Cultivators’ spirit roots were divided into ten grades total. Half-grade to fourth-grade were low-grade spirit roots, fifth to seventh-grade were mid-grade spirit roots, and eighth to tenth-grade were high-grade spirit roots. Si Xianling’s initial spirit root had only been second-grade. Even with ample supply of pills and spiritual qi, it had taken her thirty years just to reach qi condensation peak, and nearly two hundred years to reach foundation establishment peak. If not for taking the youth preservation pill early on, she probably wouldn’t have maintained her appearance to this age. Her smooth cultivation path had truly begun after formally seeking the dao and signing a contract with Si Tingxuan, that rabbit demon with a special bloodline.
That contract signing had caused a similar change in her spirit root, elevating it from second-grade to seventh-grade.
With a seventh-grade spirit root, plus the support from the Beast Taming Sect and Wu Qingshu, she had broken through to the out-of-body realm at twelve hundred years old. Add to that her five one-in-a-million demon pets, and that had given her the boldness to single-handedly raid the Heavenly Feast Sect.
Judging from how much her spirit root had solidified, her spirit root grade had risen by at least two grades—to ninth-grade.
The difference between ninth-grade and seventh-grade might seem like just two grades, but it was like heaven and earth. With her injuries healed, spirit root grade elevated, and nascent soul enhanced—this terrifying improvement…
Even Si Xianling, who had seen plenty of good things, was stunned. “What exactly did you feed me?”
“Same Fate Gu.”
Hearing it was the Same Fate Gu, Si Xianling suddenly understood.
She had previously guessed that Bo Xunong was a survivor of that ferocious beast clan exterminated five hundred years ago. Now it seemed she was right. She hadn’t forgotten that the so-called ferocious beast bloodline ancestor was a divine beast. As a beast cultivator, sharing the same fate with a divine beast naturally boosted her spirit root—and this increase was even on the conservative side.
Si Xianling couldn’t help but feel a bit thrilled. In the cultivation world, talent largely determined the realm one could reach in the future. She wasn’t all that interested in pursuing immortality and the dao, but she needed breakthroughs to extend her lifespan. After all, Wu Qingshu would live a very long time. As a conscientious daughter, she didn’t dare die before Wu Qingshu and make her sad.
Bo Xunong tossing her a Same Fate Gu had solved her problem.
Bo Xunong had suddenly remembered Si Xianling mentioning the Same Fate Gu, which prompted her to have Feng Jin exchange for one and use it on Si Xianling.
She formed a blade of spiritual power and held it to her own neck. “I can’t kill you, but I can kill myself.”
Si Xianling hurriedly snatched the spirit blade away. “Let’s talk this out nicely. You’re willing to share your bloodline with me, so now I owe you a favor. Since you don’t want Sister Shen to know your feelings, I’ll definitely keep it secret for you.”
Si Xianling didn’t just give her word—she also took out a storage ring from her own storage ring and handed it to Bo Xunong. “To thank you, here.”
She didn’t want to owe Bo Xunong too many favors. Bo Xunong just found her behavior odd. “You’re suddenly being so generous?”
Si Xianling shoved the storage ring into Bo Xunong’s hands. “Does this lady look ungrateful to you?”
Bo Xunong then remembered her ancestor was a divine beast and understood why Si Xianling was so happy even after being implanted with the Same Fate Gu.
She casually tossed the storage ring to Feng Jin. “I have one from Master. You take this.”
In the cultivation world, resources were unevenly distributed. Not everyone even had storage tools. Most who did had small, unattractive storage bags. Only a rare few had high-grade storage spirit artifacts like jade bracelets or rings. Both Feng Jin and Feng Yingbo used storage bags, which naturally couldn’t compare to Si Xianling’s items.
Si Xianling was somewhat shocked that Bo Xunong tossed the ring to Feng Jin without even checking its contents. Though she didn’t use this storage ring often, her things were never subpar—the resources inside could sustain an average sect for a century of cultivation. “You’re not even going to look?”
“What’s there to see?” Bo Xunong rolled her eyes at Si Xianling and pointed to the jade bracelet on her wrist. “I have one from Master.”
They were both storage items, but the contents were surely different.
She couldn’t possibly not understand that.
In fact, Bo Xunong understood perfectly. She gently nudged the stunned Feng Jin. “Little Jin, after you drip blood to claim it, check if there’s anything in the ring that Master could use. If there is, take it out for me. Though Master probably lacks for nothing.”
Si Xianling looked to the heavens speechlessly. “Do you have that many cultivation resources? Why not ask for some for yourself?”
“I do.” Bo Xunong stroked her jade bracelet smugly. “All these years, everything Master gave me—I’ve been saving it up.”
Si Xianling almost thought she’d misheard. “You mean the cultivation resources Sister Shen gave you—you’ve been hoarding them without using any? Be honest, are you a squirrel demon? Or a hamster demon?”
