Xie Jiuniang returned and gave the Cleansing Spiritual Grass to Xie Ying. She immediately activated the courtyard's formation, cutting off any external probes.
She took out the items she had taken from Xie Ying and inspected them one by one.
Xie Ying had capable external relatives and an older brother, so she had many valuable items on her. Not to mention the thousands of Spirit Stones, the market value of the Magic Artifacts, Elixirs, and Talismans alone exceeded ten thousand.
There were as many as five large boxes of exquisite jewelry and Vestment robes.
Not to mention the Elixirs suitable for increasing cultivation speed during the Qi Cultivation Stage, such as the early-stage Qi Nourishing Pill and the later-stage Spirit-Gathering Pill, in ample quantities, enough for one person to reach Foundation Establishment.
You really can't compare people.
The more she compared, the angrier she got. The main house clearly had no shortage of resources, so what were they thinking when they exploited a child?
Xie Jiuniang didn't know that these resources were precisely what Xie Haoran, far away in the Tianxu Sect, had asked Lin Wangchen to send back home.
In the end, she singled out three items.
Other than the small tree leaf ornament she had noticed before, there was also an unadorned ancient Token and a golden stone.
These three were the ones she couldn't figure out at the moment.
If Xie Ying really had some incredible opportunity on her, these three items were the most likely candidates.
Xie Jiuniang picked up the Token.
She didn't know what the Token was made of. The front was carved with two ancient characters that Xie Jiuniang didn't recognize; the back showed a totem of a large tree, somewhat resembling the Divine Fusu Tree.
There were rumors that some ancient heritage sites required keys to enter.
This Token... she could not be certain.
Xie Jiuniang tried channeling Spiritual Power into it, but her power was blocked at the surface of the Token. Using Divine Sense to probe it revealed nothing unusual.
She dropped a bead of fresh blood on it, but it slid off—her blood didn't merge with it.
Was she overthinking it?
This Token couldn't be something mortal men used, could it? Nevermind, she'll check when she goes to the Sect.
Xie Jiuniang put away the Token first.
She then looked at the golden stone, the size of a baby's fist. After a series of routine ownership trials, all of which failed,
She simply took out the Flying Sword and struck it!
Shattered?
Oh, it was just a worthless ore that looked the part, discarded.
One of the three items was now considered trash, leaving only the tree leaf ornament.
The workmanship of the ornament was extremely delicate; the fresh and verdant little leaf in the small golden cage, with clear leaf veins, seemed like a freshly plucked new leaf, indicating its extraordinary nature.
Other than the special leaf, the rest of the ornament was beautiful indeed, but the materials were ordinary.
Xie Jiuniang took apart the little golden lantern and took out the small tree leaf separately.
It felt cool to the touch, as if it were made of jade.
She tried to snap it with force, but it didn't break.
Channeling a thread of Spiritual Power, the leaf instantly absorbed it all.
There's hope!
Xie Jiuniang was pleased.
She channeled more, and it was absorbed again.
The small tree leaf was like a bottomless pit; no amount of Spiritual Energy could fill it. As more Spiritual Energy was infused, it did grow a tiny bit.
Experience told her to bind treasures with blood as soon as possible.
A drop of fresh blood flew out.
As the blood drop touched it, it merged instantly with the small leaf.
Following that, Xie Jiuniang's mind was muddled, suddenly filled with many strange images—all memories from the perspective of the leaf.
In the initial memories, the small leaf had always been drifting through a vast and boundless silver river.
Ethereal and dreamlike, with silver light sparkling.
The river's waters flowed endlessly, deathly silent, rushing towards an unknown destination.
During the endless years of drifting, every once in a while, it would encounter the mysterious flow of light, and nothing else.
Suddenly one day, the long river trembled, and the small leaf crashed into a spatial rift, accidentally arriving in this world. It changed masters one after another, never once being recognized.
An extraordinary treasure had degenerated into mere decoration, and after thousands of years, it ended up in Xie Ying's hands.
Now, it belonged to her, Xie Jiuniang!
However, why could she easily bind such a treasure, never claimed by anyone else, with her blood?
Xie Jiuniang couldn't help but think of the one thing that set her apart.
Perhaps... probably...
It was because of rebirth?
Nevermind, don't obsess over it.
