Chapter 1: Transported into a Novel
1020 Words
Xie Yuqing was now six years old, and for half of the past four years, Fu Lingjin had been staying at her house, revolving around her constantly. Whatever treasures the elders of the Fu family gave to Fu Lingjin—be it spirit stones, toys, or protective talismans—she would demand an identical set for Xie Yuqing. If she couldn’t get them, she would give her own to Xie Yuqing instead.
Xie Yuqing refused everything. To her, these gifts were death traps. They were meant to buy her life, and she wouldn’t accept any of them.
Her philosophy was simple: Stay far away from the heroine to stay safe. A cannon fodder’s life is precious.
Originally, Xie Yuqing had tried to avoid the Floating Dust Sect by requesting to join a different sect, but her elders and Fu Lingjin’s mother had intervened, and now she found herself standing behind Fu Lingjin, waiting for her turn to have her spiritual roots tested.
No matter. Let them test me.
Xie Yuqing had a plan. According to the novel, her roots would show as subpar three-element roots, which would land her in the outer sect, far away from Fu Lingjin. Perfect.
After all, Fu Lingjin, as the novel’s heroine, had a single water root of the highest quality. There was no way she wouldn’t be accepted into the inner sect as a personal disciple.
As long as Xie Yuqing remained in the outer sect, she would avoid getting entangled in any of the heroine’s dangerous adventures. By the time Fu Lingjin had to enter the secret realm, Xie Yuqing’s low cultivation would give her a perfect excuse to stay behind, safe from her original fate.
Her plan was perfect.
But life doesn’t always go according to plan.
The Floating Dust Sect’s testing artifact was a towering Spirit Measuring Stone. It looked like an ordinary gray stone, but it was filled with spiritual energy and had been used for thousands of years without error.
Fu Lingjin went first, placing her small hand on the stone. A dark blue beam of spiritual energy shot up, nearly reaching the top of the stone.
The sect’s steward showed no surprise, merely offering a few words of praise. “Very impressive.”
“Fu Lingjin, eight years old. Supreme-grade water root, value of ninety-six.”
It wasn’t unusual. The Floating Dust Sect was full of talent. Single-element and dual-element geniuses numbered in the thousands, and every ten years, dozens or even hundreds of them would join the sect.
Even among the children tested today, there was a boy with a rare lightning root valued at ninety-four. The steward himself had dual gold and wood roots, with values of eighty-six and seventy-eight, making him a superior dual-element cultivator.
This generation of children had been born in a time of prosperity. A spiritual phenomenon called the "Hundred-Year Flourishing" was underway, which occurred once every thousand years. During this period, spiritual energy surged, and the children born during this time naturally had higher potential.
In short, Xie Yuqing’s generation had been born under a lucky star.
Next, it was Xie Yuqing’s turn. She dutifully placed her hand on the stone, expecting her subpar roots to show.
Instead, two beams of different colors shot up, both reaching the top of the stone.
Xie Yuqing: What’s happening?
The steward, this time showing genuine surprise, said, “Now that’s something rare.”
“Xie Yuqing, six years old. Supreme-grade ice and fire dual roots, both valued at one hundred.”
Wait, what? Had her spiritual roots changed?
Xie Yuqing stared at her hand in disbelief, then looked down at the dark purple jade pendant at her waist. It showed no signs of anything unusual.
The contrasting silver and fiery red of herXie Yuqing lowered her head to look at her own hand, full of disbelief. Then she looked again at the dark purple jade pendant hanging from her waist. The jade pendant showed no abnormalities.
A silver-white and a fiery red—two very distinct colors—made quite a contrast, and as they were compared, they became even more conspicuous. The crowd in the square saw it and immediately began murmuring. The sound of chatter exploded in the air.
“An ice-fire dual root? I’ve lived for hundreds of years and never seen this before.”
“Ice and fire are mutually opposing; it will hinder her cultivation.”
“But this is Fuchenzong testing its disciples. Fuchenzong has stood in the Fu Hua World for tens of thousands of years without falling, always maintaining its reputation as the number one sect. Dealing with opposing spiritual roots is no big deal—they’ve got plenty of ways to suppress it. This little girl has boundless potential.”
“I’ve never heard of any cultivator with ice-fire dual roots ascending. Even if they are top-grade heavenly roots with perfect scores, they’re not far from being useless.”
“Well, whether or not she ascends, I’m pretty sure she’ll be admitted into Fuchenzong’s inner sect. After all, her roots are both full-score, top-grade spiritual roots.”
“Even so, who knows? This is the flourishing era. Exceptional dual spiritual roots aren’t exactly rare among the children of this generation. What if the big shots in Fuchenzong don’t like her because her roots are too troublesome to cultivate?”
The crowd said all sorts of things. Besides marveling at the rarity of ice-fire dual roots, they boiled the discussion down to two key points.
First, there was heated debate on whether Xie Yuqing was a genius or just a piece of scrap. Some people believed she was an extraordinary genius, while others did not think highly of her ice-fire dual roots. Even though both were top-grade spiritual roots with a perfect score, they still considered her useless.
Second, people were intensely curious about whether she would be admitted into Fuchenzong’s inner sect. Opinions varied on that as well.
At this moment, Xie Yuqing wasn’t aware of any of this. She and Fu Lingjin were led to a nearby pavilion where the selected disciples could rest.
- Writer