“Why are you making such a fuss?” Bo Xunong eyed Si Xianling disdainfully at her suddenly raised voice. “Of course I have to cherish what Master gives me. It’s not that I haven’t used any—it’s just that I use them slowly. When Master’s watching me, it’s hard not to use them even if I want to.”
Si Xianling’s expression twisted slightly.
Feng Jin clutched the storage ring and muttered softly, “Forget cultivation resources—Eldest Senior Sister rarely even uses healing pills.”
Si Xianling’s face fully twisted. Now she understood why Bo Xunong at nascent soul realm gave her such a sense of pressure.
Beyond the ferocious beast bloodline, it was because her cultivation foundation was solid to an absurd degree.
Comparisons were odious.
Si Xianling thought of how she’d piled up so many resources yet only broke through to nascent soul at six hundred years old, while Bo Xunong had done it in just over five hundred without relying on resources. It made her chest tighten. She could accept not catching up to natural perfect spiritual roots like Wu Qingshu and Shen Yanting, but now even Shen Yanting’s disciple had surpassed her.
Si Xianling got over it quickly enough.
In the cultivation world, only a rare few had high-grade spirit roots, and perfect spiritual roots were one in millions. Divine beast bloodlines were even scarcer—maybe Bo Xunong was the only living one. Her fast cultivation speed made sense.
Now that she’d tapped into Bo Xunong’s bloodline, she wasn’t far from perfect spiritual roots either. Her cultivation speed wouldn’t be slow.
Si Xianling’s joy at her enhanced talent didn’t last long, because the soft and weak little kid suddenly spoke up. “Eldest Senior Sister, what I just gave you wasn’t Same Fate Gu—it was Parasitic Gu.”
Si Xianling’s smile froze.
Same Fate Gu and Parasitic Gu were two different things. Same Fate Gu bound two lives together, like contracting a natal beast—one’s injury or death would drag the other down too. Parasitic Gu was different: it bound the recipient’s life to the implanter’s. The recipient could share the implanter’s bloodline, but until the binding was undone, if the implanter died, the recipient died too. If the recipient died, the implanter only suffered gu insect backlash. The recipient couldn’t undo the binding, but the implanter could at any time.
It was utterly unfair!
Feng Jin hung her head sheepishly, one hand supporting Feng Yingbo and the other clutching the storage ring Si Xianling had given her. “Um… Same Fate Gu was kind of expensive.”
Si Xianling was going a bit mad. “If it was too expensive, tell me! I have money, spirit stones—I lack for nothing. I could’ve bought it!”
Feng Jin held the storage ring out to Si Xianling. “As long as Eldest Senior Sister doesn’t actively kill the Parasitic Gu insect, you won’t get hurt or die. Parasitic Gu is actually pretty similar to Same Fate Gu.”
She said it with utter sincerity, and it was true.
Si Xianling struggled for a moment, then pushed the storage ring back to Feng Jin. “Little disciple, promise me you won’t ever think of killing the Parasitic Gu.”
In the cultivation world, countless people killed and set up formations for spirit roots—refining demons, eating demons, piling others’ lives to boost their own. It wasn’t uncommon. Those kids in Mistlongevity Village were living proof—they’d killed countless innocents with brutal methods over seven hundred years, and their spirit roots had only barely reached mid-grade. Now, here was a chance for high-grade spirit roots without loss or bloody hands right in front of her. For the sake of spending more time with Wu Qingshu, Si Xianling wouldn’t dare pass it up.
Bo Xunong pushed away the attempting-to-hug-her Si Xianling. “Then you have to promise not to tell Master my feelings, and not reveal the Parasitic Gu to anyone. You might not be able to hide it from Senior Wu, but if you tell her, wait until after we part ways.”
Bo Xunong was a bit afraid that Shen Yanting would trace the spirit root boost in Si Xianling back to her and guess she knew about the ferocious beast bloodline.
Because she really liked the current distance with Shen Yanting—not too far. She couldn’t be sure if Shen Yanting’s attitude toward her would change once she learned Bo Xunong was a ferocious beast. Would it revert to that previous unapproachable distance, or even worse?
After leaving the Imperial Serenity Sect, it felt like many things had spiraled out of control.
More and more people were suddenly appearing—some wanting to kill Shen Yanting, others to sabotage things between her and Shen Yanting.
These people all deserved to die, Si Xianling included.
But she couldn’t kill Si Xianling.
Bo Xunong wasn’t afraid of the forces behind Si Xianling, but she was afraid of Shen Yanting coming to hate her.
The Parasitic Gu was the best way to make Si Xianling drop any ideas of disrupting her current situation with Shen Yanting. Otherwise, Bo Xunong really wasn’t sure she could hold herself back.
Si Xianling had been completely bought off by the bloodline power. She looked at Bo Xunong eagerly. “You all must be heading to the Scale Eel County trial too, right? Let’s go together. With such a special bloodline, you’re bound to run into bad people. I can protect you.”
“……” Bo Xunong wanted to put on a proper smile again, but her lips twitched just as they curved up a bit. “Si Xianling, your smile looks a bit too sly right now. You’d better give up soon; I won’t agree to it.”
