Even If You're My Senior, It's Still Forbidden - Chapter 34

“Mother didn’t want me to engage with spiritual power, so she never finished teaching me. It wasn’t until later, when I was ten, that I met an artifact forger. I don’t know her name, but she asked me if I wanted to learn spiritual power, and I nodded.”

“She began teaching me spiritual power, the Five Elements spiritual power you mentioned earlier.” It was only when Ji Weining spoke of this that Su Jin’an realized she had been learning the Five Elements spiritual power.

“What I learned was the Fire element of the Five Elements spiritual power. Later, she forbade me from continuing and sealed the spiritual power within my body.”

The Five Elements spiritual power that forbidden art required mastering all five elements and merging them into one. The process itself was akin to facing death. She had never seen anyone who had fully cultivated the Five Elements spiritual power and survived.

Ji Weining furrowed her brow and sat down beside her, immediately grasping her wrist to search for the sealed spiritual power. Due to the unexpected smoothness of the spiritual energy she had previously channeled into her, it quickly circulated within Su Jin’an’s body. However, Ji Weining found no trace of the sealed spiritual power in the outer meridians.

Ji Weining knew that Su Jin’an had limited exposure to spiritual power and had likely only been taught one of the elements.

“May I touch your Golden Core, Junior Sister?” Ji Weining asked.

In the world of cultivators, such things were not to be touched lightly.

“Of course, you may.” Su Jin’an knew that Ji Weining wanted to examine the seal. Only by removing it could the issue be resolved.

Ji Weining’s spiritual power flowed into her once again, washing through her meridians. Instantly, Su Jin’an felt a numbness in her hands and feet. Guiding the unfamiliar yet familiar strand of spiritual energy, Su Jin’an directed it toward the most precious part of a cultivator’s body.

A thin barrier was lifted, revealing the Golden Core before Ji Weining’s eyes. To her, a cultivator’s Golden Core was merely a vessel for storing spiritual power, and there wasn’t much distinction between them.

But the moment she sensed Su Jin’an’s Golden Core, it felt different. As her spiritual power connected with the scene in her mind’s eye, she saw the Golden Core clearly bright and luminous like a pearl. It lacked the dazzling brilliance of gold but resembled a deep-sea pearl, shimmering with iridescent hues, encircled by the faint golden glow characteristic of a Golden Core.

As she continued channeling spiritual power, Ji Weining enveloped the Golden Core with her own energy.

The Golden Core trembled incessantly under her touch.

“Relax, Junior Sister,” Ji Weining whispered softly into her ear, her fingers intertwining with Su Jin’an’s.

The Golden Core was unusually sensitive. The moment it was touched, it felt as though a large hand was caressing her entire body. Su Jin’an couldn’t quite describe the sensation.

Ji Weining refined the spiritual power she had sent in earlier and, as expected, found the breach. Her spiritual energy seeped into it, immediately scorched by intense heat.

It was indeed the Fire element of the Five Elements spiritual power. The seal had cleverly integrated it into Su Jin’an’s Golden Core when it formed, but it had inevitably caused cracks to appear.

After her investigation, Ji Weining immediately withdrew her spiritual power, retracting it thread by thread, as if pulling on silk.

Su Jin’an gripped her hand and leaned against her body, using Ji Weining’s support to steady her weakened form.

“Are you alright?” Ji Weining didn’t understand what it felt like to have one’s golden core invaded, but seeing Su Jin’an’s reaction seemed uncomfortable, she felt somewhat at a loss, unsure how to comfort her.

“It’s, it’s fine.” Su Jin’an’s hand, pressed against hers, tightened with strength, trembling uncontrollably as she struggled to respond, “I just need a moment to recover. My whole body feels like it’s gone numb.”

Su Jin’an didn’t understand why a cultivator would experience such a sensation either, the numbness was so intense that she could even feel her meridians throbbing violently along with her heartbeat.

She could clearly hear the sound of her own heart, beating so fast, so fast.

“Was it because I injected too much spiritual energy during the examination, making you uncomfortable?”

“No, no, being examined by Senior Sister feels very pleasant.” Su Jin’an could sense that Ji Weining’s spiritual energy was incredibly gentle, even too gentle, like feathers lightly brushing against her golden core, while that sensation spread throughout her entire body.

It was truly too comfortable.

Su Jin’an trembled as she asked, “Senior Sister, could you examine me one more time?”

“Is there still discomfort in your golden core?” Ji Weining asked, slightly taken aback.

“Mhm.” Su Jin’an’s reply was vague, but it was clear she wanted her to try again.

“Alright.” Ji Weining recalled the golden core she had enveloped earlier. During the examination, it seemed like she hadn’t missed anything, but she hadn’t dared to probe too deeply inside.

Having one’s golden core invaded probably wasn’t a comfortable experience.

“Then, shall I determine what kind of seal it is?”

“Mhm, mhm.”

Spiritual energy followed the same path as before, and with Su Jin’an’s guidance, it quickly reached that secret realm belonging to her. Once again, spiritual energy enveloped her. She held onto her hand, and even her golden core trembled uncontrollably. Ji Weining was already highly skilled in manipulating spiritual energy, and she soon found a gap, slipping into the inner landscape.

Su Jin’an had only developed one-tenth of her golden core’s potential.

“Follow me.”

“Mhm.” Su Jin’an exerted all her effort to control the spiritual energy within her body. Ever since forming her golden core, she had only known how to channel spiritual energy into it for storage. She never knew she could actually enter it.

