Fire Domain
Upon arriving at their destination, a vast, cracked plain dominated by rivers of magma and towering obsidian spires, Su Min was momentarily stunned. Before her eyes lay a scorching, active volcanic landscape, with massive, ancient weapons half embedded in the cooling rock and molten flows. Clearly, these artifacts were part of the legacy trials themselves. But that wasn't what truly caught Su Min's attention. Instead, she felt something peculiar, a faint but undeniable pull deep within her spiritual sense.
"What is wrong?" Xie Yingying noticed Su Min's strange, distracted expression almost immediately.
"There is a weird sensation here," Su Min murmured, her brow furrowed in concentration. "As if something is… connected to me."
Her expression turned even odder. It felt like a silent, resonant call, a thread of destiny tugging at the very core of her being.
"Connected to you? Do you have a child or something hidden away here?" Xie Yingying asked, only half-joking.
"Do not joke around," Su Min retorted, rolling her eyes. "It is not that kind of connection. The only thing truly, biologically tied to my bloodline is the little Golden Crow back on the island, and that is it." She was referring to the essence blood she had used to complete the hatching ritual.
"It seems there might be something here related to your unique physique," Xie Yingying deduced, her tone turning serious. "As a constitution that can rival the Lunar Sovereign Body at its peak, it stands to reason it should have its own unique, hidden legacy left behind by a predecessor."
"Huh?" Su Min looked at Xie Yingying in genuine confusion. This was lore her game knowledge had never covered.
"Top tier experts who possess special physiques often develop their bodies to such extreme levels that they create cultivation methods only usable by those with the same foundation," Xie Yingying explained. "Initially, I thought you only had the Blazing Sun Body, a rare but not overwhelmingly powerful physique. But if you are a nascent Five Elements Holy Body, then it is almost certain there should be a legacy here left by a previous holder."
"Is that so…" Su Min narrowed her eyes slightly, processing this new information but keeping her thoughts to herself. She had previously classified the Blazing Sun Body as a Tier 2 physique, but that rating had only applied when it was amplified by the Nanming Lihuo. Without the divine flame, the Blazing Sun Body was rather ordinary, hardly capable of producing the extraordinary results she had achieved.
Now, her physique, originally just a dual Fire Wood Body, had begun its true transformation toward the Five Elements Holy Body. The two attributes of Fire and Wood were already interconnected within her, allowing her to instinctively exploit their mutual generation and restriction cycles.
At its theoretical peak, the Five Elements Holy Body was said to grant near total immunity to all elemental attacks while enabling its user to counter any element with devastating effect. Fighting against a fully realized Five Elements Holy Body wielder was considered feasible only for a peak physical cultivator, as their pure physical attacks would not be negated by the Saint Body's elemental resistances.
Currently, Su Min could already tap into some of the Holy Body's foundational abilities, such as elemental restriction reversal. For example, Fire normally restricted Metal, and Wood restricted Earth. This meant that even if she used her Nanming Lihuo against an Earth based defense, she would still gain a significant advantage. Normally, the relationship was that Fire nurtured Earth, making Fire based attacks less effective against it. But now, she could bypass that natural law entirely. The same applied to Water, which normally restricted Fire. Since Water also nurtured Wood, Water based attacks would no longer fully counter her Fire. Instead, she would gain high innate resistance against them.
The Five Elements Holy Body was simply unfair, like playing a game where you hard countered every element except the primordial Yin and Yang, while all elemental attacks against you suffered severe damage reduction. However, Su Min's Five Elements Holy Body was still incomplete, a mere shadow of its full potential. It also did not offer much resistance to derivative elements like Lightning or Ice. Still, her current physique was already vastly superior to her original one.
In essence, the Five Elements Holy Body manipulated the foundational laws of the five related attributes to always work in its wielder's favor.
"Connected to me? I have never heard of any legacy specifically for the Five Elements Holy Body in the game," Su Min mused internally, her eyes narrowed in thought. The Five Elements Holy Body had not been a starting option in the game. Although the system had provided the steps to unlock it, there were no further records or quests associated with it. If she wanted to obtain its dedicated legacy, she would have to search for it herself in this real world. While her Heavenly Dao Insight talent could help, it was not a reliable divination tool, it would not guarantee success. She still needed to seize every potential opportunity.
