Chapter 6: Obtaining the Golden Finger, This Time It’s Not a Loss

Xie Jiuniang returned and gave the Spirit Cleansing Herb to Xie Ying. The first thing she did was to activate the isolation formation in her courtyard, blocking any probing from the outside world.

She meticulously inspected the items she had taken from Xie Ying one by one.

Xie Ying, being from a capable maternal family and having an older brother, possessed many valuable items. Apart from thousands of spirit stones, the market value of the magic tools, medicinal pills, and talismans alone exceeded 10,000.

There were five large chests filled with exquisite jewelry and daoist robes.

As for the pills suitable for increasing cultivation speed in the Qi Refining stage, such as the Qi Nourishing Pill for the early stage and the Spirit Gathering Pill for the later stage, there was an ample supply, enough for one person to cultivate until the Foundation Establishment stage.

People truly cannot be compared to one another.

The more Xie Jiuniang compared, the angrier she became. With such abundant resources, what kind of mentality did the Main Branch have to exploit a child like her?

Xie Jiuniang was unaware that these resources were sent back by Xie Haoran, who was far away in the Tianxu Sect,^[1]Sky Void Sect through Lin Wangchen.

Finally, she selected three items that caught her attention.

Apart from the small leaf accessory from before, there was also an ancient-looking token and a golden stone block.

These three items were the ones she couldn’t decipher at the moment.

If there truly was an extraordinary opportunity hidden on Xie Ying’s body, these three items had the highest possibility.

Xie Jiuniang picked up the token.

The material of the token was unknown. The front was engraved with two ancient characters that Xie Jiuniang couldn’t recognize; the back had a pattern of a large tree, somewhat resembling the divine tree Fusang.^[2]Fusang: In Chinese mythology, Fusang is a divine tree that grows in the Eastern Paradise, representing the sun.

There were rumors that some ancient inheritance treasure grounds required a key to enter.

This token… she couldn’t be certain.

Xie Jiuniang tried inputting spiritual power, but it was blocked at the surface of the token. Using her spiritual sense to probe also yielded no abnormalities.

She dripped a drop of blood, but it slid off, unable to be absorbed into the token.

Could it be that she was overthinking?

Could this token be something used by ordinary people? Forget it, she would investigate it when she entered the sect.

Xie Jiuniang put the token away for now.

Looking at the golden stone, it was the size of a baby’s fist. She first performed a series of routine operations to claim ownership, but they all failed.

She simply took out her flying sword and chopped it!

It shattered?

Oh, it was just a useless ore, a fake item for show. She discarded it.

Out of the three items, one was eliminated, leaving only the leaf accessory.

The craftsmanship of the accessory was extremely exquisite. The small leaf inside the golden cage was fresh and verdant, with clear leaf veins, as if it had just been picked, indicating its extraordinary nature.

Apart from the special leaf, the rest was beautiful, but the materials were ordinary.

Xie Jiuniang dismantled the small golden lantern and took out the small leaf separately.

It felt cool to the touch, like jade.

She tried to break it with force, but it didn’t break.

She then input a wisp of spiritual power, and the leaf instantly absorbed it cleanly.

There was hope!

Xie Jiuniang was delighted.

She input more spiritual power, and it was absorbed again.

The small leaf seemed to be a bottomless pit, no matter how much spiritual energy was put in, it couldn’t be filled. As the spiritual energy increased, it did grow a tiny bit larger.

Experience told her that precious treasures should be claimed with blood as soon as possible.

A drop of fresh blood flew out.

The blood drop instantly merged into the small leaf.

Following that, Xie Jiuniang’s mind went blank, and countless unfamiliar images appeared out of nowhere, all memories from the perspective of the leaf.

In the initial memories, the small leaf had been drifting in a vast, boundless silver river.

It was like an illusion, with shimmering silver light.

The river flowed endlessly, deathly silent, rushing towards an unknown end.

During the long years of drifting, it would encounter mysterious flowing lights every once in a while, but nothing else.

Suddenly one day, the long river trembled, and the small leaf collided into a spatial crack, accidentally arriving in this world. Its owner changed from one to another, but no one had ever claimed ownership.

The innate treasure had been reduced to a mere ornament, passed around for thousands of years until it reached Xie Ying’s hands.

Now, it belonged to Xie Jiuniang!

However, why could she easily claim ownership with a drop of blood for a treasure that had never been claimed before?

Xie Jiuniang couldn’t help but think of her only difference.

Perhaps… maybe…

It was because of her rebirth?

Forget it, no need to dwell on it.

How she claimed ownership didn’t matter; as long as she could claim it, it was a huge surprise.

