Jiang Qing pushed aside the overgrown weeds outside the cave entrance, which stood a full person's height high, and then cautiously stepped inside.
The cave was pitch black, but fortunately, she had made preparations before coming out, spending two spirit beads in the market to buy some moonstones.
This item was extremely cheap and served no other purpose than illumination; a single spirit bead could buy several of them.
Utilizing the glow emitted by the moonstones, Jiang Qing began to examine the cave before her.
The cave was not particularly large, shaped overall like a gourd.
At the very back of the cave, Jiang Qing instantly spotted a skeleton half-reclining against the stone wall with its back resting against it.
A black outer garment of unidentifiable material was draped over the skeleton, and hanging from its waist was a storage bag—precisely the item Jiang Qing had come to retrieve.
Late at night, seeing skeletons and the like was, to be honest, a real test of one's heart.
Fortunately, Jiang Qing was a relatively bold person. After giving herself a mental pep talk, she cautiously walked up to the skeleton.
Stooping down and turning her face away, Jiang Qing tried her best not to look at the skeleton right before her. Reaching out with a slight exertion of force, she snatched the storage bag hanging from the skeleton's waist, then fled the cave like a fleeing bird.
"Phew! That scared the life out of her. If she had known there was a skeleton inside, nothing could have forced her to choose coming at night!"
After leaving the cave, Jiang Qing gently patted her chest, clearly shaken quite a bit.
Looking at the storage bag in her hand, Jiang Qing felt a surge of joy and couldn't help but examine it in her hands.
It was made of some kind of brown animal skin, about the size of a palm, with delicate cloud patterns embroidered on the surface, bearing quite a resemblance to a purse. Furthermore, it was bulging, clearly indicating that it was packed with items, yet in her hand it felt as light as nothing.
She pinched the mouth of the bag, wanting to open it and take a look, only to find that it simply wouldn't open. After pondering for a moment, she remembered that she hadn't started cultivating yet, so she simply tossed the storage bag into the System Warehouse, intending to study it properly after she began cultivating.
Jiang Qing retraced her steps along the path she came, quietly leaving the back mountain.
Before long, Jiang Qing reappeared on the bustling streets of the market.
She no longer intended to return to the Jiang Family, so she casually found an inn to stay in. After eating, drinking, washing up, and instructing the waiter not to disturb her under any circumstances, Jiang Qing prepared to begin cultivation.
Jiang Qing sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a milky-white Jade Slip in her right hand.
This Jade Slip was none of other than the god-tier wood-attribute cultivation technique, "Longevity Samsara Scripture", from the system's beginner gift pack.
Jiang Qing had never cultivated before and had no one to guide her, so she sat holding the Jade Slip for a long time, completely at a loss as to what to do.
Fortunately, she had read quite a few novels in her past life. Recalling what was written in those stories, she simply pressed the Jade Slip directly against her forehead.
Sure enough, the moment the Jade Slip touched her forehead, a stream of information flooded into Jiang Qing's mind.
Aside from textual information, there were also humanoid figures depicted in various postures, with fine lines drawn inside the bodies of these humanoids.
Not only were the Dao characters in this book written in traditional script, but they were also extremely esoteric and profound, giving Jiang Qing a splitting headache.
Following the opening Dao characters, the text went on to explain how to practice the Dao, how to sense the qi between heaven and earth, and how to guide that qi into oneself for cultivation.
Jiang Qing could not quite comprehend those Dao characters, but the meridians diagram right beside them was clear at a glance.
Copying the example, she sat cross-legged just as shown in the diagram to sense this so-called qi. But after sitting for only half an hour, her legs grew numb and she could no longer sit still, feeling as if pins were being poked right beneath her bottom.
Yet, thinking of the benefits of longevity a moment later, Jiang Qing obediently settled back into position and continued trying to sense the qi described in the Dao text.
Driven by her fervent desire for immortality, Jiang Qing stubbornly sat in meditation for an entire night. Fortunately, her body possessed decent aptitude, and it wasn't until the following morning that she finally sensed the so-called qi.
