The moment Su Wan’er submerged her spiritual sense into the jade slip, she was completely drawn into it.
The scripture of the Primordial Five Elements Scripture was not long, but the instant each character reflected into her mind, it sent ripples exploding through her spirit platform.
She believed she had some ability to discern the quality of cultivation techniques. The Jade Water True Art was Earth-grade Lower-tier—it was already a top-tier technique in the Tianlan Sect that only core disciples could cultivate. She had always thought that was the pinnacle of techniques.
Now she realized she was nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well.
The opening of the Primordial Five Elements Scripture was only sixteen words: “In the Primordial Beginning, there was the Way. The Five Elements were not yet distinguished. Yin and Yang were not yet divided. One Qi was in chaos.”
Su Wan’er felt she was no longer seeing words, but a painting. In the chaos, there was no heaven, no earth, no light, no darkness. Only a mass of undivided Qi slowly rotating. That mass of Qi had no color, yet contained all colors; it had no form, yet contained all forms.
That was the “Primordial Beginning.”
She continued reading. The scripture began to describe the evolution of the Way of the Five Elements. The further she went, the more shaken Su Wan’er became.
The Jade Water True Art only cultivated the Water Element, pushing it to the extreme. Cultivated to a deep level, spiritual power became as vast as an ocean, endless and inexhaustible.
She had once thought this was the best destination for a Water Spirit Root cultivator. But the Primordial Five Elements Scripture told her that the Water Element was merely one of the Five Elements, and the Five Elements were merely a differentiation of the Primordial Qi. If she only cultivated the Water Element, it was like taking only a ladleful of water from a river and forgetting where the river itself came from.
This technique did not seek to cultivate water, nor any single element among the Five. It sought to cultivate the path back to the Primordial Beginning.
Su Wan’er’s hands began to tremble. She had always believed her top-grade Water Spirit Root was a gift. But now she understood—it was also a limitation.
The higher the quality of a Water Spirit Root, the greater its affinity for Water Element spiritual qi, and the faster one could cultivate Water techniques.
But at the same time, the rejection of the other four elements’ spiritual qi would be stronger. Cultivated to the extreme, she would become the purest river—but still just a river.
And the Primordial Five Elements Scripture gave her a possibility: to trace back from the river to the sea, from the sea to the clouds and rain, from the clouds and rain back to that undivided mass of Primordial Qi.
Su Wan’er suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Lai Li’an.
Her master was sitting cross-legged not far away, eyes closed, resting. He looked like an ordinary person taking a nap.
‘Master knew from the very beginning,’ she thought. ‘He knew my Heavenly Grade Water Spiritual Root was both a gift and a cage. He knew cultivating the Jade Water True Art was a waste of my talent. He knew I needed a technique that could break the shackles of my spirit root.’
‘That’s why he said, “You have better fortune than her.” Not because Master was biased—because what he gave me was far more than what he gave Mother.’
Su Wan’er took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. The spiritual power inside her body began to circulate slowly along the paths of the Jade Water True Art.
Water-blue spiritual energy flowed out from her dantian, streaming through her meridians. The foundation of her technique—built from ten years of painstaking cultivation—was now clearly visible in her inner vision.
Then, without hesitation, she reversed the flow.
A tearing pain shot through her meridians.
The technique routes she had honed over a decade—she crushed them inch by inch. Those familiar paths of spiritual power, etched into her very bones, slowly dissipated from her meridians.
Cold sweat beaded on Su Wan’er’s forehead. She bit her lips so hard they turned white, but she did not stop.
Finally, she felt as though her body had been drained empty. The foundation of her technique was destroyed by her own hands.
Su Wan’er felt no regret. Her consciousness touched the entry-level mind technique of the Primordial Five Elements Scripture within the jade slip, and then she began to cultivate.
The heaven and earth spiritual energy in this cave had originally been shattered by the heavenly thunder—the Five Elements intermingled, pure and turbid mixed together.
But now, those chaotic energies seemed to be combed by an invisible hand. The scattered energies began to surge toward Su Wan’er from all directions.
‘Was this also Master’s calculation? To cultivate this technique by absorbing chaotic spiritual energy?’
Thinking this, Su Wan’er’s mind was completely immersed in cultivation.
