A Heaven's Proud Daughter Comes of Age

A Heaven's Proud Daughter Comes of Age

When the hazy, intermittent voices once again reached her ears, the consciousness returning to her body gradually gathered as well.

Deep within the Shennong Mountain Range, the strange phenomenon that had covered the heavens was gradually fading away.

Fortunately, their clan resided within the Small World opened up by their Ancestor. Even if there was a strange phenomenon, it would not leak out and cause any unnecessary disturbance.

"The clan leader has arrived."

"No matter. I merely came to see the child."

"Where is the child who caused the strange phenomenon within the clan?"

"It is Wan'er. It is our Wan'er."

Hearing the confirming voices echoing in agreement, the leader of the clan, who had managed to spare this brief moment from his endless affairs to come and take a look, could not help but feel astonished by that newborn infant.

On the baby girl's forehead, the clan mark of their clan was reflected. The old man froze for a moment, then subconsciously wanted to raise his hand and touch the child's forehead, to feel the restlessness hidden deep within the bloodline. But before he could move, that clan mark quickly vanished again.

"...She truly is a gifted little girl."

The white-haired, long-bearded old man sighed in admiration.

Then he saw the baby girl in his arms slowly open her eyes and stare straight at him, neither crying nor fussing.

The old man seemed to have sensed something. He subconsciously narrowed his still sharp and spirited eyes, wanting to confirm it.

But before he could confirm it himself, with the baby girl in his arms as the center, an invisible ripple immediately surged out, distorting everything everyone saw before their eyes at that moment.

The Yao Clan Leader's eyes instantly widened. This was—this was—

If the phenomenon at the infant's birth had merely stirred up waves of Dou Qi within the Yao Realm, then at this moment, this tiny infant had stirred up waves of the soul.

"This is... the fluctuation of a Heaven Realm Soul. This child..."

The Yao Clan Elders, who had arrived a step later than the clan leader Yao Dan, all sensed this completely different Soul Fluctuation. They could not help but look at one another, only to find their fellow clansmen's eyes filled with shock as well.

The soul realms of this world were no more than four great realms: the Mortal, Spirit, Heaven, and Emperor realms. Aside from the Emperor Realm Soul, which was far too distant, so distant that perhaps no one today could even reach it, the Heaven Realm Soul was already the attainable peak of the soul realm.

But what had they seen?

A child whose Soul Power had been at the Heaven Realm from the moment of birth?

"Born with a Heaven Realm Soul... this is the Old Ancestor's spirit in heaven protecting our Yao Clan—"

Yao Dan held Yao Wan and could not help throwing his head back with a long cry. That aged voice echoed through the skies above the entire Yao Realm, seeming both joyful and tearful.

Only after a long while did Yao Dan finally come back to himself. He looked at the baby girl in his arms, who seemed to have just woken up, and saw that she was not afraid of the old man holding her.

Just being gazed at by this child, who seemed carved from beautiful jade, made Yao Dan feel as though his heart was about to melt. Like an ordinary old man seeing his granddaughter for the first time, he chuckled foolishly while muttering to himself.

"Heh, heh, heh... good child, good child."

"Clan leader, regarding this girl..."

The others only watched and did not dare speak. Only Yao Wanhua bowed slightly and asked.

"...From this day forward, clanswoman Yao Wan shall be personally taught by me."

Yao Dan was silent for a breath before speaking.

"..."

The elders before him looked at one another, not knowing how to respond.

Among the few elders who had arrived shortly after Yao Dan, some exchanged glances, clearly somewhat surprised by the clan leader's rule-breaking decision.

"What? Do you still have objections?"

Yao Dan's white brows shot up, and he flew into a rage. "Wan'er is a prodigy born with a Heaven Realm Soul. Should she not be treated differently? If you have objections, then go and find me a second person in the clan born with a Heaven Realm Soul!"

Those Yao Clan Elders were scolded bloody and could only repeatedly say yes, causing the others beside them to be even less willing to say another word.

There was nothing to be done about it. Even Yao Tian, the clan genius from a few years ago, had only stood out in his Dou Qi cultivation. His soul cultivation was still ordinary. How could he compare to the current Yao Wan, who had been born with a Heaven Realm Soul?

And within the entire Yao Clan, Yao Wan, who had been born with a Heaven Realm Soul, would undoubtedly be valued even more than Yao Tian. The reason was none other than this: anyone could cultivate Dou Qi, but clansmen born with powerful Soul Power were far, far too few.

Moreover, a Heaven Realm Soul was a necessary path to becoming a Ninth Grade Alchemist. Being born with a Heaven Realm Soul meant that the Yao Clan had gained another Ninth Grade Alchemist. How could the meaning behind that be something ordinary people could compare to?

Yao Dan himself did not mind. At this moment, he only focused on looking after the baby girl in his arms, who neither cried nor smiled, swaying her gently as he walked.

Since the clan leader had already decided on the matter, if they tried to stop him any further, they would simply be asking for embarrassment.

Everyone looked at one another. Though they more or less had some complaints in their hearts, they said nothing more.

Time passed very quickly. Within the Yao Realm, a newborn with extraordinary talent became the personal disciple of the leader of the Yao Clan. Every day, she stayed by the clan leader's side, learning by what she heard and saw, studying cultivation and pharmacology. For a time, her brilliance was boundless.

Some said that the clan leader had long been paving the way for this girl to ascend to the peak of the Yao Clan.

There were even rumors that the Yao Clan's upper echelon had once spent a fortune to obtain a seed of Life Spirit Flame, the Strange Fire ranked fifth on the Strange Fire Ranking, from Old Man Shen Nong, and had given it to her to nurture with her lifeline.

