Chapter 106: Bloodline Atavism

After leaving the Xu Family Pharmacy, Hua Changxi directly rode her Somersault Cloud back to Mount Wuzhi.

She now possessed a formula for a spiritual medicine capable of awakening the power of bloodline totems and wished to see if she could gather all the required spiritual herbs on Mount Wuzhi.

"Fairy!"

"Master!"

As soon as she arrived at Thumb Peak, the Mountain Spirit and the Welcoming Pine sensed Hua Changxi's return and immediately rushed to greet her.

Hua Changxi smiled at the two little ones: "Have you two been well during this time?"

The Mountain Spirit laughed: "We are doing just fine." Then he began to boast of his merits: "Fairy, Little Song and I helped An Ze and An Ran plant the spiritual rice; it will be ready for harvest in just over a month."

Little Song interjected: "Master, it was Little Song and the Mountain Spirit who helped set up the Spirit Gathering Array and the Spiritual Qi Barrier, and we cast the Spiritual Rain Technique in the fields every few days."

Hua Changxi praised them generously: "You have done wonderfully; you have worked hard. With your help keeping watch, I am much more at ease."

The Mountain Spirit and Little Song both narrowed their eyes with smiles, shaking their bodies and jumping up and down in extreme delight.

Hua Changxi took the Mountain Spirit and Little Song to inspect the fields where the spiritual rice was planted, where they happened upon An Ze and An Ran, who were guiding the villagers in pest control.

"Fairy, you have arrived!"

Seeing Hua Changxi, the brother and sister hurried forward.

Hua Changxi looked at them with a smile: "Your cultivation speed is quite fast; in just over four months, you have already reached the late stage of Qi Condensation."

An Ran quickly replied with a laugh: "The reason we cultivate so quickly is, first, the cultivation method the Fairy gave us is excellent; second, we have the guidance of the Mountain Spirit and Little Song; and third, the spiritual qi on Mount Wuzhi is too dense."

An Ze nodded: "Our conditions for cultivation are far better than those of cultivators outside."

Speaking of cultivators, Hua Changxi asked: "Have there been many cultivators entering and exiting Mount Wuzhi during this period?"

Since unlocking the Qihuang Hall and beginning to teach medicine in the Labor Hall, her daily cultivation speed had been increasing; she simply could not determine whether this growth stemmed from the incense faith on Mount Wuzhi or from spreading the Dao in the Labor Hall.

An Ran said: "Many; the number of cultivators has clearly increased significantly over the past two months."

Hua Changxi asked again: "Has anyone caused trouble?"

The Fire Lotus only served as a deterrent to those entering Mount Wuzhi; for those who did not enter and remained outside the mountain, it fell to the An Ze siblings to maintain stability.

During this visit, she noticed that houses were being constructed in many places outside Mount Wuzhi.

An Ran replied: "There have been a few incidents, but my brother and I are both cultivators, so we can handle them."

An Ze added: "Fairy, there is something I must report to you. As more and more people come to Mount Wuzhi, I discussed with several nearby village heads, and we decided to build some inns."

"This will, on one hand, increase the villagers' income, and on the other, provide a place for visitors to Mount Wuzhi to rest."

Hua Changxi affirmed: "You have done the right thing. Regarding stability outside Mount Wuzhi, since I have not been staying here, there are many areas I cannot attend to and many matters I cannot foresee. I rely on you to keep a closer watch."

Saying this, she took out four communication talismans and gave them to the Mountain Spirit, Little Song, An Ze, and An Ran.

"In the future, if anything happens, you can use these communication talismans to contact me."

The Mountain Spirit happily accepted the talisman: "Fairy, you know how to make spiritual talismans? There is a large grove of Talisman Trees dedicated to making talisman paper on the Ring Finger Peak of Mount Wuzhi."

Hua Changxi said: "I am too busy with too many things every day to have time to learn talisman crafting."

During this period, in order to unlock the Qihuang Hall, she had spent too much time on it; her rank as an alchemist was still stuck at Grade One, let alone learning other skills.