The foundation of her technique, which she had personally destroyed, began to regrow under the nourishment of this chaotic spiritual energy.
Qi Induction succeeded. The hurdle that had taken her three months back then—after destroying her technique foundation, it took less than half an hour to cross.
The efficiency with which that spiritual energy circulated inside her body was not even on the same level as the Jade Water True Art. What shocked Su Wan’er even more was yet to come.
The circulation route of the Primordial Five Elements Scripture began to extend on its own. She had not guided it at all. The technique itself seemed to have a life of its own, sensing the potential of the unformed meridians inside her and automatically opening new circulation paths.
This was the true terror of a Heaven-grade technique—it was not “man cultivates the technique,” but “the technique cultivates the man.”
The chaotic heaven and earth spiritual energy inside the cave formed a massive vortex centered on her. The spiritual energy was ruthlessly torn apart, separated, and devoured, then transformed into the purest spiritual power and poured into her dantian.
Within a radius of several zhang around Su Wan’er, the heaven and earth spiritual energy was swept clean. Those chaotic energies, before the Primordial Five Elements Scripture, had no room to resist.
From abolishing her own technique to rebuilding her foundation—less than two hours.
Su Wan’er opened her eyes and gasped heavily. She looked down at her hands. Water-blue spiritual power flowed slowly in her palms—purer and denser than before.
She had only just entered the door, and she could already feel the terror of this technique.
No—the terror of her master. A technique like this, Master just casually took out. How many things did Master have that she still did not know about?
Su Wan’er raised her head and looked toward Lai Li’an’s position.
The next second, she froze in place.
At some point, her master had already stood in front of her, looking at her with an expression she had never seen before. That expression was complicated—there was expectation, tension, and a little something she could not name. It looked like… anxiety.
“How is it?”
Lai Li’an’s voice was a few beats faster than usual.
Su Wan’er quickly stood up and bowed respectfully, but she did not know how to answer.
She lowered her head and said timidly, “Master, your disciple is obtuse. I was unable to understand this technique fully—I could only grasp fragments of it. Please bestow your guidance.”
“What?!”
Lai Li’an’s voice suddenly rose sharply.
Su Wan’er shrank her shoulders in fright. It was the first time she had heard Master speak so loudly. There was panic in his voice.
Lai Li’an seemed to realize his own lapse in composure. He coughed twice, and the expression on his face quickly returned to calm. ‘So even Su Wan’er cannot comprehend it,’ he thought with annoyance. ‘Then I’m afraid I have no hope of cultivating it.’
Su Wan’er was already panicking. Master had never lost composure like this before. It must be that her performance had disappointed him. Her eyes instantly reddened, and she lowered her head even further.
“I’m sorry, Master! Your disciple is truly too foolish and has betrayed your earnest instruction! Disciple… disciple clearly has a Heavenly Grade Water Spiritual Root and a Heaven-grade technique bestowed by you, yet I can only comprehend a mere fraction of it. Disciple is useless! Please punish me!”
As she spoke, she bent her knees to kneel.
Lai Li’an reached out and pressed her shoulder.
“It’s fine.”
Su Wan’er raised her head. Through tear-blurred eyes, she saw Master’s face. The fleeting panic on his face had disappeared, replaced by the gentleness she was familiar with.
“Venerable Self also knows the difficulty is not small,” Lai Li’an said, returning to his unhurried rhythm. “That you have reached this point is already very good.”
Su Wan’er sniffled, feeling a little better, but she still thought Master was comforting her. In Master’s eyes, the Primordial Five Elements Scripture was probably just an introductory text.
And she, holding an introductory text, could only grasp the surface. How could Master not be disappointed?
Before she could speak, Lai Li’an said again.
“Now, tell your master: how did you run this technique? How did you understand it? How did you guide it? Leave no detail out—explain everything one by one.”
Su Wan’er was stunned for a moment. She suddenly remembered what Master had said earlier: “I will teach you a new technique. After you learn it, tell me your insights.”
At the time, she thought it was Master’s unique teaching method—to deepen her understanding through the process of “learning” and “teaching.”
But now Master was really asking her to explain.
Su Wan’er’s heart tightened. She dared not be negligent. She sat cross-legged again and recounted every detail of her comprehension of the Primordial Five Elements Scripture from beginning to end.