Unfortunately, until Ancestor Li Zhan ascended to the celestial realm, the Li Family didn't produce any descendants with good cultivation aptitude. The few Mixed Spirit Root Clan members they had possessed only a very weak Divine Sense.
Disappointed, the ancestor also worried that after his departure, the younger generation wouldn't have enough power. Once the Spirit Stones and Magic Treasures within the Jade Pendant were exposed, not only would they be unable to protect the resources, it might even bring about the calamity of annihilation.
Thus, he deliberately made the Jade Pendant hideous, leaving behind the ancestral instruction: "To be passed down through generations, to be possessed by those destined," hoping that one day the descendants, upon gaining enough power, would uncover the secret of the world's top-tier Spiritual Pendant.
But man's calculations are never as good as heaven's. Shortly after the ancestor's ascension, the process of converting Chaos Qi to Spiritual Energy, which should have lasted thousands of years, suddenly accelerated. Within a hundred years, Chaos Qi was completely replaced by Spiritual Energy.
Without Chaos Qi as the trigger, regardless of how prominent the Li Family became in the cultivation realm, they couldn't open the internal space of the pendant.
The secret of the world's top-tier Spiritual Pendant remained hidden within the sands of time until this generation's Jade Nurturer, Li Xing, traversed into a world where Spiritual Energy and Chaotic Power coexisted.
After reading the ancestor's notes, Li Xing couldn't help but develop a deep admiration and reverence for the brilliant ancestor.
Starting with nothing, and relying on his own strength, he pushed the two most expensive professions in the cultivation world to their pinnacles, not to mention protecting a family whose strongest member was a mere fifth-layer Qi practitioner in a world where the strong preyed on the weak. Even after his ascension, his residual prestige and benevolence continued to shield the family, allowing them to steadily develop from wastrels to a powerful cultivation force. What an extraordinary character!
Setting the Jade Scroll aside, Li Xing respectfully opened the first box. The moment he did, with a "crash," a cool sensation spread across his feet. Looking down, he saw Spirit Stones, white and round as children's fists, surging like a tide to cover the floor.
"This, this is—supreme-grade Spirit Stones?"
Li Xing was dumbfounded. In this era of dwindling magic, spirit stone veins had shrunk, and Spirit Stones were becoming rarer. Supreme-grade Spirit Stones were even more legendary and rare. Li Xing never imagined that one day, supreme-grade Spirit Stones would cover his feet like an ocean.
"Awesome—!"
Excitedly, Li Xing opened twenty more boxes and found them all filled with Spirit Stones. Of these, three-fifths were supreme-grade, while the rest were high-grade. A rough estimate placed the count at a trillion. It was unfathomable how many Spirit Veins had to be mined out to gather these.
If these Spirit Stones were brought to the outside world, not only in this era of dwindling magic, but even during the ancestor's time, they would represent a fortune capable of upheaving the cultivation world's balance.
Li Xing lamented the bad luck of generations of Li Family ancestors who couldn't open the Jade Pendant sooner. If they had, even a wastrel with five Spirit Roots could rise to Divinity Transformation or undergo Tribulation with Spirit Stones.
Sadly, saying this now was futile. Even with all these Spirit Stones before her, she felt as frustrated as a eunuch visiting a brothel—her Dantian was shattered, rendering her utilization of supreme-grade Spirit Stones less effective than eating a bowl of green rice.
Despite the mixture of pain and joy, Li Xing continued to open the boxes blindly.
The next boxes were filled with Jade Scrolls and talismans, with contents spanning various Cultivation Techniques, Dan recipes, talisman books, Array Maps, Artifact Refining, Travel Records, Biographies, and many other categories. Indeed, it seemed like a resource library prepared by the ancestor for future generations.
The following box contained only two items: a domineering and majestic saber, and a Medicine Cauldron not much larger than an incense burner.
Li Xing first used her Divine Sense to probe the saber. The blade was broad, entirely obsidian black with golden cloud-like patterns, and a blood groove running through it. The hilt ton was engraved with auspicious cloud patterns made from Red Essence Copper, the handle wrapped in Red Flood Dragon Skin, and the end carved with a blue-faced, fang-toothed Kui Wolf head.
