"Master, there is something I want to confess to you in advance."
"What is it?"
"Actually, I shattered my Spirit Root on purpose." Si Nansheng looked at Li Tianhen and spoke in a soft voice.
"Hmm? Tell me your reasons!"
"Hehe! Master, why don't you check my Dantian first?" Si Nansheng looked at Li Tianhen with a smile. Li Tianhen placed his hand on Si Nansheng's Dantian.
"This is..."
Si Nansheng's Dantian, which should have been completely empty, actually contained a hazy, inconspicuous entity. It looked like a Spirit Root!
No, she had already destroyed her own Spirit Root beforehand, and he had personally checked her on the way back. How could he have missed this Spirit Root?
"Good disciple, shouldn't you explain to your master what is going on here?" Li Tianhen looked at Si Nansheng.
Since this girl had dared to destroy her Spirit Root with such utter determination, she must have known what was going on all along, right?
"Previously, I always thought I only had a Water Spirit Root. Until a short while ago, Master—no, wait—Feng Zeyan asked me to go to the snowy mountains to find a Millennium Ice Lotus for Liu Xuewei. It was only after my Spiritual Energy was completely exhausted that I suddenly discovered it."
*Master, oh Master, I am truly sorry,* Si Nansheng thought to herself. *Please don't blame me; I really wanted to lie to you, but I simply had no idea how else to explain this!*
In the original novel, after Si Nansheng's Spirit Root was dug out, when Feng Zeyan was healing her injuries, he discovered that she actually possessed another Spirit Root that had been suppressed by her previous Water Spirit Root all along, which was why no one had ever noticed it.
Later, Feng Zeyan tested her Spirit Root again and found it to be a trash-tier Full-attribute Spiritual Root.
He had people procure a stalk of Spirit-Refining Grass, cleansing her full-attribute spiritual root down into a single-attribute one, which turned out to be a Superior Grade Spirit Root. While her cultivation surged explosively, the Meridians within her body also recovered.
Afterward, Feng Zeyan forced Si Nansheng into seclusion for a hundred years, during which she not only recovered her previous cultivation level but advanced several realms further, entering the Golden Core Realm.
Yet in the end, all of this cultivation merely served as nourishment for Liu Xuewei's advancement.
When Feng Zeyan took Liu Xuewei to ascend to the upper realm, he pushed Si Nansheng straight into a pack of Demonic Beasts, where she was torn apart alive.
"Hahaha! Good. That way, you still have the possibility of continuing your cultivation. Rest well for now. Once your body has recovered, Master will test your aptitude once more."
"Okay." Si Nansheng nodded.
"However, this Spirit Root of yours seems a bit strange." Li Tianhen looked closely at Si Nansheng's Spirit Root again.
"Strange?" Si Nansheng inspected it. Aside from the fact that the Spirit Root looked rather wilted, she could not sense anything amiss.
Besides, in her memories, this was nothing more than a full-attribute spiritual root; she had never noticed anything else unusual about it.
Later on, Feng Zeyan had someone find a stalk of Spirit-Refining Grass and directly purified her spirit root into a single-attribute one, making it even more impossible for anyone to discover the issue.
"It doesn't look like a Spirit Root at all. Instead, it looks more like... a seed?" Li Tianhen observed it carefully and offered his conclusion.
"Huh?"
What on earth?
Why would there be a seed in her Dantian?
Shouldn't it be a Spirit Root?
The original novel never mentioned any such thing!
"Master, can you tell what it actually is?"
"Not for the time being. We may have to wait until you begin your cultivation." Li Tianhen observed it a bit longer and gave a slight shake of his head.
How strange—he simply could not see through what was going on with this Spirit Root!
"Little Junior Sister is awake." Ye Yanqing walked in and looked at Si Nansheng, his expression very gentle.
"He is your Eldest Senior Brother, Ye Yanqing. You also have four other senior brothers, but they are all away training and haven't returned yet. I will introduce them to you once they come back."
Li Tianhen looked at Si Nansheng and spoke gently by way of introduction.
"Hello, Eldest Senior Brother." Si Nansheng greeted him with a smile.
