At this moment.
Deep within the imperial city, inside a grand hall.
The royal Old Ancestor, Xia Hanbing, abruptly opened his eyes and looked toward the Savage Forest, surprise flashing in his gaze.
"Five-Colored Divine Light illuminates all heavens!"
A month ago, he had chosen the Ninth Princess, Xiao Minghuang, as his successor and bestowed his inheritance upon her. Then he had entered seclusion to recuperate, hoping to live a few more years so he could continue protecting Great Xia.
Yet this vast and magnificent phenomenon stirred his senses and jolted him awake from seclusion.
With his cultivation, he could clearly sense that the sky suffused with multicolored clouds was filled with an extraordinarily dense Dao aura, so powerful that even he was shaken.
At the same time, Emperor Xia entered the hall and came before Xia Hanbing. He too had seen the dazzling Divine Glow filling the heavens, and he was thrilled beyond measure.
"Old Ancestor, such a phenomenon occurring within Great Xia means an unparalleled prodigy has been born. This is an omen that Great Xia is about to flourish!"
Xia Hanbing's eyes likewise revealed astonishment. Stroking his beard, he said:
"A Five Elements Spiritual Root is an aptitude destined to achieve the Primal Embryo Realm. It has been rare since ancient times. If such a person can grow, they can suppress Great Xia's thousand-year destiny!"
"We must find this genius and bring them to the capital, then nurture them with all our strength!"
"I leave this matter entirely to you. I will not interfere. There must not be the slightest mistake!"
After giving his orders, Xia Hanbing's aura fell silent. With his life span nearing its end, his flesh was decaying, his spiritual energy withering, and his Primordial Spirit weakening. He could no longer move about freely and could only remain within a formation rich in spiritual energy, barely prolonging his life.
"Yes!"
Emperor Xia nodded respectfully.
Outside, he was the supreme ruler of a nation, exalted above all. Yet before the highly revered Old Ancestor, he was no more than a junior.
Emperor Xia understood clearly that even the poorest Low-grade Yellow Tier Five Elements Spiritual Root surpassed an ordinary Mystic Grade Top-tier Spiritual Root.
As long as such a genius could grow, they would be able to protect Great Xia for a thousand years. It was entirely worth the sovereign of a nation lowering himself for them.
After Emperor Xia departed, Xia Hanbing closed his eyes once more, and the hall returned to silence.
Beiyang City, within the City Lord's Manor.
Lin Zhengquan and the others had long been alarmed by the Five-Colored Divine Light, yet they had no idea what had caused this mysterious phenomenon.
While they were utterly baffled, they suddenly sensed an astonishing spiritual energy fluctuation erupt from Xiao Minghuang's courtyard and hurried over.
They saw golden lotuses blooming across the courtyard ground, specks of golden light-rain falling from above. Dao aura permeated the air, runes danced about, and divine marvels abounded, making this small courtyard appear like a sacred realm.
At the sight, Lin Zhengquan's pupils contracted sharply, his face full of disbelief.
"This is... Earth-welling Golden Lotus, Heavenly Flower Rain, a Heaven-tier Spiritual Root!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present sucked in a cold breath, their eyes filled with shock.
"A Heaven-tier Spiritual Root that exists only in legends has actually appeared today!"
"Such talent has never existed in all eternity. Today's encounter will likely be sung of throughout the world!"
"The Ninth Princess is actually a Heaven-tier Spiritual Root! Such aptitude has never been heard of not only in Great Xia, but throughout the entire Southern Border!"
"For Great Xia to have an unparalleled genius like the Ninth Princess is truly the greatest blessing for all of us Great Xia people!"
Though those present did not know exactly what a Heaven-tier Spiritual Root represented, they knew that Mystic Grade Spiritual Roots were already talents rarely seen even once in decades.
An Earth-tier Spiritual Root was enough to become a true disciple of the Three Great Sects, with the qualifications to inherit the position of sect master in the future.
Then a Heaven-tier Spiritual Root above that was likely powerful beyond imagination.
Moreover, this was not an ordinary Heaven-tier Spiritual Root, but a Heaven-tier Five Elements Spiritual Root that existed only in legend!
Perhaps one day, the Ninth Princess might become a Primal Embryo Realm expert and lead Great Xia to prosperity, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Three Great Sects—or even surpassing them.
