The spring sunshine was exceptionally bright, with all things reviving and a gentle spring breeze blowing, accompanied by the occasional twitter of birds.
Lixi stood in the courtyard, lifting the amber bead that Third Senior Brother had given her and examining it closely against the sunlight.
The sunlight spilled over the bead, making it look crystal-clear and extremely magnificent. There seemed to be water slowly flowing inside, hazy and indistinct.
She had already tried using a drop of blood to bind it to her soul, but the bead still showed not the slightest reaction.
Yet the attraction this bead held for her was simply too strong; she longed to figure out what on earth was inside it.
Third Senior Brother looked like some hidden master, pulling out all sorts of cultivation manuals suitable for everyone and claiming they were obtained from the last Secret Realm.
She'd believe that when pigs fly.
Which Secret Realm happened to produce manuals suitable for every single person in their sect?
Yet the others stubbornly believed it without a shadow of a doubt.
Lixi couldn't help but yield to them.
A gift from a master was definitely no ordinary item; she had to study this bead properly.
She decided to hold it up tonight and try absorbing the Moon Essence.
The manuals obtained from the Secret Realm were real, except that Yan Jiuzhi had rewritten every single one of them while recuperating from his injuries.
The manual he used to cultivate to the Void Refinement stage in his past life was also one he had rewritten himself.
He possessed a deep comprehension in this area, and after seeing so much, he naturally figured out some tricks of the trade.
Now that he had fully recovered, they still hadn't figured out what secret was hidden within the sect.
To prevent spiritual energy from leaking out and causing trouble after they found the item in the future, he modified the concealment illusion formation he had set up previously into an integrated formation combining concealment, illusion, defense, and spiritual locking.
The compensation Xia Mengxue paid to the Yunxiao Sect consisted of twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones, along with some weapon-refining materials, which was quite a generous haul for them at present.
The compensation paid to him personally was four extremely rare spiritual herbs.
Two of them could be used by Master to repair his Golden Core, and the other two could be used to increase longevity.
These four were treasures that could fetch astronomical prices at auction houses, items to be met by chance rather than sought by design.
Yan Jiuzhi couldn't help letting out a cold scoff. Xia Mengxue really was a marvelous person; the things she sent were all things he could not refuse.
When he checked them after recovering his Divine Sense, he couldn't help but be surprised.
You could say she was thorough, and indeed she was very thorough—you could call it catering to his most urgent needs.
Yet there was plenty of hidden calculation mixed in; for instance, among the items given, there was absolutely nothing that could enhance cultivation or personal strength.
This woman was truly not simple, considering every single aspect while leaving no room for anyone to find fault.
Now, his past enmities with her were settled, but if she ever provoked him in the future, he would kill her all the same.
As for her other accomplices, since those fellows hadn't paid him any ransom money, he naturally still intended to kill them.
Especially the one they called Senior Brother Yu—wasn't he still plotting to silence witnesses?
Sooner or later, he would silence him permanently!
However, those were matters for the future; right now, the most important thing was the development of the sect.
Having successfully protected his sect in this lifetime, he planned to first raise his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage, and then go into Secret Realms and perilous areas to search for other medicinal herbs to repair his Golden Core.
Furthermore, Elder Gao should also try to break through to the Golden Core stage.
In the days to come, there would be more and more Evil Demons in the Xuancang Realm. If the disciples within the sect lacked formidable personal strength, they would simply be unable to gain a foothold in troubled times.
Right now, the disciple with the best aptitude in the Yunxiao Sect was himself.
In his past life, he only realized much later that he didn't have five spiritual roots after all, but rather Hundun spiritual roots. No wonder his cultivation speed had been so fast.
Second to him was Fourth Junior Brother Lin Zewu, who possessed a single top-grade fire spiritual root.
Yan Jiuzhi's feelings toward him were very complicated. In his past life, he was the only one whose corpse was not found, until much later when he saw him by Xia Mengxue's side.
That was when he learned he had been taken back to the Changyue Sect and made a personal disciple of an elder.
He even blocked him from making a move against Xia Mengxue, saying she was innocent and that it was all because the other senior brothers had provoked the Snow Soul Fox that such an accident had occurred.
He still remembered him wearing the Changyue Sect's personal disciple robes, standing in front of Xia Mengxue and saying to him:
"Senior Brother, you've already had your revenge by killing Senior Brother Yu and the others. Little Senior Sister is innocent; please let her go."
Heh~
He didn't know if Lin Zewu had a problem with his brain or his character.
Whose spirit pet was that Snow Soul Fox anyway?
Was he blind?!
Even after Second Senior Brother turned into a ghost cultivator, he never forgot his revenge; why was it that when it came to him, everything could just be brushed aside?
He had been picked up by Master when he was an infant, and everyone had cherished and cared for him, only to raise such a creature!
