Chapter 69: Qi Refining Level Two and the Silver-White Specks

The key question is why she has no such memory inheritance, while Jin Tong Mu does.

Are human-shaped souls discriminated against?

Su Jin didn’t just think it—she said it out loud.

Jin Tong Mu sent a thought back, speechless: “I’m a tree—I can inherit more memories. What about you? With your fragile little brain, how much memory inheritance can you even handle? Do you want your brain to burst from inherited memories?”

“Jin Tong Mu, I think you’re starting to sound more human,” Su Jin said.

Jin Tong Mu ignored her again.

Su Jin squatted on the ground, stroking the little gourd sprout, sensing its dazed, Mengdong state; she sent it a thought: “Hello.”

“Yi yi lo.”

“Do you remember your name?”

“Yi yi lo.”

Su Jin sweat. This little thing couldn’t even send a coherent thought—just blurted nonsense in its mind: “Yi yi lo.”

“What’s wrong with it? Seems dumber than Xue Chi Luo?”

“It was sealed for too long—its spirit was damaged. Just being alive is a miracle. Wait till it grows a bit more, then let Xue Chi Luo teach it,” Jin Tong Mu added.

Su Jin accepted the thought and nodded. “As long as it doesn’t stay dumb forever.”

“Bu Satan isn’t dumb,” Jin Tong Mu emphasized.

Su Jin decided to leave this topic for later, once Bu Satan grew up.

What if it’s neither dumb nor smart?

Besides Bu Satan, the gourd vines in the southwest corner had already grown into a dense patch. The twelve tallest vines reached half a person’s height.

Seeing those gourd vines, Su Jin thought of the red ginseng she’d planted outside.

“Jin Tong Mu, I have a question.”

“What question?”

“Jin Tong Mu, I planted some red ginseng.”

But when they mature at year’s end, I’ll have to harvest them.”

The problem is, I’ve noticed they’re unusually spirited—I’m afraid they’ll develop sentience when they mature.”

If they gain sentience and I harvest them anyway, that would be such a waste.”

But if I don’t harvest them, that won’t work either.”

Because they’re my assigned task—I must return them when mature.”

What should I do?” Su Jin voiced her dilemma.

“You want to keep their sentience separately?” Jin Tong Mu asked.

“Yes—but is that possible?” Su Jin asked again.

“First, have Xue Chi Luo cultivate them into Wu Soldiers. After you harvest them, bring them into Xiao Wu Tian. I’ll extract their spirit or sentience and nurture it inside my trunk for seven days.”

During those seven days, find enough red ginseng seeds.”

I’ll inject their spirit or sentience into the new seeds.”

When they sprout again, your Wu Soldiers will regenerate.”

“Wait—you mean if they’re cultivated into Wu Soldiers, they can regenerate?” Su Jin seized on the key point.

“Yes. Once they become Wu Soldiers, they’re far harder to kill,” Jin Tong Mu said.

“Will their spirit be damaged when you extract it?” Su Jin pressed.

“No. When I take it and nurture it inside me, their spirit and sentience won’t be harmed. Any new Wu Soldiers you create must come here to be nurtured first. Once I’ve finished, you take them out. If they die in battle, their spirit and sentience return to me.”

“When you bring new seeds, I’ll inject their spirit or sentience into them, and they’ll wait to sprout.”

“So my Wu Soldiers can be resurrected infinitely?” Su Jin realized.

“Not infinitely. Wu Soldiers can die in body, or in spirit and sentience. If spirit and sentience are damaged, they can still be resurrected. But if their spirit and sentience are absorbed or refined by something, they’re gone forever. If they don’t return, how can they be resurrected?”

“So when using your Wu Soldiers, avoid anything that specifically drains spirit and sentience.”

“I understand,” Su Jin silently memorized Jin Tong Mu’s warning.

Su Jin’s consciousness returned from Xiao Wu Tian—her sister-in-law had already called her for meals.

After dinner, she resumed her spell practice.

Every day at the clan school, she cultivated the Entangling Spell; at night, she practiced the Extracting Wood Essence Spell.

Though she’d memorized the incantation perfectly, she’d never practiced it on a real tree—she still felt uncertain.

She’d wanted to practice on Jin Tong Mu, but as soon as Jin Tong Mu sensed her intent, it stabbed her out with its roots.

Hmph!!

So what if you’ve got roots? Big deal?

In a few more days, she’d be able to leave the city with her elder brother.

But in the middle of the night, she suddenly woke up—something that had never happened before.

Su Jin woke up dazed, and only after a while realized she’d awakened because she was about to break through to Qi Refining Level Two.

So abrupt.

But her soul force was already swelling, pushing her toward breakthrough.

She calmed down, sat cross-legged, and prepared to guide her soul force forward.

At the instant of breaking through to Qi Refining Level Two, her soul threads surged—dozens more burst from her soul body, over one hundred and fifty to sixty threads exploding outward, making her feel like a monster!

Besides the surge in soul threads, Xiao Wu Tian also expanded.

The space, once five or six mu, now stretched to eight or nine mu. Jin Tong Mu seemed to have grown taller again.

Xiao Wu Tian seemed to have birthed numerous silver-white specks during her ascension.

The silver-white specks drifted and fluttered randomly within Xiao Wu Tian.

Some were absorbed by the gourd vines, others by Bu Satan.

Bu Satan, no longer sluggish, darted in and out of the soil, snatching the silver-white specks just before they touched the ground.

One caught, one swallowed.

The gourd vines, unable to move, absorbed far fewer specks.

After stabilizing her Qi Refining Level Two cultivation base, Su Jin fell back into deep sleep.

The next day, she overslept—luckily, her sister-in-law spotted it and yanked her up; otherwise, she’d have been late for school.

Still, Su Jin remembered to bring the Heartstone Blueberry Dew for everyone.

After finishing her General Knowledge class and moving to the Third Hall, she distributed the Heartstone Blueberry Dew.

She collected six hundred spirit stones in return.

“Big Sister Jin, this spirit dew is incredibly high quality,” Su Linyuan sniffed lightly from the opened vial and immediately felt his body relaxed, his blood and qi subtly increasing—he’d only just begun cultivating his Body Tempering art yesterday!!

“Don’t treat Heartstone Blueberry Dew like ordinary auxiliary material for Body Tempering,” Su Jin said. “Its effect is weak—maybe a slight boost to blood and qi, almost no impact on overall cultivation progress. I’ve tried it—drinking it daily is worse than Ice-Chen Dew.”