Light Spiritual Root

In the days that followed, the Five Elements Dao Sect enjoyed a rare period of tranquility.

Amidst the morning bells and evening drums, the mountain mist rose and dispersed on schedule every day.

Li Nanzhu wiped the small wooden tablet tied to the window every day and said good morning.

On the day Jiang Yifan received the message from the steward, his tense shoulders finally relaxed completely.

Standing under the old pine tree in the courtyard, he read the communication jade slip three times—his father had indeed returned to the Jiang family; he had merely been lured away by the Third Elder's scheme.

Although he could not go back to investigate yet due to his master's orders, he could at least set his heart at ease.

"Fourth Senior Brother." Li Nanzhu walked into the courtyard. "These are the pieces of spirit-siphoning iron brought back from Blackwater Marsh."

"Spirit-siphoning iron?!" Jiang Yifan was stunned. "How much do you have?"

Then, under Jiang Yifan's complex gaze, Li Nanzhu took out dozens of spirit-siphoning iron chains.

"...Junior Sister, you..."

"These were used by those evil cultivators in Blackwater Marsh to bind people, so I took them all back with me." Li Nanzhu spoke with a hint of pride. After all, not everyone could rob evil cultivators.

Jiang Yifan's fingertips lightly stroked the chains. The metallic surface glinted with a cold luster. His eyebrows twitched slightly, revealing some surprise. "The forging technique of these chains is very special."

Li Nanzhu swayed her head smugly. "Isn't it? I specifically picked the sturdiest ones to bring back."

"These are spirit-siphoning iron mixed with cold crystal stone." Jiang Yifan held up a chain to inspect it closely against the sunlight. "No wonder they can even trap Golden Core stage cultivators."

He suddenly turned to look at Li Nanzhu. "Junior Sister, do you know how many spirit stones these materials are worth?"

Li Nanzhu blinked. "Are they very expensive?"

"Enough to buy fifty high-grade alchemy furnaces," Jiang Yifan said meaningfully. "You've really come into a windfall this time."

Suisui immediately jumped down from the chains. Its bone claws quickly tugged at Li Nanzhu's sleeve, and it pointed frantically at its mouth.

Li Nanzhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she rubbed the little skeleton's skull. "All you think about is eating and dressing up."

Jiang Yifan's fingertip swiped across the chain, causing sparks to fly. "The purity is very high."

Li Nanzhu looked at him expectantly. "Can they be made into an alchemy furnace?"

"Into an alchemy furnace?" Jiang Yifan raised an eyebrow at her. "Using this spirit-siphoning iron for an alchemy furnace would be too wasteful." He stowed the spirit-siphoning iron away. "I'll go into seclusion first to study the method of refining it. After I come out, I'll figure out what to make for you."

"Hey—" Li Nanzhu's outstretched hand froze in mid-air. She could only sigh at the empty courtyard gate. Suisui crouched on her shoulder, mimicking her by shrugging its non-existent shoulders.

"Looks like I'll have to keep using the sect's public alchemy furnaces." She rubbed Suisui's skull and suddenly lowered her voice. "Before Eldest Senior Brother comes back, should we blow up a few more?"

On the day the Seventh Senior Brother, Duan Xianxing, emerged from seclusion, the entire sect heard his cheers.

A streak of light shot straight toward Li Nanzhu's courtyard. Before he even entered the door, he was shouting, "Junior Sister! Junior Sister!"

Li Nanzhu was feeding Suisui candied fruit. Hearing this, she looked up and saw Duan Xianxing's spiritual energy surging; he had actually reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Fortunately, Duan Xianxing still remembered how Li Nanzhu looked before his seclusion. He examined her carefully, and after confirming she had fully recovered, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've been fine for a long time, don't worry about me," Li Nanzhu said with a smile. "Anyway, Seventh Senior Brother, how does it feel to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment?"

Hearing this, Duan Xianxing spun around the courtyard smugly. The wind stirred by his robes overturned the teacups on the stone table.

"Seventh Senior Brother!" Li Nanzhu hurriedly caught the cups that had almost shattered. "Be more steady!"

