If she were to recklessly cast techniques in her room, the houses in the entire courtyard would probably be blown away in the next instant.
At that point, let alone hiding her capabilities, the entire Prime Minister’s residence would likely find out the next day that she had become a monster who used witchcraft.
Therefore, she decided to try some simpler operations first, such as making the Teal Jade Hairpin fly from her hand or having it automatically protect its master when in danger.
She closed her eyes and carefully attached a sliver of her will to the Teal Jade Hairpin.
“Rise!”
The Teal Jade Hairpin indeed trembled slightly.
Xie Zhaofan’s eyes lit up, but before she could celebrate, a wave of intense dizziness suddenly flooded her mind.
Her face turned pale, and she hurriedly severed the connection.
“Sss...”
Xie Zhaofan raised a hand to support her forehead, feeling as if her head had been brutally run over by a truck, her temples throbbing violently.
It took her a good while to recover, her face immediately displaying a look of lingering fear.
Now she understood; her current Spirit attribute was only six points. Even if she was slightly stronger than an average person, she was still a mortal at her core.
Having a mortal with a Spirit of only six points forcibly drive a Top-grade Magic Tool—how was that different from letting a three-year-old brandish a heavy broadsword weighing dozens of jin?
Fortunately, she had only tried to drive it tentatively and hadn't actually attempted to release that wind-element technique. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't even be able to lie steadily in bed right now.
“Sigh...”
Xie Zhaofan looked at the Teal Jade Hairpin in her hand, feeling for the first time the frustration of possessing a treasure but only being able to stare at it.
“It’s no fun getting a treasure only to be unable to use it.”
She carefully put away the Teal Jade Hairpin and couldn't help but check her attribute panel.
【Host: Xie Zhaofan】
【Lifespan: ∞】
【Strength: 14】
【Agility: 4】
【Constitution: 5】
【Spirit: 6】
【Free Attribute Points: 0】
“It seems that no matter when, attribute points are the most important thing.”
Xie Zhaofan finally reached a conclusion.
No matter how powerful a Magic Tool was, if she didn't have enough strength to wield it, it was just a pretty toy sitting on the table.
The thing that could truly make her grow stronger quickly remained this cold system that made her teeth itch with annoyance.
“Fine then, System Bro, I’ll hand it to you.”
She muttered a few words and placed the Teal Jade Hairpin by her pillow before falling back onto her bed.
After tossing and turning for half the night and then exhausting a significant amount of mental energy by forcibly driving the Magic Tool, Xie Zhaofan felt an unprecedented level of exhaustion.
Since her transmigration, this was the first time she had truly experienced the feeling of her energy being completely depleted.
“Going to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll continue searching for attribute points...”
Muttering one last sentence, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
Outside the window, the moonlight was cold, and the shadows of the trees swayed gently in the night breeze.
And that Teal Jade Hairpin lay quietly by her pillow, occasionally emitting a nearly imperceptible teal glimmer, as if waiting for the day she would truly be able to unleash its power.
...
The next morning, when Xie Zhaofan woke from her dream, she felt an indescribable sense of comfort throughout her entire body.
The dizziness from forcibly driving the Teal Jade Hairpin last night had long since vanished without a trace, leaving no side effects behind.
On the contrary, she felt more energetic than usual, as if she had been fully recharged in a single sleep.
She sat up in bed and stretched, feeling the light and abundant power within her limbs. Suddenly, she thought of something she had neglected for a long time.
The greatest cheat of this so-called Eternal System of hers never seemed to be the attribute points or those strange functions.
Instead, it was the two words clearly written from the very beginning—Eternal.
How could one truly achieve eternal life?
Merely having an infinite lifespan was clearly not enough. If the body aged with time and the spirit wore down with the years, eventually becoming decayed and decrepit, then so-called immortality would be nothing more than prolonged suffering.
Eternal in the true sense should mean that the physical state is always maintained at its peak level—not aging as one grows older, not being damaged by common diseases, and certainly not having one's condition affected by the long-term accumulation of ordinary fatigue and injuries.
Thinking of this, Xie Zhaofan suddenly had a moment of realization.
“I see. I've always treated you as a point-allocation system and actually forgot what your true core function is.”
She looked down at her fair, slender palms, and the corners of her lips curled up involuntarily.
No wonder she had been full of energy almost every day since she transmigrated.
Even if she had been busy for half the night the day before, she would still be completely restored the next day. Even the mental exhaustion from yesterday, which was clearly beyond her body's capacity, required only a single night's sleep to fully recover.
This was an Eternal physique in the truest sense.
Attribute points were merely the means for her to continuously grow stronger, while Eternity itself was the trump card the system had truly given her.
Once she understood this, Xie Zhaofan’s mood improved instantly.
She felt that she had really been focusing on the superficial while neglecting the fundamental before—spending all her time figuring out how to find treasures to exchange for attribute points while forgetting that she already possessed a body of immortality that even cultivators would dream of but never obtain.
“With this as my foundation, what do I have to fear?”
She thought happily, feeling that even the minor episode caused by the Teal Jade Hairpin last night wasn't so scary anymore.
However, when she finished washing and stepped out of the inner chamber to see Chunxing and Xiahe serving her, the smile on her face gradually faded.
The two girls were clearly in a strange state today.
One had faint dark circles under her eyes, and the other was listless, her usually nimble movements appearing somewhat sluggish.
Xie Zhaofan glanced at them and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
“Did you two go out and act like thieves last night? Why do you both look like ghosts this morning?”
Chunxing was organizing clothes. Hearing this, she nearly dropped the silk sash in her hand and hurriedly shook her head to explain.
“No, no, Miss. We went to bed very early last night. We just don't know what happened; we kept having nightmares. Maybe we just didn't sleep well.”
“You're so young, why are you having nightmares?”
Xie Zhaofan stood before the dressing table, allowing the two of them to arrange her robes while she asked nonchalantly.
“What did you dream about? Tell me. Who knows, I might even be able to interpret your dreams for you.”
Naturally, she couldn't be like the original host, who would scold and beat her maidservants whenever they did something not to her liking.
It wasn't because she was particularly noble, but because as a modern adult, she really couldn't bring herself to bully young girls.
Chunxing was clearly hesitant; the dream seemed to leave her with lingering fear even now. After a moment of silence, she spoke in a low voice.
“I don't know what happened either. It was just a very strange dream.”
As she spoke, she instinctively rubbed her arms. Recalling the scene in the dream brought a fresh wave of chill to her body.
“In the dream, I seemed to be in the wilderness. It was pitch black all around, and I was walking alone on a mountain road. I didn't know where I was going; I just kept walking forward, but I always felt like someone was following me.”
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