"Phew, done."
Looking at the array of floating jade bottles before her, each containing perfectly refined pills, Su Min stretched her arms lazily, a few joints popping. She had spent the last month continuously refining numerous pills for the sect's stockpile, though the highest grade among them was only seventh tier high grade, specifically prepared for Xie Yingying's future breakthrough to the Unity stage.
The inherent power of the Lunar Sovereign Body was truly formidable. Even its pill requirements were one full tier lower than others needed for the same effect. She could only envy this innate advantage. Her own Five Elements Body offered no such convenient shortcuts. She still definitively needed a genuine Unity Pill for her own advancement, but refining that was currently beyond her capabilities. The ingredients were far too scarce and precious to waste on repeated failed attempts.
"The Black Kirin's growth is truly sluggish. According to the earlier information from the clan, the kirin's ancestral secret realm contains seven or eight divine artifacts. Their collection is indeed impressive, almost obscene."
Su Min couldn't help but feel a spike of envy for the kirin clan's treasure hoard. She had nearly died multiple times obtaining her few artifacts, while the ancient Golden Crow royalty possessed only two core ones. Though she had four herself now, without her prior game knowledge of their specific locations, she might never have acquired them in this real world.
Now only one final step remained for her Five Elements Holy Body's completion, but the young kirin's painfully slow growth had become a frustrating bottleneck. This delayed her own progress immensely. She had hoped to achieve body completion around the same time she reached the Unity stage.
Then, even at the early Unity stage, she could confidently contend with ordinary Mahayana cultivators. The power gaps between these final stages were terrifyingly vast. Even now, with all her power and laws, Su Min couldn't confidently say she could kill an early Unity expert.
The disparity was despairingly large, let alone facing true Mahayana experts. But a completed Five Elements Holy Body would change that calculus entirely. This most mysterious and legendary constitution would finally reveal its true, world shaking brilliance.
"How can I accelerate the little kirin's growth? All the nurturing pills are prepared, more would be useless or even harmful. It needs special, rare items that resonate with its core nature. And my own path to Unity is troublesome too. Sigh, what to do..."
Su Min fell into deep contemplation, running through mental lists of rare materials and forbidden techniques, but found no immediate, viable solutions. She also had to be careful. Overusing certain powerful pills now might create spiritual impurities that could hinder her own clean breakthrough to Unity later.
"Forget it, I will consult the sect. That is what they are for."
Unable to devise a plan on her own, Su Min simply abandoned the effort. What was the point of establishing and running a massive sect if not to handle such tedious chores and research?
Considering she only needed to spend a month or two refining pills for them every few decades, the payoff of having thousands of disciples and elders working for her far outweighed the minimal effort on her part.
With this practical thought, her figure gradually dissipated from the alchemy chamber, reappearing an instant later in the sect's main administration hall. As Su Min normally avoided all administrative duties and Xie Yingying was currently training in the tomb realm, Elder Zhu remained the acting sect leader, overseeing daily operations.
"Greetings, Lady Su."
"Respected Grand Elder."
Seeing Su Min's sudden, unannounced appearance, all the present scribes and junior elders bowed respectfully, their voices a hushed chorus.
Unconcerned by the formalities, Su Min descended directly to the main seat, summoning a series of recent report scrolls with a wave of her hand.
"Any new developments? Any newly discovered secret realms or strange phenomena?"
She began rapidly reviewing the documents. Naturally, countless minor secret realms and spatial rifts emerged across the world all the time. Most were small and quickly exploited by local powers, but some, due to their danger or obscurity, remained beyond ordinary cultivators' reach.
These often contained great opportunities or rare resources, precisely what Su Min sought. The realms that could genuinely enhance her power were never easily accessible.
"Indeed, one significant one was reported recently. I intended to inform you upon your departure from seclusion."
"Oh?"
Su Min regarded Elder Zhu curiously as he hurriedly summoned a specific, ornate scroll from a nearby classified cabinet.