Vaguely, the golden core she had seen last time appeared before her eyes, covered by a mist-like aura of spiritual energy Ji Weining’s spiritual energy. That layer of energy wrapped around the golden core as if enveloping her entire body, and under its influence, her whole being was being gently caressed.

“We can go in now.” Su Jin’an controlled her spiritual energy to reach that crack, connecting it with Ji Weining’s spiritual energy as she intended.

“Relax a bit. Separate your spiritual energy, it might hurt.”

“I can do it.”

Ji Weining pulled Su Jin’an in, embracing her tightly, their upper bodies pressed together. She was within her consciousness, about to enter her golden core. Ji Weining monitored Su Jin’an’s physical condition, continuously refining the spiritual energy she had inside her. But the golden core was extremely sensitive; even the smallest thing could be magnified infinitely.

Su Jin’an couldn’t see her surroundings; all her senses were concentrated on her golden core. She closed her eyes, burying her face in Su Jin’an’s embrace, her breathing gradually growing rapid.

Ji Weining intertwined her spiritual energy with Su Jin’an’s, guiding her into the inner landscape.

Scorching, abnormally scorching.

Ji Weining quickly activated the Ice Condensation Technique, injecting it inside. Su Jin’an’s body began to heat up as well. Within her consciousness, the scene inside her golden core was revealed, it was that seal.

The Spirit Lock Seal.

It begins with the caster and must end with the caster; otherwise, it would end up like this.

If the caster has passed away, the seal will shatter. It was amidst this chaos that Su Jin’an formed her golden core, temporarily suppressing the seal.

Corrupted by the fiery spiritual energy within her body, this energy seemed to develop a consciousness of its own. Ji Weining sighed helplessly, “Alright, junior sister, try to absorb my spiritual energy.”

” I don’t know how.”

“It’s the same as last time when I transferred spiritual energy to you.” Only this time, the location had shifted to the golden core, and due to the heightened sensory connection, the experience was infinitely amplified.

Su Jin’an attempted to mobilize the spiritual energy within her golden core to absorb it, but Ji Weining still muttered to herself that this energy, having lingered too long in Su Jin’an’s body, was gradually slipping out of her control.

“It’s not working. Senior sister, take it out.”

In the end, Ji Weining channeled another stream of spiritual energy to forcibly discipline the rebellious energy that refused to be controlled.

Indeed, one shouldn’t linger too long in someone else’s golden core. This was Ji Weining’s first time entering another’s golden core, and she hadn’t expected it to turn out like this.

Fine beads of sweat formed on Su Jin’an’s hairline. It took her a long while to recover before she sat up straight and continued recounting the events to Ji Weining. “At that time, I had only mastered the power of fire. Later, the previous situation would often occur, so the artifact refiner sealed all my spiritual energy.”

The midnight fevers and various pains all stemmed from this.

The five-element spiritual energy originates from the internal organs, which is vastly different from other cultivation methods and comes with much stricter requirements. The artifact refiner likely knew this, which is why she forbade Su Jin’an from continuing her studies.

“Later, she placed me inside the artifact refining furnace. I was on the verge of death, and after that, she never let me learn again,” Su Jin’an whispered.

Ji Weining asked curiously, “Does everyone in your clan study this?”

Su Jin’an shook her head.

Only her. They never taught her; only that person did, so she learned.

“That artifact refiner was probably a guest elder of my family. Later, something happened to her. I was the only one present at the time. Everyone saw me clutching a black mist in my hands as she collapsed into my arms.” Su Jin’an’s heart ached, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.

“Take your time. We can talk slowly.” Ji Weining moved closer, embracing her, and Su Jin’an rested her head against Ji Weining’s chest.

Ji Weining knew very well that Su Jin’an’s thoughts were somewhat disordered; this matter had been weighing on her for far too long.

From Su Jin’an’s fragmented words, Ji Weining tentatively guessed and asked, “Did someone ask you to go there, junior sister?”

“Yes,” Su Jin’an replied, sniffing back her tears. “Someone from the clan told me to go to the artifact refining room, saying she was looking for me.”

“I, I thought she had agreed to teach me spiritual energy again.”

“She used to teach me secretly, in secret.” Su Jin’an didn’t know the purpose behind her teachings, but she said it would make her as strong as the others in the clan, so she began to learn.

Hearing this, Ji Weining vaguely guessed why Su Jin’an had ended up in that situation truly a fallen young lady of a noble family. Ji Weining gently stroked her hair, deciding not to dig deeper for answers.

As for what happened afterward, she could easily guess that the family must have demanded an explanation from her. How many others were involved remained unknown to her.

“Did you ever see the artifacts she refined?”

“She forges swords, specifically soft swords,” Su Jin’an stated with certainty. She had seen her forge swords, always the same soft sword repeatedly.

“Alright, I understand, sister. I will also help you investigate,” Ji Weining replied.

Ji Weining then asked, “But why did you go to the Clear Spirit Cave? Can you tell me, sister?”

“Mhmm,” Su Jin’an responded, unconsciously nuzzling against Ji Weining’s chest like a kitten.

As Su Jin’an spoke, she pondered the past, those times spent with her. They were all about making her endure various flames stifling heat and clamor.

She vaguely remembered how many times she had fainted since then, yet she never saw the spiritual energy that was mentioned. However, the other insisted that if she persisted, she could already see it.

As she continued step by step in her training, she often felt pain in her internal organs. Over time, the pain became numb, and she no longer felt it.

“She has been searching for a sword, likely one that belonged to an old acquaintance. All I know is that there is a pattern on the sword, a phoenix.”

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