What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

The time it takes for half an incense stick to burn. It feels as long as half a lifetime.

at last.

The last wisp of death energy was forcibly stripped away by the Yin-Yang True Power and pulled out from the depths of the crack. That wisp of gray-black death energy was being strangled by the True Power.

The moment the death energy was completely stripped away, the Yin-Yang True Power, like a clear spring flowing into a dried-up riverbed, transformed into pure and boundless vitality, beginning to fill the crack that had been empty for more than a decade.

Vitality infused. The edges of the crack began to heal at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. Nourished by the vitality of Yin and Yang, the newly formed meridian tissue grew rapidly, gradually mending the crack.

Li Yang's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

The pain receded as quickly as the tide. In its place came a soothing and relaxing feeling that permeated the soul.

The feeling was like a huge boulder that you'd carried for over a decade suddenly being lifted off your shoulders, and your entire being, from bones to flesh, simultaneously letting out a long sigh.

Her breathing became long and steady, and the rise and fall of her chest gradually subsided from intense to gentle.

His complexion gradually returned to a rosy hue from its painful pallor, even becoming rosier than when he arrived.

When the last crack was completely smoothed out.

Li Yang suddenly opened her eyes.

His face was filled with shock.

She could clearly sense that the fatal hidden injury that had plagued her for more than a decade had truly disappeared.

The dantian was flawless, as smooth and pure as a newborn's. The flow of magical power was now completely unhindered. The dull, aching pain that used to ache when true energy flowed deep into the dantian, and the sticky, sluggish feeling of wading through mud, had all vanished.

An unprecedented feeling of ease washed over my entire body.

It was as if every meridian in the body had been unblocked with the most meticulous techniques. The speed at which magical power circulated within the body was more than 30% faster than before, every meridian was unobstructed, and every acupoint was clear and perfect.

Li Yang's eyes reddened slightly.

She took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed that emotion.

But at this very moment—

The profound magical power she had accumulated over more than a decade was now freed from its constraints.

The accumulated magical power was like a flood that had been held back by a dam for over a decade. The moment the dam collapsed, all the power that had been building up over the past ten years erupted at once.

The once calm sea of ​​qi was suddenly engulfed in turbulent waves. Liquid mana surged wildly, its volume expanding rapidly. The capacity of the sea of ​​qi was repeatedly expanded under the impact of the mana.

The barrier of the early stage of Core Formation was easily pierced in that instant, like a fragile sheet of paper, by the immense magical power accumulated over more than a decade.

Spiritual energy flows back.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within the entire stone chamber surged towards Li Yang like rivers flowing into the sea. The spiritual energy from all directions converged into a visible torrent, forming a miniature spiritual energy vortex about ten feet in diameter above her head.

The vortex spun rapidly, emitting a low hum, devouring the spiritual energy stored in the cave at an alarming speed.

She's about to break through.

Lin Yuan was startled.

He immediately stopped moving, his body leaping back like a startled cat from the stone bed, retreating to the far corner of the stone chamber.

A vortex of spiritual energy.

Such a large-scale disturbance of spiritual energy could be sensed by cultivators within a radius of dozens of miles if it were not concealed.

Although Black Crow Mountain is remote, it is home to many experts from the Xuan Yin Sect.

If any idle Core Formation cultivator happens to pass by and senses that someone has broken through to the mid-Core Formation stage—

That would be quite a spectacle.

Lin Yuan rapidly formed hand seals. Spiritual light flickered at his fingertips as streams of magical power surged into the array nodes beneath his feet.

The concealment function of the Six Yin Soul-Locking Array was activated to its fullest extent.

The violent spiritual energy fluctuations within the cave were pushed back layer by layer, sealing them tightly inside.

Li Yang hovered half a foot above the stone bed. Her plain silk dress moved without wind, the hem fluttering wildly in the torrent of spiritual energy.

She was enveloped in a dense, almost tangible aura, and her face was so radiant under the light that it seemed unreal.

Half an hour.

