As Su Min emerged comfortably from her secluded refinement, she was met with Xie Yingying's envious glare. Without hesitation, Xie Yingying tossed a small vial toward her.
"So much?"
Su Min was startled by the four drops of essence blood inside. For cultivators, essence blood was their most precious resource—losing a drop or two occasionally was manageable, but four was excessive. Though Su Min had given Xie Yingying three fourth-tier high-grade blood-replenishing pills, this was still shocking.
Back when she had given a drop of her essence blood to the little Golden Crow, it had taken her a long time to recover—and that was without any high-grade replenishing pills. At the time, she hadn't even had third-tier pills, let alone fourth-tier ones. The materials were simply too hard to obtain. But why did she need these drops of blood?
It all traced back to the day of the "Ten Thousand Laws' Resonance."
At that time, Su Min had temporarily entered the Solar Sovereign state—though it was incomplete, lacking combat power and unable to unlock the Solar Sovereign Body's legacy in the short term. Still, under the "Yin and Yang Shall Never Meet" curse, this was the best outcome possible.
So, over the decades, the two of them had… ahem—experimented quite wildly with the interaction of Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign forces, like what would happen when the moon and the sun met.
The phenomenon of Ten Thousand Laws' Resonance never reappeared—the commotion had been too great, something even the Golden Core Avenue might not have been able to contain. Both of them had deliberately suppressed it afterward. The initial incident had only happened because they hadn't known better.
As for whether the fusion of Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign could produce a Chaos Body—no one knew. After all, the two of them couldn't exactly produce one. But there was a unique benefit: Dual cultivation allowed them to glimpse the Great Dao of Ten Thousand Laws.
This effect even surpassed Su Min's Heavenly Dao Insight ability. But there was a major flaw—the moment they entered this state of enlightenment, Su Min's Solar Sovereign Body duration would expire. After two failed attempts, Su Min gave up. Once or twice was fine, but any more might inflict Dao injuries on both of them.
Under Xie Yingying's "Are you even capable?" gaze, Su Min decided to try something bolder—exchanging essence blood. So, they each gave the other a drop.
And then—
The moment Su Min came into contact with Xie Yingying's essence blood, an extraordinary power awakened within her. One hand Taiyang, one hand Taiyin. Her combat power skyrocketed to terrifying levels, brushing against the threshold of Chaos.
It was far from a true Chaos Body, of course—the foundation of a Chaos Body was the perfect fusion of Yin and Yang, which they couldn't achieve. But it allowed Su Min to wield both Taiyang and Taiyin forces simultaneously, blending them into devastating attacks.
Even Su Min was shocked. She swore that even if her Five Elements Holy Body reached perfection, it wouldn't compare to this. But there were costs: Xie Yingying's essence blood was required.
She had gone to great lengths to extract these four drops without damaging her foundation, aided by fourth-tier high-grade pills. She wouldn't be able to give Su Min more for decades. Severe personal depletion. Normally, Su Min could activate this state once a day. But now, each activation would leave her unable to use this power for three months.
In a way, this was fine—her incomplete Solar Sovereign Body was somewhat of a liability. Without the complete Solar Ancient Scripture, activating it only weakened her. Her Fire-Wood Holy Body, empowered by Nanming Lihuo and Eastern Azure Wood, was far more effective.
Moreover, the Fire-Wood Holy Body and Solar Sovereign Body couldn't coexist.
Thus, the incomplete Solar Sovereign Body was only useful under specific conditions. But with Xie Yingying's essence blood, its power exceeded all expectations—possibly even surpassing a perfected Five Elements Holy Body. To control this power, Su Min had studied Xie Yingying's Lunar Sovereign Ancient Scripture.
(As a side note, the Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign scriptures weren't actually that mysterious—they were just useless to anyone without the corresponding physique. The Lunar Sovereign inheritor who established the secret realm had been worried about wasted legacies. Under the Golden Core Avenue's rules, once a legacy was released, it would take at least a millennium to recover. If a true Lunar Sovereign Body arrived during that time, it would be a disaster. Since the scripture was useless to anyone else, Xie Yingying had handed it over without hesitation.)
But while Su Min had gained so much, Xie Yingying saw no changes at all. Even when given Su Min's essence blood—even Solar Sovereign Body essence blood—it was useless to her.
So, after much coaxing from Su Min, Xie Yingying reluctantly agreed to give her a few more drops. Which was why her current envy was very real.
"Oh right, take this as thanks."
Su Min pulled out a dark-blue longsword and handed it to Xie Yingying.
[Profound Ice Yin Soul Sword (Earth-tier, High-grade)]
Can absorb and store Taiyin energy and other cold-type energies.
Can double the output of such attacks when released.
Xie Yingying's previous weapon—a large brush—was also an Earth-tier high-grade artifact, but it didn't suit her. The Heavenly Yin Sect, despite its name, had nothing to do with the Lunar Sovereign Body. None of its artifacts were a good fit for her—the brush had been the closest match. But this sword?
In Xie Yingying's hands, its power would surpass even ordinary Heaven-tier artifacts. Besides her Lunar Sovereign Body, she had also refined the Naiqiong Divine Ice in the secret realm. The chaotic environment there had been a result of Taiyin energy and the Divine Ice interacting. After inheriting the legacy, she had fully refined the ice.
So, Su Min's gift delighted her—until she noticed another function of the sword. It could absorb and store Taiyin energy and frost power. If used against her in battle, it could leave her completely defenseless.
"Uh… aren't you happy with my gift?"
Seeing Xie Yingying's expression, Su Min awkwardly rubbed her nose.