Bo Xunong couldn’t treat Si Xianling as a senior anymore. Taking advantage of Shen Yanting not seeing, she directly called Si Xianling by name.
Don’t think she didn’t know. The closer the distance when sharing a bloodline, the more one could get.
Si Xianling simply thought cultivating by her side would speed things up.
She wasn’t like Si Xianling’s aunts, so easy to fool.
Si Xianling, long limited by her talent, had finally found a cultivation shortcut. How could she give it up easily? “Why can’t I follow you all? I’m at least an out-of-body realm cultivator, with five high-grade tamed beasts at my side. I’d be no problem as a fighter.”
Bo Xunong hadn’t even become Shen Yanting’s blade yet.
She didn’t lack fighters right now. What she lacked were points.
Bo Xunong remained unmoved. “If you follow us, all those from the Beast Taming Sect will follow us too.”
Si Xianling raised her hand and gestured. “It won’t be that many.”
Feng Jin suddenly spoke up. “Eldest Senior Sister prefers to be alone with Senior Martial Uncle Shen. We’re all a bit superfluous, let alone you all.”
Bo Xunong and Si Xianling both gave Feng Jin a couple extra looks without prior agreement—one sighing that Feng Jin was indeed her soulmate, the other having her curiosity piqued again.
Si Xianling’s plan to travel together completely failed. She sized up Bo Xunong, then secretly glanced at Shen Yanting. “Hey, little disciple, have you ever thought what if your master likes you too?”
Seeing Si Xianling still hung up on her feelings, Bo Xunong immediately condensed a short blade and pressed it against her arm. Under the skin of her right arm was a red plum blossom—the pattern formed after the parasitic gu entered her body. Si Xianling hurriedly reached out to stop her. “Don’t do it! I was just asking casually. She can’t hear us right now anyway.”
“Be careful not to get killed by your curiosity.”
Bo Xunong wasn’t wrong. According to the original book plot, Si Xianling should have chased that demonic cultivator to the Sky Feast Sect, wanting to get to the bottom of it, only to die there without even a corpse being found.
Si Xianling’s eyes darted around. “I’m your master’s good friend. If your master finds out you ignore me, she might think you don’t respect me enough.”
Bo Xunong glared viciously at Si Xianling, then her face suddenly piled on a fake smile again.
Pinching her voice, she said, “Master is an immortal fairy, born to hang high up. I just need to admire her from afar.”
The smile was fake, but the words were true.
Si Xianling felt a bit emotional. In a cultivation world where many saw dao companions as shortcuts to improve their cultivation, someone like Bo Xunong—who viewed her beloved as the moon to worship, without even possessive thoughts—was very rare.
The more Bo Xunong acted like this, the more curious Si Xianling became. “What if one day she falls down?”
“There won’t be that day. I’ll kill anyone who wants to pull master down.” Now limited by her bloodline, Bo Xunong spoke to Si Xianling without much reservation, her voice soaked in murderous intent. “If she really falls… then I’ll hang her back up!”
Looking at Bo Xunong, who practically worshipped Shen Yanting as a deity, Si Xianling instantly understood.
Bo Xunong wasn’t stupid. She was very smart. She was just too fixated on Shen Yanting’s every word and phrase, occasionally coming off a bit dim.
A ferocious beast that had voluntarily put on chains, held by an emotionally stable good person who loved all living beings—Bo Xunong shouldn’t commit any big mistakes this way. She wouldn’t make too many enemies or die. Si Xianling grew even more determined to cling to the high-grade spirit root that had suddenly appeared by her side. She affectionately linked arms with Bo Xunong. “Little disciple, I can travel separately from you all. But when we reach the Scale Eel County Trial, can I join you? With so few from your Imperial Serenity Sect, you’ll definitely take losses then. It’s safer to go with our Beast Taming Sect.”
Bo Xunong originally wanted to refuse, but recalling how in the original book they were ambushed by Shen Yanting’s enemies—giving the male lead a hero-saves-the-beauty opportunity—she still nodded. “Okay.”
Si Xianling, thinking of how she could leech off Bo Xunong’s bloodline power to cultivate, couldn’t help laughing out loud.
Ignoring Bo Xunong’s struggles, she hugged her arm even tighter. “Little disciple, I just realized you’re a good person!”
Bo Xunong straightened her back and stopped struggling.
She saw Wu Qingshu bringing Shen Yanting over. Shen Yanting should have heard Si Xianling praise her as a good person.
Bo Xunong thought Shen Yanting would feel gratified. After all, she had always hoped this ferocious beast Bo Xunong could become a good person who didn’t kill innocents indiscriminately. But things didn’t develop as Bo Xunong expected.
That white porcelain doll’s face was covered in a thin layer of frost. She didn’t look very happy.
She didn’t even speak to Bo Xunong first. Instead, she said to Si Xianling, “Fellow Daoist Si, it’s not good to call her Xuenong like that. She is my disciple.”
Had Shen Yanting not heard?
Could Si Xianling praise her once more?
