Chapter 151

Chapter 151: The Wind Spirit Root Became a Spirit?!

In the cave-dwelling, Rong Shu sat cross-legged on a Meditation Mat, holding a fruit that radiated gentle spiritual energy; she smiled as she studied it and murmured with quiet pleasure: “The Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit can finally be used.”

She had resisted taking it before reaching Foundation Establishment. Now that she had formed her foundation and her control over heaven-and-earth spiritual energy had risen another step, she could finally consume the Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit without wasting it through over-absorption. She wondered silently, expectant: [I wonder what kind of surprise this Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit will bring me…]

Even a cultivator of poor talent could experience a qualitative leap in attunement to and command over spiritual energy after consuming a Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit; such a naturally nurtured rarity could quite literally change one’s aptitude against the heavens themselves.

She took a small bite and chewed, eyes widening in simple delight as she said under her breath: “Mm, pretty sweet!” A few bites later, the entire Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit was gone. As it settled into her stomach, she promptly set about refining its pulp and essence.

Time slid by. Suddenly she felt her wind spiritual root respond and grow warm; it flared with a strong, limpid cyan light. From that glow, a pair of transparent tiny wings slowly unfurled, then little hands and little feet… In the blink of an eye, the cyan light separated from her wind root and slipped out of her body.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a palm-sized sprite suffused with gentle cyan, features delicately carved, a tiny body with tiny hands and feet and a pair of clear wings on its back hovering in the air. Rong Shu’s mind flashed with a cartoonish jolt of disbelief, thinking: [?(????)? Shock!! My spiritual root became a spirit?!]

She looked the wind sprite over as it circled the cave, then it turned and fixed bright eyes on her. Testing, she offered a greeting with a smile: “Hello there.”

“Wuu~” The wind sprite flipped happily backward in midair. Sensing no hostility and instead a naive innocence, Rong Shu’s brows curved as she praised with sincere warmth: “You’re so cute, and so pretty.”

“Wuu! Wuu!” Delighted by the compliment, the sprite zipped in happy circles over her head; she felt a cool, refreshing breeze comb across her hair.

The wind sprite drifted close to her cheek; at the first brush of contact, a springlike softness passed over her skin. On a breath of inspiration, she raised her right hand and pinched lightly at the air; an invisible little vortex was born at her fingertip. Her gaze brightened; she glanced at the wind sprite and swished her right hand. Instantly, wind gathered around her, gentle yet tensile, bearing her backward through the air. Surprised and delighted, she flicked her empty left hand with a thought and rose again, gliding forward now. Threads of unseen breeze seemed to weave into wings, carrying her freely about the cave-dwelling.

“Wuu~” The sprite rose as well, keeping pace at her side; tilting its head with a mischievous smile, it spun into a little whirlwind and merged into her body. In that instant, she felt as if she could hear the “voice” of the wind; her control sharpened with exquisite precision. If moments ago she had still been clumsy and strained, then under Wind Spirit Possession she seemed to have become the wind itself, merging with it until there was no boundary—she was wind, heedless and free, soaring between heaven and earth.

Unaware, half a day slipped past. Rong Shu had gained a first grasp of how finely she could now command the wind element. After taking the Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit, her mastery over wind spiritual energy had transformed, even allowing her to walk the air for short spans. Normally only upon reaching the Golden Core Stage could one fly by one’s own power; under Wind Spirit Possession, her time aloft had leapt from the span of one cup of tea to a full stick of incense—and that was only on her first attempt, far from true mastery.

She beckoned from not far away and asked, hopeful: “Wind sprite, did you appear because I ate the Wind Spirit Tribulation Fruit?”

“Wuu~” The sprite trilled and happily nestled against her.

With rising anticipation she asked: “Can you understand what I’m saying?” The sprite tilted its head and sang again: “Wuu~” Rong Shu tried several more questions, but the sprite offered none of the answers she wanted. For now, it was like a newborn babe: it could receive simple commands and even thoughts she deliberately sent, and it would act accordingly. Anything more complicated—its own existence and origin—remained a blank.

She had never imagined her wind spiritual root would come “alive.” She had always joked that wind, among her elements, was the “main wife”—only ever a joke. Now… the “main wife” seemed to have come to life. She chuckled and thought wryly: [If wind can do this, what about my other elements…]

“Wuu! Wuu!” The sprite pressed its tiny face to hers, rubbing with innocent joy—utterly unaware that the master it adored had just been thinking about other “little sprites.” After playing with it for a while, she let the wind sprite return to her body; during its time outside, she had felt no adverse effects at all.

When she finished with the wind sprite, she remembered the still-sleeping Little Hamster and went to the nest to prod him gently, calling: “Yan Yan?” He didn’t stir. With him still asleep, she couldn’t ask about that “contract” yet, so she started tidying the cave.

After half a year of living here, the cave-dwelling was full of lived-in traces. As she put things in order, she weighed her next steps in silence: [Once Yan Yan wakes, it’s time to leave Great Celebration City and find a place to temper myself.] Freshly into the Foundation Establishment Stage, she wanted to learn exactly how strong she was now, to form a concrete judgment. “The sect mission has a two-year window; only half a year has passed, so there’s no rush,” she decided quietly, then refined her plan aloud to herself: “I’ll use one year for tempering, then save the last half-year for the sect mission.”

At present her ice element sat only at third-layer Qi Refining, which meant she could only disguise herself as a third-layer Qi Refining cultivator; within this year she would have to push ice to the fourth layer, otherwise it would be inconvenient to return to Heaven’s Evolution Sect. Since she intended to travel quietly, she could use none of her four identities—Heaven’s Evolution Sect disciple Rong Shu, the Heaven’s Evolution Sect Secret Realm demoness, Soul Severing Sect Xu Liu, or the mysterious cultivator who purchased a cave-dwelling and has already broken through to Foundation Establishment.

“So I need to forge a new identity,” she concluded with a slight smile: “A lone third-layer Qi Refining cultivator out training… that feels a bit flimsy. Then let’s add one more: a second-grade alchemist whose master has just died, traveling alone, open-hearted and straightforward by nature, with mid-grade dual fire-wood spirit roots.”