Chapter 5: Innate Spirit Body

 

Tantai Ming hurriedly exclaimed, “Although our Lingqing Sect is currently thin on manpower and has fallen on hard times, we’re still a great sect with tens of thousands of years of heritage!”

 

“Even the Eight Major Sects outside have only been established for a few thousand years.”

 

“Especially our sect’s library, which surpasses those of the Eight Major Sects. It houses thousands upon thousands of books, including unique copies of ancient texts lost for millennia!”

 

He enthusiastically suggested, “Junior Sister, would you like to take a look? I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

 

The library?

 

Chu Sang’s interest was piqued.

 

Tianyan Sect’s library also had numerous books, but its collection wasn’t particularly extensive, especially regarding special texts on talismans, pills, and formations, which were scarce. Ordinary disciples could only borrow low-level books.

 

She wondered how this sect’s library would compare.

 

Tantai Ming noticed her curiosity. The black iron sword he had used earlier expanded in the wind until it was large enough to accommodate two people.

 

With a graceful leap onto the sword, he extended his hand to her, “Come on, Junior Sister, I’ll take you there!”

 

Chu Sang gave him a deadpan look, “Can I really trust you?”

 

Tantai Ming pulled her onto the sword, “Trust your Seventh Senior Brother. Last time was just an accident!”

 

The two of them flew off to the library at breakneck speed.

 

Chu Sang experienced a cultivator’s version of a roller coaster.

 

“Urgh~”

 

Upon arrival, she nearly vomited.

 

Indeed, men’s words are deceptive.

 

After regaining her composure, Chu Sang followed Tantai Ming into the library. The look of astonishment never left her face.

 

Although Lingqing Sect was an obscure small sect, the library was impressively large, boasting nine floors!

 

The libraries of the Eight Major Sects had only five floors at most, and each floor occupied merely half the area of Lingqing Sect’s library… Chu Sang sensed that this sect wasn’t as simple as she had thought. Perhaps it truly was a once-great sect from millennia ago, now fallen into decline, which was somewhat lamentable.

 

Chu Sang spent the entire day immersed in the library. During this time, Tantai Ming stepped out once, but she paid no attention, fully engrossed in the sea of books, tirelessly exploring.

 

From the first floor to the sixth, she missed nothing.

 

Mental cultivation methods, swordsmanship, pill refining, artifact crafting, talisman drawing…

 

The library had it all.

 

Whenever she encountered interesting texts or techniques, Chu Sang studied them with great interest. Despite her extraordinary ability to speed-read and her photographic memory, after a whole day, she had only skimmed a small fraction of the vast collection.

 

Chu Sang decided that the library would be her new home, but unfortunately, she could only borrow books up to the sixth floor.

 

Tantai Ming had warned her beforehand that ordinary disciples couldn’t borrow books from above the sixth floor.

 

Even so, the collection below the sixth floor was astonishingly vast, including many high-level texts and long-lost ancient copies. Although Chu Sang was fascinated by all the immortal techniques, the path of cultivation required gradual progress. She couldn’t aim too high too soon. Her immediate priority was to improve her talisman skills.

 

She had already thoroughly read the basic talisman books.

 

Wanting to learn some advanced talisman techniques, she picked up a mid-level talisman jade slip and pressed it to her forehead. The next second, a sharp pain stabbed through her mind, forcing her to withdraw.

 

Chu Sang realized that her comprehension was lacking.

 

She could only memorize the contents of the talisman text for now and ponder them slowly as her understanding improved.

 

Time flew by, and Chu Sang heard Tantai Ming calling her from outside. She looked out the window to see it was already dark.

 

She rubbed her sore temples, picked out two more jade slips, stuffed them into her spatial bag, tidied up, and left the library.

 

“Seventh Senior Brother.”

 

She jogged over to walk alongside him.

 

“Junior Sister, you didn’t spend the whole day in the library, did you?”

 

“What’s wrong with that?”

 

“How can you stare at such dull things for so long?” Tantai Ming scratched his head, incredulous. “When Master was still around, she always urged us to study in the library, but I get a headache just looking at those dense characters. I can’t read a bit of it…”

 

Tsk, this senior brother was quite lazy.

 

If he didn’t work hard while young, he might lose his head to the male protagonist later on!

 

Chu Sang decided to motivate her Seventh Senior Brother to work hard with her.

