Blue and green light flashed repeatedly ahead. In an instant, the surroundings fell dead silent, and the chirping of insects abruptly ceased.
Peering through the gaps in the grass, Jiang Lu could only see the flickering lights. After a long while, she heard the rustle of wind whipping against robes. When she looked again, darkness had reclaimed the surroundings, leaving only the bright moonlight filtering through the leaves to scatter across the ground.
Jiang Lu remained flat on the ground, not daring to move. She had no idea if the two had left, nor did she know if there were others nearby.
The thumping of her heart sounded exceptionally loud in the silence.
As the minutes ticked by, the insects slowly resumed their chirping. Only then did she cautiously poke her head out. Looking behind and around her, she crouched low and trotted forward. She had to leave this place of trouble as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, her foot caught on something, and she tripped.
“Sss—” She inhaled sharply.
Looking down, she saw what looked like a piece of parchment. Realizing it must have been dropped during the fight between those two, she immediately clutched it to her chest and ran deeper into the forest.
After she left, several Tier One demon beasts approached the spot. They lifted their hind legs to mark their territory, other demon beasts dangling from their jaws. Blood from the prey's necks dripped onto the ground as they walked.
The scent of blood and the musk of the demon beasts mingled in the air before drifting away on the wind.
Jiang Lu did not stop until dawn began to break. Her steps were unsteady, her face was too dirty to recognize, and her clothes were torn in several places. She licked her dry, cracked lips.
Spotting what looked like a stream ahead, she ran over without a second thought. Cupping her hands, she gulped down several mouthfuls of water, then washed the sweat and grime from her face.
This single day had been more thrilling than the entire twenty-two years of her past life.
Yet, she did not dare close her eyes. Cultivators, after all, possessed the ability to track people by their aura. She did not know if those two would return to the scene of the fight, nor was she certain if they could track her down despite how far she had run.
She looked down and unrolled the parchment. It was very thin and rolled up tightly, seeming small, but once opened, she found it covered in characters.
Without time for a closer look, she quickly rolled it back up. She had a sneaking suspicion that those two had been fighting over this very item, though she did not know how it had been dropped.
Fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, and her face turned pale.
If they really were fighting over this, they would definitely return to that spot. If they tracked her aura here, she would not live to see tomorrow's sun.
She tore off another piece of flatbread to eat, then stood up and continued deeper into the dense forest. Although the forest held its own dangers, the two cultivators were far more terrifying right now.
“Hmph—”
During the hour of Si, one of the cultivators from the previous night's fight returned. He reeked of blood, and his robes were stained with crimson.
He scanned the area, but there was no sign of the parchment. He then searched for any lingering auras, but found only a chaotic mess of demon beast musk and blood.
“It has to be here. I searched all the way back and found nothing,” he muttered.
Suddenly, he detected a faint trace of human aura. Someone had beaten him to it!
He cursed under his breath.
He immediately set off in the direction Jiang Lu had fled, but the aura vanished halfway.
His fierce gaze swept the surroundings, searching for any clue.
“Damn it! The scents here are too chaotic. I was already tracking a faint trace to begin with. I can't believe it just vanished like this.”
Veins bulging on his fist, he punched a nearby tree trunk, leaving a deep dent. Gnashing his teeth, he cast a lingering, resentful look at the surrounding forest before reluctantly departing.
Jiang Lu stopped as she looked at the increasingly dense forest.
Her body went limp, and she leaned against a tree trunk. Looking back, she saw only a dense wall of trees and shrubs. The tracks she had made while running had long been concealed.
Feeling the sunlight filtering through the canopy, she quickly unrolled the parchment. It was covered in various runes, which bore a striking resemblance to the characters she had seen in Taoist scriptures back on Blue Star.
She had always been fond of Taoism and would often visit Taoist temples to meditate when she had time, so she recognized quite a few of the characters.
Although she could not understand everything, she could grasp the general idea.
This was an introductory cultivation manual. Anyone who achieved entry-level cultivation through this technique would be able to determine if they possessed a spiritual root, and of what attribute.
This meant there was no need to go for testing. After all, not every clan possessed a spiritual testing stone. With this manual, clan disciples could determine early on whether they could cultivate, and those with decent talent could directly draw Qi into their bodies.
According to the text, only those between the ages of ten and twelve could perform the test.
She happened to be of the perfect age right now. Perhaps this was her destiny.
“An ownerless object belongs to whoever holds it,” she murmured.
Following the cultivation method on the parchment, she immediately sat cross-legged on the ground. Whether she could cultivate or not depended entirely on this.
Thanks to her prior experience with meditation, she quickly relaxed. As she took long, deep breaths amidst the chirping of birds and insects, she felt as though she were wrapped in a warm embrace.
A few days later, she had finished the two flatbreads she had kept. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
“I followed the instructions exactly. Why has there been no change over the past few days?”
If she still could not draw Qi into her body today, she would have to go out and search for food.
That evening, just as she was about to give up, a sudden warmth blossomed in her dantian. She was overjoyed.
Quieting her mind, she followed the warmth from her dantian and became aware of the intricate network of meridians within her body. A soft, gentle glow began to emanate from her.
Around her, small woodland creatures cautiously poked their heads out. The moment they touched the light, they quickly retreated, only daring to peek from behind the trees with curious eyes.
Jiang Lu felt as if countless tiny specks of light were swirling around her. Directing her awareness outward, she saw spiritual energy of various colors in the air, cautiously hovering around her.
“Is this spiritual energy?”
“So many colors... If each color corresponds to a spiritual root, then what is my spiritual root?”
According to the parchment, a single spiritual root was the best, multiple spiritual roots were secondary, and mixed spiritual roots were the worst. Aside from the number of spiritual roots, purity also mattered; the higher the purity, the faster one could cultivate, and the greater one's talent.
She slowly absorbed the sensed spiritual energy into her body. With a thought, the multicolored specks of light scrambled to enter her dantian.
As if answering the call of the spiritual energy inside her, the rest of the surrounding energy rushed into her body. They constantly battered Jiang Lu's meridians, widening them with every impact.
Feeling the pain in her meridians, she gritted her teeth. “Did I use the wrong method? The parchment said it was supposed to feel comfortable!”
“Why does it hurt so much?”
She wanted to stop immediately, but she could not halt the surging spiritual energy. She lost track of time, feeling as though several nights had passed.
A faint heat began to burn in her dantian. Then, with a soft pop, a lake materialized within her dantian—the hallmark of a cultivator reaching the first layer of Qi Condensation.
Once the pool of spiritual energy in her dantian settled, the aura around Jiang Lu stabilized.
She had actually skipped the stage of Qi Drawing and stepped directly into the first layer of Qi Condensation!
Slowly opening her eyes, she felt sticky all over and immediately ran toward the nearby stream.
After washing herself, she felt as though her senses had sharpened significantly. She raised her hand, looking at the spiritual energy at her fingertips, and frowned slightly.
She seemed to be able to absorb any kind of spiritual Qi. “Could I have multiple spiritual roots? Or perhaps mixed spiritual roots?”
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