Hua Changxi looked at An Ze and An Ran, then took out a handwritten copy of "Introduction to the Four Arts" and handed it to them: "This book contains introductory teachings on alchemy, talisman crafting, artifact refining, and array formation; take it and study it."

An Ran and An Ze accepted "Introduction to the Four Arts" with joy: "Thank you, Fairy; we will study hard."

Led by An Ran and An Ze, Hua Changxi inspected all the spiritual rice fields, during which she also saw some other villagers.

The spiritual qi on Mount Wuzhi was dense; the overflowing qi could actually nourish the surrounding land, meaning many fields, with just a little tending, could become spiritual fields.

Hua Changxi thought for a moment, then said to An Ran and An Ze: "Do you still have the energy to teach the surrounding commoners how to plant spiritual rice?"

Hearing this, both An Ze and An Ran were delighted: "We have the energy."

After becoming cultivators, their lives had improved greatly, but the others in the village remained as they were; the brother and sister wished to help pull the villagers up, but since this was their own selfish desire, they had not dared to mention it to the Fairy.

Hua Changxi said: "If you have the spare capacity, you may teach the surrounding commoners to plant spiritual rice." She paused, then added, "The harvested spiritual rice can be brought to the shop for unified sale."

Looking at An Ze and An Ran, she continued: "Find some time to go into the city and see if there is a suitable shop; if there is, buy it directly. I want to open a Shennong Grain Shop dedicated to selling spiritual rice and spiritual grains."

Hua Changxi directly gave An Ze and An Ran banknotes worth five thousand taels of silver, telling them to keep the accounts in order.

"Teaching the planting of spiritual rice and grains, opening a shop, maintaining stability outside Mount Wuzhi—all these require manpower..."

Hua Changxi looked at An Ze and An Ran: "Is there anyone you particularly favor who would be suitable to follow us and handle these matters?"

An Ran nodded: "The villagers here are not afraid of hardship; they are all very grateful to the Fairy and wish to work for her."

Hua Changxi thought for a moment, then took out a Spirit Testing Stone, handed it to Little Song, and said to An Ze and An Ran: "Go and call over the villagers from the surrounding area who are capable of working, and let us test their spiritual roots."

An Ze and An Ran understood that Hua Changxi intended to recruit more people, so they hurried back to the village to summon everyone.

Hua Changxi looked at Little Song: "Little Song, later you will be responsible for watching the villagers while they test their spiritual roots; the Mountain Spirit and I need to enter the mountain to gather herbs."

Little Song had already become familiar with the surrounding commoners; although she was somewhat disappointed that she could not follow Hua Changxi, she was still very happy to be able to help: "Master, rest assured; I will definitely complete the task."

Hua Changxi rubbed her head, then took the Mountain Spirit and entered Mount Wuzhi.

The medicinal bath formula to awaken the power of the bloodline totem required more than twenty kinds of spiritual herbs; since the Mountain Spirit knew Mount Wuzhi best, she needed him to lead the way to save time searching.

"I wonder if we can gather all the spiritual herbs needed to brew the medicinal bath?"

"Fairy, rest assured; Mount Wuzhi has another name: the Five Elements Mountain. All things in the world arise from the Five Elements, so the variety of spiritual herbs within the Five Elements Mountain is absolutely the greatest."

Hearing the Mountain Spirit say this, Hua Changxi's expression brightened with joy: "Really?"

The Mountain Spirit nodded affirmatively and led Hua Changxi wandering through the mountains until dusk; indeed, they managed to gather all the spiritual herbs required by the medicinal bath formula.

Although the variety of spiritual herbs in the Five Elements Mountain was abundant, their quantities were uneven; some could be found covering the hills and fields, while others existed only in very small amounts.

The medicinal bath ingredients Hua Changxi had gathered amounted to only about five hundred portions; previously, she had thought that since few people were born with spiritual roots, others could still follow the path of awakening their bloodline power.

Now it seemed that this path would not be easy to walk either.

Seeing that the amount of gathered spiritual herbs was not large, the Mountain Spirit comforted her: "Fairy, the recovery of spiritual qi has only just begun; in the future, the spiritual herbs in the mountain will become more and more plentiful."

