The inn room felt smaller with three people inside. The rescued girl sat quietly in a corner, her eyes downcast but occasionally stealing glances at her saviors. Mu Yan leaned against the wall while Qin Ying settled gracefully on a cushion. He pushed off the wall, his boots making a soft sound on the wooden floorboards, breaking the quiet. He stopped before the girl. "What should we call you?"
She flinched, then looked up, her voice a fragile whisper. "Rou."
A thoughtful look crossed his face. "From this moment, your name is Mu Rou." He offered a small, reassuring smile. "I am Mu Yan. You can think of us as family now."
Mu Rou's eyes welled with tears, a single drop tracing a path down her cheek. She bowed her head, a gesture of profound gratitude. "Thank you, big brother Mu Yan."
Meanwhile noticing something,Qin Ying moved closer to Mu Rou, her movements fluid and purposeful. "Let me check your body." Her slender fingers pressed against Yang Rou's wrist, sensing her pulse and qi flow. Suddenly, Qin Ying's eyebrows shot up, surprise flickering across her face.
"This is..." Qin Ying's voice trailed off, her eyes distant as if recalling ancient texts.
Mu Yan straightened, recognizing the significance in Qin Ying's tone. "What did you find?"
"An ice body constitution," Qin Ying murmured, almost to herself. "But it's one I don't recognize."
"One in a million," Mu Yan breathed. Among the 36 Heavenly constitutions, 108 Earthly constitutions, and 1001 mortal constitutions recognized throughout the world, finding an unidentified one was extraordinary.
Qin Ying's brow remained furrowed as she continued her assessment. "Its foundation is powerful. It's at least at the level of a Mortal constitution, perhaps even greater. Her potential is immense, but it lies dormant, suppressed by the thin spiritual energy of this world and the lack of a suitable cultivation method."
The weight of the words slowly sank in for Mu Rou. Her hands, clasped in her lap, began to tremble. "I… I can become a cultivator?"
Mu Rou's hands trembled. "I... I can cultivate?"
"Yes," Qin Ying smiled. "Your constitution was simply waiting for the right moment to awaken."
Tears welled in Mu Rou's eyes. "All this time... watching cultivators from afar, feeling so helpless when mother..." Her voice broke.
Qin Ying gave her a moment before a flicker of resolve crossed her features. She reached for the obsidian ring on her finger. With a faint shimmer of light, a strange, ethereal plant appeared in her palm. The instant it materialized, the temperature in the room plummeted. A bone-deep chill seeped into the air, frosting the windowpanes. Mu Rou shivered violently, her teeth chattering, while Mu Yan reflexively retreated to the far side of the room, the biting cold a physical force against his skin.
"Stay close," Qin Ying instructed gently but firmly as she enveloped Mu Rou in warm energy that fought against the encroaching chill from the lotus' aura.
"This is a Frost Seed Lotus," she explained while maintaining focus
Mu Yan stared at the object. It was shaped like a perfect lotus flower, but its eighteen petals were crafted from what looked like pure, unmelting ice. In its center sat nine seeds, each glowing with a soft, internal light.
"The seeds hold the vast majority of its power," Qin Ying explained, her gaze fixed on the lotus. "But the petals serve a different purpose, one few know. I found this by chance during my travels. Their true function is to awaken latent potential."
Mu Yan suddenly remembered the tattoo's strange behavior. "Wait," he interjected. "We should set up protective formations first."
Qin Ying raised an eyebrow but complied, her fingers dancing through the air as she laid down multiple layers of barriers. The air thickened with protective energy, strong enough to withstand multiple strikes from a Nascent realm cultivator.
Once satisfied that they were adequately protected against prying eyes or unwelcome intrusions—especially given their current vulnerability—Mu Yan stepped back into position near their doorway but remained vigilant for any potential threats lurking outside.
Within the barrier, Mu Rou took a deep, steadying breath, her heart filled with a gratitude so profound it was almost painful. At Qin Ying's nod, she closed her eyes. Qin Ying sat behind her, placing the Frost Seed Lotus in the young girl's lap before resting her palms flat against Mu Rou's back. She closed her own eyes, focusing. First, she channeled a delicate stream of her own Qi into Mu Rou, guiding it through the girl's unawakened meridians, patiently allowing the unfamiliar sensation wash over her like spring rains after long droughts… helping her sense the flow of energy for the first time.
Once Mu Rou's awareness locked onto the sensation, Qin Ying shifted her focus. She drew upon the essence of the lotus, gently extracting the frigid, pure energy from a single petal. This energy, now under her precise control, flowed through her hands and into Mu Rou's body.
The effect was immediate. The icy energy did not feel cold to Mu Rou; it felt like a homecoming. It surged through her, automatically seeking out her meridians, illuminating them from within. A portion of the energy spiraled downward, gathering in her lower abdomen. There, it swirled, condensed, and with an almost silent hum, formed a stable vortex. Her dantian—her Qi Sea—was established.
The rest of the lotus essence sank deeper, permeating every fiber of her being. Her blood, her cells, her very bones absorbed the energy and seemed to sing with excitement. A pale blue luminescence began to emanate from her skin, a soft glow that pulsed in time with her heartbeat. This phenomenon acted as a beacon, drawing the ambient Qi from the inn and the street outside, pulling it through the walls and into the barrier, where Mu Rou's new dantian eagerly absorbed it.
Mu Yan watched from his post, his eyes wide with astonishment. The phenomenon was stunning, but it was the speed that left him speechless. She had established her foundation in mere moments. He had expected the process to take hours, if not days. This girl's potential was even greater than they had guessed.