Most people envied that heaven's proud daughter's fortune, being doted on by countless people, and they also had no choice but to look up to her transcendent talent of being born with a Heaven Realm Soul.

However, rumors like these never reached the ears of the person involved.

The people of the Yao Clan had merely heard many things. Aside from the already-famous young geniuses of the Yao Clan, there was also a Young Miss who never stepped outside, who followed the clan leader all day long and was extremely mysterious.

In a secret realm somewhere in the Yao Realm, Yao Wan paused her cultivation and slowly breathed out a mouthful of Stale Air.

Within this small pocket of hidden heaven, though the sparrow was small, it had all its organs.

Inside the hidden heaven carefully arranged according to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, an unparalleled woman with black hair and plain robes sat upright on the lotus platform at the center, breathing in and out Dou Qi. A moment later, she slowly opened her starry eyes.

"One-star Dou Wang. Done."

Along with Yao Wan's self-murmur, that aura stabilized, then gradually returned to calm.

Although she had cultivated day and night after stepping into the ranks of a Dou Zhe, working with unusual diligence, now that she had stepped into the Dou Wang realm, she had more or less touched her current bottleneck.

If she disregarded everything and charged toward a higher realm, it would instead be somewhat not worth the loss.

"The path of cultivation truly isn't something that can be accomplished overnight."

Yao Wan subconsciously lifted her slender fingertips. As her fingers stirred, a wisp of Dou Qi lingered around her fingertips for a long time without dissipating.

Ever since she realized that she had transmigrated into the Battle Through the Heavens world, and was even a new-generation genius of the Yao Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans, what Yao Wan felt after her initial excitement was the grimness of the future.

After all, in her memory, in roughly a dozen or twenty years, Hun Tiandi of the Hun Clan was going to give the Dou Qi Continent a little shock of pure madness.

Under her worries for the future, Yao Wan had always cultivated with great diligence. Although she was the Young Miss deeply favored by the clan leader and lived a Luxurious Life, Yao Wan spent all day inside her own Dou Qi-filled hidden heaven, cultivating day and night. It could hardly be called pampered idleness.

But sometimes, effort was destined to have that tiny bit of distance from the result she wanted.

After so many years, enjoying resources within the Yao Clan that could be called among the most luxurious on the entire Dou Qi Continent, even though she had devoted herself wholeheartedly to cultivation, she was now only a mere Dou Wang. Although part of it was because she had deliberately suppressed her level to stabilize her realm, when all was said and done, she was still far too distant from her goal of becoming a Dou Di.

There was no way around it. On one hand, she had to cultivate her soul realm; on the other, she also had to cultivate Dou Qi. Yao Wan could not possibly cut herself in half and split herself into two people to use.

The result was that both sides had improved, but compared to the time left to her, it was still too slow.

Forget Dou Di. Looking at things now, advancing to Dou Emperor might still be considered easy, but afterward, advancing to Dou Zong would require quite a long period of time, let alone the two great realms of Dou Zun and Dou Sheng after that.

According to Yao Wan's own estimate, if she wanted to reach Dou Sheng Peak on one side while breaking through the shackles of the Heaven Realm and reaching an Emperor Realm Soul on the other, she would need at least a hundred years.

Was that fast? It was indeed fast. But clearly, accomplishing those things was still far from enough.

"Sigh, only after cultivating myself do I realize just how ridiculous Xiao Yan's cultivation speed was."

Yao Wan sighed softly. Forget it. Complaining was useless.

Just as ripples rose in her thoughts, Yao Wan suddenly heard the clan leader's voice transmission.

"Is Wan'er in the hidden heaven?"

Yao Wan paused, then opened the restrictions on her hidden heaven and let the clan leader enter.

A moment later, inside that hidden heaven, the kindly old man with white hair and a Hoary Beard walked in. A hint of softness appeared on Yao Wan's Pretty Face.

"Greetings, clan leader."

"All right. You and I are master and disciple, close as grandfather and granddaughter. Why be so bound by etiquette?"

The current Yao Clan Leader, Yao Dan, smiled and said.

After speaking, Yao Dan looked Yao Wan up and down as she stood gracefully before him, then nodded lightly. "Mm, a Dou Wang. Not bad. And you did not advance recklessly. You guarded against arrogance and impatience. Very good. As expected of Wan'er."

"You overpraise me, clan leader."

Yao Wan lightly nodded her Beautiful Head. Facing her teacher's praise, she was not arrogant, making Yao Dan even more satisfied as he watched her.

Over these past ten-odd years, the more he taught Yao Wan, the more satisfied he became. Yet the more satisfied he was, the more he could not stop the regret and sighs in his heart.

Wan'er was naturally extremely outstanding. Whether in talent, diligence, or temperament, she was without exception a top candidate to inherit the Yao Clan's great undertaking. It was just a pity...

A pity that she had a Daughter's Body.

In the end, she would still have to marry someday.

Even if the fertile water did not flow to outsiders' fields and some foolish boy of the Yao Clan benefited instead, it would still more or less bury Wan'er's talent and ability.

Whenever he thought of this, Yao Dan could not help sighing. If only Wan'er had a son's body...

How could Yao Wan not know what the clan leader was thinking? It was just that this kind of thing was ultimately not something she could decide for herself.

She had lived as a girl for almost fifteen years now, and she was more or less used to this sort of life.

She simply had no interest in the things the clan leader was thinking about.

Among those of her generation in the clan, no one could reach even a fraction of her level, so naturally, there was no one she could look upon favorably.

...Compared to these things, Yao Wan's beautiful eyes turned and settled back on the clan leader.

"Clan leader, actually, there is something I want to tell you."