 

She was determined to help him escape a tragic fate!

 

“Growl~”

 

She patted her stomach, feeling hungry.

 

Alright, before starting any rigorous study, she needed to eat her fill first.

 

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one could live without food, but Chu Sang still needed three meals a day. Tantai Ming, having long since reached Foundation Establishment, had unconsciously forgotten this important matter. Seeing his junior sister looking famished, he suddenly realized and slapped his forehead, “Junior Sister, wait for me a moment!”

 

He dashed off and returned shortly after.

 

Tantai Ming jumped off his flying sword, one hand holding a bag of rice and the other a string of fresh, beast meat.

 

When Chu Sang opened the rice bag, the rich aroma of spirit rice infused with a hint of spiritual energy immediately whetted her appetite.

 

It was spirit rice!

 

Cultivating spirit rice required special spirit soil and fields, irrigated by spiritual springs, and monitored day and night by dedicated wood-type cultivators. The requirements for temperature, soil quality, and fertilizer were extremely stringent… In short, producing a single acre of spiritual rice demanded significant financial and labor investment.

 

Due to the difficulty in cultivation and low yield, spirit rice was extremely expensive on the market. A hundred or so spirit stones could only buy a fist-sized portion.

 

The spirit rice Tantai Ming brought back was of the highest quality, something she had rarely eaten even in Tianyan Sect.

 

The beast meat wasn’t the common pork or lamb found in markets, but delicious demon beast meat. When cultivators ate it, it wouldn’t produce impurities in their bodies that could hinder future cultivation. On the contrary, the spiritual energy in the demon beast meat could help strengthen the body.

 

Chu Sang couldn’t help but feel touched. Even as a direct disciple in Tianyan Sect, she never had such good treatment. Unexpectedly, in this small sect, she felt like the cherished junior sister.

 

To express her gratitude, Chu Sang showcased her culinary skills and prepared a sumptuous feast.

 

“It smells so good…” Tantai Ming gulped. As soon as Chu Sang set the dishes on the table, he pounced on the food like a hungry dog, devouring it like a swarm of locusts. “This is delicious! Way better than Second Senior Brother’s cooking. It’s truly the best meal I’ve ever had in my life!”

 

Seeing his exaggerated expression, Chu Sang couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth, “Surely it’s not that extreme.”

 

“Is Second Senior Brother’s cooking really that bad?”

 

Tantai Ming put down his chopsticks, his face solemn and eyes filled with pity. “I almost got poisoned by his cooking when I first joined the sect. That’s why I forced myself to break through to Foundation Establishment within a year.”

 

Chu Sang was shocked. Could it be that extreme? Then she thought something was amiss. “Wait, Senior Brother, didn’t you say the sect hasn’t recruited new members for ten years?”

 

“You broke through to Foundation Establishment in a year, but now you’re still at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Does that mean you made no progress in nine years?”

 

Moreover, ten years ago, he was only about seven years old. Breaking through to Foundation Establishment at such a young age was almost as monstrous as Mo Qingchen’s talent. How could he have made no progress in nine years?

 

” I have an Innate Spirit Body.” He burped.

 

Chu Sang then remembered that while Tantai Ming’s spiritual roots weren’t top-tier compared to the geniuses of the Eight Major Sects, his constitution was a rare spirit body, seen only once in a millennium.

 

What did being born with an innate spirit body mean? One could increase their cultivation just by eating, drinking, and sleeping. As long as one put in a bit of effort and didn’t slack off, their cultivation would advance rapidly, leaving others far behind.

 

Chu Sang looked at her Seventh Senior Brother with a complex expression. It seemed he had been forced to work hard in his first year and had been slacking off for the next nine years.

 

This wouldn’t do.

 

Thinking of the innate spirit body, Chu Sang recalled something else.

 

Though a spirit body was indeed a blessing, throughout history, such gifts had often attracted jealousy and were coveted by others.

 

In the original story, Tantai Ming fell into despair due to love troubles and eventually turned to the dark path. However, the true reason he fell into the demonic path was that in a secret realm, a demon lord’s remnant soul coveted his spirit body. Tantai Ming, lacking the strength to resist, was possessed.

 

“…” Thinking of this, Chu Sang’s heart suddenly sank.

 

“Junior Sister, what are you thinking about?”

 

Tantai Ming waved his hand in front of her face.