After the Vicious Flood Dragon escaped by employing a blood-evasion technique, Ji Qingzhu’s body went slightly limp. Fortunately, she still retained a reserve of water-attributed spiritual energy absorbed within her, enough to keep her from drowning in these depths.
Reasonably speaking, no matter how formidable a practitioner of the Mortal Shedding Realm is—even one wielding a top-tier Spirit Artifact—they should be unable to defeat a powerhouse of the Divine Ability Realm, unless they possess a Precious Tool, which surpasses any Spirit Artifact. Yet, Ji Qingzhu had managed to drive back a Vicious Flood Dragon that even Divine Ability experts would find difficult to handle, all by relying on her Innate Divine Ability and a high-grade spirit sword, and within an underwater environment at that.
An Innate Divine Ability—a gift from the heavens—is simply that unreasonable!
As the "My Will is Heaven's Will" ability faded, her aura returned to its gentle, refined state. She blinked, noticing that the pure spiritual energy within the chaotic underwater space around her was gradually intensifying, and her heart filled with joy.
"To think there is a water-attributed spiritual vein hidden down here!"
In this world, spiritual veins and spiritual stones existed, but unlike the common conception, spiritual stones were not used as currency. The term was a collective name for ores rich in spiritual energy, including spiritual iron and copper; any raw ore could be called a "spiritual stone."
Spiritual stones were simply stones containing spiritual energy. They formed the foundation of a spiritual vein, and a spiritual vein was essentially a natural spirit-gathering formation. No one would dream of severing a vein just to mine a few stones—that would be equivalent to draining a pond to catch all the fish. Besides, how much use could that meager accumulation of energy inside a spiritual stone really be? Did people think every stone contained an inner space for storing vast amounts of energy, or that they were solid crystals of energy?
That was impossible. In the cultivation world, there did exist a true hard currency: "Dharma Crystals." These were genuine crystallizations of energy, solid manifestations of Dharma Power that were universally accepted. Natural Dharma Crystals only formed in the unique environments deep within spiritual veins. Because they were so precious, practitioners usually relied on artificial ones—the "Dharma Crystals" created by Divine Ability Realm masters who condensed their own Dharma Power.
What Ji Qingzhu had discovered was a small water-attributed spiritual vein, though its base consisted of an unknown type of crystal stone. She pressed her hand against the crystal, feeling the pure spiritual energy within, and a joyful smile bloomed on her face. The Vicious Flood Dragon must have relied on this vein to undergo its transformation; shallow water could raise a turtle, but never a dragon.
"This is rightfully mine!"
"My mind is sharp after the fierce battle. By drawing on the essence of the rivers and the vast water-attributed energy here, this is the perfect moment for me to ascend to the Divine Ability Realm!"
Ji Qingzhu used her sword as a shovel to dig into the vein. She ordered her sharp metal sword to stand guard, then sat cross-legged atop the crystalline vein and slowly closed her eyes. Using the water of the Qinglan River and the subterranean currents as her guides—one yin, one yang—she drew in the essence of both, creating a slowly rotating vortex around her body.
"The rivers as a furnace, the spiritual vein as fuel; gathering the origin into one, balancing hardness with softness. 'Highest Good is Like Water'—Ability! Ability! Ability!"
Ji Qingzhu focused her entire being. Her Innate Divine Ability, which had been difficult to stir, began to operate spontaneously. It communicated with the will of heaven, overlooking the myriad paths, until a river of ten thousand streams appeared in her mind.
In a trance, she felt a drop of sweet spring water fall into her heart; her soul and body were instantly replenished. The water was overflowing, yet no matter how infinite it became, it could never breach the banks, because Ji Qingzhu’s cultivation base was rising even faster and higher. If the sea had no limits, then she would use the heavens as her shore!
"Born with Divine Ability, shedding the mortal frame; heart holds ten thousand streams, law is boundless."
*BOOM!*
In the darkness, her spirit connected to the vast, azure void above and the mountains and rivers below. As she absorbed the energy of heaven and earth, a brand-new world slowly unfolded before her eyes.
Her blood surged into her heart like ten thousand streams returning to the sea. A profound, mysterious power spontaneously manifested within every bone and meridian, gathering in her lower dantian. Her innate primordial energy transformed into Divine Ability Dharma Power, breaking through layer after layer of obstacles and ascending to the middle dantian in her chest!
Crashing waves hammered the shore, whipping up thousand-fold snow; undercurrents surged, shifting boulders of ten thousand jun; spring rain drifted, nourishing the heavens and earth; cold ice and snow reigned in eternal silence; mist concealed the truth, obscuring one's true face; reflections in a mirror or a moon in the water—indistinguishable between reality and illusion.
*BOOM!*
The sounds of surging water echoed one after another. Ji Qingzhu’s delicate body stirred slightly. The crystalline spiritual vein beneath her crumbled to dust, its unimaginable reservoir of water energy entirely drained by her! This energy flooded into her middle dantian, eventually transforming into an endless, boundless ocean.
While she couldn't claim to have truly "vast divine powers" yet, she now possessed the embryonic form of "boundless Dharma Power"!
Her long, curled eyelashes fluttered. When she opened those eyes, clear as autumn water, the entire underwater space suddenly brightened. Ji Qingzhu rose to her full height; with a mere thought, she could manipulate all the surrounding currents. She could move freely underwater, unencumbered by the need to breathe or the resistance of the water.
"This is Dharma Power. This is a Divine Ability!"
With a thought, she flashed to the deepest part of the spiritual vein. Now that the energy had been drained, what remained were merely ordinary crystal stones. However, in the deepest hollow lay a mysterious site: a piece of pure, flawless Dharma Crystal encased within a massive crystal stone.
Sealed inside the Dharma Crystal was a silver-white sword. Its entire body looked as if it were crafted from diamond; it was clearly no ordinary object. Regrettably, the sword was covered in cracks, its spirit leaked, its essence faded—it was no longer what it once was.
"No wonder a spiritual vein formed under the Qinglan River; it was the power bleeding from this broken sword that gradually created it," Ji Qingzhu realized.
But what attracted her even more was a scroll resting atop the Dharma Crystal—the Saint Artifact, Rivers and Mountains Map! Although it was also damaged, it was a Saint Artifact nonetheless, far exceeding any Spirit Artifact. This was the protagonist Ji Yuan’s early-stage divine tool. If she remembered correctly, the Rivers and Mountains Map also suppressed a dragon soul, acting as his "old master" guide.
"If I take this map, will my little brother fail to rise to greatness without his cheat?"
Ji Qingzhu tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and pondered for a moment. Just as she looked up, she noticed something charging toward her.
The Rivers and Mountains Map?!
"Don't come over here!"
She darkened her face, trying to shake off the map, but the more she resisted, the more the Rivers and Mountains Map pursued her. She had forgotten that the original tool spirit of the map had perished, and it was now being controlled by that dragon soul. The dragon soul was innately water-attributed, and seeing her extraordinary breakthrough to the Divine Ability Realm, it undoubtedly wanted to attach itself to her.
*CLANG!*
Fortunately, the farce was ended by the broken sword. A flash of sword light split the two apart. Ji Qingzhu’s heart stirred; she reached out to grasp the broken sword and, with a backhand motion, suppressed the Rivers and Mountains Map. Sensing a faint trace of intent emanating from the broken sword, she realized this was also a Saint Artifact, no less powerful than the Rivers and Mountains Map itself.