```
How the treasure was bound to its master hardly mattered, as long as it could be bound, that was a huge surprise.
Xie Jiuniang had, after all, been part of a sect for two hundred years in her previous life, so she naturally knew that blood-binding was only the first step in claiming a treasure, and it had to be thoroughly refined and nurtured in the Dantian to be safe from theft.
But to refine an Innate artifact, a great amount of Divine Sense, the power of the soul, was required. The Divine Sense of someone at the Qi Cultivation Stage was insufficient—it wouldn't be until after Foundation Establishment that one could even dare to attempt it.
And it was just an attempt, with no guarantee of success.
However, what abilities could the little leaf possess?
After studying it for a while, the small leaf in her palm gradually doubled in size with her full effort of channeling Spiritual Energy into it.
Then…?
Xie Jiuniang extended her Divine Sense to envelop the leaf, and suddenly the leaf burst into a silver-white brilliance, enveloping her completely.
Within the silver light, Xie Jiuniang felt as if she was in another world, standing in a river of dazzling silver light, with waters surging endlessly, dreamlike and illusionary.
There was no sound of water, mysterious to the extreme.
It was a sight that shook the soul.
This scene was both familiar and strange!
The familiarity came because she had seen it when sharing memories with the little leaf, the place of its origin, the River of Time, which had existed only in legends for millions of years.
Compelled by some unknown force, Xie Jiuniang raised her foot and took a small step forward…
Suddenly, an image flashed before her eyes.
It was her in her bedroom with someone outside triggering the Formation… the image disappeared just two breaths later.
The silver light vanished as well.
In an instant, Xie Jiuniang was back in her bedroom.
Just then, the Formation in her room was triggered—was someone really there?
With this thought...
Xie Jiuniang's eyes widened in shock!
Fuck! Fuck!!
Precognition?! The future?
Even if it was just for two breaths, it was still defying the heavens! And all it cost was some Spiritual Energy?!
By this time, the little leaf in her palm had returned to its original size.
Xie Jiuniang was so excited that she jumped for joy.
"I'm rich, I'm rich, hahaha, it's the Time Leaf, the precious treasure connected to the River of Time! Haha, this round's not a loss, not a loss at all! Hahahaha..."
It was not until that moment that the pent-up frustration in her chest finally eased.
She couldn't care less about the person outside.
Xie Jiuniang hastily sat in meditation, taking out the freshly acquired Elixir to recover her Spiritual Power, planning to continue her research later.
After repeated confirmation, she finally understood the little leaf's abilities.
Inside the River of Time, moving forward was to foresee the future, while moving backward was Time Retrospection.
The precognition had certain limitations, as it could only show one's own future.
Time Retrospection would replay events that had occurred within a certain range of the person's current position. For instance, if Xie Jiuniang performed Time Retrospection in her bedroom, she could see what happened there during the previous quarter of an hour.
Time Retrospection used up less energy than precognition.
With her strength at the third layer of Qi Cultivation, she could only foresee two breaths into the future but could sustain Time Retrospection for a quarter of an hour.
Heaven-defying divine skills!
To know both future and past. Heh, in the future, assassinations and treachery for treasure... uh, that is, finding opportunities would be achieved with half the effort.
Xie Jiuniang carefully stored the little leaf in a lucky pouch and hung it around her neck.
"I still need to find a way to refine it as soon as possible." Without refining it, there was always the possibility it could be stolen.
In truth, Xie Jiuniang was needlessly worried.
The Time Leaf had gone unclaimed for countless years, which was telling in itself. Xie Jiuniang's success came from her own fortune, having a thread of the original essence of space-time law.
In other words, no one else in this world, except for Xie Jiuniang, could make it recognize a master.
But the reasons for this, with Xie Jiuniang's current knowledge, were unbeknownst to her.
Xie Jiuniang did not go outside but instead took out a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills and chose to enter closed-door cultivation.
Weaklings are at the mercy of others.
She must become stronger!
To reach the pinnacle of the world!
Only then could she protect herself, and only then could she protect her parents and loved ones.
So, by the time Xie Jiuniang stepped out of her bedroom, nearly half a month had passed. Meanwhile, she had broken through to the fifth level of Qi Cultivation.
The fifth level!
She had ascended two whole stages!
```