Though this lifetime had already changed, he truly could no longer regard him as his most beloved junior brother.
Oh, right now he was only Fourth Junior Brother.
He had a Junior Sister now.
Junior Sister had dual water and wood spiritual roots and would be the backbone of the future sect; he would properly urge her to cultivate.
Lixi, who was currently studying the bead, shivered and looked up at the blazing sun in the sky...
What was going on? A late spring cold snap?
The spring night sky was serene and peaceful. Today was a rare full moon, and the Moon Essence was as gentle as water, cascading down onto the mysterious bead in Lixi's hand.
Under the moonlight, the bead emitted a water-blue radiance, completely different from the amber color of the daytime.
Tonight, Lixi intended to make a new attempt.
Putting aside all distracting thoughts with complete focus, she concentrated her Divine Sense and the spiritual energy within her simultaneously, slowly pouring them into the bead.
Guided by the Moon Essence, her mind gradually sank into a wondrous world.
It was as if the murmur of babbling streams whispered by her ear, and the fragrance of flowers lingered at the tip of her nose, fresh and intoxicating.
At that very moment, a vast amount of information rushed into her mind like a surging river.
"Water and Wood Moon Essence Immortal Art".
This turned out to be a legacy!
A legacy belonging exclusively to female cultivators whose water and wood spiritual roots reached the maximum value and whose constitutions possessed an affinity for Moon Essence!
"Water and wood generate each other, nourishing all things." Lixi silently recited this incantation in her heart.
The powers of water and wood merged within her body alongside the Moon Essence, transforming into a gentle yet powerful energy that slowly nourished her meridians and body.
As the energy continuously circulated and nourished her, Lixi's body underwent subtle changes.
Her skin became smoother and more delicate, and her temperament grew increasingly ethereal and transcendent.
She could feel her vitality continuously strengthening, and her perception of the surrounding environment became much sharper.
Her entire consciousness seemed to grow weightless, and she even "flew" up.
She "flew" into the courtyard and saw Third Senior Brother standing by the window, gazing up at the empty moon.
The youth's brows and eyes were cold and stern, as if he had something on his mind, with even the space between his brows slightly furrowed.
Mischievously, she reached out her hand wanting to smooth away these vexations for him, and he seemed to sense it too, actually turning his head to "look" at her?
Her Divine Sense gradually expanded and extended outward, and she "flew" further away.
In the serene night sky, the stars were scattered like dots, and a bright moon hung high in the firmament. She saw frogs hunting in the fields and birds perching on the trees...
The glowing Moon Essence seemed to permeate her entire body, and a gentle force soaked in and nourished her from within.
Pushed by this powerful and mysterious energy, Lixi felt as though she had stepped into another world—fantastic, powerful, warm, and limpid.
She sank deep into it, soaking as if in a warm hot spring, her soul and flesh alike receiving nourishment.
A massive amount of spiritual energy and Moon Essence rushed toward her madly; her acupoints were unblocked one by one, her meridians grew increasingly broad, and the spiritual energy vortex in her dantian also grew robust.
The pain that ought to have accompanied this was not felt by Lixi at all; right now, her entire being was immersed in the profound legacy.
An ethereal and cold female immortal possessed a graceful and fluttering posture like a startled swan; as her wrists turned, a long sword would jab, thrust, or parry, and silvery sword qi danced all over the sky like silver hooks and a bright moon, beautiful yet harboring murderous intent;
Beside the dan furnace, slender and delicate fingers executed one gorgeous spell after another, and the fragrance of medicine filled the room...
That hand seemed slowed down countless times, every single minute and fine change imprinting itself upon Lixi's sea of consciousness.
Her fingers unconsciously danced along with it, and at the moment of gathering the medicinal pellets, it felt as though she had finished refining a batch of pills right along with the immortal.
Healing Art, Purification Art... Lixi imitated the female immortal's movements, step by step engraving this legacy deep into the core of her soul.
Sensing the commotion over here, Yan Jiuzhi swiftly deployed a formation to isolate the area.
The commotion Junior Sister was making was simply too huge; the Moon Essence poured down toward her like a waterfall, and the surrounding spiritual energy was on the verge of weaving her into a cocoon.
Lin Shanlai and Elder Gao hurried over as well.
Where on earth did such a massive amount of spiritual energy come from in their little broken place?!
Yan Jiuzhi traced the direction of the surging spiritual energy and discovered that spiritual energy was continuously emanating from beneath the osmanthus tree in the courtyard, rushing toward Lixi.
Junior Sister really was his lucky star; the "secret" they had spent months searching for was right in front of their eyes at this very moment.
Consulting with Master and Elder Gao, Yan Jiuzhi decided that once Lixi finished her meditative state, they would start digging.