Hua Changxi smiled: "For these spiritual herbs I collected today, if you encounter any more in your daily rounds, please gather them for me."

The Mountain Spirit nodded: "I will."

Subsequently, Hua Changxi took the Mountain Spirit back to Thumb Village.

The spiritual vein testing had long concluded; An Ze and An Ran had brought over a thousand villagers, and in the end, only fifty-five were found to possess spiritual veins.

Hua Changxi felt this number was quite substantial.

The Mountain Spirit, however, was somewhat dissatisfied: "Mount Wuzhi has profound foundations; how can there be so few talents with spiritual veins?"

Hua Changxi smiled and said, "There are so many commoners in the surrounding areas; many have not yet been tested."

The Mountain Spirit considered this and replied, "Fairy, why don't you leave the Spirit-Testing Stone behind? I will go test the other villagers."

Hua Changxi shook her head: "I do not need so many people working for me."

The Mountain Spirit was puzzled: "Is it not better to have more subordinates?"

Hua Changxi laughed softly: "What would I do with so many subordinates?"

The Mountain Spirit blurted out directly: "Contend for supremacy over the world, of course."

Hua Changxi burst into laughter upon hearing this: "I do not have such great ambitions; I simply wish to live my life well and enjoy it properly."

The Mountain Spirit shook its head: "Fairy, amidst the struggle for the great trend, no one can remain untouched."

Hua Changxi disagreed with this statement: "If I become the most powerful person, who could possibly force me?"

The Mountain Spirit scrunched up its bun-like face: "Fairy, you have gone astray; one who only cares for oneself can never become the most powerful."

Hua Changxi was stunned upon hearing this: "What kind of twisted logic is that?"

The Mountain Spirit widened its eyes: "This is the operating law of the Heavenly Dao."

Hua Changxi remained unconvinced: "You are just making things up, aren't you? You were born only recently; how could you possibly know the operating laws of the Heavenly Dao?"

Seeing that she did not believe him, the Mountain Spirit immediately pouted, yet he truly had no evidence to prove his point; crossing his arms, he turned his head away from Hua Changxi.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi found it somewhat amusing; she ceased speaking further with him and looked toward the fifty-five individuals standing behind An Ze and An Ran.

Afterwards, Hua Changxi asked these fifty-five people whether they were willing to work for her; those who agreed would receive cultivation manuals, but they must swear a Heart Demon Oath never to betray her.

She would not interfere in their lives, but any tasks she assigned must be executed flawlessly.

The surrounding villagers had never before had the opportunity to access the path of cultivation and had long envied An Ran and An Ze for serving the Fire Lotus Fairy; now that the Fire Lotus Fairy was willing to accept them, naturally none refused.

The cultivation manuals obtained from Daoist Jiang and the White-Robed Monk covered all attribute spiritual veins; Hua Changxi gave the manuals to An Ze and An Ran, instructing them to either reproduce or hand-copy a batch of manuals, which were then distributed to those who had revealed spiritual veins that day.

Since the Embroidered Uniform Guard was still watching the Shennuo Pharmacy, after giving her instructions, Hua Changxi returned to Jingcheng that very night.

Seeing that Hua Changxi had left while the Mountain Spirit remained angry, Xiao Song went over to comfort him: "The master has already departed; even if you are angry, she cannot see it."

The Mountain Spirit sighed and pointed to his head: "The Fairy's thinking is flawed, which is detrimental to her cultivation. If she only cares for herself, she will not be able to travel far on the path of cultivation."

Xiao Song was puzzled: "Is it really that serious?"

The Mountain Spirit nodded heavily: "It is."

Xiao Song grew anxious: "Then we should remind the master more often."

The Mountain Spirit frowned: "Some matters require self-realization; no matter how much outsiders remind, if the Fairy does not take it to heart, it will be useless."

After returning from Mount Wuzhi, Hua Changxi went directly to Feng'an Fang, where she learned from Pu Cao that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had not come to cause trouble at the pharmacy.

Apart from Young Master Pang Shaoyu leading a group there once in the morning, no one had returned since.

Unclear about the intentions of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Hua Changxi could only instruct Pu Cao and A Niu to handle matters cautiously and notify her immediately if anything occurred.

