They thought she was going to set the Library Pavilion on fire again, so they scrambled to plaster themselves onto her forehead.
A massive influx of information surged in, and Feng Xi felt as if her head were about to explode. She passed out instantly.
Elder Hai waited downstairs for nearly two hours. When Feng Xi still hadn't come down, he went up to check on her. He found her lying there like a corpse, bleeding from her seven orifices and covered in bruises.
Startled, Elder Hai hurriedly checked her pulse and breath, letting out a sigh of relief when he realized she was still alive. A while later, Feng Xi woke up.
Elder Hai said with a heavy face, "I told you not to push yourself. Even though you can use your divine sense, it is inextricably linked to your spiritual power; you must have over-exhausted it, triggering the old injuries in your dantian. It seems you have no affinity for these ancient scrolls. Don't waste your effort—come back down with me!"
Feng Xi's head was throbbing and swollen, and it felt as if countless people were talking inside her brain. Too overwhelmed to explain, she followed Elder Hai out of the Library Pavilion. Seeing her half-dead state, Elder Hai summoned a disciple and had him fly her back to her living quarters on his sword.
Lying on her bed in misery, Feng Xi felt as though five hundred ducks were quacking inside her skull. She composed herself and turned her consciousness inward to inspect her Sea of Consciousness. She discovered several specks of light floating there; upon closer inspection, they were all ancient scrolls. The "voices" were coming directly from them.
Feng Xi: "???"
How did these things get into her Sea of Consciousness?
She had no time to ponder this now; she had to find a way to shut them up, or she would surely be driven insane by the torture. She let out a roar: "Everyone shut up, or I’ll burn you to a crisp!"
Instantly, it was as silent as a grave.
Before Feng Xi could do anything else, she passed out again from the sheer exhaustion of her divine sense, bleeding from her seven orifices once more.
When Feng Xi woke up again, she saw Xiao Baidao looking at her with deep concern. As she tried to sit up, he hurriedly said, "Stay lying down! It’s all my fault; I shouldn't have let you go to the Library Pavilion. Now your dantian injury isn't healed, and your divine sense has suffered severe damage. You poor child, you... sigh!"
He then produced a storage bag and handed it to Feng Xi: "There are ten Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit inside. Take one every three days; they will help repair your divine sense."
***
Chapter 9: The voice is unfamiliar, and the tone is unpleasant.
Feng Xi was stunned. Even after all the trouble the Golden Suanni caused, it had only managed to get three Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit. Xiao Baidao was giving her ten?
Feng Xi’s eyes turned red. She was genuinely moved by this master of hers. "Master, I'm fine. I think I obtained a fortuitous encounter at the Library Pavilion..."
She had wanted to say she had gained a serendipitous opportunity at the Library Pavilion, but some force seemed to restrain her, making the words impossible to utter. She reached for paper and pen, but her hand shook like a bird's claw, and she couldn't write it down either.
Seeing this, Xiao Baidao nearly burst into tears! It was over! His little apprentice had become a dim-witted fool due to the damage to her divine sense!
Feng Xi had to abandon the idea of explaining and asked instead, "Master, how many Spirit Stones can one Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit sell for on the market?"
Although Xiao Baidao didn't know why she was asking, he replied, "Two hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones."
Though she had been mentally prepared, Feng Xi was still shocked by the price. No wonder the people at the Xuantian Sect were banking on this batch of Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit; they were indeed valuable. She could imagine the immense pressure Xiao Baidao would face once word got out that he had given her ten of them.
"Master, I will find a way to earn the money to fill this hole."
Even though Feng Xi said this with the utmost seriousness, Xiao Baidao dismissed it as nonsense. How could a young girl with almost no cultivation possibly find a way to make money? Not to mention a massive sum of two million Spirit Stones!
He smiled and said, "Money is just an external possession. You just focus on recovering; don't worry about these things. Master will handle everything."
Feng Xi knew he was lying—after all, the old man couldn't even afford to eat Bigu Pills, let alone cough up two million Spirit Stones. As an orphan in her past life, she had always been detached from emotions, but at this moment, she had completely taken Xiao Baidao into her heart as her master.
After comforting her some more and watching her take one of the Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit, Xiao Baidao finally left.
