During the period of changing spiritual roots, Fan Mingzhu was the one who received care, but she had to bear a spiritual root that was far stronger than her own capacity with her weak body, while Shi Xuan was the opposite.
Fan Mingzhu was like someone placing a huge iron pillar inside a small jar; the pillar was too heavy, and the jar was on the verge of collapse. When she first changed her spiritual root, its weakness wasn't yet apparent, but as her cultivation improved, her spiritual root gradually recovered, and now Fan Mingzhu was finding it difficult to bear the strain.
The Fiery Red Star, which she lost to Shi Xuan in the Six Sects Grand Competition, was eventually obtained by Fan Hongde, but even after using it, it was to no avail. It failed to provide any real benefit, causing her to experience excruciating pain every time she used her spiritual power, hindering her cultivation progress. Furthermore, she was gradually showing signs of her spiritual power dissipating.
At that moment, she got angry and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Junior Sister!" Gu Zhusheng was shocked and immediately helped Fan Mingzhu up and took her to Fan Hongde. Fan Hongde gave her a pill to treat her internal injuries, and then she fell into a deep sleep.
That night, Fan Mingzhu woke up in the middle of the night and sat on the bed, determined to practice her skills. However, the intense pain caused her to lose her balance and fall onto the bed.
She was unwilling, she felt nothing but unwillingness. The heavens were so unfair! She was born with inferior talent compared to others, and despite finally obtaining a top-grade fire spirit root, she couldn't fully integrate it. Why was the heavens treating her this way!
In contrast, Shi Xuan was born with a top-grade spiritual root. Even with a weak five spiritual root, she could still refine pills with the Radiant Light Dao Seal! In the Silver Frost Secret Realm last time, she was still able to fight back against herself!
Heaven seems to favor her; everything she does goes smoothly, while she herself is the one abandoned by Heaven.
Fan Mingzhu grew angrier and angrier, trapped in a dead end from which she could not escape.
Her eyes were bloodshot as she roared, "Heavenly Dao, you are so unjust! Why should I follow your laws of Heaven!"
If an outsider were here, they would surely see that Fan Mingzhu has already gone mad with demonic possession.
"Well said!" A weathered voice rang out beside her. "Why not abandon this Heavenly Way and cultivate another path instead!"
Fan Mingzhu was in a daze at the moment, and when she heard someone respond to her, she didn't care about the person's identity.
She raised her scarlet eyes to look at the newcomer, a thin, elderly man with white hair and beard. "If you don't respect the Way of Heaven, what can you cultivate?"
The old man said, "As long as you listen to me and cultivate the method I teach, your cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds, and the matter of your spiritual root will no longer pose any threat to you."
"Is this really true?" If she could truly get rid of the many troubles this spiritual root brought her, what would it matter if she went against the Heavenly Dao! The Heavenly Dao had been so unfair to her, why should she have to cater to this damned Heavenly Dao!
The old man patiently guided him: "As long as you heed the call of your deepest heart, you will have the power to suppress everything."
Fan Mingzhu was still in excruciating pain. She thought about her current state and then about the smug Shi Xuan. Could things get any worse? Without much hesitation, she made her decision.
"Alright!" Fan Mingzhu replied, "I will change my path from now on and see who comes out on top in the end!"
Even now, all she could think about was competing with Shi Xuan. She had imagined crushing Shi Xuan under her feet far too many times; the thought had become an obsession.
Having already given the old man a reply, Fan Mingzhu then remembered to ask, "Where did you come from? How should I address you?"
“My name is Tianjun. I am in the ring in your dressing box. Since you have agreed to change your path, take the ring out of the dressing box and wear it on your hand.”
Fan Mingzhu opened the makeup box on the table as he instructed. There were many rings inside, but she immediately recognized the one the old man was referring to as the most antique silver ring.
She saw this ring at her father's house when she was a child, and liked it at first sight. So she asked her father for it, but it was too big for her and had been sitting unused in her vanity case. She would take it out to look at it when she felt like it.
Fan Mingzhu took out the ring and, as Tianjun had instructed, performed a blood oath to bind it to her. After that, she put the ring on her hand, and it automatically adjusted to fit her size.
The next day, when Fan Hongde saw Fan Mingzhu again, he was surprised to find that she was in good condition, full of energy, and completely unlike the person who had vomited blood and fainted the day before.
Fan Mingzhu bowed to Fan Hongde and said, "Father."
Fan Hongde laughed heartily and said, "Zhu'er looks like she's resting well, that's exactly right, don't overthink it."
Fan Mingzhu asked cautiously, "My father once said he would help me kill Shi Xuan. When will we go? My senior brother who returned from Qingshui City said he saw Shi Xuan there. She went to the Azure Dragon Secret Realm after leaving Qingshui City."
"I'm just worried about leaving you home alone. What if things go like yesterday?"
“Father, there’s no need to worry,” Fan Mingzhu said quietly with a smile. “After last night, I’ve figured it out. I won’t use my spiritual power for a while and will focus on recuperating. But Shi Xuan is my biggest worry. I won’t be at ease until she’s dead. I’ll be worried day and night.”
"Pearl, don't worry. If you can calm down and stop getting angry, I will set off now to kill her for you."
"Father, you must be careful when you go out. Xuan has a lot of good things to save your life. Father should be fully prepared. Just like last time she attacked me, I used a teleportation talisman to escape. I guess she will also have some, and perhaps many treasures that we don't know about."
Fan Hongde nodded: "Don't worry, this time she'll have nowhere to escape!"
Fan Mingzhu smiled with satisfaction and said to Fan Hongde in a coquettish tone, "Father, I want to go to the back mountain of the sect to recuperate while you are away for a few days. The scenery there is beautiful and it is just right for me at this time."
Since Fan Mingzhu suffered a backlash from her spiritual root, it was rare to see her so calm and composed. Seeing Fan Mingzhu like this today, Fan Hongde naturally couldn't bear to spoil her mood, and he readily agreed to such a small request.
After the meeting, the father and daughter went their separate ways. Fan Hongde went to the Azure Dragon Secret Realm alone, while Fan Mingzhu led the Heavenly Army and, with the token given to her by Fan Hongde, entered the back mountain of the Divine Cauldron Sect.
Shi Xuan was still diligently studying formations. At least three years had passed in this trial, and Shi Xuan had not only learned fifth-order formations, but also had a good grasp of sixth-order formations, and had completely mastered directional teleportation formations.
For three years, Wanwusheng continuously absorbed the spiritual energy of the Wood Source Pearl, which also raised Shi Xuan's cultivation level to the third level of the Golden Core stage. This was because after entering the Golden Core stage, Shi Xuan consumed more spiritual energy for each level.
Three years in the illusion were only a dozen days in the outside world. With this in mind, Shi Xuan became even less anxious.
The stone slab had lost all will to live. It no longer thought about how to keep this person around to relieve its boredom; it only wanted to get her out as soon as possible. Staying here like this was painful for it every day. Besides, she only cared about cultivating and never played with it. What use was she?
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