Divinity in a Mortal Body

For Si Chen, it really was not complicated.

Spiritual roots? They were merely an innate bridge mortals used to connect with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. But Si Chen needed no bridge. He had once been the source of energy itself.

In his eyes, five-element spiritual roots and mutated spiritual roots were no different in essence.

Just as sunlight split into seven colors when it passed through a prism, yet to the sun itself, it had always been whole.

The same was true of root bone and innate talent.

Even a so-called sacred body dao embryo was ultimately flesh and blood. Like a finely crafted ceramic jar and a crude earthenware pot, they differed only slightly in capacity and quality.

After all, he had existed for hundreds of millions of years, witnessing the birth and destruction of countless cultivation systems: magic, supernatural powers, faith...

Even after reincarnation, with his consciousness trapped in this tender young shell, certain fundamental things had not changed.

Just as humans would not forget how to breathe, a star would not forget how to command energy.

So he had simply... copied what his two uncles had demonstrated, casually optimizing a few redundant steps along the way.

After a brief, deathly silence, the crowd erupted into an even louder uproar.

"D-did you see that?"

"What happened? The second and third masters demonstrated it once, and the young master already learned it?"

Shocked, bewildered, disbelieving gazes all converged on the tiny figure in the square.

Third Granduncle's legs shook, and he accidentally kicked the fallen Spirit-Testing Stone a little farther away, utterly unaware of it.

The lineage elders practically boiled over, gathering around with wild joy, fear, and disbelief mingled on their faces.

"Just now, that was..."

"But... why did the Spirit-Testing Stone show no reaction?"

"Could it be... some peerless constitution never recorded before?"

Si Kai and Ye Fu recovered from their shock and exchanged a glance. Uncontainable pride first welled up in their eyes. Their child possessed such world-shaking talent!

But a deeper layer of worry quickly overshadowed that pride.

The tree that rose above the forest was sure to be battered by the wind.

This talent defied the heavens too greatly. Powerful though the Si Household was, it was not without enemies. If word spread, it would inevitably draw the envy of those with ulterior motives, perhaps even... an attempt to snuff him out.

After all, geniuses were always prone to dying young.

Si Chen took in everyone's reactions. He did not quite understand why his mother was worried, or why his father had grown wary.

He lowered his head to look at his little hands, confirming once again that playing the part of a normal human cub was far too difficult.

It seemed... I made things complicated again.

At that moment, the most shocked of all were his second uncle, Si Che, and his third uncle, Si Shuo. Their faces were a spectacle, as though they had seen a ghost.

Although what they had demonstrated was basic, those were still complete spells and techniques, requiring the corresponding cultivation realm to activate.

Yet Si Chen had clearly not even begun cultivating! He was not even in the Qi Refining Realm!

"Silence!"

Third Granduncle barked, forcibly suppressing the towering waves of shock in his heart. His expression was utterly solemn. "No one may reveal a single word of what happened before the ancestral hall today! Anyone who violates this order will be treated as a traitor to the lineage!"

An oppressive weight descended with his words. The lineage members fell silent. Everyone realized the gravity of the situation and bowed in acknowledgment.

Seeing this, Si Kai waved a hand, signaling most of the lineage members to withdraw. Soon, only a few core elders and key members of the lineage remained in the square.

Only then did Third Granduncle hurry over to Si Chen and carefully crouch down. His voice was gentler than he himself realized. "Chen'er, tell your third granduncle. How... how did you do that?"

Si Chen blinked his clear eyes and answered in his still babyish voice, "I learned by watching. Didn't Second Uncle and Third Uncle just teach me?"

Second Uncle and Third Uncle: "..."

That was certainly not how their teaching was supposed to work!

His third uncle, Si Che, could not help interjecting urgently, "You learned just by watching? What about the technique's circulation path? How spiritual power moves through the meridians, you..."

A faint trace of confusion appeared on Si Chen's little face. "Circulation path? The spiritual energy knows where to go on its own."

It... knew where to go on its own?!

The corners of every cultivator's mouth twitched.

Second Uncle Si Che opened his mouth. In all his years of cultivation, this was the first time he had heard that spiritual energy could find its own way.