"Five Elements Mountain? Is there a Monkey King trapped underneath or something?"
Su Min stared blankly at the scroll's title, three bold characters declaring "Five Elements Mountain." The name was too on the nose.
"Monkey? What monkey? Those divine ape beasts? This has no connection to them. This newly stabilized realm has been completely engulfed by chaotic five elements energy. Those few who ventured deep have never returned, but the periphery offers rich elemental crystals and herbs. The local powers, fearing something dangerous might emerge, publicized the information to attract stronger experts."
"Chaotic five elements energy... could it be,"
Su Min paused mid sentence, her expression shifting from idle curiosity to dawning realization.
"Five Elements Land..."
Muttering to herself, her face first showed confusion, then darkened with grim understanding as the pieces clicked into place.
"Five Elements Great Sage."
Her expression turned fully grim, recalling a hidden world boss from her game memories. Its true name was unknown, it only bore the epithet "Five Elements Great Sage."
It was likely unrelated to the original Five Elements Emperor, though a distant connection was possible. Crucially, Su Min knew this entity was also recorded to have possessed the Five Elements Holy Body.
After a failed attempt at a profound, self severing technique, its leaked energy had condensed into those terrifying elemental crystals. Having always operated from the shadows, its reputation never spread, and it was utterly forgotten by history now.
"The game lore suggested it only possessed one heavenly treasure, barely unlocking a minor version of the constitution. Reaching Mahayana should have been impossible for it. Yet it seemed to have other, deeper secrets. Regardless, that place holds immense value for me."
Su Min's eyes narrowed with focused intensity. The crystalline mountain represented the massive law leakage and spiritual residue from its self severance, which would be incredibly nourishing for her own constitution. The potential benefits could very well propel her straight to the Unity stage, and might even accelerate the little kirin's growth.
But she knew tremendous danger always lurked alongside such rewards.
"It seems I must depart immediately."
"Will you bring Lady Xie along for support?"
"No, the environment is unsuitable for her. The Five Elements Land is my natural domain. The Black Kirin might fare similarly, as their foundational energy also revolves around the five elements."
Each divine beast had core attributes. Golden Crows centered on fire, dragons on water and wood, kirins uniquely on the balance of five elements. The Black Kirin in particular shared special similarities with the Five Elements Holy Body, making it highly compatible with such an environment.
But the Lunar Sovereign Body's pure yin nature would suffer severe suppression in that chaotic, balanced elemental storm. Moreover, traveling alone simply better ensured Su Min's own safety and mobility.
"This..."
After seeing the dark, determined look on Su Min's face, Elder Zhu also felt a chill. Su Min gave him a genuinely dangerous feeling when she looked like that, and it was obvious that she had guessed something crucial about the realm's true nature.
But considering the vast power disparity between them, he remained silent, swallowing his concerns.
Besides, she undoubtedly possessed hidden trump cards and a preternatural luck for surviving impossible situations. If she was overwhelmed, she had ways to preserve her life.
"I will depart immediately. Inform Yingying when she emerges from her training. Do not let her follow me."
Storing the information scroll securely in her ring, Su Min vanished from the hall in a streak of light without another word. The Five Elements Mountain had appeared near the continent's remote coastal region, a desolate area without established spatial passages.
The fastest approach was direct, unimpeded flight. In moments, Su Min had left the borders of Eastern Mulberry State, following the rugged coastline north. At her cultivation level, unimpeded by dimensional barriers or weather, her speed was staggering, capable of crossing starry skies with her physical body alone. This relatively short journey was trivial.
Within half a day, the landscape below began to shift, the air growing thick with discordant elemental energy.
"This entire region is saturated with the mountain's leaking energy. Does that thing intend to devour all existence here?"
Standing on a seaside cliff observing the distorted, colorful land in the distance, Su Min's expression darkened.
Ordinary cultivators wouldn't notice the subtle wrongness, but her Five Elements Holy Body revealed the realm's grave, predatory abnormalities. That no major power had taken action yet suggested the perpetrator was still casting its nets, patiently luring more cultivators into its trap.
