Champion Rewards

This exchange conference was a decade-recurring grand competition, offering exceptionally generous rewards.

President Song retrieved the champion rewards he had been keeping on her behalf from his spatial ring, placing them one by one in front of Shi Yu. “A Tier-4 technique jade slip, three rare spiritual plants, and one hundred medium-grade spirit stones—they are all here. Store them safely.”

Shi Yu picked up the technique jade slip. It was deep indigo, about as long as a finger and thin as a wafer, with silver-white light flowing across its surface every now and then. It was quite captivating.

She turned it over in her hands for a moment before asking, “What kind of technique is this?”

President Song chuckled. “This is your reward. None of us have probed it with our spiritual sense to inspect it, so we don't know what technique it contains, either.”

He paused before continuing, “However, the people from the Hengze Prefecture Alchemist Association were originally brimming with confidence that Yin Wenzhou would claim first place. This jade slip was specially prepared for him, so its quality certainly won't be lacking.”

Hearing this, Shi Yu's interest grew even stronger. Her fingers stroked the surface of the jade slip as she watched the silver light ripple with her touch. She currently possessed very few impressive techniques. Adding a Tier-4 technique now—so long as it wasn't horribly terrible or directly conflicting with her spiritual meridian's attribute—would bound to be of great help.

Seeing her eagerness, Master Ji promptly reminded her, “Your divine soul is damaged right now. Do not send your spiritual sense into it to check just yet. Wait until you've recovered.”

Unlike Tier-1 or Tier-2 techniques, reading a Tier-4 technique jade slip consumed a vast amount of spiritual sense. A moment of carelessness could cause dizziness at best or severe damage to the divine soul at worst.

Shi Yu was not reckless. Though curious, she obediently nodded. Having gone through the experience with the 《Illusory Resemblance Art》 Uncle Mo had given her before, she had learned her lesson.

After placing the jade slip into the Fate-Tapping Bell, Shi Yu turned her eyes toward the three spiritual plants and raised an eyebrow. “Mystic Ice King Ganoderma, Jade Blood Fruit, and Sound-Bearing Flowing Cloud Flower... Generous indeed.”

All three spiritual plants happened to be ones she could use right now.

The Mystic Ice King Ganoderma and Jade Blood Fruit were two secondary main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, besides the primary ingredient, the Heavenly Tone Lotus. Receiving these as rewards saved her the trouble of searching for them herself.

Shi Yu thought to herself, With this, all the ingredients needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills are finally assembled.

As for the Sound-Bearing Flowing Cloud Flower... Shi Yu looked at the third plant. Its petals flowed softly like floating clouds, and whenever a breeze blew past, a heavenly, music-like melody drifted from it like sacred chanting.

This flower was an exceptional material for nourishing artifacts.

Most of the artifacts Shi Yu possessed were refined by herself. Their tiers were not particularly high, serving merely as temporary equipment. Once she reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, she would inevitably replace them anyway, so they were not worth using such a flower on.

However, her natal magic treasure, the Yinhuang Bow, grew stronger alongside her cultivation realm. It was a companion capable of walking her entire Dao journey with her, so no amount of nurturing would ever be wasted on it.

Pulling back her thoughts, Shi Yu happily stowed away the three spiritual plants along with the one hundred medium-grade spirit stones, joy practically beaming from her face. She thought to herself that suffering injuries to claim this champion title had truly been worth it.

Seeing the smile in her eyes, President Song and Master Ji felt their own gloomy, weighed-down spirits ease somewhat.

“There is one more thing,” President Song smiled with her. “A Yanyang Token that grants entry into the Yanyang Spiritual Realm.”

“In half a month, when the Yanyang Spiritual Realm opens, you can collect it. Having taken first place, you'll be allowed to stay inside for a full month.”

Taking note of this, Shi Yu nodded. “I understand.”

Master Ji opened his mouth beside them, but ultimately held his tongue. Given Shi Yu's current condition... he wondered if she could safely pass a month in the Yanyang Spiritual Realm.

He sighed internally. Best not to throw cold water on Girl Yu when she's just woken up. There's still half a month left anyway, so we'll see when the time comes...

The three of them chatted for a bit longer. Mindful that she had just regained consciousness and needed plenty of rest, President Song and Master Ji didn't linger. After offering a few words of caution, they rose and departed.

After they left, Shi Yu propped herself up to a sitting position and sent her spiritual sense into the Fate-Tapping Bell. She carefully planted the newly acquired Mystic Ice King Ganoderma and Jade Blood Fruit in the herb field right next to the Heavenly Tone Lotus.

The Sound-Bearing Flowing Cloud Flower was planted a short distance away.

