"Five Elements Ancient Scripture..."
Now that she had reached the Nascent Soul stage, Su Min began studying the inheritance she had obtained.
First, the Five Elements Ancient Scripture was fundamentally different from the Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign Ancient Scriptures. This scripture could be split into separate parts. Since the Five Elements Holy Body could harmonize all five elements, the scripture could be divided and cultivated individually.
However, this method was intended for ordinary cultivators, not someone like her.
"Even when split into five parts, each one remains a top-tier cultivation method. I'll leave them in the sect later—they'll help fill the gaps in our inheritance."
Her sect had always faced a major problem: its techniques were a patchwork of miscellaneous methods. Aside from the Firewood Art she practiced, the rest were disorganized, lacking a core inheritance. This was why she had been so envious of Xie Yingying's sect's legacy.
But now, with the Five Elements Emperor's inheritance, this issue could be resolved. Even when divided into five separate methods, they complemented each other. As long as a disciple had the corresponding spiritual root, they could cultivate one of them. As for those without an affinity for the five elements… well, Su Min had no immediate solution. They'd have to rely on natural enlightenment and gradual exploration.
After all, the five basic elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) accounted for over 80% of cultivators. The rest were niche cases, so they'd have to figure things out on their own.
"Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—I've already prepared five jade slips for them. The Five Elements Ancient Scripture is surprisingly versatile in some ways. But this is just the surface—I'm still far from mastering its true power."
Of course, these divided versions weren't the true essence of the scripture. That could only be unleashed by someone with the Five Elements Holy Body. With that thought, she retrieved the five floating bamboo slips—she'd deposit them in the sect's archives once she left seclusion.
"What comes next is what truly demands my attention—I must gather all five divine treasures. But right now, that's impossible. And I can't substitute them with inferior replacements, or my body will explode."
The true essence of the Five Elements Ancient Scripture lay in the interplay between the five elements. To fully unleash its power, she needed to collect five divine treasures, reaching Great Completion.
But before that, there was a temporary workaround. If she couldn't obtain the divine treasures, she could use beast cores—far inferior substitutes—to fill the gaps. Though they couldn't compare to true heaven-and-earth divine treasures, they were still better than relying solely on her own spiritual energy. The problem was, this method required massive amounts of beast essence, something only Golden Core-stage beasts and above could produce. It was an extremely rare resource.
She didn't have any on hand, but her sect's treasury did. The ocean was vast, far larger than the land, and teeming with Golden Core-stage beasts. Though the East Mulberry Land was dominated by humans and spirit beasts, powerful demonic beasts still occasionally emerged.
The Eastern Sea Immortal Sect had stockpiled a considerable amount of beast essence over the centuries.
"This was exactly why I established a sect—so I wouldn't have to hunt them all myself."
Killing enough Golden Core beasts alone would've been exhausting, if not outright impossible in a short time.
"It's time to leave seclusion."
Stretching lazily, Su Min shattered her protective formation with a single slap and soared into the sky. The overwhelming aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator erupted, instantly alerting every strong figure in the sect.
Within moments, a crowd had gathered.
"Congratulations, Grand Elder, on reaching the Nascent Soul stage!"
The current sect master, Tian Yinzi, stepped forward with a bow. Now that the barriers between heaven and earth had opened, a sect without at least a Nascent Soul or Divine Transformation expert was in a precarious position. Their interactions with other provinces had been cautious, and expansion had to be done discreetly—partly due to Su Min's orders to keep a low profile.
Regardless, having a Nascent Soul elder in residence put everyone at ease. The Golden Crow was technically a Divine Transformation expert, but it only obeyed Su Min. The others couldn't command it. Su Min, however, was different—she was the ancestral founder.
"Place these five jade slips in the Scripture Pavilion. And I'll need to visit the Treasure Vault to refine some items."
She tossed the jade slips to Tian Yinzi, who skimmed their contents. His face lit up with joy. Previously, their sect only had the inheritance of the Heavenly Yin Sect, which had extremely strict requirements and limited applicability. Many disciples had failed the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation due to the incomplete legacy. But now, with these five jade slips, the problem was solved. The sect's overall strength would skyrocket in a short time.
"Oh, and take these two as well."
Su Min also handed over two artifacts she had refined upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
[Heavenly Thunder Resistance Talisman (High Earth Grade)] – Greatly enhances resistance to lightning.
[Thunder-Shattering Divine Sword (High Earth Grade)] – Deals devastating damage to all thunder-attribute beings.
These were specialized tools for overcoming heavenly tribulations. Back when she was weaker, Su Min had only had low-grade artifacts to rely on. Now, she could provide her sect with better equipment.
"Grand Elder, this way, please."
Tian Yinzi beamed as he accepted the artifacts. The Grand Elder had effortlessly solved two of the sect's biggest problems: A complete cultivation inheritance; Safer tribulation survival.
He should have called her "Ancestor," but looking at her youthful appearance, he couldn't bring himself to say it. If she decided to smack him for it, he'd just have to take it.
Soon, they arrived at a heavily guarded cave, protected by layers of formations and multiple experts.
"Eight Golden Core cultivators—not bad."
Su Min nodded in approval. The guards emerged from the shadows and bowed respectfully. Though these were all post-Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation Golden Core cultivators—and the lowered difficulty after the heavens opened had helped—this lineup was still impressive.
"In the twenty-plus years since the Grand Elder entered seclusion, our sect has gained over a hundred Golden Core experts. However, only two have survived the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation—one from the Taiyin lineage, and another who cultivated your legacy. But now, with these five new methods, more will surely succeed."
Su Min nodded.
The new generation was flourishing, and she suspected the neighboring provinces had also seen a surge in Golden Core cultivators.
"Grand Elder, feel free to use anything here. I'll go inform the other elders of the good news."
"Go ahead."
Su Min stepped inside, her eyes immediately drawn to the vast collection of rare herbs. As one of the Three Great Holy Lands, the sect had gathered numerous precious ingredients—many of which were key materials for fifth and even sixth-grade pills.
"Quite the collection. I'll have fun burning through these."
She grinned. These were clearly stockpiled just for her. And it wasn't a pure loss—alchemy produced byproducts that, while useless to her, would be invaluable to the sect. But right now, her goal wasn't the herbs. It was the inner chamber, where the sect stored special materials harvested from demonic beasts. What she needed was the core life essence of these creatures.
"Damn, over 300 different types of beast essence! And for the metal, water, and earth attributes, there are at least fifty each."
She was slightly surprised by the centuries of accumulated reserves. But she didn't need that much—just a dozen or so of each.
With a wave of her hand, dozens of containers shattered, releasing streams of primal beast essence. The energies swirled in the air before gathering in Su Min's palm, glowing brilliantly. Under the refining power of her Nanming Lihuo, the earth-attribute essence began to transform.
Fire begets Earth.
She was using her divine flame to forge Beast Earth—a temporary substitute for the divine earth treasure she lacked. Though far weaker than the Central Wutu Divine Earth, it would suffice for now. Once she obtained the real thing, she could expel this substitute.
The room fell into silence as she worked. After an unknown length of time, a peculiar, luminous sand materialized in her hand.
"Done. Beast Earth."
She didn't know its exact name, and it was nowhere near as powerful as the Central Wutu Divine Earth, but it would do for now. With a deep breath, she swallowed the sand whole. Her body flashed with light, and within an hour, she had fully refined it. At the Nascent Soul stage, with two divine treasures already in her body, suppressing a mere Beast Earth was child's play.
Unfortunately, it didn't boost her cultivation at all.
"Earth begets Metal. Next up—Beast Metal."
With another thought, a dozen more containers shattered.