Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Tasteless Treasure

Old Ancestor Feng listened, and his eyes brightened as he said, “Good! Good! But you didn’t come just to tell me that, did you?”

Feng Jia Qing nodded at once. “Old Ancestor, I tested Yun Xi’s spirit roots. She has wind, lightning, and ice-three mutated top-grade spirit roots.”

Feng Feng’s figure flashed, and he appeared in front of Feng Jia Qing. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I used the Soul Lamp Hall’s formation to hide the phenomenon.”

“Good! Good! Good!”

Feng Feng said “good” three times in a row. He paced in place twice before saying, “Yun Xi must stay in the Feng Family to cultivate.”

Feng Jia Qing agreed, but he frowned. “Old Ancestor, if the Wei Family learns Yun Xi’s aptitude is this good, they probably won’t give up that girl.”

Old Ancestor Feng nodded. “With the Wei Family’s habit of never getting up early without profit, they definitely won’t give up such a fine seedling. And because Yun Xi’s talent is good, they’ll reach out to our Feng Family for resources. Otherwise, if Yun Xi achieves anything in the future, the Wei Family will never let us benefit from it at all.”

Feng Jia Qing echoed, “Just from how Wei Ling Yue rushed to make his concubine the main wife, you can tell he doesn’t care much for Yun Xi. Once that Du Ruo Lan becomes Madam Wei, Yun Xi will definitely be bullied. She’s still young and hasn’t cultivated, and we can’t keep the child living in the Feng Family forever.”

Old Ancestor Feng paced in his courtyard twice, as if thinking of something. Then he took a step into his room. A moment later, he returned with a small brocade box and handed it to Feng Jia Qing.

“Help Yun Xi refine this high-grade treasure. After it’s refined, test her spirit roots again.”

Feng Jia Qing reacted quickly. His brows lifted. “Old Ancestor, this is a treasure that hides spirit roots?”

Old Ancestor Feng nodded. “Yes. I took it as spoils long ago. Because it has flaws, I kept it at the bottom of my chest, but it suits Yun Xi perfectly right now.”

Feng Jia Qing didn’t stand on ceremony. He opened the brocade box and saw a plain silver band ring inside. It had no patterns, no decoration, and no spiritual energy fluctuations. It looked exactly like an ordinary mortal’s silver ring.

Old Ancestor Feng continued, “After refining this artifact that hides spirit roots, when you test spirit roots, it can make them appear one grade lower than they really are. But during cultivation and combat, it will lose its concealment effect.

“For example, I have fire and wood dual roots. If I used this treasure, it would still test as dual roots, but the values would only be fifty, greatly reducing the apparent aptitude.

“But Yun Xi is different. She hasn’t started cultivating yet. If you help her refine this treasure now, then later, even when she cultivates or fights, the treasure won’t fail. When she becomes strong enough, she can lift its effect herself. That should be enough to deal with the Wei Family.”

Feng Jia Qing curled his lips into a smile. “Old Ancestor, don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll explain everything to Yun Xi. I believe the girl will understand our intentions.”

Old Ancestor Feng said, “This needs Yun Xi’s cooperation. But even if her aptitude looks worse, the Wei Family probably still won’t let her go right away. After the Wei Family tests spirit roots and confirms which juniors will be sent to the Hao Ran Sect to cultivate, we’ll apply pressure.

“We have to take it step by step. We can’t rush. Once you rush, you make mistakes, and once you make mistakes, it’s easy for the Wei Family to notice.”

“Old Ancestor, don’t worry. Jia Qing understands.”

The two spoke in secret for a while longer before Feng Jia Qing left the Old Ancestor’s courtyard.

After seeing him off, Feng Feng raised his hand to activate the courtyard’s defensive formation. He sighed and murmured to himself, “Jia Yun, this is all I can do for you. I hope you return safely.”

The next day, Wei Yun Xi still slept until late morning. She only climbed out of bed when her stomach growled with hunger.

The four maids worked in perfect coordination around her. They dressed her, washed her up, combed her hair, and served her meal. By the time the whole routine was done, it was already noon.

Wei Yun Xi stretched her short little limbs, then prepared to visit her uncle. There were still things she wanted to ask and understand more clearly.

But when she reached the gate of the small courtyard with her maids, she ran into Feng Jia Qing coming to see her.

Feng Jia Qing looked at the little girl, who clearly seemed more lively than yesterday, and asked with a smile, “Yun Xi, did you sleep well last night?”

Wei Yun Xi performed a proper salute before she spoke in a soft, sweet voice. “Thank you for your concern, Uncle. Yun Xi slept very well. I even woke up late this morning. I was just about to come pay my respects.”

Feng Jia Qing waved his hand. “No need to be so formal. We’re cultivators, not that particular. But I do have something I need to discuss with you alone today.”

Wei Yun Xi nodded right away. Everyone turned back into the courtyard. This time, the four maids were left outside. To be safe, Feng Jia Qing also activated a defensive array disk to block outsiders from spying.

Then Feng Jia Qing took the brocade box out of his storage ring. He explained what the silver ring did, why he wanted to help her refine it, and what would happen after refinement. He even explained, one by one, the chain reactions her spirit-root change could cause.

Wei Yun Xi pretended to listen with wide, spinning eyes, but her mind raced.

This was another plot point that never appeared in the novel. But it happened only because she had come to the Feng Family. In the novel, the supporting character Wei Yun Xi never stayed at the Feng Family, and her relationship with them was merely average.

Now the Feng Family had tested her spirit roots ahead of time. After confirming her heaven-defying aptitude, they wanted to pull her into the Feng Family’s bowl. That was why they were spending so much effort planning for her, trying to draw her into the Feng Family’s camp without alerting the Wei Family.

Wei Yun Xi analyzed it and decided living with the Feng Family was better than staying with the Wei Family.

Not only was there the female lead Wei Yun Qing in the Wei Family, but even if her talent was terrifying, as long as she hadn’t grown up yet, she was nothing. Du Ruo Lan alone would never allow her to grow, otherwise the supporting character in the novel wouldn’t have become a little money-bringer.

Wei Ling Yue was a fence-sitter who stood wherever the benefits were. If he learned her aptitude was poor, he might even find ways to cheat all her good things out of her hands. Once she had no value left, he would let her wither away in the Wei Family.

But the Feng Family was different. For Feng Jia Yun’s sake, they would look after her a little. And once they knew she had such heaven-defying aptitude, they would be even more willing to invest, because half of Feng Family blood also flowed in her veins.

After thinking it through, she put on an innocent, confused look and said, “Uncle, I understood some of what you said, and some I didn’t. But Mother said I should listen to you. You won’t hurt me. Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do.”

Feng Jia Qing rubbed her head with satisfaction and said with a smile, “Of course. Uncle would never harm you.”

After that, the Feng Family Head formed hand seals and took a drop of Wei Yun Xi’s heartblood. He dripped it onto the silver ring, then poured spiritual energy into it. When the ring turned red, he sent it into Wei Yun Xi’s spirit roots.

Wei Yun Xi felt dizzy. It was like a needle had pricked her chest, and her vision swam.

After Feng Jia Qing confirmed the treasure that hid spirit roots had bonded successfully, he fed Wei Yun Xi a blood-replenishing pill. When the little Yun Xi recovered, he took out the spirit-testing plate again.

This time he didn’t need to prompt her. Wei Yun Xi automatically placed her hand on it.