The effect of the fruit was immediate. Not only did Feng Xi's head stop hurting, but her energy returned, and even the bruises from being hit by the ancient scrolls faded. She cautiously probed her Sea of Consciousness again and was surprised to find that most of the specks of light had dimmed, with only one glowing brightly. Sensing Feng Xi’s divine sense, it hopped over and transformed into a jade slip.
Feng Xi was surprised to find that she could actually understand the characters on it!
"At the dawn of chaos, the turbid qi descended, and the clear qi ascended, forming the heavens and earth. A practitioner absorbs the qi of heaven and earth to cleanse their meridians and refine their divine sense, eventually merging with heaven and earth—this is Great Perfection. A Spiritual Root is essential for cultivation; a five-element Spiritual Root, with all five meridians complete, is of superior quality. A four-element root is inferior. ... A single Spiritual Root is of low quality..."
Feng Xi wasn't too surprised; having read plenty of cultivation novels, she knew that many "trash" female leads relied on five-element Spiritual Roots to stage their comebacks. However, she had water and wood dual roots! Otherwise, she wouldn't have fought to become an inner disciple of the Hunyuan Sect in the first place.
Feng Xi kept reading. "Those with incomplete meridians can split their dantian to channel the qi of heaven and earth and complete their Spiritual Roots. Once the root is complete, practice will yield twice the result with half the effort. However, splitting the dantian carries extreme risk and must be done such that it cracks without shattering. Any carelessness will lead to eternal damnation..."
Feng Xi: "(???)"
Wasn't her dantian, which looked like a spiderweb, the perfect example of "cracked but not shattered"?!
She continued reading. The text described the cultivation method for after the dantian was split. Although it was obscure, she had the foundations from the original owner and, after careful study, began to understand it.
Normally, a cultivator absorbs spiritual energy into their dantian and channels it out when needed. The method on the jade slip skipped the dantian-storage step entirely. All the spiritual energy absorbed was used to cleanse the meridians directly. In time, as long as the technique was running, the body would absorb spiritual energy on its own.
In other words, while others had to go to the "bank" of their dantian to withdraw energy for a fight, she didn't need to. The spiritual energy in the outside world was all hers to use at any time.
Infinite limit! Endless supply!
Most cultivators had "ultimate moves," but they were so draining that they wouldn't use them unless absolutely necessary. She was different; she could use her ultimate move from the start, and keep using it. It was obscenely wealthy! Even if she couldn't beat her opponent, she could just wear them down. Once their spiritual energy was exhausted, her chance would come!
Feng Xi couldn't help but laugh out loud! This was a huge score! She always knew she was gold waiting to shine; she was never meant to be mediocre!
Then, she saw a line of small text at the bottom: "This cultivation method has one drawback: each time you practice, there will be a slight amount of pain in the dantian and divine sense."
Feng Xi didn't take it to heart. A "slight amount of pain" was nothing; she could endure it.
The jade slip turned back into a speck of light and dimmed. Feng Xi guessed that as her cultivation grew, the other dimmed specks would light up, each revealing a priceless secret. This was a massive fortune, but also a deadly danger. He who bears a jade ring invites a theft. She couldn't tell anyone. But that worry was redundant—she couldn't speak of it even if she wanted to.
She immediately began practicing according to the method. Not daring to be reckless, she tried it bit by bit, and then... she passed out from the pain.
"What the hell? This is a 'slight amount of pain'? This is agonizingly painful, is it not?!"
But as long as she could survive, she had to endure the pain. After resting, she continued to practice. Even when the pain was excruciating and she started bleeding from her seven orifices again, she kept going. Before she knew it, the sky was starting to lighten. Though she hadn't slept all night, Feng Xi felt no discomfort; her body even felt warm.
She tidied up and went to the canteen for food. At the first quarter of the Mao hour, she arrived at Xiao Baidao’s courtyard on time.
Xiao Baidao grumbled with worry: "Your divine sense and dantian are both injured; you should be resting..."
Feng Xi said with a smile: "Master, I'm much better after eating the Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit! Look, I can even jump now!"
After saying this, she hopped around like a rabbit.
Xiao Baidao: "..."
Fine. The child was only twelve, so a bit of playfulness was normal. Seeing her face was rosy, he agreed she did look much better. After breakfast, he shooed her back to her courtyard to rest.