Third Uncle Si Shuo scratched his head, confusion written all over his face. "So... spiritual energy has grown a brain?"

The others still wanted to say something, but Ye Fu had already gently wrapped her arms around her son. "Chenchen, promise Mother you won't casually show these abilities in front of outsiders again, all right?"

Little Si Chen did not quite understand this request.

But the genuine worry in his mother's eyes formed a peculiar resistance. The feeling was unfamiliar, preventing him from acting on logic alone.

In the end, he nodded, treating this as a new "local rule" he needed to obey.

For the first time, he realized that being human sometimes meant considering more than the facts themselves. He also had to account for his lineage's circumstances, his loved ones' feelings, and other people's reactions.

The days that followed returned to normal, at least on the surface.

The elders combed through ancient texts but found no precedent for Si Chen's condition. In the end, they could only tentatively attribute it to some unknown, peerless constitution.

Si Chen himself had grown a little tired of the astonishment around him. He began earnestly following his mother's instructions, striving to be an "ordinary" child.

Though that proved far harder than he had imagined.

He had to constantly keep his learning speed in check. He could not read ten lines at a glance, nor remember everything after seeing it once.

The lineage's protection of him also rose to the highest level. Not only did elite hidden guards accompany him, but his perpetually stern-faced third uncle, Si Shuo, became his personal bodyguard.

One afternoon, several lineages on friendly terms with the Si Household came to visit, bringing their younger members along.

This was an established social custom among great lineages, both allowing the next generation to interact early and fostering bonds between them.

Several young children gathered in the garden and soon began playing a game of "slaying demons and vanquishing fiends."

The chubby boy from the Chen Household waved a wooden sword and shouted, "I'll be the Sword Immortal!"

The other children eagerly joined in. Finally, all their eyes fell on Si Chen, who stood quietly to one side.

"Then you be the fierce beast!" The chubby boy thrust another wooden sword into Si Chen's hands.

Si Chen watched the chubby boy from the Chen Household charge toward him, waving his wooden sword and yelling, and considered how a fierce beast should react.

According to the behavioral patterns he had learned from books, certain fierce beasts apparently breathed fire...

So he opened his mouth.

Faint, almost invisible motes of fire energy immediately began appearing in the surrounding air, and a searing heat vaguely stirred in his throat.

Third Uncle Si Shuo, who had been hidden nearby and seemingly dozing, nearly had his soul scared out of him at the sight. He hastily mustered every ounce of strength he possessed and unleashed a series of earth-shaking coughs. "Cough, cough, cough! Cough, cough!"

Si Chen blinked, and the fire energy instantly dispersed. He remembered his mother's instructions.

He immediately changed tactics. Just as the wooden sword was about to touch the edge of his clothes, he let out a somewhat exaggerated "Aaah-"

Then, as though in slow motion, he swayed and toppled backward, remembering to make a token effort at rolling twice across the ground and covering himself in grass clippings.

"We won!" The little Sword Immortals cheered and leaped about, celebrating their victory over the fierce beast.

One little girl in a pale yellow dress, a daughter of the Lin Household, ran over to praise him. "Si Chen, you acted so well!"

As she spoke, she handed him a piece of candy wrapped in oiled paper. Her little face flushed as she added, "And... you're really good-looking."

Si Chen accepted the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.

He did not care about human judgments of "beauty and ugliness." But as the candy's sweetness melted across his tongue, that simple, direct pleasure conveyed through his taste buds was something a star could never experience.

Then he thought for a moment, remembering that the maids often seemed to compliment one another during their everyday chatter.

So he imitated their words and told the little girl, "You're very cute too."

The little girl's entire face flushed red in an instant. She bit her finger, but could not stop the corners of her mouth from lifting. She was clearly delighted.

Si Chen did not quite understand why a simple sentence could produce such an obvious emotional change in someone else.

But observing that she seemed very happy, he silently made a note of this effective social template.

-So humans liked being complimented on their appearance.

Playing a mortal seemed far more complicated than being a star, but... sometimes it brought unexpected rewards.

He licked the lingering sweetness from the corner of his mouth and thought just that.