What Gong Shaojun Left Behind

Lin Qi's body was filled with Spiritual Energy that continued to compress and condense, swirling around her Dantian.

Soon, she broke through from Qi Induction to Qi Refining Layer One.

Lin Qi slowly opened her eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Suppressing the doubts in her heart, she glanced at the impurities that had been expelled from her body and then fetched a basin of water to wash up.

After washing, Lin Qi felt incredibly refreshed.

She clenched her small fists, feeling a surge of strength in her hands.

It was a shame Luo Ci wasn't here; otherwise, she would have loved to test just how much her strength had increased.

With lingering questions, Lin Qi, clutching her books, went to Qingyun Palace.

True Monarch Qingyun saw at a glance that Lin Qi had already achieved Qi Induction, so she wasn't surprised by her arrival.

A gentle smile graced her face. "Little Qi, do you have any questions you need me to answer?"

Lin Qi respectfully bowed. "Master, I just achieved Qi Induction, but it feels different from what the cultivation manual described."

"The book says that after entering a meditative state, various colored light points will appear in the consciousness space, each representing an attribute. But I saw two light screens, one white and one blue..."

Lin Qi hadn't tested her Spiritual Root either, so her mind was a complete muddle.

As soon as she finished speaking, True Monarch Qingyun produced a delicate, transparent sphere about the size of her palm from who-knows-where.

"Place your hand on it and try."

Lin Qi did as she was told.

Within the transparent sphere, the dark blue and white lights vied for dominance, mirroring the scene when she underwent Qi Induction.

At the very last second, just as Lin Qi was about to withdraw her hand, a crack suddenly appeared in the Spirit Testing Orb, spreading rapidly in all directions.

In the span of a single breath, the Spirit Testing Orb split into two halves.

True Monarch Qingyun waved her hand, and the Spirit Testing Orb vanished instantly.

"Little Qi, you have an Ice-Lightning Spiritual Root. Both spiritual roots are at maximum potential, but the Ice Spiritual Root is more dominant, suppressing the Lightning Spiritual Root. From now on, you can focus on ice-element cultivation, with lightning as a secondary."

Lin Qi blinked dazedly.

True Monarch Qingyun stroked her head, her voice warm and gentle. "What's wrong? Are you too happy to think straight?"

Lin Qi couldn't hide her excitement. "I think I'm a little amazing!"

Lin Qi never dreamed that after being unable to cultivate in her previous life, she would be a Supreme Dual Spiritual Root in this one.

This gave her complete confidence that she could change her destiny.

True Monarch Qingyun smiled brightly, coaxing her like a child. "Yes, Little Qi, you are indeed amazing."

Lin Qi shyly scratched her head.

Since she was already at Qingyun Palace, Lin Qi took the opportunity to ask a few more cultivation questions.

True Monarch Qingyun was incredibly patient, simplifying complex concepts. She could resolve Lin Qi's confusion in just a sentence or two and even taught her some subtle details of cultivation.

After chatting with her for a while, Lin Qi felt as if she had experienced a moment of enlightenment, her thoughts becoming clear and agile.

Just as she was preparing to leave, True Monarch Qingyun handed her a scroll.

With a smile, she instructed, "Little Qi, this is the Cultivation Manual Upper Volume that I practice. Take it back and study it carefully. If you have any questions, you can ask me or your Senior Sister."

Lin Qi quickly bowed and thanked her.

As she lowered her head, a whisper reached her ears.

"You've inherited your mother's Ice Spiritual Root. Those two Phoenix Feathers should contain the Cultivation Technique Core left by your mother."

Lin Qi looked up in surprise, meeting True Monarch Qingyun's smiling, silent gaze.

She hadn't expected Gong Shaojun to have arranged things so perfectly and thoughtfully for little Lin Qi!

If she had known the tragic fate that awaited her daughter, would she still have chosen to go into secluded cultivation and never leave her cave dwelling for the rest of her life?

Lin Qi returned to her courtyard in a daze.

She carefully examined the two Phoenix Feathers, first testing them with Spiritual Energy, then dripping two drops of blood onto them. There was no reaction.

