Fire Domain
Upon arriving at their destination, Su Min was momentarily stunned. Before her eyes lay a scorching fire domain, with massive weapons embedded in the magma. Clearly, these weapons were part of the legacy itself. But that wasn't what caught Su Min's attention. Instead, she felt something peculiar about this place.
"What's wrong?" Xie Yingying noticed Su Min's strange expression.
"There's a weird sensation here, as if something is connected to me."
Su Min's expression turned even odder. It felt like something here was calling out to her.
"Connected to you? Do you have a child or something?"
"Don't joke around. It's not that kind of connection. The only thing truly tied to my bloodline is the little Golden Crow—nothing else."
Su Min rolled her eyes. Back when she had completed the little Golden Crow's form, she had used her own essence blood.
"It seems there might be something here related to your physique. As a physique that can rival the Lunar Sovereign Body at its peak, it should have its own unique legacy."
"Huh?"
Su Min looked at Xie Yingying in confusion. This was something she genuinely didn't know.
"Top-tier experts with special physiques often develop their bodies to extreme levels. These legacies can only be obtained by those with the same physique. Initially, I thought you only had the Blazing Sun Body—a rare but not particularly powerful physique. But if you're a Five Elements Holy Body, then there should be something here related to it."
"Is that so…"
Su Min narrowed her eyes slightly but didn't say anything else. She had previously classified the Blazing Sun Body as a Tier 2 physique, but that was only when factoring in Nanming Lihuo. Without it, the Blazing Sun Body was rather ordinary, hardly capable of producing extraordinary results.
Now, her physique—originally just a dual Fire-Wood Body—had begun to take on the characteristics of the Five Elements Holy Body. The two attributes of Fire and Wood were already interconnected, allowing her to exploit their mutual generation and restriction cycles.
At its peak, the Five Elements Holy Body granted near-immunity to all elemental attacks while enabling its user to counter any element. Fighting against a fully realized Five Elements Holy Body wielder was only feasible for a peak physical cultivator, as their attacks wouldn't be negated by the Saint Body's resistances.
Currently, Su Min could already tap into some of the Five Elements Holy Body's abilities, such as elemental restrictions. For example, Fire restricted Metal, and Wood restricted Earth. This meant that even if she used Nanming Lihuo against an Earth-based defense, she would still gain an advantage. Normally, Fire nurtured Earth, making Fire-based attacks less effective against it. But now, she could bypass that entirely. The same applied to Water, which restricted Fire. Since Water nurtured Wood, Water-based attacks would no longer counter her. Instead, she would gain high resistance against Water-based techniques.
The Five Elements Holy Body was simply unfair—like a game where you countered every element except Yin and Yang, while all attacks against you suffered damage reduction. However, Su Min's Five Elements Holy Body was still incomplete, far from its full potential. It also didn't offer much resistance to derivative elements. Still, her current physique was already vastly superior to her original one.
In essence, the Five Elements Holy Body manipulated all related attributes to work in its wielder's favor.
"Connected to me? I've never heard of any legacy specifically for the Five Elements Holy Body in the game."
Su Min narrowed her eyes. The Five Elements Holy Body wasn't a starting option in the game. Although the system had provided steps to unlock it, there were no further records. If she wanted to obtain it, she'd have to search for it herself. While the ability Heavenly Dao Insight could help, it wasn't reliable enough to guarantee success. She still needed to seize every opportunity in this world.
"Let's go. There's a market up ahead—let's check it out."
After surveying the fire domain, the two quickly made their way to an auction house nestled within it. Unlike the beast-infested regions, this place was bustling with people. Almost every major sect had set up stalls here. The resources from various secret realms were abundant, but without alchemists to refine them, many herbs were unusable.
Absorbing herbs directly was inefficient and placed a heavy burden on a cultivator's body. Some herbs even had extremely high absorption requirements. Thus, these materials were often traded. Beyond herbs, there were also all sorts of oddities—some worthless, others capable of propelling certain individuals to greatness under the right circumstances.
"Wait a second. Let's disguise ourselves. If I go as I am, they'll probably jack up the prices."
Su Min pulled Xie Yingying aside, and the two descended from the sky. She took out two rings from her storage, slipping one onto her finger and tossing the other to Xie Yingying.