Once back, Feng Xi resumed her cycle of practicing—fainting—practicing—fainting again...
By evening, just as she woke up from a faint, she heard someone shouting outside: "Feng Xi, get out here!"
The voice was unfamiliar and the tone was very unpleasant.
***
Chapter 10: This works too?
Feng Xi took out a handkerchief, wiped the blood from her face, and then strolled out of the house.
Opening the courtyard gate, she saw a handsome youth standing there. He wore a clean, crisp white robe without a single wrinkle. His hair was tied up high with a green ribbon, and his phoenix eyes glared at Feng Xi with full-blown anger.
The youth looked her over, his anger tinged with disdain: "You’re that little piece of trash, Feng Xi? Do you know that to fill the hole you’ve made, Master is planning to go to the Extreme Cold Ice Plain to hunt ice-attribute monster beasts? If anything happens to him, I won’t let you off!"
Feng Xi was stunned. No wonder Xiao Baidao said he would find a way; he meant to risk his life hunting monsters. The Extreme Cold Ice Plain was not only freezing but filled with peril; even for a Divinity Transformation cultivator, it was a nine-to-one chance of death.
While she was still stunned, the youth continued: "I hear the junior sisters from the other three sects are both beautiful and talented, especially Shen Zhilan from the Hunyuan Sect with her rare, supreme water spiritual root. I don't know why Master took in a piece of trash as ugly as you! Since you had the blind luck to become my, Jun Wen’s, junior sister, you should just stay put. Why go to the Library Pavilion? You must have nothing better to do! Don’t cause any more trouble, or I won’t spare you!"
Having said that, the youth turned to leave without waiting for her reply. But after a few steps, he returned and tossed a green fruit at her: "Little trash, a welcome gift!"
Feng Xi smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Fifth Senior Brother."
The youth snorted coldly: "Don't call me Senior Brother. I haven't acknowledged you as a junior sister who just drags us down! By the way, the Tianlv Secret Realm will open in a month. All major sects will be going. I’m warning you: stay in the sect and don't go out there to embarrass us!"
With that, he strode away.
Feng Xi watched his back. Jun Wen, Xiao Baidao’s fifth disciple, a sword cultivation genius. He was hard-mouthed but soft-hearted, slightly germophobic, and shallow. In the book, Jun Wen fell in love with the heroine, Shen Zhilan, at first sight, obsessed with her until he was killed while picking herbs for her, becoming a headless body thrown into the Devil-Severing Cliff. A "simp" who ended up with nothing.
After a moment's thought, she went to see Xiao Baidao.
"Master, I heard from Fifth Senior Brother that you’re going to the Extreme Cold Ice Plain to hunt ice monsters?"
Xiao Baidao frowned: "Don't listen to his rambling. There's no such thing." He inwardly cursed his fifth disciple for having a loose tongue.
Feng Xi knew immediately that Jun Wen was telling the truth. "Master, the Extreme Cold Ice Plain is too dangerous. I don’t want you to risk your life for me. Either take back the remaining nine Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit, or listen to my plan to make money."
Xiao Baidao was startled: "Your money-making plan? What plan?"
Feng Xi blinked: "Master, didn't the Hunyuan Sect hold a grand disciple-recruitment ceremony? Our Xuantian Sect can host one for me, too! The congratulatory gifts are all money!"
Xiao Baidao laughed bitterly: "You child, you're usually smart, but you're confused now. People do send gifts, but we have to host them with fine wine and food! All that wining and dining costs a fortune. It might end up costing more than we take in. The Hunyuan Sect is just losing money for the sake of fame; we aren't that foolish!"
Feng Xi said with a grin: "Master, who said the recruitment ceremony has to be held at our Xuantian Sect? The Tianlv Secret Realm opens in a month, and all the sects from the Northern Territory will be there. Let’s host it right there! We can camp on site, so we don't have to provide lodging. In that situation, it’s not convenient to hold a huge banquet, so we don't have to provide food either. It's a zero-cost deal—guaranteed profit!"
Xiao Baidao smacked his lips: "This... wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate? People will definitely gossip, calling us stingy."