She did not spend the night at the pharmacy but returned to Qihuang Hall Number Seven.

Eager to test the effects of the Ancestral Return Medicinal Bath, Hua Changxi, upon arriving at Qihuang Hall Number Seven, immediately set up a Seclusion Array and began brewing the Ancestral Return Medicinal Soup.

Once the medicinal soup was brewed, Hua Changxi immersed herself in it.

The moment she entered the medicinal soup, Hua Changxi felt her blood boiling; shortly after, she sensed two forces slowly awakening within her body.

One was a burning power capable of erasing everything; the other was a flexible yet solid defensive power.

"Hoo~"

Flames ignited upon Hua Changxi's body, within which a radiant, colorful firebird circled.

After some time, a rich fragrance of lotus flowers drifted through the courtyard again; amidst the roaring flames, a lotus blossomed, with Hua Changxi sitting cross-legged within it.

At this moment, Hua Changxi felt extremely unwell; an expression of pain appeared on her face as the two forces within her body refused to merge, fiercely fighting to seize control of her physique.

Before long, the firebird subdued the lotus; the two forces began to fuse, slowly intertwining until they ultimately merged into a single power, which rapidly converged at the point between Hua Changxi's eyebrows.

Hua Changxi felt her brow becoming scorching hot and swollen; her head felt as though it were about to explode, and just as she was on the verge of being unable to endure it, something broke through the soil at her brow.

The flames vanished, the lotus receded, and Hua Changxi, leaning against the bath tub, fell asleep.

It was not until the sky brightened completely the next day that Hua Changxi woke up.

Upon waking, she discovered her entire body felt as though it had been reassembled, causing immense pain, yet amidst the agony, she could clearly sense the powerful strength contained within her body.

Gritting her teeth to endure the pain, Hua Changxi climbed out of the bath tub and dressed herself.

Recalling the two forces that had awakened within her body during the medicinal bath, Hua Changxi flipped her right hand, and a fire lotus instantly condensed into form.

This fire lotus was no longer the fire lotus of the past.

The former fire lotus possessed only thirty-six petals; the current fire lotus boasted a full seventy-two petals, and simultaneously, a miniature firebird circled in the center of the lotus.

Bloodline ancestral return had granted her ancestral divine abilities.

She had acquired two divine abilities last night: the first was Lotus Domain, allowing the fire lotus to continuously expand as her strength increased; anyone trapped within the area covered by the fire lotus would find escape impossible.

The other divine ability was God-Destroying, meaning the burning of the primordial spirit; whereas the former fire lotus could only burn the physical body, the firebird within the current fire lotus could now burn a cultivator's primordial spirit.

Having gained two more divine abilities and increased her strength, Hua Changxi was delighted; seeing that the sword patterns on the Number Seven wooden plaque placed in the main hall had become even more 'three-dimensional,' the smile on her face deepened further.

However, her smile did not last long before it froze.

On the stone wall, another image had manifested.

This image depicted a scene of blood sacrifice: countless humans and countless demons had their blood drained, refining it into blood rich with totem power, which was then consumed by someone.

Those who drank this blood would obtain ancestral divine abilities.

Looking at this image, Hua Changxi frowned, unable to help but recall her previous kidnapping and blood-draining by the demonic Daoist; how strikingly similar it was to the scene depicted in this image.

If even she could encounter such a thing, what about the others?

The joy Hua Changxi had felt upon gaining divine abilities through her bloodline's ancestral return diminished greatly; she put away the number seven wooden tablet and prepared to attend class.

Yesterday, the lecture had been held at Qihuang Halls One, Two, and Three; today, she was to teach at Qihuang Halls Four, Five, and Six.

"Good morning, Steward Hua."

Inside Qihuang Hall Four, many people were already waiting.

As soon as Hua Changxi arrived, everyone greeted her one after another.

"Steward Hua, the floral mark on your forehead is truly beautiful; it looks just like a red lotus blooming between your brows."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi paused for a moment, asked everyone to sit for a while, then entered the east wing room, took out a mirror from her storage ring, and looked at her reflection.

In the mirror, there was indeed a red lotus flower between her brows.