[Concealment Ring (Low Earth Tier): Can alter appearance and mask aura.]
A practical item, though not foolproof. A cultivator's true essence was their aura, but as long as they didn't fight, even acquaintances wouldn't recognize them. The reason was simple: Su Min was undoubtedly famous by now, but few knew her well. Her likeness, however, was probably circulating everywhere. If she showed up as herself, sellers would likely inflate prices. She remembered playing DDO once, where a certain streamer single-handedly drove up the price of protection scrolls across the entire server. She wasn't about to be swindled like that.
"You go ahead. My Lunar Sovereign Body is too potent to conceal. I'll wait here—those things are useless to me anyway. Contact me if there's trouble."
Xie Yingying rolled her eyes. The Lunar Sovereign Body was domineering, and that came with drawbacks. Many things were incompatible with it, whereas Su Min's Five Elements Holy Body was all-encompassing. Places like this held little appeal for her.
Moreover, the Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign Bodies naturally exuded their auras, making them easily recognizable.
"Fine."
Su Min didn't argue. She was essentially here to hunt for bargains. If she wanted high-quality items, she could just contact the major sects directly. But showing up as a fourth-tier alchemist would make bargain-hunting impossible.
Fortunately, she had plenty of herbs on hand—over half of the Azure Dragon Secret Realm's stockpile had ended up in her possession. She had more than enough to trade for hidden gems. With that in mind, she strode into the market, eager to see what treasures awaited.
"Step right up! This is Skyfire Profound Iron from the Blazing Fire Secret Realm—perfect for forging weapons!"
"Miss, care to take a look? I've got century-old…"
As soon as she entered, Su Min's eyebrow twitched. Scanning the area, she realized all the stalls belonged to major sects. Only they had the resources to amass large quantities of materials and ensure they weren't robbed. Countless realms existed beyond the three great continents—smaller worlds, some no larger than a single province.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
These places might not house powerhouses like the five great sects, but a single sect ruling over an entire region could rival them in background (accumulated resources). The number of such sects was truly staggering, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Let's see what's here. If I'm bargain-hunting, I should at least… Huh?"
Just then, Su Min froze. That strange sensation had returned, and this time, she could pinpoint its source—a small flag among the wares.
"Could there really be a Five Elements Holy Body legacy here?"
Muttering to herself, Su Min approached the stall. A variety of herbs were spread out on the counter, while the stall owner—a cultivator who had survived the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation—yawned lazily.
"How much for this herb?"
"5,000 low-grade spirit stones."
The stall owner glanced at the herb in Su Min's hand and replied dismissively.
"Not too expensive."
Su Min quickly assessed the price. She had plenty of spirit stones—some from her sect's output, others collected while refining pills for the five great sects, and even a portion shamelessly borrowed from Xie Yingying. Though the herb was useful, her real interest lay elsewhere.
"That's steep. In a few decades, it might only be worth 4,000 stones at most."
With the realms now connected, such herbs would become more common, inevitably driving prices down. At present, though, the asking price was slightly inflated.
"By then, you'll have long been kicked out of the Golden Core Avenue."
The stall owner rolled his eyes. Seizing the opportunity, Su Min began browsing the other items—mostly spirit ores and minerals, their values immediately apparent.
So…
"What's this thing for?"
She picked up a small green flag, genuinely curious.
"No idea. Might be treasure, might be trash. 3,000 stones—take it or leave it."
"Damn, cultivators are brutally honest. No salesmanship at all—no attempt to hype it up?"
Su Min internally facepalmed. The seller had just revealed his bottom line. Then again, for cultivators, determining an item's usefulness was straightforward: just channel spiritual energy into it. Fakes were nearly impossible.
"That's way too expensive for some random little flag."
"…"
Silence. Clearly, the seller expected her to make a counteroffer.
"How about 6,000 low-grade stones for this herb and the flag?"
Su Min held up the herb and placed the flag in front of the man.
"Take it."
Seeing that he wasn't losing out, the stall owner waved her off. The flag was likely useless—even by the end of the Golden Core Avenue, it might remain unidentifiable. Such items typically defaulted to 1,000 stones. Since the herb was only slightly overpriced, and this girl seemed eager to study the flag, he might as well let her have it.