This realm had become a feeding frenzy for lower level cultivators. A Mahayana peak expert's self severance, likely the work of the Black Seal's third seat, had left behind treasures potent enough to madden Divine Transformation, Dao Comprehension, and even Unity stage experts. The coastal periphery alone teemed with Golden Core cultivators scrounging for scraps.
While Golden Core cultivators were not as rare as they were during the world's early rebirth, such a high concentration of them in a single, remote area indicated a massive, almost irresistible attraction.
"Reckless fools, chasing treasure into a slaughterhouse. Since it has come to this, don't blame me for using you as my cover. A direct, frontal approach is unwise. That thing may have stabilized at the Unity stage by now. My imperial artifact can only be activated once a month, and killing a Unity entity that way is not guaranteed."
Su Min pondered her options carefully. Mahayana experts could not be easily slain by imperial artifacts unless the wielder had special bloodlines or secret techniques enabling near unlimited activation. The Future Bliss Bell's spirit had restricted its higher functions until she reached Mahayana herself. It was intended for emergencies and escape, not primary reliance.
Facing a potential Unity stage enemy head on, without preparation, would be perilous, especially if her true identity was discovered beforehand. She needed an opportunity to approach the core undetected, to get close enough for a single, decisive surprise attack.
"Seems I will need to use some underhanded tricks again..."
With a cold, sharp smile, Su Min produced a single, iridescent pill from a hidden pocket in her sleeve.
[Shape Shifting Pill, 7th tier high grade, Completely conceals all personal information, including appearance, aura, and cultivation base. Undetectable except by opponents possessing overwhelmingly superior spiritual power.]
The high grade transformation pill could alter her appearance, aura, and even the feel of her constitution so thoroughly that only a cultivator at the Mahayana mid to peak stage could hope to see through it with their spiritual sense.
That was impossible now, since the target had self severed, fracturing its soul and power. Whatever its original peak strength, its current spiritual power could not possibly compare.
Diving underwater to a secluded, rocky alcove, Su Min swallowed the pill in one gulp.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Bone chilling crunching sounds erupted from within her body as her bones and muscles reshaped themselves. Her original 170cm, curvaceous figure compressed and shrank into a thin, flat chested child's form.
Her spiritual aura plummeted from the profound pressure of late Dao Comprehension to the level of a mere late Divine Transformation cultivator. All her divine artifacts were completely concealed within her, a deeply uncomfortable, muffled sensation.
"Seems I will play the part of an earth attribute cultivator temporarily. How awkward..."
Externally, she now manifested pure earth cultivation attributes, having not yet obtained the true Central Wutu Divine Earth, she utilized a common beast earth essence, making her aura utterly unremarkable for a Divine Transformation cultivator.
"Damn, what is with this bratty loli look?"
Seeing her reflection in the calm water, Su Min couldn't help cursing internally. She had deliberately altered her appearance, and now stood barely 120cm tall, a textbook loli with large eyes and short hair, but with an inherently bratty, stubborn aura etched on her new face.
"Whatever, no point dwelling on the aesthetics."
Her current identity, a late Divine Transformation cultivator with a common earth attribute, bore no resemblance to the renowned, untouchable alchemist Grandmaster Su. She was strong enough to be noteworthy in a crowd, yet not excessively conspicuous or threatening.
"First, I need to find a team of greedy loose cultivators to infiltrate the Five Elements Mountain with."
Late Divine Transformation cultivators, positioned just below the esteemed Dao Comprehension stage, were often desperate enough to risk deadly realms for a chance at a breakthrough. Such daring, ambitious individuals made perfect prey for a trap, and were exactly what her target would be seeking.
This time, Su Min decided, she would give them a taste of their own medicine. She would be the ambush specialist delivering the surprise.
===
Isn't that disguise perfectly match with your personality? mischievous, bratty, reckless