effect.
What she had made was a basic Might Talisman (僞力符) that enhanced physical abilities.
It took only five minutes to draw one talisman.
It took an early Qi Refining talismanist fifteen minutes to draw a Might Talisman, but Nine had cut that time to a third.
Fwoosh!
Just then, the Might Talisman gave off a faint green light and slowly floated into the air on its own.
Its mysterious glow illuminated Nine's dumbfounded face.
“A low-grade Might Talisman!?”
Until now, Nine had only ever made the lowest-grade talismans, all a murky gray.
That was because Introductory Talisman Dao Art contained instructions for making only the lowest-grade talismans.
Breaking through the limitations of that art, Nine had created a low-grade talisman.
“Awa…!”
Tremble….
A sense of accomplishment and anticipation spread from her fingertips throughout her body.
Hope, once as hazy as mist, turned into certainty.
Nine couldn't even begin to guess how far her potential could reach.
As soon as the talisman was complete, the contents of the scroll changed as well.
The spiritual power used to make the talisman returned, transformed into Talisman Dao spiritual power, and settled in her lower dantian, beneath her navel.
Shrrrack!
Pou closed, then opened again.
At the end of it, characters as dark as the abyss emitted a strange pull, drawing Nine's gaze.
[Constitution: Talisman Dao Sacred Body (符道聖體) 0 / 10]
The words on the scroll changed in real time.
[Current Realm: Lifespan-Severing Stage (80%)]
[Constitution: Talisman Dao Sacred Body (符道聖體) 0 / 10]
[Arts: Introductory Talisman Dao Art (符道入門訣) 7-Star 1300 / 15000]
>
[Current Realm: Lifespan-Severing Stage (81%)]
[Constitution: Talisman Dao Sacred Body (符道聖體) 1 / 10]
[Arts: Introductory Talisman Dao Art (符道入門訣) 7-Star 1310 / 15000]
“H-hah, h-hah!”
Her breathing grew ragged with excitement.
Her whole body trembled, and her chest bounced up and down along with it.
Gulp.
‘Don't get excited. Don't get excited.’
Nine calmed her breathing and tried to stay composed.
But it wasn't going well.
“Awa!”
Nine grinned broadly and picked up her brush to draw another talisman.