Xiaoyuan looked at Chu Qinghuang with a hint of sympathy. "Indeed, and this poison is chronic. Judging by the accumulation of toxins, my master must have ingested it for many years. If these toxins are not purged, my master will surely pass away within a few years."
Chu Qinghuang's face darkened as she took two deep breaths. "Can I cultivate now?"
"Master can give it a try."
Chu Qinghuang sat cross-legged on the grass, recalling her previous memories. Following the method of drawing Qi into the body from her memories, she guided the spiritual power inward. After circulating through her meridians once, the spiritual power smoothly converged into her Dantian. A surge of joy welled up in Chu Qinghuang's heart, and without stopping, she continued to absorb spiritual power into her body. An hour later, Chu Qinghuang exhaled a breath and opened her eyes, a flash of excitement in her gaze. She had successfully drawn Qi into the body and even reached Innate Stage 1.
"Xiaoyuan, I can cultivate!"
Xiaoyuan happily fluttered around Chu Qinghuang. "Master is amazing! Master is amazing!"
Chu Qinghuang stood up with a beaming smile. "Let's go take a look at the bamboo house."
Arriving at the entrance of the bamboo house, Chu Qinghuang gently pushed open the door. Three rooms stretched from left to right, taking in the whole layout at a glance: the bedroom on the far left, the living room in the middle, and the study on the far right. Chu Qinghuang looked around the bedroom and living room, finding nothing of note except for some writing brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone placed on a shelf in the living room.
Chu Qinghuang entered the study. It was not large, but the shelves were packed with books. On the floor beneath the bookshelves lay a rusted sword and a crystal ball.
Xiaoyuan flew excitedly to the crystal ball. "Master, Master! This is a crystal ball used to test a master's cultivation affinity. Hurry up and test it!"
Chu Qinghuang picked the crystal ball up from the floor, wiped the dust from its surface, and placed it on the bookshelf.
Xiaoyuan fluttered anxiously beside the crystal ball. "Master, quickly place your hand on it and channel your spiritual power into it."
Watching the excited Xiaoyuan, Chu Qinghuang smiled helplessly, reached out to place her hand on the crystal ball, and channeled her spiritual power inward.
As the spiritual power poured in, the crystal ball began to glow red, gradually developing a cyan-green hue as well. Seeing the green color appear, Xiaoyuan flew about in joy. "Hahaha! Xiaoyuan knew it! Anyone capable of claiming the Tianyuan Cauldron must be able to practice alchemy. Xiaoyuan's guess was spot on! Hahaha... Yoo-hoo!"
Just as Chu Qinghuang was about to lift her hand from the crystal ball, a blue light slowly emerged within it until all three colors occupied an equal third of the crystal ball, at which point it stopped. Xiaoyuan covered its mouth in astonishment from the side. "Goodness, three affinities! Master, you are simply too incredible!"
Chu Qinghuang sighed. With such great cultivation talent, had she practiced since childhood, she surely would have been a little prodigy by now. What a pity...
"It seems I can cultivate the Fire, Wood, and Water affinities?"
"That's right, that's right! Master is amazing. The last person with three cultivation affinities was several hundred years ago."
"Then I must cherish this and cultivate diligently." Chu Qinghuang put the crystal ball in its place and strolled leisurely among the bookshelves until her eyes caught a book titled *Chronicles of Other Realms*. She pulled it down, opened it, and found it to be a book introducing various realms. Chu Qinghuang sat down on a nearby chair and began to read with rapt attention.
This world was divided into five realms: the God Realm, the Demon Realm, the Beast Realm, the Underworld, and the Human Realm. For tens of millions of years, the God Realm and Demon Realm had been in constant conflict, while the Beast Realm and Underworld sealed themselves off and never interfered in the affairs of any other realm, living peacefully within their own domains. The vast multitudes of humanity in the Human Realm yearned greatly for the God Realm, and countless cultivators toiled tirelessly in their cultivation simply for the day they might ascend to godhood and journey to the God Realm.
Presently, the entire Human Realm had been divided into three continents: the Yeling Continent, the Wuling Continent, and the Fengling Continent. The Yeling Continent where Chu Qinghuang resided was the lowest-tier of the three continents.
Chu Qinghuang sighed. Transmigrating didn't even land her in a good place; on such a low-tier continent, cultivation alone was much slower compared to others, to say nothing of the various cultivation resources those others possessed.
Chu Qinghuang quickly finished reading the book in her hand. Having gained a general understanding of this world, she went in search of other books to read. Before crossing over to this world, she had also been the heir of a secluded clan, nurtured in all aspects since childhood. Not only did she possess a photographic memory, but she also learned things exceptionally fast.
Chu Qinghuang devoured the books in this small study at top speed. Most of them were books introducing various medicinal herbs and alchemy, and there were even a few manuals on alchemy insights, presumably left behind by the previous master of this ring.
Among the remainder were a few Fire-affinity cultivation techniques and a copy of the *Fenghua Sword* manual. As for the Wood and Water affinities, there were only a handful of manuals, all of them of no use.
Chu Qinghuang picked up the *Fenghua Sword* manual and leafed through it, her hands moving to slowly mimic the postures depicted in the book. Unbeknownst to Chu Qinghuang, the rusted sword in the corner trembled slightly twice. As Chu Qinghuang followed the book's instructions step by step through her practice, the rusted sword in the corner trembled increasingly violently until it began striking the floor with audible thuds.
Chu Qinghuang paused and looked toward the corner; the rusted sword had stopped vibrating. Chu Qinghuang tried continuing her practice of the Fenghua Sword forms and noticed that the sword began to vibrate once again. She put away the sword manual, walked over to the rusted sword, bent down to pick it up, and examined it thoroughly. She found nothing special about it and could not pull it apart no matter how hard she tried; only a faint character could be discerned on the hilt.
After a few seconds of deep thought, Chu Qinghuang tried dripping a few drops of blood onto the hilt. The blood droplets slid down the hilt and fell to the ground without being absorbed into the hilt.
"Hmm? The 'drop blood to bind' trick doesn't work here?" Chu Qinghuang muttered to herself, then squeezed a few more drops of blood onto the hilt to try again. This time, she found that the blood droplets did not fall to the ground, but instead flowed along the hilt and into the scabbard.
About ten seconds after the blood flowed in, the rust on the scabbard and hilt began to peel off gradually. Slowly, once all the rust had completely flaked away, a brand-new, magnificent sword appeared before Chu Qinghuang.
Looking at the three characters "Fenghua Sword" inscribed on the hilt, Chu Qinghuang thought to herself that no wonder the sword had vibrated nearby earlier when she practiced the *Fenghua Sword* manual—it turned out there was a resonance between them.
Holding the scabbard with her left hand and the hilt with her right, Chu Qinghuang gave a gentle pull and drew the sword. An intimidating chill radiated from it; hardness and softness were combined into one—it was a fine sword. Chu Qinghuang plucked two strands of her own hair and blew them toward the blade; the hairs parted upon touching the sword. Looking with great satisfaction at the sword in her hand, she picked up the sword manual and stepped out of the bamboo house.
Chu Qinghuang walked over to the Vermilion Bird Egg and took a look. Seeing the patterns on the eggshell glowing with an increasingly intense radiance, she estimated that it wouldn't be long before the Vermilion Bird hatched. Chu Qinghuang reached out and stroked the eggshell. "Little bird, come out quickly. Once you're out, I'll take you to eat something delicious."