"Let us go. There is a market up ahead, let us check it out," Xie Yingying suggested, pointing toward a bustling area built into the side of a massive, dormant volcano.
After a final survey of the fiery landscape, the two quickly made their way to the large auction house and marketplace nestled within the caldera. Unlike the beast infested and trap laden regions, this place was bustling with cultivators. Almost every major sect present in the avenue had set up stalls here. The resources harvested from the various secret realms were abundant, but without sufficient numbers of high level alchemists to refine them, many rare herbs were practically unusable in their raw state.
Absorbing herbs directly was highly inefficient and placed a heavy, potentially damaging burden on a cultivator's meridians. Some of the rarer herbs even had extremely high and specific absorption requirements. Thus, these materials were often traded for spirit stones or other usable items. Beyond herbs, the market also featured all sorts of oddities and artifacts, some utterly worthless, others capable of propelling certain individuals to greatness under the right, specific circumstances.
"Wait a second. Let us disguise ourselves," Su Min said, pulling Xie Yingying into a secluded alley between two rocky outcrops. "If I go as I am, they will probably jack up the prices the moment they recognize me."
The two descended fully from the sky. Su Min took out two simple, silver rings from her spatial ring, slipping one onto her own finger and tossing the other to Xie Yingying.
[Concealment Ring (Low Earth Tier): Can alter appearance and mask aura.]
A practical, if not foolproof, item. A cultivator's true essence was their unique spiritual aura, but as long as they did not engage in combat or actively probe others, even acquaintances would have a hard time recognizing them. The reason was simple, Su Min was undoubtedly famous by now, but very few people knew her true, day to day aura. Her likeness, however, was probably circulating on jade slips everywhere.
If she showed up as herself, sellers would likely inflate prices astronomically. She remembered a story from her old world, about a popular streamer in a game who single handedly drove up the price of a common item across the entire server just by mentioning it. She was not about to be swindled like that.
"You go ahead," Xie Yingying said, handing the ring back. "My Lunar Sovereign Body's aura is too potent and unique to be fully concealed by this. I will wait here. Those common market things are useless to me anyway. Contact me via the communication jade if there is trouble."
Xie Yingying rolled her eyes slightly. The Lunar Sovereign Body was domineering, and that inherent power came with drawbacks. Many common cultivation resources were incompatible with its pure Yin nature, whereas Su Min's nascent Five Elements Holy Body was all encompassing and could make use of almost anything. A place like this held little appeal for her.
Moreover, the Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign Bodies naturally exuded their distinctive auras, making their bearers easily recognizable to those who knew what to look for, regardless of simple disguises.
"Fine," Su Min said, not arguing. She was essentially here to hunt for bargains and hidden gems. If she wanted guaranteed high quality items, she could just contact the major sects directly through formal channels. But showing up at a public market as a fourth tier alchemist would make any hope of bargain hunting impossible.
Fortunately, she had plenty of herbs and other materials on hand for trade. Over half of the Azure Dragon Secret Realm's botanical stockpile had ended up in her possession. She had more than enough to trade for any hidden gems she might find. With that in mind, she adjusted the ring on her finger, feeling a slight shimmer over her form, and strode into the bustling market, eager to see what treasures awaited discovery.
"Step right up! This is genuine Skyfire Profound Iron, freshly mined from the Blazing Fire Secret Realm, perfect for forging high grade fire attribute weapons!"
"Miss, care to take a look? I have got century old Fireheart Lotus, excellent for…"
As soon as she entered the main thoroughfare, Su Min's eyebrow twitched. A quick scan of the area confirmed that all the larger, more established stalls belonged to major sects or their proxy merchants. Only they had the resources and security to amass large quantities of materials and ensure they were not simply robbed. The sheer scale of the cultivation world was staggering, countless minor realms existed beyond the three great continents she knew, tiny pocket worlds, some no larger than a single province.
These places might not house overarching powerhouses like the five great sects, but a single, dominant sect ruling over an entire minor region could easily rival them in terms of accumulated resources and background. The number of such sects represented here was truly staggering, their banners and flags stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Let us see what is here," she muttered to herself. "If I am bargain hunting, I should at least act the part… Huh?"