"Heh, done."
After completing the trade, Su Min moved on to the next stall, inwardly delighted. She had no idea what the flag meant to others, but for her, it was invaluable. It was like the pills she refined for Xie Yingying—if Su Min took one, she'd probably suffer stomachaches, but for Xie Yingying, they were essential. If the seller had sensed her interest and hiked the price, things would've gotten messy.
"This feeling… There's more than one. I should have enough stones."
Su Min could sense multiple similar flags in the market. She might as well seize the chance to collect them all. As for spirit stones, they were universal currency. Thanks to the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Gourd, Su Min had been intermittently consuming its liquid over the past decade, eliminating her need for stones to cultivate.
But for Golden Core cultivators, low-grade spirit stones were essential—consuming over a dozen daily. The current world's environment couldn't produce mid-grade stones yet, so most cultivators relied on them. Even sect elites needed them—perhaps only the Holy Sons and Daughters could tap into reserves directly. Without spirit stones, advancing through the Golden Core stages could take centuries. Thus, Golden Core cultivators depended on sect provisions.
Su Min had stockpiled a considerable amount. When pills weren't convenient for trade, spirit stones worked just fine. Plus, with the Heavenly Dao's suppression over the past few centuries, cultivation progress had been negligible, so she hadn't needed to expend any. Her reserves might not match the great sects', but they were far from meager.
Evening
"Check out what I found—these are the things that felt strange to me."
Su Min arrived at a small mountain peak outside the domain, where Xie Yingying was resting. Without hesitation, she tossed out four flags.
"Metal, Wood, Water, and Earth flags. If we can get the Fire one, we'll have a complete set. But these things don't react at all—even if we get the last one, we won't know how to use them. Secret realms have plenty of treasures, but also junk. Things with no response are usually classified as trash, since overly obscure activation conditions render them useless."
"But they're useful to me. You're right—this is probably tied to the Five Elements Holy Body legacy. For others, it's trash. For me, it's a golden opportunity."
Su Min waved her hand, and the flags floated up, pulsating with her spiritual energy. The Five Elements Holy Body was so rare that no one knew the flags' true value. Otherwise, a single one could fetch 100,000 stones—or sellers might impose harsh conditions, like demanding pill-refining services. Being able to acquire them so easily was a pleasant surprise.
"Where's the last flag?"
"I asked around. One of them came from the secret realm of an ancient Mahayana cultivator—one so old that no records remain. The other three are likely the same. They're said to belong to the 'Five Elements Guardians,' servants of some mysterious entity."
"Servants…"
Xie Yingying's heart skipped a beat. Mahayana cultivators were just half a step from immortality—peak mortal beings, practically earthly immortals. For such figures to be mere servants… their master must have been extraordinary. Likely a Five Elements Holy Body wielder. Even if that master was only at the Mahayana stage, they would've had the power to slay immortals.
"Where's the last flag?"
Xie Yingying cut to the chase. The priority was securing the final piece.
"In three days, the Fire Guardian's secret realm will open. His legacy means nothing to us, but that flag is a must."
Su Min's expression turned serious. The good news was that this time, they probably wouldn't face much competition.
"Then let's prepare. The legacy doesn't matter—the flag must be obtained. The legacy of the last Five Elements Holy Body must see the light of day."
Xie Yingying nodded gravely.
"Let's rest for a few days. This shouldn't be as dangerous as the fight for the Eastern Azure Wood, but don't forget—the three sects might still cause trouble out of revenge."
A glint of killing intent flashed in Su Min's eyes. Those people wouldn't let things slide—at least, not all of them. She'd even spotted their stalls earlier.
"We'll rest for now. The difficulty shouldn't be high, but we must stay cautious. The real danger here isn't the secret realms—it's the people."
Xie Yingying's gaze drifted to the side, where a frozen corpse lay. Su Min had noticed it upon arrival but hadn't asked. Like her, Xie Yingying wasn't the type to provoke trouble. Most likely, someone had made advances and paid the price.
Too bad for him—he'd targeted a mid-Golden Core Lunar Sovereign Body wielder. His death had been swift and brutal. Not that it mattered. He was just a lone cultivator, unmissed and unmourned.