Feng Xi gave a sly smile: "Master, if we prepared the ceremony in advance, then yes, it would be stingy. But what if you did it on a whim? When we get there, the Hunyuan Sect’s Sect Leader Baili Muchen will surely be showing off his precious student, Shen Zhilan. You’re so protective of your own—can you endure that? You’ll definitely show me off! One thing leads to another, the atmosphere will be set, and to save face, you can impulsively announce that you're holding a recruitment ceremony for me right there. Won't it all happen naturally? We won't just be taking gifts for nothing; we'll also occupy the moral high ground. Since Baili Muchen started it, the victims who send the gifts can only blame his loose mouth..."
Xiao Baidao's eyes widened! This works too? It seemed... it actually might! A no-cost business, a massive return on investment! He couldn't help but look at Feng Xi. She was just a girl not yet fifteen—how could she come up with such... devious methods?
Although he felt the plan was feasible, such a big decision couldn't be made lightly; he needed to consult with someone. So, Xiao Baidao didn't give her a definite answer, only saying he would consider it carefully.
Feng Xi said again, "Master, besides this, I have another way to earn money. Two hundred thousand for one Ziqiao Exquisite Fruit is too cheap. We need to raise the price."
Xiao Baidao felt troubled: "Two hundred thousand isn't low. If we raise it any higher, I’m afraid no one will buy it."
Feng Xi said with a smile: "Master, the world never lacks fools; it only lacks schemes. Selling fruit honestly won't get you a high price! If you listen to me, I guarantee we can sell them for at least three hundred thousand Spirit Stones each."
"What do you plan to do?"
"First, announce to the outside world that because you love your little apprentice, you are only selling half of this year's harvest and keeping the rest for me. Scarcity drives value; the price will naturally rise. As for whether you keep them or not, nobody knows—we decide that. Second, spread the word that the older the tree, the better the fruit. I am a living example! Everyone knows my dantian was severely injured, and now that I’ve taken the fruit, I’m jumping around. This shows that the fruit doesn't just repair the divine sense; it has a healing effect on the dantian as well. Functionality doubled—isn't it normal for the price to be higher? Third, if people come to buy, say that quantity is limited—limit it to one per person. With this operation, I guarantee that even at three hundred thousand each, they will be snapped up in no time. The extra money earned will far exceed the ten fruits you gave me."
Xiao Baidao was a man who had seen great storms and usually kept his composure, but today he had broken character repeatedly. He was nearly left gaping in disbelief. Was this... really how one sold things? It was all just schemes! His precious apprentice couldn't cultivate, but her whimsical ideas were truly endless!
Just as he was thinking, Feng Xi’s eyes turned red: "Master, I can earn money, I can fill the hole myself, so please don't go to the Extreme Cold Ice Plain! You’re the only one I can rely on; if something happens to you, I won't be able to live either..."
Xiao Baidao, most susceptible to this, agreed immediately. In truth, he didn't want to go either, but he had been forced into a corner. Now that he had a solution, he naturally wouldn't go.
Just as they were talking, Jun Wen asked for an audience outside. When he entered and saw Feng Xi, he sneered: "What’s this? Coming to Master to tattle? This is all the ability you have!"
Feng Xi’s eyes were already red, and as soon as he spoke, tears began to stream down her face. "Fifth Senior Brother, you’ve misunderstood. I didn't tell Master that you called me a 'little piece of trash,' nor did I say you don't acknowledge me as your junior sister, or even mention that you called me an ugly monster..."
Jun Wen: "..."
***
Chapter 11: Get as far away as possible
Jun Wen was absolutely furious! This little piece of trash hadn't said a word about tattling, but every single punctuation mark was a complaint! She was too insidious!
Xiao Baidao said with a heavy face: "Jun Wen, what did I tell you? Your junior sister is young and frail; you should be protecting her. Is this how you protect her?! Get to the Ten Thousand Sword Cave and don't come out until I say so!"
Jun Wen didn't dare talk back to his master. He glared at Feng Xi and prepared to go accept his punishment, but then Feng Xi giggled: "Master, Fifth Senior Brother was just joking with me. Why are you angry? If you punish him, you should punish me too!"
Xiao Baidao looked at her with pity: "Do you think I don't know whether he was joking or not? You child, you’re just too kind! Fine, since you’re pleading for him, I’ll let it slide this time. If it happens again, see how I deal with him!"
Jun Wen: "..."