"What's there to be steady about!" Duan Xianxing picked up Suisui and spun around again. "I've not only reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment! Even my sword intent has made a breakthrough!" The little skeleton was spun until its soul fire saw stars, its bone claws clutched his hair ribbon tightly.

Only when Duan Xianxing stopped did Suisui dazedly climb onto his head, bouncing twice in revenge, before its soul fire began to flicker happily once more.

Li Nanzhu noticed that although her Seventh Senior Brother was as playful as ever on the surface, there was a bit more stability in his eyes than before—it seemed this seclusion had indeed yielded significant gains.

"By the way," Duan Xianxing put Suisui down and leaned in mysteriously, "I heard you want our sect to participate in the Sect Competition?"

Li Nanzhu nodded. "I want to try."

"Unanimously approved!" Duan Xianxing slapped his thigh. "I just asked Second Senior Brother, and he agrees too!" He winked. "Even Eldest Senior Brother sent a message saying he'll be back early."

Li Nanzhu's heart warmed.

Looking into Duan Xianxing's bright eyes, she suddenly realized what the Sect Competition meant to her senior brothers and sisters—it was not just a stage for young cultivators to compete, but also a chance for the Five Elements Dao Sect to speak out in the cultivation world once again after many years of silence.

"It's just a pity about Eldest Senior Sister and Third Senior Brother. We still can't contact them, so they'll likely miss it," Duan Xianxing said with some regret.

"It's fine. We'll record everything with memory stones for them to see, so it won't be like they missed it," Li Nanzhu replied with a smile.

"The disciples of our Five Elements Dao Sect will eventually be remembered by the entire cultivation world."

"That's true!" Duan Xianxing's eyes lit up. "By the way, I also heard Fifth Senior Sister say we're going to cooperate with the Hehuan Sect, right?"

"It's already settled," Li Nanzhu shook her communication jade slip. "We'll deal with the Sword Heart Sect together when the time comes."

"Great! I've been annoyed by those bastards from the Sword Heart Sect for a long time!" Duan Xianxing slapped the table hard, nearly knocking Suisui off. Suisui spat a puff of ice mist at him in dissatisfaction, making him howl from the cold.

Only after scooping Suisui back into Li Nanzhu's arms did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of which," he lowered his voice, "is that Cang Dongqing also participating? Last time I saw her in the Forest of Demonic Beasts, she seemed to have reached Foundation Establishment too."

"Yes." Li Nanzhu nodded slightly. "We'll definitely face her then. Seventh Senior Brother, you must be careful."

"What kind of talk is that!" Duan Xianxing raised an eyebrow. "With me and Wait a Moment working together, we're invincible! Besides, I think the one who needs to be careful is you, Junior Sister. After all, the grudge between you and her seems quite large?"

Li Nanzhu's mouth twitched. That was actually true... Given the power of the heroine's halo, the probability of her, a vicious female supporting character, running into the other party was eighty percent... no, one hundred percent.

"I'll be careful," Li Nanzhu sighed.

"The battles in the Foundation Establishment stage aren't really dangerous. I'm thinking about Eldest Senior Brother." Duan Xianxing scratched his head. "I heard Ling Xiao's eldest disciple is about to come out of seclusion. He was already at the early stage of Nascent Soul before his seclusion; this time, he might break through to the middle stage of Nascent Soul."

"Eldest Senior Brother is only at the early stage of Nascent Soul right now, isn't he?" Li Nanzhu felt a bit melancholic. This was going to be difficult.

"By the way, Seventh Senior Brother, what kind of spiritual root does Qi Yunze have?"

"A light spiritual root." Duan Xianxing pulled out a spirit fruit from somewhere and started munching on it. "It's even rarer than my thunder spiritual root."

Li Nanzhu was slightly startled. Since the original story hadn't mentioned the spiritual root of the male lead, Qi Yunze, she had always assumed he had a common heavenly spiritual root.

She never expected it to be a light spiritual root, which countered her Eldest Senior Brother!