But the prerequisite for all of that was for the Ninth Princess to grow safely and not be strangled halfway down the road.
After all, throughout history, geniuses who died young were as numerous as the sand and silt in rivers.
Lin Zhengquan naturally understood this principle, but it was truly too late to silence everyone now.
The multicolored clouds that had filled the sky moments ago had spread for hundreds of miles. Martial artists across Great Xia had likely seen them. Concealing it was simply impossible.
"First, Five-Colored Divine Light illuminating all heavens, then Earth-welling Golden Lotus and Heavenly Flower Rain. Just what kind of peerless monster is the Ninth Princess?"
Lin Zhengquan gave a bitter smile, but he did not simply wait around. Instead, he ordered Beiyang City's hundred thousand soldiers to remain on full alert against any unforeseen danger.
Xiao Minghuang, who was still in seclusion, knew nothing of everything happening outside.
At this moment, she looked inward at her Dantian, gazing at the phantom of that Five-Colored Spiritual Root.
Under the medicinal effects of the Five-Viscera Spirit Essence Pill, her original mid-grade Earth-tier white metal Spiritual Root had evolved into a low-grade Heaven-tier five-colored Five Elements Spiritual Root.
This Spiritual Root intertwined white, azure, black, crimson, and yellow. Its form was illusory, three inches long, rooted within her Dantian as it continuously absorbed the world's spiritual energy.
"A Five Elements Spiritual Root..."
The corners of Xiao Minghuang's lips rose slightly, and a faint smile appeared on her breathtakingly beautiful face.
Everyone was born with a Spiritual Root. Though their attributes differed, they all belonged within the five elements.
Whether metal, wood, water, fire, or earth, each had its own unique qualities, but there was no distinction of superiority or inferiority on the path of cultivation.
The attributes of one's Spiritual Root determined what kind of worldly spiritual energy a martial artist could absorb directly.
The aptitude of one's Spiritual Root determined the speed at which a martial artist absorbed worldly spiritual energy. The higher the aptitude, the faster the absorption.
The number of Spiritual Roots had a slight effect on the speed of absorbing spiritual energy, but it was not decisive.
Only when all five elements of the Spiritual Root were present, endlessly generating one another, would the speed of absorbing spiritual energy undergo a leap, fundamentally different from Spiritual Roots lacking one or more elements.
Moreover, all things beneath heaven and earth were contained within the five elements. With her Five Elements Spiritual Root, Xiao Minghuang could clearly sense the fluctuations of spiritual energy around her, the living breath of plants, the weathering of mountains and stones. Any change in all things within the five elements could not escape her perception.
"Let me test just what is so wondrous about this Five Elements Spiritual Root."
<The Witch Cleanses Her Name, and the Heroines Become My Wings?>
After transmigrating into the final villain of a game, the Ice Witch, Manla found herself surrounded by the heroines in the Forest of Truth from the very beginning. The only thing awaiting her was a fate of being tortured to death.
First, her former disciple stabbed out her eyes. Then the Imperial Princess chopped off both her hands. Finally, her own younger sister's sword pierced her heart.
To survive, Manla could only find a way to clear her name.
She killed her biological parents, then stole her sister's elemental perception?
That was only because she did not want her sister to be harmed by the true culprit. Left with no other choice, she had taken the blame upon herself.
She stole the Abyssal Codex and caused her adoptive father's death?
That was because he not only abused her every day, but even wanted to kill innocent people to summon the Evil God.
She abandoned her humanity and fell into becoming a Witch?
That was because she transferred the evil curse on her disciple onto herself.
When these truths came to light, the heroines wept bitter tears of regret.
But Manla discovered that she had fallen into a new kind of trouble: her wings... had started fighting each other.
Sixth Level of Qi Refining
Xiao Minghuang circulated her cultivation method, and six great vortices emerged across her body at once, crazily absorbing the worldly spiritual energy outside. In just one breath, all the spiritual energy within several hundred zhang was drained clean.
Sensing the changes outside, she gave a bitter smile and withdrew the vortices. The terrifying suction vanished with them.
"The Five Elements Spiritual Root absorbs spiritual energy far too quickly. If I circulate my cultivation method in battle and drain all the surrounding spiritual energy, the blow to my enemy might be fatal."
But on second thought, Xiao Minghuang let out a light laugh and shook her head slightly.
"Even if I absorb all the surrounding spiritual energy, it would be useless. Who doesn't carry a few spirit stones and medicinal pills on them?"
