A stream of enlightenment flowed into Mu Zi's heart.
A moment later, having grasped the essence, she put away the Rebirth Seal.
"So that's it," Mu Zi's eyes shone.
Under the "inspiration" of the Rebirth Seal, she understood how to improve the Guiding Spirit Sword technique.
"Now it's a matter of practice."
With a clear direction, perfecting the technique was only a matter of time. Based on her experience of improving the Dancing Body Step, Mu Zi was confident she would finish the work before the family test.
"There's a month and a half left until the test."
Her current level—the sixth level of Body Tempering—was still insufficient. It would be better to break through again before then. And for that, she couldn't stop gathering herbs. The breakthrough depended on how much she could obtain during this time.
Having made a plan, Mu Zi once again plunged into cultivation.
In monotonous, grueling practice, a month and a half flew by unnoticed.
Spring had taken its hold: flowers blossomed, birds sang, and insects buzzed. Everything came to life under the warm spring wind.
During this time, Mu Zi celebrated her birthday; she turned fourteen. The young girl, still growing up, changed almost every day, becoming even more charming than before.
Next to her now lay a few spiritual herbs. But only one was third-rank; the others were first and second. And for Mu Zi, first- and second-rank herbs had almost no effect anymore.
She had laid them all out at once because her supplies had been exhausted.
Although her treasure-finding abilities were as if blessed by heaven, the Earth's resources were not endless.
Her first excursions for herbs brought Mu Zi a rich harvest. But over time, spiritual herbs became harder and harder to find. Third-rank herbs were especially rare; she only managed to find them on occasion.
In the last half-month, herbs had almost completely disappeared. Sometimes she came back with empty hands.
After all, the Tianxuan Continent was not a game universe where heavenly treasures appeared on a schedule.
Mu Zi had scoured the forest around the Mu Manor so thoroughly that it was almost completely empty. Without spiritual herbs, many beasts stopped roaming nearby, leaving to find prey elsewhere.
Funny enough, the mass disappearance of beasts attracted the attention of the Mu clan. The family even held several meetings about it, but, unable to find a reason, eventually gave up on the matter.
It's worth noting that spiritual herbs are often guarded by beasts, and Mu Zi, in addition to gathering, chose suitable opponents for practice. In the last month and a half, her combat experience had grown significantly.
However, the wilderness was not her personal garden. Once, she almost paid for her carelessness.
She had stumbled upon a Crystalline Zhu Fruit, a rare third-rank herb, and, strangely, there was not a single guardian beast nearby.
Delighted, she, without thinking, plucked the fruit and walked away. But she hadn't gone far when she was caught up by a silver-maned primate that had given chase.
What a surprise! Ordinary beasts were indeed absent, but a demonic beast had been waiting.
Fortunately, this primate, whose strength was equivalent to Earth Yuan, was not known for its speed. Otherwise, Mu Zi would have had to pay a high price to return alive.
Mu Zi was mentally indignant:
"Why is this? Lin Dong, when he got the same Crystalline Zhu Fruit, only encountered some scorpion tiger that couldn't hold a candle to that scarlet lion, but I got a real demonic beast? Is this just blatant favoritism?"
"This is the advantage of the Son of the World? Well, I'm thrilled!"
In short, during this time, she had "robbed" the surrounding area so thoroughly that the spiritual herbs had been completely cleared out. Perhaps a few stalks had survived in some remote corners, but it was unrealistic to find another third-rank herb.
The only one she had left had been saved in advance—specifically for the breakthrough to the seventh level of Body Tempering.
Calming her heart, Mu Zi used the Rebirth Seal to swallow the spiritual herb and focused on processing its power.
In the last month and a half of persistent cultivation, she had clearly felt the Yuan Li seed in her bones becoming stronger and stronger. Sometimes it felt as if it was about to tear through her bones and burst out. Mu Zi knew this was a sure sign of an impending breakthrough.
Now, under the influence of the herb's power, this feeling became even more vivid—the breakthrough was close, as if the seed was ready to break through her bones at any moment.
"A little more, just a little short," Mu Zi muttered, frowning.
She grabbed the remaining herbs and, without hesitation, processed all of them.
Finally, the energy reached a critical point. A low, barely audible sound, as if it didn't exist at all, came from her body.
Mu Zi's vision went dark, and her consciousness moved inside her body. She saw a glowing sphere the size of a baby's fist, slowly floating within her.
"Is this the Yuan Li seed?" she asked herself curiously. "But... isn't it too big?"
Usually, a Yuan Li seed is the size of a little finger. Lin Dong, with the help of the Ancestral Stone, formed a seed the size of a walnut. But the Yuan Li seed in Mu Zi's body was the size of a baby's fist—thicker than her own meridians.
"Won't this harm my body?" she worried.
Observing, Mu Zi noticed that the Yuan Li seed was like an illusion: it flowed inside her body without touching the meridians.
"How amazing!" she marveled.
Having confirmed there was no danger, Mu Zi directed the Yuan Li seed to absorb the world's energy.
The glowing sphere emitted an attraction, and the world's energy rushed toward her. Mu Zi focused, processing the power flowing into her body.
If someone had been nearby, they would have been shocked: the speed at which Mu Zi absorbed energy far surpassed the capabilities of an ordinary person.
What can you do—talent!
Focusing, Mu Zi guided the internal energy to the Rebirth Seal. It, without ceremony, greedily absorbed everything that came in. Mu Zi felt the energy inside the Seal increase slightly.
"My guess was right: after the seventh level of Body Tempering, you can draw energy from the world and charge the Seal," she concluded.
This meant that even without spiritual herbs, the Rebirth Seal would not be useless.
"Maybe now I don't have to be so frugal with its power," Mu Zi thought dreamily, imagining keeping the Seal in an active state constantly.
It was worth a try.
She subtly activated the Rebirth Seal. But a moment later, her face clouded over, and she stopped.
"The energy consumption has increased!" she muttered in frustration.
Even when she was improving the Guiding Spirit Sword, she had vaguely suspected something. Now, after breaking through to the seventh level of Body Tempering, a new attempt confirmed everything.
As her cultivation grew, the energy consumption of the Rebirth Seal increased, and significantly so. If she were to use the Seal without restraint, the accumulated energy would quickly be depleted.
"As expected, they didn't leave any loopholes for me," Mu Zi sighed.
Although she was disappointed, this outcome was not a surprise to her.
If the Seal's consumption had remained unchanged, wouldn't she be able to use the energy of one first-rank herb to create a heavenly martial art? Where could you find such a good deal?
Mu Zi was not greedy or impatient. Quickly calming down, she focused on the changes that the breakthrough had brought.
Compared to the sixth level of Body Tempering, her Yuan Li had increased several times over, and her physical strength had grown significantly.
Considering the martial arts she had mastered, she could now even fight an opponent at the ninth level of Body Tempering.
At this thought, her lively eyes shone with confidence.
"Pfft, the clan test? Will it really be a challenge for me?"
Tomorrow's test would be the young girl's first chance to shine. Here, her path to immortality would begin. And one day, her radiance would illuminate the entire world, forcing evil to retreat, making gods and demons bow their heads, and all paths submit to her will!