It was already dark, and Lin Qi rubbed her slightly fatigued temples.

Did those two Phoenix Feathers really contain the Cultivation Technique Core left by Gong Shaojun?

Ice Phoenix Essence Blood!

A flash of inspiration struck Lin Qi. She suddenly remembered the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood she had found in Gong Shaojun's practice room.

Impatiently, she took out the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood, which emanated a chilling cold, and placed it on the Phoenix Feathers.

Before she could do anything else, the two Phoenix Feathers emitted a faint blue light and began to fuse.

The Ice Phoenix Essence Blood also began to emit a faint glow, no longer in a solidified state.

As the two Phoenix Feathers completely merged into one, the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood suddenly flew into Lin Qi's forehead.

A bone-chilling cold instantly surged through Lin Qi's entire body.

This reminded Lin Qi of the chill that descended upon her when she was thrown into the alchemy furnace to be roasted in her previous life.

Her transmigration had been so sudden that she hadn't had time to properly process many things.

But in this moment, Lin Qi's premonition was stronger than ever.

The female cultivator who ascended in the training room, and the female voice that had killed Daoist Jinwu with a single shout, were all undeniably connected to Lin Qi's mother, Gong Shaojun.

Who exactly was Gong Shaojun?!

Her marital relationship with Lin Jue was so cold that they only saw each other once every few years; how could she have fallen into secluded cultivation out of despair just because Lin Jue had taken a concubine?

Before Lin Qi could ponder this further, she suddenly felt a burning sensation between her eyebrows.

The mark of the Ice Phoenix Essence Blood flickered faintly on her brow.

Lin Qi's entire body was permeated by a chilling cold, stiffening her to the point where she couldn't move. Even the air she exhaled was instantly frozen into ice.

In the blink of an eye, the entire small courtyard was encased in ice.

Lin Qi blinked, the world spinning around her. She suddenly found herself in an ancient and profound underground palace.

A massive array formation, drawn with cinnabar, covered the floor of the underground palace. It was identical to the formation beneath the feet of the female cultivator who had transformed into an Ice Phoenix and ascended that day.

Five rotating doors hung in the center of the formation, each inscribed with one of the five characters: Virtue, Righteousness, Benevolence, Trustworthiness, and Propriety.

If Lin Qi remembered correctly, those very characters were inscribed on the Ice Phoenix, which had exuded such a powerful aura.

Lin Qi's current body possessed the bloodline of the Ancient Ice Phoenix; could this space be an inheritance from some ancestor?

Lin Qi stepped forward, tentatively entering the center of the formation.

The door inscribed with "Virtue," which had been suspended in the air, suddenly appeared before her.

Lin Qi reached out and touched it, and the large door automatically opened.

The surrounding scenery shifted instantly, and five doors reappeared before her, inscribed with the characters for Talisman Crafting, Alchemy, Formation Array, Beast Taming, and Artifact Refining, respectively.

Lin Qi tried to push open the door to the Alchemy room, which was closest to her, but it wouldn't budge.

She changed her target and went to push the door to the Talisman Crafting room next to it.

The moment she put some force into it, she was pulled inside.

What greeted her eyes were five rows of stairs. The room contained a desk, stone stools, and the Four Treasures of the Study, giving it the appearance of a study.

The five rows of stairs were lined with scrolls, each enveloped in a ball of light. Lin Qi took a quick glance and saw that they were all related to talisman crafting.

She suppressed the excitement in her heart and slowly surveyed the entire talisman crafting room.

She couldn't see the scrolls enveloped in light.

The only ones Lin Qi could interact with were the two introductory talisman crafting scrolls placed at the very edge. She figured she'd have to finish those two before she could access the rest.

The desk in the center of the room held another surprise.

Inlaid into the desk was a yellowed scroll, filled with abundant spiritual energy.

Lin Qi picked up the brush hanging beside it and drew a stroke on the scroll. Before she could even finish the short stroke, the spiritual energy within her was instantly drained.

She had just been taught a lesson.