Chapter 003

Chapter 3: Become the Number One Under Heaven

Three days later, Ye Wan Wan smoothly entered Qi Refining Stage Level One. She murmured: “It’s slower, but I can still cultivate.”

She did not know that, for someone with Five Spiritual Roots, unsealing and then reaching Qi Refining Level One in only three days was shocking. The speed was frightening. Still, she was not satisfied. Five Spiritual Roots are slow by nature. If she wanted to catch up to others on Azure Cloud Peak, she would have to work even harder.

Besides daily breathing exercises, she gave herself a new task: every day she would sense the five elements of heaven and earth to lay a strong foundation.

For techniques, she refused to use anything from Azure Cloud Peak. Instead, she used a Basic Breathing Manual she had once bought outside for a single Spirit Stone. She had decided. If she was going to sever ties with this place, she would not even use their methods.

When she finished cultivating that day, her eyes fell on the barren, ruined herb garden. She remembered Elder Yu Chun’s words: “Here is a Spirit Herb Art and some seeds of Mystic Spirit Grass. You may not be able to cultivate now, but if you can rebuild to the Qi Refining Stage, you can become a spirit botanist. That is also a way to survive. Child, do not give up.”

He had placed the book and seeds in her hands with hope and encouragement. Looking down at them, Ye Wan Wan rose and walked to the garden.

After sowing the seeds, she performed the Spirit Rain Art from the Spirit Plant Arts. Among all arts, Spirit Plant Arts are the gentlest and simplest, yet they also contain the basics of the Cloud Summoning Rain Art.

She cast the art a few times and slowly found the knack. Under the gentle rain, the seeds took root, sprouted, and pushed through the soil. In half a day, the growth looked excellent.

Then she built a straw scarecrow, pasted a Puppet Talisman on it, and left it to guard the garden from birds. She herself sat in the courtyard to cultivate. Around the yard she pasted Spirit Gathering Talismans so that the bamboo house inside and out was rich with spiritual energy, making it easier for her to train.

Another month passed. Her Fire Spiritual Root rose from Qi Refining Level One to Level Twelve. For the other four: Wood reached Level Six; Water Level Five; Earth Level Five; Metal Level Three. If she had not held back on purpose, her Fire Spiritual Root would already have broken through to Foundation Establishment.

“As expected, the higher you go, the slower it gets, and the gap grows,” she whispered. “But… it’s still okay.” It was slower than before, but at least there was progress. She had not expected that using Spirit Plant Arts every day would raise not only Wood but also Earth and Water. That was a good surprise.

Something hiding in the herb garden heard her and looked over. A one-month jump to Level Twelve was indeed… acceptable. It chewed the plants in its mouth harder.

Rustle, rustle.

Ye Wan Wan heard the sound, turned, and saw a black, hard-shelled creature. She frowned and asked: “Where did this turtle come from?”

The black turtle twisted its head and took a few more bites.

“So that’s why the spirit herbs in the field keep going missing,” Ye Wan Wan said. “You were the one stealing them.”

Rustle, rustle.

Seeing it understood nothing and only knew how to eat, she shook her head and let it be.

Sunlight fell over her shoulders. She tilted her head up to the sky and murmured. She still had many things to do.

Each day, Ye Wan Wan woke and meditated for an hour to cultivate the Qi Refining method. At the Mao hour, she used Spirit Plant Arts to train Wood, Earth, and Water. At the Chen hour, she practiced earth force in the back room, then went to Wildsword Grove to comprehend the power of metal. At noon, she ate and rested. At the Wei hour, she trained Body Refining and sword moves. At the You hour, she practiced drawing talismans and laying formations. At the Hai hour before sleep, she reviewed the day, adjusted her methods, and improved them for tomorrow. She never slacked for even a single day.

She split the Five Elements Force and trained them one by one. Most of the time, training one root led to gains in the others. These were methods she had figured out in her past life after her foundation was ruined; now, in this life, she could finally use them.

Three months later: Fire Spiritual Root, Level Thirteen peak; Wood, Water, Earth, and Metal, Level Twelve. After the four roots hit the Qi Refining bottleneck and stayed stuck for three days, she stopped pressing. Carrying a bucket, she watered the herbs by hand, not even thinking to use the Spirit Rain Art.

“Did I train the wrong way?” she wondered.

Rustle.

“Is it true that Five Spiritual Roots really can’t cultivate?”

Rustle, rustle.

“Do I need to seal myself again?”

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The constant noise became impossible to ignore. Ye Wan Wan tossed the ladle out. It hit with a clang, as if striking metal. The turtle, smacked on the shell, still did not forget to chew two more mouthfuls. In these three months, the river turtle’s shell had become shinier, like someone had polished it.

“No,” she said, frowning. “I won’t do Self Sealing. I have to keep the Five Spiritual Roots. Otherwise, I will never advance in this life.” She stared at her hands. In her past life, she had searched for ways to cultivate with Five Spiritual Roots, but everyone failed when trying to break through to Nascent Soul. In all Nine Provinces over thousands of years, no one had ever succeeded. She refused to accept that. [I will be the first.]

This time the turtle finally raised its head and looked at her. The chewing slowed, and a sharp light flashed in its small eyes.

If she could not find a method, she would make up for it with effort. Ye Wan Wan repeated the same training she had done for three months without a single day of laziness.

One month later, she felt the Qi Refining bottleneck loosen at last. The Qi Refining Stage has thirteen levels. Only after Level Thirteen can one enter Foundation Establishment. Inside Ye Wan Wan, her five balls of energy still drifted in a loose state. Only after they fully condensed would Foundation Establishment be complete.

At this moment, she had five currents inside her, all the same size and steady. She calmed her mind and sensed the energy of heaven and earth. The black turtle sat beside her, a glint flashing again in its eyes. The world’s energy gathered and scattered around her, coming together and drifting away as her focus sank into her dantian. As the currents became firm, each of the five gave birth to a vortex core.

Foundation Establishment succeeded. She entered early Foundation Establishment smoothly.

Ye Wan Wan opened her eyes. Spiritual energy spread through the room. She looked at the herb field and swept her hand. The Spirit Plant Arts answered, and the spirit herbs grew lush in an instant, pleasing to the eye.

“The speed is three times faster. Not bad,” she said quietly.

The black turtle eyed the supreme herbs before it. The young miss did not notice that the Mystic Spirit Grass she planted had become different from others’ under her hands. The turtle took a bite, felt the strong life force, and buried its head to eat without lifting it.

“Give me more time,” Ye Wan Wan whispered. “I will return to Golden Core. I will.”

Time flashed by. A year of confinement ended.

That day, Ji Chang Huai came, together with Dou Ming.