Just then, Su Min froze mid step. That strange, resonant sensation had returned, much stronger now, and this time, she could pinpoint its source, a small, seemingly insignificant gray flag tucked away among a stall's wares.
"Could there really be a Five Elements Holy Body legacy here?" she muttered under her breath, a spark of excitement igniting within her.
Muttering to herself, Su Min casually approached the stall. A variety of glowing herbs and spirit ores were spread out on the counter. The stall owner, a cultivator who had clearly survived the Six Nine Heavenly Tribulation, looked up from his meditation and yawned lazily.
"How much for this herb?" Su Min asked, picking up a flickering Emberroot stalk to maintain her cover.
"5,000 low grade spirit stones," the stall owner replied without even looking properly, his tone dismissive.
"Not too expensive," Su Min thought, quickly assessing the fair market price. She had plenty of spirit stones, some from her sect's own spirit vein output, others collected as payment while refining pills for the five great sects over the centuries, and even a portion she had shamelessly "borrowed" from Xie Yingying's seemingly bottomless reserves. Though the herb was genuinely useful, her real interest lay elsewhere.
"That is a bit steep," she said aloud, feigning hesitation. "In a few decades, once the new era stabilizes, it might only be worth 4,000 stones at most." With the realms now connected, such herbs would become more common, inevitably driving prices down. At present, though, the asking price was slightly inflated due to scarcity.
"By then, you will have long been kicked out of the Golden Core Avenue," the stall owner retorted, rolling his eyes. "The price is the price."
Seizing the opportunity, Su Min began browsing the other items on the stall, mostly spirit ores and mineral fragments, their spiritual signatures and values immediately apparent to her trained eyes.
So…
"What is this thing for?" she asked, her tone deliberately casual as she picked up the small, unassuming gray flag that had been calling to her. She was genuinely curious what story he would attach to it.
"No idea," the man grunted, not even bothering to look. "Might be a treasure, might be trash. Three thousand stones, take it or leave it."
"Damn, cultivators are brutally honest," Su Min internally facepalmed. "No salesmanship at all, no attempt to hype it up or invent a grand origin story?"
The seller had just revealed his absolute bottom line with zero embellishment. Then again, for cultivators, determining an item's basic usefulness was often straightforward, you channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into it. High quality fakes that could fool spiritual sense were nearly impossible to produce.
"That is way too expensive for some random little flag of unknown function," she haggled, putting on a show of reluctance.
"…"
Silence. The stall owner just stared at her, clearly expecting her to make a serious counteroffer.
"How about 6,000 low grade stones for this herb and the flag together?" Su Min proposed, holding up the Emberroot and placing the flag decisively in front of the man.
"Take it," the stall owner said with a dismissive wave, already losing interest. The flag was likely useless. Even by the end of the Golden Core Avenue's century, it might remain unidentified and unsold. Such items typically defaulted to a base price of a thousand stones or so. Since the herb was only slightly overpriced and this girl seemed oddly eager to study the worthless flag, he might as well let her have them both and be done with it.
"Heh, done," Su Min said, quickly completing the trade and storing both items in her ring before the man could change his mind. She moved on to the next stall, inwardly delighted. She had no idea what the flag meant to others, but for her, it was potentially invaluable. It was like the specialized pills she refined for Xie Yingying, if Su Min took one, she would probably suffer from violent stomachaches and spiritual discord, but for Xie Yingying, they were essential for her path. If the seller had sensed her specific interest and hiked the price, things would have gotten complicated and expensive.
"This feeling… There is more than one," she realized, her spiritual sense tingling again as she moved through the market. "I should have enough stones to acquire them all."
Su Min could sense multiple similar resonant flags scattered throughout the market. She might as well seize the chance to collect them all now. As for spirit stones, they were the universal currency. Thanks to the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Gourd, Su Min had been intermittently consuming its potent spiritual liquid over the past decade, which had eliminated her personal need for spirit stones to cultivate, freeing up her entire stockpile for trade.
But for the average Golden Core cultivator, low grade spirit stones were essential, consumed by the dozen daily to maintain cultivation speed. The current world's environment could not naturally produce mid grade stones yet, so most cultivators relied entirely on them. Even sect elites needed them, perhaps only the Holy Sons and Daughters could afford to tap into their sect's ancient mid grade stone reserves directly. Without a steady supply of spirit stones, advancing through the Golden Core stages could take centuries. Thus, all Golden Core cultivators were heavily dependent on sect provisions or lucrative personal ventures.