Looking at the Medicine Cauldron, Li Xing found it hard to describe its color. It was too light to be gray, and it wasn't entirely black either. In any case, it looked like a patina formed from years of exposure to smoke and fire.
The cauldron was completely smooth with no decorative patterns. At the bottom was a thick layer of glaze-like substance formed by melting some unknown material. This glaze adhered tightly to the bottom, resembling the ash from the bottom of a rural stove. This thick ash layer replaced the usual three feet of a Medicine Cauldron, allowing it to stand steadily on the ground.
It was said that the ancestor had two favored Magic Treasures: the Heavenly Wolf Saber and the Shennong Cauldron. These must be them!
Li Xing was overjoyed. She wasn't familiar with the Heavenly Wolf Saber, but as a Dan Cultivator, she was certainly aware of the famous Shennong Cauldron. This cauldron was crafted from a meteorite from beyond the domain. It could be adjusted in size, large enough to swallow the sun and moon, or small as a mustard seed. It increased the elixir success rate by at least thirty percent compared to ordinary Medicine Cauldrons.
After acquiring the Shennong Cauldron, the ancestor's Alchemy skills advanced several levels, earning him the title 'leader of the Dan Cultivators.'
The cultivation world was fiercely competitive. Cultivators fought against each other and the heavens. Who didn't carry some elixirs to restore health and mana?
Everyone wanted to buy high-quality, reasonably-priced elixirs, and the ancestor, being such a conscientious seller, quickly amassed a loyal following.
The Li Family's cultivation resources were built from the ancestor's strenuous efforts, cauldron by cauldron.
Ancestor left behind the Heavenly Wolf Saber and Shennong Cauldron, clearly hoping his descendants would inherit his legacy and not let the Li Family's foundational occupation go to waste. Li Xing carefully placed the Heavenly Wolf Saber and Shennong Cauldron back, silently swearing not to disappoint the ancestor's expectations.
The next box was the oddest of all, as its exterior was densely encased in seals. Inside, something significant seemed to be sealed, yet the seals weren't difficult to break—simply tearing off the sealing strip would suffice.
Given how easily the ancestor left these seals, it's likely that the contents inside posed no real threat to Li Family descendants. Li Xing, after a bit of contemplation, reached out and removed the sealing strip.
As the lid opened, a wave of heat washed over her, and within, a bright flame leapt out from the box, dancing around Li Xing's Divine Sense affectionately.
"Abnormal Fire!"
Abnormal Fire, which only the Li Family ancestors with Nascent Soul level or above cultivation could borrow from the clan treasury to nurture within their Dantian. Li Xing, being of lower cultivation, had previously only been envious.
She had seen the family's Abnormal Fire, and anything as large as an oil lamp was already considered top-grade. Yet, before her now was one as large as a basketball, shaped like a lotus bud.
Sensing Li Xing's Divine Sense observing it, the Abnormal Fire grew more excited, the flame petals unfurling layer by layer, its colors shifting endlessly among red, orange, purple, green, and white.
Li Xing was instantly starry-eyed: "—Wow!"
The Abnormal Fire, after fully showcasing itself and seeing no response from Li Xing, panicked. A spark darted toward her, and before she could evade it, Li Xing felt a sudden, sharp pain in her Divine Sense, followed by a new connection.
"Did it really recognize me as its master?"
Li Xing was taken aback, everyone knew Abnormal Fire was wild and hard to tame. Yet this one actively recognized her as its owner, almost impatiently.
Peering inside the box, Li Xing found it full of egg-like containers, unsure if something had hatched from within or if they had been broken by external force. Not one egg was whole, they were all shattered shells.
Li Xing muttered to herself, "Could it be that the Abnormal Fire hatched from the eggs? But with so many eggshells, how was only one born?"
The Lotus-like Abnormal Fire danced before Li Xing, and suddenly she heard a tender child's voice in her Divine Sense: "Not one, but three thousand!"
Li Xing: (((;꒪ꈊ꒪;)))!