If martial artists relied only on the world's spiritual energy outside, who knew whether they would have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse to reach profound realms of cultivation.
Thus, most martial artists were accustomed to using spirit stones and medicinal pills to rapidly raise their strength.
During battle, they also used spirit stones and medicinal pills to restore their strength. Apart from certain blessed caves and heavenly lands, the spiritual energy of the outside world played a negligible role for martial artists.
Xiao Minghuang breathed in and out, adjusting her condition before slowly opening her eyes.
At the same time.
A streak of golden light shot out from her pupils at extreme speed, piercing through the wall before her and leaving a huge hole.
The golden light in Xiao Minghuang's eyes faded, revealing eyes as dazzling as the stars.
When she saw the wreckage scattered throughout the room, she could not help but sigh softly.
But when she lowered her head and looked at her own skin, a smile touched her lips.
She reached out and pinched her cheek. Her fingers met a smooth, lustrous softness, tender and springy, as if it could break with a puff or shatter with a touch. Yet its defensive power was likely stronger than that of a Body Cultivator who practiced body-tempering techniques.
However, Xiao Minghuang did not care about the changes to her appearance.
What truly exhilarated her was that after several days of seclusion, her realm had risen from the Fourth Level of Qi Refining Realm to the Sixth Level of Qi Refining Realm, while her Spiritual Root aptitude had risen from mid-grade Earth-tier to low-grade Heaven-tier.
Even more importantly, her original metal-attributed Spiritual Root had evolved into a Five Elements Spiritual Root!
In terms of aptitude alone, she had now far surpassed the true disciples of the Three Great Sects.
This alone might be even more terrifying than breaking through an entire major realm!
Xiao Minghuang raised her palm, and with a thought, a dazzling golden sword light emerged from her palm out of thin air.
Compared to before, the sword radiance was now more solid, with specks of Golden Starlight flickering across it, no less brilliant than the stars in the night sky.
Xiao Minghuang had a premonition that even if she encountered a Spring Gushing Realm expert now, she would have the strength to fight.
As she pondered, she rose from the bed and noticed that the formation concealing her aura had completely shattered into dust.
It seems I should study formations when I have the time.
Thinking this, Xiao Minghuang walked out the door.
The people outside sensed that the room had fallen quiet. Then they saw Xiao Minghuang emerge in a brilliant crimson dress, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, her skin fairer than snow, peerlessly elegant and noble beyond the mundane world.
Even before this, her skin had been as fair and delicate as white jade. After being reshaped by the Five-Viscera Spirit Essence Pill, she now possessed icy skin and jade-like bones, a faint fragrance drifting around her. She was ethereal and graceful, like a Banished Immortal Descends.
At the same time, the instant everyone present saw her, they sensed a mysterious and unfathomable aura from her, as though she had united with the Dao and merged into all things beneath heaven and earth—profound and impossible to fathom.
But that feeling lasted only an instant before vanishing.
Sensing Xiao Minghuang's increased cultivation, Lin Zhengquan was delighted. This meant they had greater certainty in the upcoming martial contest with the Golden Elephant Kingdom.
Though with Xiao Minghuang's original cultivation, it should have already been a sure victory.
Smiling, Lin Zhengquan stepped forward and cupped his hands.
"Congratulations, Your Highness, on your improved cultivation!"
Xiao Minghuang smiled faintly.
"City Lord Lin, you are too courteous. It is all thanks to the spirit pills and spirit stones provided by the City Lord. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for me to break through."
"Your Highness possesses a Heaven-tier Spiritual Root, unprecedented since ancient times. In the future, you will surely suppress Great Xia's thousand-year destiny. The few spirit stones this subject offered are merely a tiny contribution, not worth mentioning at all. Your Highness need not take them to heart."
City Lord Lin's face was radiant with delight. This time, he had placed his bet exactly right.
A Heaven-tier Spiritual Root—such aptitude could not be found anywhere else in the entire Southern Border!
And now, this genius was willing to accept his daughter.
With the Ninth Princess protecting them in the future, Beiyang City would surely rest easy and sleep without worry!
Yet upon hearing this, Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly and asked:
"Has word of my secluded breakthrough already spread?"
Lin Zhengquan knew the gravity of the matter, and his expression turned solemn.
"Your Highness may not know..."
Before you continue