Xie Jiuniang had mixed in the sect for two hundred years in her previous life, so naturally, she knew that using blood to claim a treasure was only the initial step. It still needed to be completely refined and absorbed into the dantian^[3]The dantian is typically described as a vital point or an energy vortex located in the lower abdomen, around the naval area. It is an essential energy center or spiritual core within the body, and is … Continue reading to be nourished. Only then would it not be easily snatched by others.

However, to refine an innate treasure, a large amount of spiritual sense, which was the power of the soul, was required. The spiritual sense of the Qi Refining stage was not enough; she had to wait at least until after the Foundation Establishment stage to attempt it.

And that was just an attempt; success was not guaranteed.

However, what abilities did the small leaf have?

After studying it for a while, the small leaf in her palm gradually doubled in size after she input spiritual power with all her strength.

Then…? Xie Jiuniang extended her spiritual sense, enveloping the leaf. Suddenly, the leaf burst out with a silver-white light, engulfing her entire body.

In the silver light, Xie Jiuniang felt as if she was in another world, standing in a dazzling silver river, with surging water, like a dream.

There was no sound of water, extremely mysterious.

It was soul-stirring.

This scene was both familiar and unfamiliar!

It was familiar because she had seen it when sharing the small leaf’s memories. This was its birthplace, the River of Time that had only existed in legends for millions of years.^[4]River of Time: A legendary river that represents the flow of time itself.

Xie Jiuniang subconsciously raised her foot and took a small step forward…

Suddenly, an image flashed before her eyes.

It was herself in the bedroom, with someone outside triggering the formation… After just two breaths, the image disappeared. The silver light vanished along with it.

In an instant, Xie Jiuniang reappeared in the bedroom.

Just at this moment, the formation of the room was triggered. Was someone really coming?

Thinking of this…

Xie Jiuniang’s eyes suddenly widened!

Holy shit! Holy shit!!

Precognition?! The future?

Even if it was only two breaths, it was already heaven-defying! Not to mention the cost was merely consuming some spiritual energy?!

At this time, the small leaf lying in her palm had returned to its original size.

Xie Jiuniang was so excited that she danced with joy.

“I’m going to be rich, I’m going to be rich, hahaha, it’s the Time Leaf, a supreme treasure connected to the River of Time! Haha, this time it’s not a loss, not a loss! Hahahahaha…”

Until this moment, the resentment pent up in her chest finally dissipated.

She ignored the person outside.

Xie Jiuniang quickly sat down in meditation, took out the medicinal pills she had just obtained to restore her spiritual power, and planned to continue studying in a while.

After repeated confirmations, she finally figured out the small leaf’s abilities.

When in the River of Time, moving forward was precognition of the future, and moving backward was time rewind.

Precognition had certain limitations; it could only show the future of oneself.

Time rewind referred to the position where one stood. Within a certain range, events that had happened before would be replayed. For example, if Xie Jiuniang used time rewind in the bedroom, she could see what had happened in the bedroom in the previous quarter of an hour.

Time rewind consumed less than precognition.

With her cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, she could only predict two breaths, but she could sustain time rewind for a quarter of an hour.

It was a heaven-defying divine technique!

It could see the future and also know the past. Hehe, in the future, when killing people and seizing treasures, or rather, when looking for opportunities, it would be twice the result with half the effort.

Xie Jiuniang found a blessed pouch,^[5]A blessed pouch typically refers to a small bag or container that has been imbued with spiritual energy or blessed by a powerful cultivator or deity. It serves as a storage space for valuable or … Continue reading put the small leaf inside, and wore it around her neck.

“I still need to find a way to refine it as soon as possible.” As long as it wasn’t refined, there was always a possibility of it being snatched away.

In fact, Xie Jiuniang was worrying for nothing.

The Time Leaf had not been claimed by anyone for countless years, which was enough to indicate the problem. Xie Jiuniang’s successful claim of ownership was due to her personal luck; she had a strand of the origin of the space-time law on her body.^[6]Origin of the space-time law: A fundamental law that governs the workings of space and time in the universe.

In other words, apart from Xie Jiuniang, no one else in this world could make it acknowledge them as its owner.

It was just that Xie Jiuniang’s current knowledge was not enough to understand the reason behind it.

Xie Jiuniang didn’t go out. She took out a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills and chose to go into seclusion.

When one is weak, they are at the mercy of others.

She had to become stronger!

She had to stand at the pinnacle of the world!

Only in this way could she protect herself and guard her parents and loved ones.

So, by the time Xie Jiuniang stepped out of the bedroom again, more than half a month had passed. At the same time, she had also broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Fifth level!

She had advanced two realms consecutively!