Just as Bai Lan had guessed, the Chaos Yin Yang Art lived up to its name.
Above, it divided yin and yang; below, it cultivated the five elements.
Though Long Aotian cultivated this manual, with his Single Lightning Spiritual Root aptitude, he could ultimately only divide lightning into yin lightning and yang lightning. Its limitations were immense.
But Bai Lan's Five Spiritual Roots made cultivating this manual seem like it had been tailor-made for her.
Yet this cultivation art also had its drawbacks.
When the art divided the spiritual energy within her body into yin and yang, Bai Lan would need twice as much spiritual energy as before whenever she broke through a bottleneck.
A Single Spiritual Root's cultivation speed had originally been five times hers.
Now it was even better.
A Single Spiritual Root's speed was now ten times hers.
She had to absorb ten times more spiritual energy than a Single Spiritual Root! A full ten times more before she could break through a bottleneck!
Haha.
Her face was written all over with joy.
Bai Lan took a deep breath.
"System, has Bai Ling encountered any opportunities lately? Preferably the kind with lots of Spirit Stones and little danger, so I can rob... get there first." Life was not easy; Bai Lan sighed.
Last time, she had robbed Long Aotian. This time, she would rob Bai Ling.
Perfect. This was very fair.
It also fully promoted the balanced and sustainable growth of Destined Lord resources.
The system dutifully began reviewing the plot's progress.
"The Destined Female Lead picked up a Mustard Seed Space Black Stone in the Marketplace. By a stroke of fate, the Spatial Black Stone collided with the Space Jade Bracelet she already had, unexpectedly upgrading it. The spirit-field space, which originally could not contain living creatures, became capable of holding them."
Bai Lan abruptly rose to her feet. "Let's go. To the Marketplace."
Matters related to a Destined Lord were always accompanied by "strokes of fate" and "accidents."
Bai Lan had already grown used to it.
But unfortunately, she was determined to turn all those "strokes of fate" into first come, first served, the capable claiming what they could.
She changed into the standard gray robe of an Azure Origin Sect outer sect servant, essentially the "school uniform" handed out to every sect disciple in the cultivation world. Once she reached the outer sect, she could exchange it for white robes.
"Hehe! Host! The clothes you're wearing now are the same color as mine!" The system shook its wide gray sleeves, looking delighted.
Bai Lan looked over, staring at the system's loose robes and broad sleeves. Only after a long while did she slowly speak. "Actually, I've always wanted to ask you... why do you wear gray?"
The system was so noisy when it spoke... ah, no, so lively.
Yet it wore gray from head to toe. She had always felt those clothes did not suit its personality.
"Because I'm a cannon fodder salvation system! It's perfectly normal for my theme color to be gray!" the system answered as though it were only natural.
So that was what the gray clothes meant!
Bai Lan said, "...No. Change them. Change into red—bright, blazing red!"
A cannon fodder system was far too inauspicious.
"Why?" the system resisted.
"Your host is someone who will one day surpass the two Children of Destiny, walk the path of ascension, and achieve the supreme Great Dao. As my system, you naturally need to have your prestige cranked to the fullest. Dress in bright, blazing red—that alone suits the identity of Bai Lan's system." As Bai Lan spoke, she patted the system's head. "No need for further words. Change!"
"..." Though the system did not understand the meaning behind it, changing its theme color was as easy as changing a computer wallpaper. It obediently went along with Bai Lan.
The gray robe instantly turned a striking red, making the system's already fair complexion appear even clearer.
"How is it?" The system lifted its robe and spun around.
"Not bad. Wear it like that." Bai Lan nodded in satisfaction.
After hanging the jade token proving her identity as an Azure Origin Sect disciple at her waist, Bai Lan made a save file and headed out of the Azure Origin Sect.
The nearest Marketplace was located in Cangyuan City, twenty li away.
But over those mere twenty li, there was no guarantee she would not encounter danger.
The cultivation world was full of Evil Cultivators and Rogue Cultivators who killed for treasures. And if she happened to run into a few demon beasts along the way...
She had no desire to be chased all over the world.
Wearing the Azure Origin Sect outer sect servant token was also meant to reduce trouble and provide a certain degree of deterrence.
As a renowned great orthodox sect in the region, with several Core Formation cultivators and Nascent Soul Great Experts stationed within it, the Azure Origin Sect was not something Rogue Cultivators would willingly provoke.
Especially with her current cultivation at Qi Refining level one, and at most three or four Spirit Stones in her Storage Bag, ordinary bandits would not even think her worth robbing, much less anger the Azure Origin Sect for the sake of robbing her.
Sure enough, everything went exactly as Bai Lan had expected.
Along the way, she indeed encountered quite a few cultivators wearing masks and clutching flying daggers, crouched in the trees. One look was enough to tell that they were waiting to rob passersby of their Storage Bags.
But when Bai Lan swaggered past them, none of them so much as glanced at her.
Sure enough, being weak had its advantages too. Her shallow cultivation, having only just broken through to Qi Refining level one, made them too lazy even to rob her.
They could not even be bothered to sweep her with their divine sense.
Even though Bai Lan had tucked her Storage Bags into her robes rather than hanging them outside.
If any one of them had cautiously probed Bai Lan with divine sense, they would have discovered that she had three Storage Bags hidden against her chest.
What a pity. What a pity.
After walking several li in perfect safety, Bai Lan happened to raise her head and glance at the Black-robed cultivator dozing in a tree overhead. Her footsteps halted.
More precisely, it was because of the pansy-patterned mask on his face.
One plot point had mentioned that masks bearing pansy patterns belonged to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, a renowned intelligence and assassin organization in the cultivation world.
The plot had also mentioned that one of Long Aotian's enemies had spent Spirit Stones at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion to issue a kill order against him. The place where Long Aotian was attacked was at the boundary between the Azure Origin Sect and the Marketplace.
This man was most likely here to hunt Long Aotian down.
Perhaps sensing Bai Lan's gaze, the Black-robed cultivator, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. He looked Bai Lan up and down, his gaze settling on the Identity Jade Token at her waist.
He suddenly spoke. "Junior, are you a cultivator who just joined the Azure Origin Sect?"
"..." Bai Lan fell silent.
"Do you know someone named Long Aotian?" The Black-robed cultivator leaned forward slightly and spoke coldly.
Bai Lan's eyes lit up.
Of course she knew him. She knew him better than anyone.
"Could it be that Senior has a grudge against him?" Bai Lan laughed softly. "What a coincidence. So do I."
The Black-robed cultivator raised a brow. "Oh?"
"Senior is from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, aren't you? Waiting here for Long Aotian is indeed a wise move. Though this junior does not know when Long Aotian will come, I am willing to lend Senior a hand and explain Long Aotian's background in detail."
"After Long Aotian entered the Azure Origin Sect, he became the disciple of True Lord Changle of Myriad Sword Peak. True Lord Changle is a Late Core Formation stage great expert; his strength cannot be underestimated."
The Black-robed cultivator's originally bored expression instantly turned serious. His brow furrowed slightly as he listened intently to Bai Lan's words.
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