The Immortal Touches My Crown, Binding My Hair to Receive Longevity

Su Zhiyan had a dream.

She dreamed that she had gone up the mountain to cultivate, enduring ten years of hardship, only to soar to the heavens.

Finally, after reporting to her master and the grandmaster of the sect and receiving their permission, she decided to form her Golden Core!

For a gifted genius like her, this was not difficult.

It was as simple as eating or drinking water.

The grandmaster had even laughed, saying that the heavens had treated her with great favor; while others might approach the formation of the Golden Core with trepidation, as if walking on thin ice, for her it was no obstacle at all. He told her to proceed with confidence, for she had a hundred percent chance of success.

Encouraged by the grandmaster's praise, Su Zhiyan was full of confidence.

At first, everything was indeed as her master had said—very smooth, like walking on flat ground. Just as the Golden Core was about to form, however, she encountered a great crisis.

She was suffering from Qi deviation!

Moreover, an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon had invaded her consciousness and sea of spirit.

When she realized this, Su Zhiyan fell into despair.

She could not understand how a tribulation that should only be encountered by those at the Profound-Passing or even Great Vehicle stage could have fallen upon her so early.

It was impossible for her to survive this ordeal.

Although she was a gifted genius, she was, after all, only a young girl, and she could not help but panic.

Consequently, the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon took advantage of her state, and just as she was on the verge of total destruction, she saw a blurry, mysterious figure standing before her.

The terrifying Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon acted as if it had met its nemesis... no, it was as if a tiny ant had encountered a supreme deity.

That figure was so imposing.

The spiritual power he radiated was so warm.

The Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon knelt directly on the ground, and without the figure even needing to lift a finger, it vanished into ashes.

Could it be an immortal descending to the mortal world to save me?

Su Zhiyan was dumbfounded.

She felt a mix of surprise and panic, her heart pounding like a startled deer.

"Are... are you an immortal?"

She tilted her head, her eyes filled with gratitude and worship, and asked in a small, tentative voice.

However, the other party did not answer the question.

His voice was gentle, yet it seemed to carry a trace of indifference and detachment.

"Do not speak."

"Take a deep breath and try to circulate your magic power again."

"Oh!"

Su Zhiyan nodded obediently.

Only then did she realize that although the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon had perished, she was still on the verge of Qi deviation.

The spiritual power in her Dantian, her Purple Mansion, and her meridians was in complete chaos.

Perhaps it was the joy of seeing an immortal after being saved that had made her forget her dangerous situation.

Hearing the immortal's reminder, she held her breath and focused.

She carefully began to circulate her magic power.

She tried to calm the chaotic energy.

But soon, the girl's face turned pale, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips. She realized it was too late; the magic power coursing through her meridians had become completely chaotic and even violent.

There was no turning back!

Even though the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon had been destroyed, her state of Qi deviation had become irreversible.

The girl could not help but feel a wave of sorrow, and large tears seemed ready to spill from her eyes.

"Don't cry!"

Just then, she seemed to hear a sigh.

Then, the immortal, shrouded in glazed cyan light, stepped before her.

The immortal gently reached out and tapped her lightly.

Then, an incredible scene unfolded.

The spiritual energy that had just begun to run wild and chaotic suddenly became extremely docile and gentle.

It did not even need her guidance; like a river flowing into the sea, it returned to her Dantian.

A narrow escape from death!

The other party had saved her for the second time.

Large tears finally flowed from Su Zhiyan's beautiful eyes.

But this time, it was not fear!

It was gratitude and joy.

Under the guidance of this immortal, she had once again turned danger into safety!

The crisis had passed, yet the mana within Su Zhiyan's dantian was becoming increasingly dense.

Suddenly, a golden core the size of a longan emerged within her dantian sea of qi, as if a carp leaping over the dragon gate.

Though called a golden core, its surface shimmered with a purple-gold luster.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a Purple Core.

"A Purple Core?"

Lin Xiaoyao was also somewhat surprised.

He couldn't help but take another look.

He saw the Purple Core emitting a gentle, warm radiance; with every rotation, faint phantoms of divine birds like phoenixes and green luan seemed to manifest.

Yet, it was not perfect.

The Purple Core was flawed!

This girl was indeed a natural-born talent, her spirit root aptitude rare in ten thousand years.

But being rare did not mean her spirit root had reached its maximum potential.

For instance, if a perfect spirit root was one hundred points, she likely possessed ninety-eight, or perhaps ninety-nine.

Rare in this world!

Though it seemed to lack only a point or two, there was a saying: a miss is as good as a mile.

Legend had it that a perfect spirit root could not exist in this world.

"Hmph, I simply refuse to believe that."

Within the glazed azure light, the corners of Lin Xiaoyao's mouth curled upward as he glanced at the stunning young girl, who was gazing at him with eyes full of worship and gratitude.

He murmured in a voice only he could hear: "The Way of Heaven diminishes the excessive to supplement the deficient; thus, Heaven is flawed, and so are spirit roots. In this world, a perfect spirit root was never meant to appear."

"Yet, even if Heaven does not permit it, I possess the means of a sage. I want to see if this perfect spirit root is truly as people imagine it to be in the ancient texts..."

With that, he flicked his finger.

A speck of azure light flew from his fingertip.

It was the Spirit Root Aptitude Pill he had obtained from signing in not long ago.

This legendary sacred object could enhance a cultivator's spirit root aptitude.

With a flash of spiritual light, it flew directly into the girl's forehead and vanished.

Su Zhiyan felt a massive surge of medicinal power melt into the depths of her consciousness, piercing through layers of mist like an awl.

It felt as if something vital was about to undergo a transformation.

However, the sensation came and went in a flash.

Lin Xiaoyao couldn't help but let out a low, soft chuckle.

"A perfect spirit root—Heaven truly does not permit it. The Spirit Root Aptitude Pill was actually rejected."

Logically, such a treasure should have increased her spirit root aptitude by far more than a point or two, yet at this moment, the girl's spirit root had not changed in the slightest.

It seemed to defy the laws of the Great Dao.

It seemed that Heaven did not allow such a thing to be done.

Lin Xiaoyao smiled. Heaven's will, was it?

Unfortunately, while it might indeed be unfathomable divine might to others, to him, it was nothing more than a joke.

I am a sage, master of the Great Dao, and arbiter of the laws.

Across the heavens and myriad worlds, the sun, the moon, and the stars—what they should follow is not the laws of Heaven, but my will.

Even if Heaven does not permit it, I shall do it regardless.

Lin Xiaoyao stepped forward, raised his right hand, and gently rested it upon the girl's head.

The medicinal power, which had previously been scattered like a defeated army, suddenly regrouped.

With a resolve and sharpness far greater than before, it surged forward, breaking through an inconceivable bottleneck.

The bottleneck shattered!

Though Heaven did not permit it, the means of a sage had allowed this perfect spirit root to manifest in the world.

Although Su Zhiyan did not know exactly what had happened, she sensed that deep within her consciousness, her spirit root was undergoing an incredible, earth-shattering transformation.

And this transformation would have far-reaching consequences.

Her beautiful eyes shifted to the figure within the glazed azure light, filled with endless gratitude and worship.

A line of poetry she had read as a child surfaced in her mind.

"The immortal touches my crown, bestowing eternal life upon my hair."