Chapter 11: He Feared Someone Would Compete for His Disciple

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Li Tianhen looked at Si Nansheng, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and raised his hand to examine her dantian. To his surprise, he was momentarily stunned. In his experience, he had never seen such a spiritual root before. Inside Si Nansheng’s dantian bloomed a half-opened azure lotus, upon which floated eight luminous orbs of different colors. Ordinary people’s spiritual roots didn’t look like this, did they?

“Master, am I still normal?” Si Nansheng looked at Li Tianhen with a tearful and helpless expression.

“You should be considered normal… I suppose,” Li Tianhen replied slowly. He had never seen such a spiritual root and wasn’t sure if it counted as normal. However, he could sense that Si Nansheng’s dantian was brimming with spiritual energy, so there shouldn’t be any major issues.

He proceeded to examine Si Nansheng’s meridians and was immediately astonished. Not only were all the meridians fully restored, but they were also much wider than those of ordinary people. Could this be due to the spiritual herbs and flowers she had consumed?

“Master, saying I’m ‘normal’ sounds a bit unconvincing,” Si Nansheng’s lips twitched slightly. She felt her master was a bit unreliable.

“Well, what can I do? Even I haven’t seen such a spiritual root!” Li Tianhen shrugged awkwardly.

“Ah? Master, you’ve never seen it before? Does that mean I’m hopeless?” Si Nansheng whimpered as if the sky was falling.

“Other than the shape being different, there’s nothing abnormal. Don’t worry too much. If there’s a problem, inform me promptly. Now that your spiritual root and meridians are repaired, you must cultivate diligently. If you can’t persist, tell me, and I will find refining herbs for you,” Li Tianhen patted Si Nansheng’s head. She nodded firmly. Having a second chance at life, she had never thought of giving up. Even if her spiritual root had eight attributes, she could still reach the highest realm!

“Master, can you tell what quality my spiritual root is?” Si Nansheng asked.

“It should be considered high-grade,” Li Tianhen said, propping his chin with one hand as he examined her spiritual root. To be honest, this was his first time seeing such a root, but he could still gauge its quality. The eight elemental roots were of equal quality, and although it was a high-grade root, it was excellent for Si Nansheng.

“When you first arrived, I didn’t know what to give you. Now that you can cultivate, I can present you with the apprentice gift. Keep these items well. If you lack anything in the future, just tell me,” Li Tianhen said as he produced a storage pouch for Si Nansheng. After a moment’s hesitation, she accepted it.

“There’s also these. I don’t know if they’ll be useful to you—take a look yourself,” Li Tianhen said, handing over two boxes. One emitted an icy aura, the other a blazing heat.

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“Master, what’s inside these?” Si Nansheng felt cautious and didn’t take them, looking to Li Tianhen for explanation.

“Fire spirit and ice spirit. They were originally meant for your senior brothers. Your second and fifth senior brothers have fire elemental roots, but they politely declined the fire spirit. As for the ice spirit, it was for your fourth senior brother, but since his dual water-ice elemental roots are both top-grade, using the ice spirit would imbalance their quality. So it became useless. You see if they have any effect on you,” Li Tianhen explained.

He opened the boxes, and before Si Nansheng could approach, the faint blue and red flames intertwined and surged toward her dantian.

“Ma… master…” Si Nansheng stared blankly at her abdomen, as if suddenly enlightened, then sat cross-legged. A flame instantly enveloped her, accompanied by a rising chill.

Li Tianhen’s eyes widened sharply. The flames within the ice did not vanish; instead, they burned even more fiercely.

“What kind of prodigy have I taken as my disciple?” Li Tianhen sighed deeply.

He lost interest in reading or drinking tea and watched Si Nansheng eagerly. As the flames and ice gradually faded, her aura rose from the first to the sixth layer of the Qi Refining stage.

“Master, my spiritual root changed again,” Si Nansheng said, opening her eyes. She was more concerned with her spiritual root than her realm.

Li Tianhen examined her spiritual root. The red and white orbs now shone even brighter, and the details inside became clear: a cluster of small flickering flames in the fire root and a slowly rotating ice flower in the ice root. Both emitted continuous spiritual energy, making Li Tianhen’s eyes sparkle.

“Disciple, do you know your current cultivation level?” Li Tianhen looked down at her as she hurriedly checked her status.

“Qi Refining stage, sixth layer?”

Goodness, what a speed of cultivation!

“That’s right, sixth layer of Qi Refining. Not only has your cultivation improved, but the fire and ice attributes in your spiritual root have also been elevated to top-grade. With this, when the secret realm trial opens in just over two months, you can go with your fourth and fifth senior brothers.”

“Master, can I really go?” Si Nansheng’s eyes shone brightly. She had been wondering how she could enter the secret realm, and now her master had volunteered to let her go, saving her a lot of trouble.

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“Of course you can. You’re my disciple, why wouldn’t you go? But for now, no one can know your true cultivation level,” Li Tianhen said, beginning to think of something to help his precious disciple hide her power. Having just healed her spiritual root and meridians, she had already reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining—this would surely frighten others. He was afraid someone might try to steal his disciple!

“Hm?” He looked at Si Nansheng. Just moments ago, she was at the sixth layer, but now she was at the second layer.

“Master, it seems the fire and ice spirits are helping me conceal my aura. With this, can anyone detect my real cultivation?” Si Nansheng asked, glancing down at her abdomen.

Li Tianhen snapped back to reality: “...No, that’s good.” Even he hadn’t noticed it, so others shouldn’t be able to detect it either.

“I’ve already notified your fourth and fifth senior brothers to return. Before going to the secret realm, get familiar with them,” Li Tianhen said, nodding with satisfaction. He had taken her in initially because of her resilient character and because she had once saved him with a medicine. He hadn’t expected she’d be such a prodigy!

“All right, Master, I’ll go back to cultivate now.”

“Wait, you need to come with me first.”

“Master, where to?”

“To the Saint Heaven Sect to retrieve your soul lantern. You’re no longer part of the sect, so your soul lantern shouldn’t remain there.”

Actually, Li Tianhen had planned to visit the Saint Heaven Sect a few days ago. But knowing his little disciple would want to reclaim her belongings, he had been waiting for her.

“Soul lantern?” Si Nansheng’s heart tightened suddenly.

“Yes, having your soul lantern with you allows me to rest assured when you travel far,” Li Tianhen said, rubbing her head affectionately.

“Master, you don’t have to go.”

“Why not?”