Su Min, through her alchemy and prior planning, had stockpiled a considerable amount. When pills were not a convenient or desired medium for trade, spirit stones worked just fine. Plus, with the Heavenly Dao's suppression over the past few centuries, cultivation progress had been negligible, so she had not needed to expend any of her reserves. Her stockpile might not match the deep vaults of the great sects, but it was far from meager.
Evening
"Check out what I found," Su Min announced as she arrived at the small, secluded mountain peak outside the fire domain where Xie Yingying was meditating. Without any preamble, she tossed out four small flags, which landed on the flat rock between them. They were of different colors, gray, brown, blue, and a pale yellow.
"Metal, Wood, Water, and Earth flags," Xie Yingying identified, her eyes sharp. "If we can get the Fire one, we will have a complete set of the Five Elements. But these things do not react to spiritual energy at all. Even if we get the last one, we will not know how to use them. The secret realms are full of such treasures, but also full of junk. Things with no observable response are usually classified as trash, since overly obscure activation conditions effectively render them useless to everyone."
"But they are useful to me," Su Min stated firmly, a smile playing on her lips. "You were right, this is almost certainly tied to the Five Elements Holy Body legacy. For others, it is trash. For me, it is a golden opportunity."
She waved her hand, and the four flags floated up, pulsating faintly with her own unique Five Elements spiritual energy, a reaction they had shown for no one else. The Five Elements Holy Body was so rare that its very existence was a myth to most; no one knew the flags' true value. Otherwise, a single one could easily fetch a hundred thousand spirit stones, or sellers might impose harsh conditions, like demanding decades of pill refining services. Being able to acquire them so easily and cheaply was a tremendous, unexpected boon.
"Where is the last flag?" Xie Yingying asked, getting straight to the point.
"I asked around discreetly," Su Min reported. "One of them came from the secret realm of an ancient Mahayana cultivator, one so old that no records of his name remain. The other three are likely from similar sources. They are rumored to have belonged to the so called Five Elements Guardians, who were said to be servants of some mysterious, long vanished entity."
"Servants…" Xie Yingying's heart skipped a beat. Mahayana cultivators were just half a step from true immortality, peak mortal beings, practically earthly immortals. For such figures to be mere servants, their master must have been truly extraordinary. The most likely candidate was a previous Five Elements Holy Body wielder. Even if that master was only at the Mahayana stage, they would have had the power to challenge and slay true immortals.
Xie Yingying cut to the chase. The priority was clear, securing the final piece.
"In three days, the Fire Guardian's secret realm is scheduled to open," Su Min said, her expression turning serious. "His personal legacy means nothing to us, but that flag is an absolute must."
The good news was that this time, given the obscure nature of the flags, they probably would not face much competition from the major players.
"Then let us prepare," Xie Yingying said with a grave nod. "The legacy itself does not matter. The flag must be obtained. The legacy of the last Five Elements Holy Body must see the light of day once more."
"Let us rest and prepare for the next few days," Su Min agreed. "This should not be as dangerous as the fight for the Eastern Azure Wood, but do not forget, the people from those three sects we humiliated might still cause trouble out of sheer spite and revenge."
A cold glint of killing intent flashed in Su Min's eyes. Those people would not let the humiliation slide so easily, at least not all of them. She had even spotted their stalls in the market earlier.
"We will rest for now," Xie Yingying concluded. "The trial's difficulty should not be high, but we must stay cautious. Remember, the real danger here is not always the secret realms or their guardians," her gaze drifted pointedly to the side of the peak, where a fresh, frozen corpse lay sprawled on the rocks, "it is the people."
Su Min had noticed the body upon her return but had not asked. Like her, Xie Yingying was not the type to provoke trouble needlessly. The most likely scenario was that someone, perhaps emboldened by drink or arrogance, had made unwanted advances and paid the ultimate price for his miscalculation.
Too bad for him. He had targeted a mid Golden Core stage Lunar Sovereign Body wielder thinking her an easy target. His death had been swift, brutal, and entirely his own fault. Not that it mattered in the grand scheme. He was just another lone cultivator, unmissed and unmourned in the ruthless world of cultivation.