Turning her gaze back to the Heavenly Tone Lotus, after such a long period of nourishment, it radiated a vibrant spiritual glow. Its petals were pure and distinct as white snow, while its teal filaments unfolded with exquisite beauty. One look was enough to tell its quality and medicinal potency were supreme.

“A Heavenly Tone Lotus of this quality is impossible to find on the market. Only the Fate-Tapping Bell could nurture it to such a degree.”

After all, spiritual flowers like the Heavenly Tone Lotus had extremely demanding growth conditions. Merely bringing one to maturity was difficult enough, so one could hardly be picky about its quality.

More importantly, there wasn't just a single Heavenly Tone Lotus inside the Fate-Tapping Bell anymore. Over time, the parent plant's root system had birthed over a dozen new offshoots, all of which Shi Yu had individually separated and transplanted.

Although these young lotus plants could not yet match the superb quality of the mother plant, they were still far superior to those carefully stored by auction houses, noble families, and sects.

“With this many Heavenly Tone Lotuses, there's enough to refine dozens of batches of Foundation Establishment Pills...”

Her spiritual meridian was not particularly outstanding; even now, its quality could only be considered mediocre. With such a spiritual meridian, connecting with heaven and earth during Foundation Establishment would inevitably be constrained, meaning she would most likely only achieve a Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment.

Foundation Establishment was divided into Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, and Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment. Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment was ethereal and virtually impossible to achieve, so Shi Yu did not force it. However, if she could only achieve the lowest, Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment, that was something she could never accept.

Yet with enough top-quality Foundation Establishment Pills to help stabilize her yellow sprout and cleanse her spiritual Qi, achieving an Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment would be well within reach.

Shi Yu took a deep breath, shook her head, and temporarily pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind.

Speaking of which, the vitality and spiritual energy inside the Fate-Tapping Bell were overwhelmingly abundant. Be it spiritual plants, spiritual materials, or even a spirit beast like Little Seven, staying within it yielded infinite benefits. It truly deserved to be called a supreme treasure.

Speaking of Little Seven... Shi Yu's spiritual sense shifted toward the aggrieved little bird flitting about inside. With a soft chuckle, her spiritual sense exited the Fate-Tapping Bell, bringing the little bird out with her.

The moment Little Seven emerged from the Fate-Tapping Bell, it immediately flew up and down around Shi Yu, flapping its wings. It lightly pecked at her hair one second and snuggled against her neck the next, its deeply affectionate and anxious manner enough to melt anyone's heart.

She gently scratched Little Seven's fluffy chest. The down was so thick and soft that half of her finger joint sank into it.

“I'm fine,” Shi Yu said gently, comforting it.

When she first arrived in this world, her spiritual meridian had been extracted and her vitality severed—a situation far more dire than her present condition. Back then, she had forcefully relied on Life Spring water to regenerate her spiritual meridian and nurture her vitality.

Right now, her divine soul was damaged and her Dao Foundation was unstable. While troublesome, she could always recover after a period of rest and recuperation.

It was precisely because she had this to rely on that Shi Yu had risked it all without hesitation.

Fortunately, she had only consumed a Lesser Extreme Devouring Pill, which wasn't as domineering as the original Extreme Devouring Pill. Had she taken the original version, it would have burned her lifespan instead of her essence blood. In that case, even with Life Spring water, she wouldn't have dared to take such a risk lightly.

Little Seven hopped onto Shi Yu's palm, tilting its head as it stared at her for a moment.

Bound by their contract, Little Seven was exceptionally sensitive to Shi Yu's condition. After studying her for a bit, it finally believed her words, fluffing its wings before hopping over to nestle right against her.

Shi Yu's finger stroked its brilliantly radiant seven-colored tail feathers. She noticed that among the seven tail feathers, two used to be slightly thinner and shorter than the other five colors, but now...

Shi Yu leaned down, carefully parting its tail feathers to look closely. “All seven tail feathers have grown to about the same length now.”

Before she could get an even better look, Little Seven let out a crisp cry, hopped away, and pulled its tail feathers out of her grip. It spread its wings to cover its tiny face, giving off a distinct air of bashfulness.

Shi Yu couldn't help laughing. She teased it a bit more before swallowing a drop of Life Spring water, closing her eyes to meditate and regulate her breathing.

The moment she began meditating, she immediately sensed a difference. Compared to before, her speed in digesting the Life Spring water was a few degrees faster.

Although her dantian was virtually empty, with only a scant few wisps of spiritual energy circulating, and her meridians were in a state too battered to look at... her efficiency in absorbing and converting spiritual energy, as well as her endurance toward the Life Spring water, had both increased considerably.

In fact, even though it hadn't been long since she reached the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, she now felt subtle signs of her cultivation realm loosening.

Settling her mind, Shi Yu thought to herself, On the path of Dao, one must never remain trapped in comfort.