"Ah, whenever I saw other sects with a little junior sister, I always felt quite envious. Now, I have a little junior sister of my own. Little Junior Sister, your Eldest Senior Brother here practices talismans and formations. Later on, I'll prepare a bunch of talismans and formations for you to protect yourself. If anyone dares to bully you, just smash them right in the face with talismans. Eldest Senior Brother has already contacted your Second Senior Brother and asked him to search for some top-quality ores to forge a Storage Ring for you."
Hearing Si Nansheng address him as Eldest Senior Brother in such a sweet, soft voice, Ye Yanqing felt sweetness bubbling up inside him.
A junior sister was indeed much more adorable than any junior brother.
So soft and cute.
Right now, he could hardly wait to lay out every good thing he owned in front of his little junior sister.
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother." Si Nansheng smiled sweetly at him.
"Oh, right, Eldest Senior Brother bought you a few magic robes. Their grade isn't very high, but they can withstand attacks from the Golden Core Realm. Just make do with these for a few days. Once your Second Senior Brother returns, I'll have him make you higher-grade, prettier magic robes. He has plenty of treasures over there capable of forging magic robes."
Smiling broadly, Ye Yanqing piled all the magic robes he had scavenged over the past few days right in front of Si Nansheng.
"E-Eldest Senior Brother, isn't this—isn't this too much?" This was even more than what those senior brothers from the Shengtian Sect had ever bought for Liu Xuewei!
Was Ye Yanqing really giving all of this to her?
Besides, couldn't Eldest Senior Brother have found somewhere spacious to put all these things?
"Not much at all, just a matter of Senior Brother drawing a few more talismans." Ye Yanqing smiled warmly at her.
You call this not much?!
It was enough to bury her alive!
"Since it's a gift from your Eldest Senior Brother, just accept it. Your meridians haven't healed yet, so having these magic robes to protect you is a good thing."
Standing to the side, Li Tianhen dug her out from underneath the pile of magic robes and spoke with a smile. Only then did Si Nansheng gather and put away all the items.
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother."
Looking at those magic robes, Si Nansheng felt her eyes grow warm. Back in the Shengtian Sect, she was always the one who gave and sacrificed.
Yet now, Eldest Senior Brother gave her so many things without a second thought, stirring deep emotions within her.
Seeing her little junior sister's eyes reddening, Ye Yanqing wanted to say something, but Master shook his head to stop him.
Judging from what Si Nansheng had said before, she must have suffered endless grievances at the Shengtian Sect.
Now that she had left the Shengtian Sect and had senior brothers who treated her well, she must simply want to release the grievances pent up in her heart.
"Yanqing, go tend to your tasks and let Nansheng recover properly." Li Tianhen directly shooed Ye Yanqing out.
As soon as he left, Ye Yanqing immediately sent a voice transmission to his other junior brothers, informing them about the arrival of their little junior sister.
However, since their respective tasks were not yet finished, none of them could return immediately. They all instructed Eldest Senior Brother to take good care of the little junior sister and promised to bring gifts for her when they returned.
"This is the item you gave me to keep safe. I'm returning it to you." Li Tianhen took out the jade pendant Si Nansheng had previously entrusted to him.
"Thank you, Master. This is the only thing my parents left behind for me." Si Nansheng lowered her gaze to look at the jade pendant in her hand.
"This doesn't look like an ordinary jade pendant; it looks more like a clan crest." Li Tianhen also looked down at the jade pendant in Si Nansheng's hands and spoke softly.
"Does Master know which family it belongs to?"
"Hmm—I can't quite place it. Put the jade pendant away safely for now; perhaps one day you'll be able to find your parents' clansmen."
Li Tianhen patted the top of Si Nansheng's head. The material of this jade pendant was extraordinary, which suggested that the identities of Si Nansheng's parents were far from simple.
Looking at the jade pendant, Si Nansheng felt her mood grow heavy. This jade pendant was both a symbol of her identity and the token by which she and her family would recognize one another.
It was just a pity that, in the past, she had misplaced her trust and given this token to the wrong person, allowing Liu Xuewei to exploit the opening.
In this lifetime, she would definitely protect them well.