Don't be fooled, though a Ninth-Rank Fatebinding cultivator is but the very first step on the path of cultivation; once achieved, it brings a fundamental transformation of life itself!
At this moment, Jing Qian was basking in the rewards of his breakthrough.
The boundless essence unique to this world poured violently into his body from all directions.
His frame, nearly charred to a husk by the Life Fire, now rapidly healed under the flood of essence and not just recovered, but strengthened at an astonishing pace!
Having already been nourished by the vitality refined from Life Essence, Jing Qian's body had grown to three feet in length, unusually sturdy for a child.
Now he advanced yet further!
Though still barely more than a one-year-old infant, he swiftly grew to nearly four feet tall, appearing like a child of five or six years.
Even greater changes stirred within his mind.
Once the Ninth Rank Fatebinding succeeded, a cultivator's Sea of Consciousness naturally opened, and spiritual awareness was born.
This was one of the most crucial signs of truly entering the Dao!
Jing Qian carefully sensed his Niwan Palace and perceived his newly-formed Sea of Consciousness as vast, tangible, as though it could be touched.
It spanned about an inch and two points across, the place where his spirit would dwell.
At its base lay the Sumeru Life Pattern, now the size of a mustard seed, anchoring the sea and ensuring its stability.
His single White Fang Life Essence had also descended into the very center of the Sea.
From that Life Essence, a strange power slowly began to generate.
Starting at his brow, this power coursed downward, threading through his organs, circulating into his limbs, before returning once again to the Sea.
With every cycle, the power grew just a little stronger.
Jing Qian was certain that with a few more days of tempering, a second White Fang Life Essence would naturally condense.
Even more importantly, after just one circulation, this force was now fully under his control.
He felt a wave of ease and clarity sweep through his body, his spirit harmonious, his intent whole.
He was no longer the same as before!
At the very top of his Sea of Consciousness, he sensed a subtle node of space, something only he could perceive.
It was the entrance to his Stele of Fate space.
For the first time as a Ninth Rank cultivator, Jing Qian sent his spirit leaping inside.
The entire stele space had transformed!
Once narrow and cramped, no larger than a single chamber, it had expanded more than threefold.
The safe zone's size had tripled!
And upon his Fate Stele, the inscriptions had completely changed:
[Host: Jing Qian]
[Lifespan: 1 / 144 years]
[Life Essence: 1.35] (White Fang)
[Life Pattern: Sumeru (Golden Root)]
Having ascended, he not only obtained the golden Sumeru Life Pattern but also directly gained sixty years of additional life.
At last, Jing Qian had, in some measure, earned the right to grasp his fate.
He drew his spirit back into his body and opened his eyes, speaking aloud:
"Qingzhuzi, I've succeeded!"
Amid the crisis, his strength had undergone a qualitative leap. Though he dared not boast of turning the tide, at the very least, he would no longer be a burden to others.
Upon seeing him truly step onto the path of cultivation, the eight eyes of Qingzhuzi, the demon spider, even revealed a faint glimmer of relief.
This spider was indeed brimming with intelligence, almost human-like.
Jing Qian stood, stretching his reborn body with vigor, and easily fell into a solid martial stance.
Though he stood no taller than an elementary schooler, his sheer physical strength now far surpassed what he had possessed in his previous life!
Just as he was about to speak further, the spider beneath him moved once more.
It gathered a bundle of silk and drew over the brocade blanket Jing Qian had earlier cast aside, carefully draping it around him.
It even bound the small embroidered pouch tucked into his swaddling cloths by Madam Jing Su firmly to his right arm with a strand of silk.
Baffled, Jing Qian couldn't help but ask:
"Qingzhuzi, what are you doing?"
The demon spider gave no reply, nor did it stop. Instead, it only worked faster!
First, it split off half the coconut-wood logs from the raft beneath their feet, fashioning a second raft.
Then, it untied the iron stakes and bronze hammer that had been bound to its legs and fastened them securely onto the new raft.
Without so much as a glance at Jing Qian's reaction, the spider pressed him down flat, binding him side by side with the iron stake.
What it did next left Jing Qian utterly shocked.
He watched as the spider manipulated its silk, and one by one, dug out one of its own eyes from its emerald-like cluster of eight!
A spray of green blood gushed from the wound.
Even though Qingzhuzi had already attained the peak of the Azure Wing demonic realm, those compound eyes were still among its vital cores, the very foundation of its cultivation.
Losing one left its body shuddering, its injuries growing worse.
"Qingzhuzi, what are you doing?!"
Jing Qian struggled desperately, but he was still far too weak, having only just entered the Dao. The demon spider's silk bindings were unbreakable.
All he could do was watch in horror as Qingzhuzi forced the emerald eye into his mouth.
Though it looked like a flawless jade orb, the moment it touched his tongue, it melted away, dissolving instantly into his body.
At once, he felt a chilling current of power coursing through him, flowing up and down his frame before gathering at his scalp and sinking into the roots of his hair.
His thick black locks began to fall, strand by strand, until his head was stripped bare.
In that instant, within the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, a brand-new Life Pattern quietly took form:
[Life Pattern: Weaver of Souls]
[Grade: Azure Wing]
"Threads upon threads entwine the spirit; weaving souls, binding ghosts, striking fear in gods."
Though he had only just stepped onto the path, Jing Qian had already condensed a second Life Pattern, once again leaping forward in cultivation!
For ordinary rogue cultivators, if they could, within three years of entering the Dao, gather enough resources to forge a second Life Pattern, they would already be considered blessed by fortune.
Jing Qian sank into the transformation of his Sea of Consciousness, no longer struggling, allowing himself to be carried along.
Meanwhile, Qingzhuzi finished its work. It gathered the webbing that bound over five hundred great sea fish, fastening it to the new raft before releasing its control.
Freed of half its burden, the raft surged forward with the same fish-power, its speed suddenly doubling!
Qingzhuzi, bereft of propulsion, was left drifting far behind.
Lying upon the raft, Jing Qian could sense himself being pulled apart from Qingzhuzi, yet he was powerless to stop it.
And then, a crisp, melodious woman's voice rang in his ears:
"Little Qian, with enemies upon us, neither of us can hope to escape. I will stay behind to stall them. You must go on ahead.
"You were fated to step into the Dao at this very moment. That chance alone may carry you to safety. In this, at least, I will not fail the trust Su-jie placed in me.
"As for me… I will not come looking for you again, so do not pine for me.
"Su-jie was slain by the enemy. No matter how this battle ends, there is no reason left for me to go on living.
"And another thing, 'Qingzhuzi' is not what you should be calling me!
"By the reckoning of your family's generation, you ought to address me as… Grandmother Qing!"
This demon spider remembered everything and knew everything.
And when that bone-piercing chill swept across the horizon and brushed against its divine sense, it had already placed its own life and death aside.