Refining a New Treasure

With a thought, the Profound Origin Water Control Banner appeared in her hand first.

She once again tried to send her Spiritual Sense into it.

With the familiarity she had gained from refining the Chaos Bead and saving it before, this attempt went much more smoothly.

Her Spiritual Sense entered a space of deep, shadowy blue, like a boundless expanse of water.

Within that space, countless profound Runes formed of flowing water slowly circulated, creating layer upon layer of Restrictions.

These Restrictions were equally complex, but compared to the inscrutable, chaotic Restrictions within the Chaos Bead, they seemed to follow clearer patterns—and... they appeared exceptionally "friendly" toward her?

She tried channeling her magical power into one of the simplest-looking water-flow Runes.

The Rune trembled gently, rippling like water. It swiftly absorbed her magical power, growing several shades brighter, and the connection between it and her tightened by a fraction.

The process went unexpectedly smoothly, encountering almost no obstruction.

"Eh? This doesn't seem hard?"

Su Miao perked up and began cautiously trying them one Rune at a time.

The Profound Origin Water Control Banner had been formed from the Water Essence of the Innate Five Elements. Its attributes were exceedingly close to the origin of her Pure World White Lotus; they were practically of the same root and source.

Though she was still ignorant at the moment, the essence of her magical power was pure. By sheer blind luck, she had stumbled onto the proper path for refining this treasure.

Moreover, the banner itself possessed spirit and felt close to her, so naturally it actively cooperated.

Thus, through her blind-cat-catching-a-dead-mouse efforts, she actually succeeded in initially refining the first two foundational Restrictions of the Profound Origin Water Control Banner!

Though she was still far from fully controlling it, she could now sense the banner's presence far more clearly. At a thought, the Banner could take form to protect her body, or summon a cluster of cool, limpid Innate Water Essence Qi.

"I did it!"

Su Miao happily waved the little Banner, and a small swirl of cool watery vapor unfurled from its surface, making her narrow her eyes in comfort.

Her confidence greatly boosted, she immediately turned her attention to the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Beads.

This time, the difficulty soared abruptly.

The instant her Spiritual Sense entered the internal space of a Sea Calming Bead, she felt an incomparably heavy, ocean-vast pressure crash toward her!

The Five-Colored Radiance was not merely beautiful—it also contained terrifying weight and the power to disrupt perception!

Her Spiritual Sense seemed to have fallen into a thick mire, unable to move even an inch, much less locate any Restriction Runes.

The vital auras of the twenty-four beads were linked together. Refining a single one was as difficult as refining twenty-four ordinary Spiritual Treasures at once!

"Mm... so heavy... so dizzy..."

Su Miao's little face went pale. She felt as though her head had been tossed into a tumble dryer, then crushed beneath several great mountains.

She tried several times, all ending in failure. Her Spiritual Sense simply could not remain inside the Sea Calming Beads for long, much less channel her magical power.

"No... this is too formidable..."

Panting, she looked at the bead in her hand, still radiating Five-Colored Radiance. She felt somewhat frustrated, yet unwilling to accept defeat.

Then, she remembered that when she had collected them earlier, the Chaos Bead seemed to have helped?

Subconsciously, she sank her mind into her Sea of Consciousness and looked pleadingly toward the Chaos Bead floating quietly there.

The Chaos Bead gave no response.

Yet inspiration suddenly struck her. As she extended her Spiritual Sense toward the Sea Calming Beads again, she also split off a thread of intent to link with the Chaos Bead.

Just as her Spiritual Sense once more felt that crushing pressure, the tiny cracks on the Chaos Bead's surface within her Sea of Consciousness flickered ever so slightly.

A barely perceptible trace of Chaos Dao Resonance quietly spread along the Spiritual Sense connection between her and the Sea Calming Beads.

That ocean-heavy pressure, that Five-Colored Radiance which dazed the spirit—in the instant they touched that infinitesimal trace of Chaos Dao Resonance, they melted away like Ice and Snow beneath a blazing sun, more than half of their force instantly dissipating!

Though the essence of that vast power remained, its active resistance and aggression vanished!

Su Miao felt her entire body lighten. Her Spiritual Sense smoothly entered one Sea Calming Bead, and she clearly saw the Restrictions within, formed from countless weighty Runes!

Overjoyed, she did not understand what had happened, but quickly followed the same pattern, awkwardly mobilizing her magical power to try refining one of the outermost Runes.

The process remained slow and arduous. Every Rune was incomparably heavy, consuming immense amounts of her focus and magical power. But compared with being unable to take a single step before, it was the difference between heaven and earth!

Grunting and straining, relying on her unyielding stubbornness and the Chaos Bead's covert assistance in "lowering the difficulty," she spent an unknown length of time before finally managing to leave her own faint Soul Brand upon the first core Restriction of all Twenty-Four Sea Calming Beads!

She became completely immersed in this cultivation, forgetting the passage of time, forgetting that she needed to find Master, and even forgetting that she had originally only wanted to seem a little smarter.

By the time she had initially refined the twenty-fourth Sea Calming Bead as well, leaving her own mark upon it, she had no idea that she had quietly passed nearly several thousand years.

Her mind was utterly exhausted, but an unprecedented feeling of being intimately connected to this set of beads arose within her!

With a thought, all Twenty-Four Sea Calming Beads flew out at once, circling around her body and slowly revolving according to her will. Though the Five-Colored Radiance was restrained, they carried a vast, weighty aura—deep as an abyss, steadfast as towering mountains.

With her current magical power, she could not even unleash one hundred-millionth of a single bead's might. At most, she could barely make them float up and smash into someone. But this was undoubtedly tremendous progress!

"Wow! So pretty! They look like stars!"

Su Miao looked at the beads spinning around her, her big eyes sparkling as she beamed with delight.

Her playful nature stirred again, and she tried arranging the beads into various simple shapes, such as a circle or a straight line.

Though she controlled them crookedly and unevenly, she never tired of it.

After doing all this, she was almost completely drained. Her tiny body tilted, and she flopped straight onto the soft immortal grass by the pool, gasping for breath, her forehead beaded with glistening sweat.

Yet her eyes shone with excitement!

She could feel that she had established an initial connection with those twenty-four beads!

Though she could not wield their terrifying power to "dazzle an enemy's spiritual senses and five perceptions, with might as vast as the four seas," she could at least... barely summon them, and it seemed... she could make them a tiny bit lighter?

Or a tiny bit heavier?

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, she could not wait to try.

With a thought.

A Sea Calming Bead spun into existence in her palm, giving off soft Five-Colored Radiance.

"Lighter!"

She focused her will on it.

The bead seemed to twitch slightly, and its weight truly lessened considerably, as though it were no more than an ordinary jade bead.

"Heavier!"

The bead suddenly sank, nearly wrenching her wrist apart!

Frightened, she hurriedly withdrew her will.

"How fun!"

Like a child who had discovered a new toy, she found that although controlling it was incredibly crude and exhausting, this was undeniably the result of her own refinement!

Looking at the Sea Calming Bead in her hand and the Profound Origin Water Control Banner beside her, an unprecedented sense of accomplishment filled her heart.

So... studying hard and improving every day... really was useful!

As she watched the Sea Calming Bead in her hand become light as a swan's feather one moment and heavier than mountains the next, a bold thought surfaced.

Just how powerful... was this bead?

What if... she smashed something with it...?

Once that thought arose, she could no longer suppress it.

She clenched the now feather-light Sea Calming Bead and turned her gaze toward the smooth stone wall, her large eyes glittering with eager anticipation...