Chapter 9: Heavenly Fire Spiritual Root, Superior Talent

Jiang Yishen looked doubtfully at his palm.

“…I’ve been studying this spell for a day. Miss Ning, did you learn it just by looking?”

Ning Yue shyly scratched her head: “No, I just repeated your movements. I wasn’t very confident, it was all luck.”

Jiang Yishen smiled, remaining silent, fully understanding the reason why Ning Yue had obtained the direct disciple token.

He considered himself to have exceptional talent in cultivation, and calling himself a genius wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Until he saw Ning Yue, he understood what a true genius was.

As Jiang Yishen was contemplating, cracks appeared on Ning Yue’s shield.

Ning Yue thoughtfully observed: “…Is it because my cultivation level is too low?”

The plants here were attacking fiercely, confirming that the center of the secret realm was indeed here.

The problem was how to get in.  Being blocked outside wasn’t a solution.

Ning Yue tried to take a step forward

The moment she moved, the shield shattered at a visible speed.

“Damn”

Their bodies were suddenly exposed.

The leaves attacked rapidly!

There was no time to condense another shield!

Ning Yue closed her eyes, preparing to take a few blows.

She instinctively raised her arms to protect her face, but her body was suddenly covered.

Jiang Yishen quickly stepped forward, spreading his arms to shield Ning Yue, completely protecting her from exposure.

He used himself as a shield.

Those leaves were incredibly fast and sharp.

Ning Yue had been slightly grazed earlier, and the wound was deep.

Jiang Yishen directly blocked her, and the extent of his injuries was imaginable.

His originally white clothes were now completely crimson, torn and tattered, looking terrifying.

Ning Yue’s heart tightened, and she raised her hand to create a shield.

An unusually bright light shone, even slowing down the speed of the leaves.

“Why did you block me?!”

“Cough… fortunately…” Jiang Yishen ignored her rebuke, speaking softly, coughing up a mouthful of blood, “…fortunately you weren’t injured.”

The shield Ning Yue created this time was extremely sturdy, completely covering them both, and the leaves left no marks on it.

Ning Yue’s face darkened, and she reached out to support Jiang Yishen: “How are you? Can you still stand?”

“…I’m fine,” Jiang Yishen smiled and shook his head, “I’m a Wood Spirit Root cultivator, I can self-heal.”

“Even if you’re wood, you can’t be cut up like this!”

Ning Yue looked up at the menacing forest, the leaves still attacking relentlessly.

She narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice to Jiang Yishen.

“What would happen if we accidentally burned this place?”

Jiang Yishen hesitated for a moment, “I’ve never heard of anything like that.  Regardless of the plants’ strength, ordinary flames might not work on them. Even if they could be burned, we don’t have a fire source right now.”

Ning Yue didn’t speak, as if she hadn’t heard.

She extended her right index finger and slowly drew a circle in the air.

Jiang Yishen watched incomprehensibly.  After a few seconds, his eyes widened slowly.

A small flame suddenly ignited at Ning Yue’s slender index finger

Jiang Yishen looked at the flame at her fingertip and stammered: “Ning… Miss Ning, are you a dual spirit root cultivator?”

Ning Yue didn’t turn around, simply giving a noncommittal hum.

Then, to Jiang Yishen’s shock, the flame grew larger and larger.

Emitting a scorching white light.

This showed just how high the temperature of this fireball was.

Ning Yue held the giant fireball at her fingertip, looking at the plants with a challenging gaze.

She steadied her feet, raised her arms, and prepared to throw the terrifying-looking fireball.

“I’ll spare your lives if you break your own roots”

The moment she finished speaking, the leaves stopped attacking.

…

Ning Yue raised an eyebrow, observing, but didn’t remove the spiritual energy shield.

Then, strangely

A large area of trees in front of them uniformly snapped in half at the waist…

The heavy trees fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Ning Yue closed her eyes and coughed twice. When she opened them again, broken branches and leaves were scattered everywhere, a scene of devastation.

Ning Yue: “…”

Jiang Yishen: “…”

She held the fireball, unsure whether to throw it.

“…That wasn’t me,” Ning Yue explained, “They broke themselves, it’s not my fault.”

Jiang Yishen paused for a moment: “…Mm, I’ll vouch for you.”

Ning Yue frowned and stepped forward, kicking a broken branch with her toe: “What’s going on? Were they really that scared?”

Jiang Yishen walked around the fallen branches: “This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.”

His gaze fell softly on Ning Yue. Ning Yue waited for him to speak, but Jiang Yishen silently lowered his gaze.

You should at least say something…

Ning Yue said dryly: “…I was just trying to scare them. Who knew they were so easily scared? I didn’t even do anything, and they broke themselves.”

Amidst the devastation, a small sapling in the center was emitting a soft green glow.

Ning Yue walked over: “This must be it?”

Jiang Yishen knelt down and examined it: “That’s right. Putting your hand on it should allow us to leave this secret realm.”

Ning Yue nodded and placed her hand on the sapling with Jiang Yishen.

The moment their figures disappeared, the dense trees that had been broken in half restored themselves to their original state.

…

“Oh, someone passed the first secret realm so quickly.”

In the Fusang Sect’s council hall, several elders were idly scattered, waiting for news from the trials.

The Formation Elder looked at the ranking in disbelief.

“That’s Ning Yue, she’s broken the Fusang Sect’s record for the first trial.”

“In just one hour”

As soon as he said this, the previously idle elders rushed to the front, staring intently at the ranking.

The top two names Ning Yue and Jiang Yishen.

Their names were green, while the names of those still in the trial were red.

The Enforcement Elder stroked his beard: “I knew this girl was extraordinary, but I didn’t expect her to break the record right away, a quarter of an hour faster than Shi Yinghan.”

“But who is this Jiang Yishen? I’ve never heard of him.”

The Formation Elder chuckled: “That’s because you didn’t watch the trial mirror stones, so you don’t know what happened.”

The Alchemist Elder ignored him and kicked him in the knee: “Don’t beat around the bush.”

The Formation Elder cried out, rubbing his knee, “Believe it or not, I’ll trap you in a maze for three days and three nights.”

The Enforcement Elder couldn’t wait any longer and pulled the two apart: “Can you just tell us?”

The Formation Elder snorted, crossing his arms.

“Although that boy is from the lower realm, he’s quite talented and will surely achieve great things in the future. But passing the trial wasn’t his doing. It was Ning Yue who used a fireball to scare the leaf-needle trees, allowing them to pass so quickly.”

Several elders: “…”

They didn’t know what to say.

The Formation Elder looked thoughtfully at the mirror stone.

“Flames that can scare leaf-needle trees… It seems Ning Yue has an exceptional Fire Spirit Root, with extremely high talent.”