Chapter221 – Six years

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. Then another three. Six years in total.

At last, Lauren touched the barrier. For years, that invisible wall had suppressed the violent tide of spiritual power within her. But today, it could no longer hold.

With a soundless crack—like an eggshell splitting—the barrier shattered.

Spiritual energy roared through her meridians, which had already been widened to their limits. It flooded her body in a wild surge, fierce but controlled. In the end, all of it converged into her core, pouring into her Nascent Soul.

The tiny figure within grew brighter, stronger, more solid. The once-delicate outer robe transformed into something like armor, hard and radiant.

The excess spiritual power didn’t go to waste. It flowed instead into her Immortal Roots. And that was when Lauren noticed something strange.

The Immortal Roots were different. What had once looked like a vague white bone inside her spiritual sea now appeared distinctly segmented. Clear joints. Clear structure.

As spiritual energy poured in, the lowest segment lit up. Then more energy rushed in. The second segment lit up.

Outside the Ice Cave, Tarot watched in growing disbelief as spiritual energy from the surrounding mountains spiraled inward, forming a massive vortex above the cave.

“It’s just Spirit Transformation,” he muttered. “Does she really need to absorb it like she’s trying to drain the heavens dry? Is she trying to explode?” He felt uneasy—but held back, deciding to wait a little longer.

Inside, Lauren continued absorbing energy like a bottomless abyss. The third Immortal Root segment lit up. Then the fourth. Each one required even more spiritual energy than the last.

Outside, Tarot’s expression finally changed. Something was wrong. He immediately sent a voice transmission to Gerald. If anything went wrong during a breakthrough to Spirit Transformation, only the sect leader could intervene.

Gerald arrived in a hurry, grumbling the entire way. “I’m busy organizing the sect competition,” he complained. “She’s just absorbing spiritual energy. What’s so damn special about that?”

Then he saw it. The vortex. The scale. He went silent. “How long has this been going on?”

“Over two hours.”

“…Next time,” Gerald said flatly, “don’t let her break through inside the sect. Send her somewhere else. Let her drain someone else’s spiritual veins.”

He glanced at the sky. “And this won’t do. When my junior sister finishes, we’ll need to send down a spiritual rain. If she goes outside, what are we supposed to rain with?”

That… was actually a good point. If she’d absorbed someone else’s spiritual energy, sending down spiritual rain later would’ve been much easier.

“Sect Leader,” Tarot asked carefully, “won’t she explode?”

Gerald frowned. “You guard the outside. I’ll take a look.”

He approached the Ice Cave. The cold had spread all the way to the entrance. Thick ice sealed the doorway completely.

Gerald didn’t dare probe with spiritual sense. One wrong move could disrupt her breakthrough.

He pressed himself against the opaque ice and squinted inside. He could barely make out a figure sitting cross-legged in the depths. That was all.

Inside the cave, Lauren had just lit up the final Immortal Root. Nine. She had nine Immortal Roots.

Each Immortal Root contained spiritual reserves equivalent to a cultivator’s core. Nine Immortal Roots… plus her original core.

That meant her spiritual energy reserves were equal to ten cores. Ten.

No wonder Nash used to joke that she had an “iron core.” Turns out, she really did. She continued absorbing energy, completely unaware of the panic outside.

Tarot was convinced she was about to blow up. Gerald, however, sensed that her breathing remained steady and controlled. She wasn’t on the verge of exploding.

He was worried about something else. Her breakthrough had consumed the equivalent of ten cultivators’ worth of spiritual energy.

If she didn’t rain down spiritual energy for several more hours afterward, the sect would suffer a huge loss.

“Sect Leader,” Tarot said suddenly, “it seems she’s stopped.”

Gerald focused. The vortex was weakening. “Good.”

He leaned against the frozen entrance again to peer inside. And then—

Boom.

The ice exploded outward. Gerald, who had been practically glued to the cave entrance, didn’t have time to dodge. He was sent flying. Fortunately, his cultivation was high. He flipped midair and landed steadily.

“Sect Leader! Be careful!” Tarot shouted. “The tribulation lightning is coming!”

Above, dark clouds gathered. The heavenly tribulation had arrived. Which meant Lauren had already succeeded halfway.

Gerald wasn’t too worried. For someone like Lauren, Spirit Transformation lightning shouldn’t be fatal.

Spirit Severing to Spirit Transformation. Forty-nine bolts.

She didn’t have Timothy’s or Drake’s special spiritual roots, but she endured the first twenty bolts head-on, teeth clenched, body blazing with spiritual armor. Only after that did she begin dodging strategically.

The sky split again and again. Forty-nine bolts in total. By the end, half the mountain had been blasted into rubble. Then—

Brilliant light pierced the clouds. Spiritual rain began to fall. The destroyed slopes slowly regenerated, greenery sprouting anew.

As always, the junior disciples rushed out to bathe in the rain, absorbing the blessed energy of a newly advanced Spirit Transformation cultivator.

Gerald watched the scene, sighing with envy. “Lauren’s been cultivating exactly twenty years,” he said slowly. “She’s only in her thirties… Spirit Transformation in her thirties. Who would believe that? Even Mr. Drake didn’t reach it that fast.”

Tarot snorted lightly. “That’s because she’s lucky. Her master paved the road for her.”

“Hey.” Gerald shot him a look. “Don’t say it like that. Mr. Drake prepared everything for her so she could ascend sooner. There must be a reason.”

Tarot pressed his lips together. There’s also a reason Master keeps suppressing my cultivation, he thought.

Gerald stared at the clearing sky.

“From the way Mr. Drake spoke before, things up there don’t sound peaceful. I wonder if Lauren can handle it.”

“Why worry?” Gerald waved a hand. “That girl’s cunning as hell. She won’t suffer easily. Besides, Mr. Drake’s already up there. And that dragon too.”

Tarot nodded. “True.”

Lauren greedily absorbed the falling spiritual rain, channeling it straight into her inner space.

That space had expanded dramatically. For six whole years, Lauren hadn’t been inside to manage it. The spiritual plants had grown wild and unruly, vines tangling over each other, herbs fighting for territory like weeds in an abandoned garden.

She’d have to talk to Briar later—see if Briar could go in and clean the place up.

When the spiritual rain finally stopped, Lauren hurried over to Tarot.

“Senior Brother, I did it!”

Tarot gave her a once-over. “Mm. I saw. You’re stronger than me now.”

Lauren scratched her cheek, grinning. “I’ll still call you Senior Brother. Relax.”

Tarot: “…” Was that reassurance—or a reminder?

She blinked. “Huh? Why’s the Sect Leader here too?”

Gerald nearly choked. I’ve been standing here this whole time and you’re only noticing now?

Tarot answered, “I called him. You were absorbing so much spiritual energy I thought you were going to explode.”

Lauren paused. That was probably because of the Immortal Roots.

“It’s fine.” She waved it off. “Anyway, has anything major happened these past few years?”

Gerald cleared his throat. “The sect’s once-a-decade disciple recruitment is starting again. This time, you have to choose at least one disciple.”

Lauren nodded without hesitation. “Alright.”

She remembered what her master had said—how he’d sighed over the declining talent at Starfell Summit. Her time in this world wasn’t endless. But while she was here, she’d leave behind as much as she could.