Qian Renxue Familiarizes Herself with Her Body

"Thud!"

The maid who had let out the scream was already frightened out of her wits; her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed directly to the floor, fainting dead away.

Outside the hall, the sound of guards running in a hurry and the clashing of armor echoed, clearly alarmed by the scream.

"Your Highness! Are you alright?!" The captain of the guard's anxious voice rang out from outside the door, accompanied by the metallic clatter of weapons being drawn from their sheaths.

Prince Xue Xing shuddered violently, a sliver of consciousness jolting him awake from his extreme terror.

No! He absolutely could not let the guards enter and see this scene!

"Get out!!!" He used every ounce of his strength to let out a hoarse, distorted roar. "All of you, get out! Without my order, if anyone dares to step inside, they shall be executed without mercy!!!"

The guards outside were stunned by the violent roar; their footsteps came to an abrupt halt, and they looked at one another, not daring to take another step forward.

His Highness's voice sounded... extremely wrong.

Prince Xue Xing stared fixedly at the heads that stared back with eyes full of lingering resentment, his body trembling like a sieve.

He forced himself to calm down, but every breath he took carried a heavy scent of blood that irritated his nerves.

Cold sweat trickled down from his temples and hairline like a stream, soaking his undergarments.

Who on earth did this? A chill ran down Prince Xue Xing's spine. If someone could place these heads at his bedside without a sound, then that person could certainly kill him just as silently.

"Gulp." Prince Xue Xing swallowed hard. Regardless of anything else, he could not let anyone see these heads, and this maid also had to be dealt with.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace.

Ye Yang was leisurely eating his breakfast, a playful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

By now, that old dog Xue Xing should be scared out of his mind. No rush; I can still play with you for a while. We have plenty of time.

It had been nearly a week since she left the place of trouble that was Nuoding Junior Spirit Master Academy. Qian Renxue, carrying that still-shabby bundle, stepped alone into a relatively quiet spirit beast forest on the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

The spirit beasts here were of low rank, mostly ten-year or hundred-year ones, with the occasional thousand-year beast appearing. For her current state, it was an excellent "training ground."

She needed an environment that was absolutely quiet and free from disturbance to truly understand and master the power hidden within this body named "Ye Yang."

The loss of control in Holy Soul Village and the conflict with Yu Xiaogang at Nuoding Academy had made her deeply realize that her understanding and application of this power were still too superficial, potentially even inviting unnecessary trouble and exposure.

"Radiant Emperor War Dragon..." Qian Renxue whispered to herself, finding a clearing in the woods to sit cross-legged.

She closed her eyes, cast aside all distracting thoughts, and slowly sank her consciousness into her body.

Thirty levels of spirit power surged through her meridians, hotter and more domineering than the spirit power of her original Seraphim spirit, carrying a kind of majestic imperial might and an indescribable aura of the five elements.

She attempted to condense the spirit power in her palm, and a golden orb of light—soft yet containing terrifying energy—slowly emerged, with faint dragon shadows seemingly swimming within it.

"Control... I need precise control." Qian Renxue was fully focused.

With a slight shift of her will, the golden orb in her palm began to change shape.

At times it elongated like a sword, sharp and exposed; at times it transformed into the phantom of a vine, full of resilience; at times it condensed into flowing water; at times it burst with tiny flames; and finally, it settled, as heavy as the earth.

Each transformation of form was accompanied by a subtle change in the attributes of her spirit power, requiring her to have a deeper insight and more refined control over the power of the five elements.

At first, the transitions were slightly sluggish, and energy leaked from the edges of the light orb, scorching charred marks into the grass beneath her.

But she was not discouraged; she tried again and again, her mental energy highly concentrated, beads of sweat seeping from her forehead.

"Roar!"

A low beast roar came from the forest. A hundred-year spirit beast—a Rock Armor Beast—covered in rock-like armor and resembling a pangolin, but several times larger, emerged.

Attracted by the energy fluctuations leaking from Qian Renxue's practice, it crawled out from underground, its small, scarlet eyes locking onto her as an "intruder."

Qian Renxue's gaze sharpened. She was not panicked; instead, she felt this was an excellent opportunity for practice.

"Right on time."

She dissipated the light orb in her palm and shifted her will. A brilliant golden light instantly erupted from within her. The phantom of the Radiant Emperor War Dragon did not fully manifest, but that supreme pressure spread out like a physical force.

The Rock Armor Beast, originally aggressive and about to pounce, was swept by this dragon might and froze instantly!

Its large body trembled like a sieve, and it let out a terrified whimper. It actually turned around and, with speed even faster than when it arrived, dug into the ground and fled in a pathetic state, not even daring to look back.

"Deterrence..." Qian Renxue mused. The suppression the Emperor War Dragon's might exerted over spirit beasts far exceeded her expectations.

She stood up and stretched her limbs. Next, she needed to test the application of her power in actual combat.

She chose a giant tree, thick enough for several people to embrace, as her target. Without using any spirit skills, she simply channeled her spirit power into her right fist, a faint layer of golden light covering it, carrying an incomparably sharp aura.

"Hah!"

She threw a punch! There was no earth-shattering roar, only a dull "thud."

Her fist, like a red-hot iron rod plunged into butter, sank deep into the trunk without any obstruction!

The force of the punch passed through the body of the tree and exploded violently on the other side, blasting a bowl-sized hole and sending wood chips flying!

Qian Renxue withdrew her fist and looked at the hole in the trunk that could be seen through from both sides, as well as the cracked patterns surrounding it, a trace of astonishment flashing in her eyes.

This was merely an ordinary punch reinforced by thirty levels of spirit power, without even using a spirit ring skill, yet its destructive power was already this astonishing!

The physical foundation of Ye Yang's body, as well as its capacity to hold and unleash spirit power, was simply outrageously strong.

More importantly, that sharp, "metal" elemental force had been perfectly integrated into this strike.

She tested her speed next.

With a mere thought, soul power erupted beneath her feet, transforming her into a blurred golden afterimage that instantly shifted over ten meters, leaving a shallow scorched mark in her wake.

While moving at high speed, she could even feel the wind pressure being slightly pushed aside by an invisible barrier formed by her soul power.

"The power of the Five Elements... it seems to integrate naturally into basic movements." Qian Renxue came to a halt, her breath slightly ragged, but her eyes growing brighter by the second.

She began to consciously guide soul power of different attributes to experiment.

She condensed soul power at her fingertips, attempting to simulate the piercing and binding nature of the "wood" element; a flash of green light flickered at her fingertip, easily boring a deep hole into the rock.

She pressed her palm downward, channeling the "earth" element; the ground trembled slightly, and a small patch of soil instantly became as hard as refined iron.

She gestured toward the stream, and the "water" elemental soul power drew the current upward, forming a small water tornado...