This woman had given her essence blood. If they met in the Golden Core Heavenly Ranking, and Su Min activated the blood's power, she could utterly crush her. And yet, Xie Yingying hadn't complained. If Su Min actually used this against her, it'd be the ultimate betrayal.
But there was a reason for this: After Su Min activated this special state, the Golden Core Avenue's artifact spirit had contacted her.
The Golden Core Avenue was a transcendent artifact beyond Heaven-tier, with its own consciousness. Upon sensing Su Min's "Half-Step Chaos Body," it had been shocked—and offered her a favor. It would arrange the matchups to ensure that Su Min, Xie Yingying, the Great Desolate Holy Body, and Yao Xian'er wouldn't meet until the top five.
These were all prodigies—the artifact spirit wanted as many as possible to receive the ranking's rewards. Thus, Su Min and Xie Yingying would not face each other before the top five. That was why Su Min felt comfortable giving her the sword now.
Of course, she hadn't crafted it specifically to counter Xie Yingying—she'd made counters for everyone. After her experience sealing the old demon queen with a single artifact, she'd developed a habit.
With the Tianjiao Ranking and information on the top talents, she'd gotten to work:
Rank 1: Too overpowered—her attacks fused multiple supreme techniques. No way to counter except brute force. PASS.
Rank 2 (Great Desolate Holy Body): Overwhelming physical power? Soft Heart Silk—a flexible artifact that countered brute strength. It wouldn't lock him down like the demon queen, but it'd give her an edge.
Rank 3 (Han Chaoyan): Tengshe lineage + Divine Water. But his abilities were well-documented. Easy—Earth counters Water. She'd use the Stone Heart she'd obtained earlier to craft a Sea-Filling Divine Stone—a nasty surprise for him.
Rank 4 (Xie Yingying): Lunar Sovereign Body + Naiqiong Divine Ice. Hard to counter, but the Alchemy & Artifact Manual had a solution—hence the Profound Ice Yin Soul Sword.
Rank 5 and below…
It wasn't until she reached her own rank that Su Min realized what she was doing. She'd gotten too used to counter-building. After tasting the sweetness of hard counters, she'd become addicted. She felt like an overpowered Batman—rarely losing fights, always entering battles with overwhelming advantages.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
But honestly, she didn't care about rankings—top five was enough. As long as she didn't face her most feared opponents early, she was fine.
"I just made this while crafting counters for the other prodigies. Isn't it good for you? You can use it until the Nascent Soul stage if you don't find a better replacement."
Under Xie Yingying's scrutinizing gaze, Su Min's confidence wavered slightly.
"Just how paranoid are you? With your strength, you don't need these tricks. Even without my essence blood, I'd have a hard time beating you."
Xie Yingying didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
If Su Min used this against her in the rankings, she'd be furious—but right now, it was just absurd. Besides, based on her sect's records of the Golden Core Avenue, there was a 90% chance they'd only meet when competing for final rankings. And given Su Min's true strength, Xie Yingying had no doubt she could rank top five without any of these tricks.
"It never hurts to have more trump cards—especially before facing her. It's best not to reveal this one too early. Oh, and if you meet her, just surrender. Don't risk having your Dao heart shattered. That woman's an ancient monster who's lived who-knows-how-long."
Su Min couldn't help but warn her. As the saying went, "All roads lead to Rome."
In the face of true powerhouses, physiques meant nothing. It was like the game—many players challenged themselves by starting with a mortal body, only taking innate abilities that helped early-game. And yet, they cleared the entire game.
By the late game, with a mature build and mastery of mechanics, they could outperform even the best physiques. Without restrictions, they could achieve even more versatile effects.
That Rank 1 gave Su Min the same vibe—a veteran player stomping noobs.
Of course, she wasn't actually a player—otherwise, some of Su Min's possessions would've interested her. That left only one possibility: She was the reincarnation of an ancient powerhouse—at the very least, a supreme expert's rebirth.
Fighting her was pointless—it'd only break one's Dao heart. Su Min wasn't worried, though. She was thick-skinned and had played enough soul-crushing games to be numb to defeat. Expecting her Dao heart to shatter? More likely, she'd just go berserk.
"I know. The Golden Core Heavenly Ranking is about to start. Let's return to the Lunar Sovereign Secret Realm to train—it's safer there now that I've fully mastered it."
Xie Yingying didn't argue. This place wasn't safe anymore—everyone knew Su Min was here. She'd been openly refining pills for profit, after all. Otherwise, where would she have gotten the materials for all these artifacts?
Not that these artifacts were bad—they might not be useful now, but she could always dump them in her sect as rewards for disciples. Their versatility was decent.
But there was a catch: When the Golden Core Avenue began, all participants' souls would be transported to a special space, where their bodies would also be summoned for battles.
Though there were protections against true death, severe injuries were still possible. Letting everyone know you were crippled? A terrible idea.
So before entering, they needed a safe hiding spot. The secret realm—protected by an ancient formation with only one entrance—was perfect.
"Alright, let's go."
Su Min nodded. Though she was confident, caution was the parent of safety. As for the errand-running disciples, Su Min had already given them their pills and sent them away.
"After the Golden Core Avenue ends, I'll refine the Nascent Soul Pills. We'll probably have to deal with the Blood Puppet Sect's revenge too."
Before leaving, Su Min couldn't resist reminding her. Massacring them here was impossible—it'd provoke retaliation from other sects. If not for the Blood Puppet Sect's sheer idiocy, she wouldn't have bothered avenging that injury. A sect that had survived this long wasn't to be underestimated.