A wave of joy welled up in Jiang Qing's heart. She slowly closed her eyes, her mind and body gradually entering a state of emptiness.
She knew not how much time had passed when a trace of warmth suddenly appeared in her lower abdomen, the dantian. More and more warmth gathered until it formed a flowing current, circulating continuously through her meridians.
Wherever that light-cyan warm current passed, her internal organs were nourished, until finally it converged into the dantian.
Jiang Qing slowly opened her eyes, her gaze clear and bright. She sat quietly in meditation for the space of another incense stick before snapping out of that profound state.
The inn was still the same inn, yet everything felt somewhat different. Jiang Qing rose from the bed, walked over to the window, and pushed it open. Looking at the bustling traffic on the market street, it was as if in a single instant, everything had changed.
Not only had her vision improved, but her senses of hearing had heightened as well. Standing on the windowsill, Jiang Qing could even spot ants crawling in a corner across the street. If she listened carefully, she could even hear the faint sound of a child being scolded and beaten from some unknown direction.
Jiang Qing raised the corners of her mouth as joy surged into her heart. She knew she had stepped into the Qi Condensation 1st Layer described in the book, truly crossing the threshold of cultivation for the very first time.
Lowering her head, she noticed that her entire body was covered in a layer of oily black sludge, emitting an extremely fishy odor. Although there wasn't as much filth as when she had consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Wood Essence yesterday, there was still a considerable amount.
Jiang Qing opened the door of her inn room, raised a hand to summon the waiter, and requested some bathwater.
The bathwater was delivered shortly. Amidst the waiter's strange glances, Jiang Qing hurriedly shut her room door and scrubbed herself clean with meticulous care before finally stopping.
Once washed up, Jiang Qing eagerly called up the system panel.
Name: Jiang Qing (The male protagonist's destined moonlight on his path to ascension)
Aptitude: Wood Spiritual Root (Top-tier)
Cultivation: Qi Condensation 1st Layer
Destiny Grid: Mandated Heroine (Purple), Personal Charm (Purple), Ice Skin and Jade Bones (Purple), Premature Death (Black), Envious of Heavens and Beauties (Black), Ill-Omen (Orange)
Life Script: Follows the male protagonist to leave the Jiang Family, successfully gets taken into the male protagonist's harem, and becomes his first woman. Afterward, with the male protagonist's help, she successfully repairs her incomplete spiritual root and ultimately ascends to become a cultivator. Regrettably, good times do not last; during a pursuit, she sacrifices her life to save the male protagonist, resulting in her destruction and death.
Recent Turning Point: Jiang Tan, the head of the Jiang Family, has heard rumors of your changes and suspects that you have obtained a fortuitous encounter and repaired your incomplete wood spiritual root. Right now, he is dispatching people to search everywhere for your whereabouts in an attempt to force you to return to the Jiang Family.
After reading the information on the system panel, Jiang Qing's expression did not change much, as if everything was within her expectations.
What her aptitude section had originally displayed was: Wood Spiritual Root (Flawed)
Yet right now, that flawed character had not only vanished, but her root had even transformed into a top-tier one.
Jiang Qing had never imagined that the Ten-Thousand-Year Wood Essence would have such a tremendous effect, not only repairing her incomplete wood spiritual root but actually elevating it to top-tier status.
Indeed, anything produced by the system is bound to be of supreme quality.
Not only that, even her cultivation section had transformed from an ordinary mortal into the Qi Condensation 1st Layer.
What surprised Jiang Qing, however, was that her destiny grid section had also changed. The Ill-Omen (Gray) in her original destiny grid had shifted to Ill-Omen (Orange).
White represented ordinary, which was a normal person's physical condition. Orange was two levels higher than white, indicating that her physical state was currently quite good and she was no longer a sickly weakling.
Jiang Qing thought that once her Ill-Omen, Premature Death, and Envious of Heavens and Beauties all turned purple or vanished entirely, she might perhaps be able to escape her fate of dying young.