The vortex of spiritual energy slowly dissipated, like a storm that had completed its mission.

The spiritual energy that had been completely devoured slowly began to gather again within the cave.

Li Yang slowly descended and landed steadily back on the stone bed.

His aura was completely contained and stabilized.

Lin Yuan walked out from the corner and patted the dust off his robes caused by the vibrations of the array.

He was about to say something polite like congratulations.

The words hadn't even left his mouth.

Li Yang, who was sitting on the stone bed, opened her eyes.

But her gaze did not fall upon Lin Yuan, nor did she try to sense the new and powerful mid-stage Core Formation mana within her Qi Sea.

Her gaze was fixed intently on her hands.

Her well-maintained, fair hands were spread out above her knees, her fingers slightly apart. Her brows furrowed slightly, then slowly relaxed, then furrowed again, repeating this several times.

She was sensing a subtle yet real change within her body.

Besides breaking through to the mid-stage of Core Formation—

The purity of her spiritual root has changed.

An extremely small improvement.

Her affinity for the spiritual energy of the surrounding world was slightly higher than before her breakthrough.

The feeling was like touching silk through a thin veil, which had previously been thinner. The resistance to spiritual energy entering the body had decreased, and the efficiency of refining it had increased.

What does this mean?

Li Yang's breath suddenly stopped for a moment.

Common knowledge in the world of cultivation.

Spiritual root aptitude is innate. From the moment one is born, whether one is of low grade, medium grade, high grade, or top grade is already predetermined.

There is no elixir, cultivation method, or secret technique in the world that can improve a cultivator's spiritual root grade.

Li Yang's breathing instantly became extremely rapid.

She was a shrewd businesswoman. She had been in charge of Danbaoge for over a decade. She had handled thousands of transactions, and she could calculate the pros and cons of each deal in the blink of an eye.

Healing of hidden injuries and breakthroughs in cultivation are immediate gains. They can be significant, or they can be minor. After all, given time, with her foundation and accumulated experience, she might be able to achieve the same results through other methods.

But spiritual root improvement—

This is not a profit. This is a heaven-defying opportunity that is enough to overturn the understanding of the cultivation world.

Her current spiritual root is a top-grade spiritual root. Top-grade spiritual roots are extremely rare in the entire Xuan Yin Sect, but that's all.

Above the top-grade spiritual root is the earth spiritual root.

Having an Earth Spiritual Root means there are no aptitude bottlenecks before reaching the Nascent Soul stage. This means that as long as cultivation resources are sufficient, she can easily crush her way to the Nascent Soul realm.

This means that her status in the family and even the sect will undergo a dramatic change.

Who is Li Lan? A direct descendant of a Core Formation cultivator, daring to act arrogantly in front of her just because his cultivation is a minor realm higher, and even conspiring with outsiders to scheme against his own sister. If she were to acquire an Earth Spiritual Root—

The entire Li family had to kneel and worship her.

Li Yang raised her head.

She looked at Lin Yuan, who was standing at the edge of the stone chamber.

The look in those phoenix eyes underwent a qualitative change at that moment.

It's no longer the shrewdness and scrutiny that Danbaoge's manager uses to view a valuable partner.

It was no longer the playful and reserved demeanor of a mature female cultivator when facing a young male cultivator.

Rather, it's the kind of madness one feels when an extremely greedy investor discovers the world's most exquisite and rarest treasure.

Like a mother wolf that has been starving for three days, eyeing a piece of raw meat that is still bleeding.

Lin Yuan felt a chill run down his spine from that wolf-like gaze.

An ominous premonition shot up from the base of my spine to the back of my head.

He instinctively took a half step back.

Li Yang flashed away.

The speed at the mid-stage of Core Formation.

Lin Yuan's pupils didn't have time to contract.

She appeared directly in front of Lin Yuan. Without a word, she grabbed Lin Yuan's collar.

He was thrown over and fell heavily onto the large stone bed.

"Wait, manager, calm down—"

Li Yang didn't give him a chance to finish speaking.