On the playground, despite this world possessing technology no weaker than Su Min's previous life...
Yet cultivators held absolute authority. Not to mention their extended lifespans - take the nuclear bomb from earlier. Su Min had clearly sensed it several seconds before detonation. She chose to tank it purely out of curiosity.
Any weapon was meaningless if it couldn't hit its target. In this era where productivity had developed to such levels, nearly everyone received one chance at awakening. To cultivate, even at the initial Body Refining stage, one needed spiritual roots to absorb and refine spiritual energy. Without them, advancement was absolutely impossible.
As for Su Min's spiritual roots? She could tell you without hesitation - five-element mixed spiritual roots. All Five Elements Holy Bodies had these roots, and the lowest grade mixed roots at that. They required divine artifacts to activate even partially.
If she hadn't obtained the Nanming Lihuo early on, she could never have killed that old witch so quickly.
Below, the students watched the proceedings nervously. The principal's speech boomed through loudspeakers so clearly even Su Min hiding in the shadows could hear every word.
"Students, listen carefully. This is the turning point of your lives. You've seen the news - the threat of the Divine Graveyard (Ancient Battlefield) looms near. The massive blood pollution has mutated countless sea creatures and contaminated all oceans, severely impacting global security. According to salvation protocols, those who cannot awaken spiritual roots—"
"Ugh..."
Watching the long-winded principal below gave Su Min a headache. Memories flooded back of her school days with that one administrator who spoke slowly, pausing every few words, then repeating entire sections.
Listening to those speeches had been pure torture.
"F*cking hurry up already! Let me see if there's any suitable candidates!!!"
Finally fed up, Su Min gave him a little nudge. The principal shuddered mid-sentence.
The Foundation Establishment stage principal swayed, then collapsed backward.
"Huh?"
The crowd froze. Foundation Establishment was no joke. People rushed over, and when one cultivator checked the principal's chest, his expression turned strange.
"The principal... has heatstroke."
"What?"
"Woohoo!!!"
Teachers exchanged bewildered looks while students cheered openly. Clearly Su Min wasn't the only one who couldn't stand it. Nobody enjoyed listening to pointless rambling. Of course, Foundation Establishment cultivators didn't get heatstroke. This was Su Min's doing. At her level, a subtle strike like this would go completely undetected.
The principal would just sleep it off.
"Ahem, since this has happened, let the awakening ceremony begin. Students, your moment of destiny has arrived."
With the principal temporarily indisposed, the vice principal declared the ceremony started. Instantly the school buzzed with excitement - this was the moment they'd all dreamed of.
Su Min narrowed her eyes. She needed to find the right candidate. Since her arrival, that connection had severed. She needed to establish herself in this world, and having an assistant would help.
"Top talents won't do - too arrogant to listen. As for others... hmm?"
Her divine sense swept over everyone. While the school needed the ceremony to assess aptitudes, Su Min could see their qualifications at a glance with her soul power. Soon she found her target - a girl who suddenly entered her field of vision.
"A special constitution - Netherflame Body. A self-contradictory physique. Let's see if she's suitable."
The Netherflame Body was exceptionally rare but fatally flawed. "Nether" represented dark abyssal energies, while "flame" embodied yang purity. These opposing properties constantly clashed within the body, making it essentially useless for cultivation. But according to the Glass Medicine Buddha's notes, balancing these two attributes could permanently resolve the issue. Several methods existed, but Su Min preferred the straightforward approach - a single high-grade Tier 4 Netherflame Spirit Pill would suffice.
Refining Tier 4 pills was as easy as breathing to her.
Once activated, while not matching the top-tier physiques, it would rank solidly in the second tier - vastly superior to Su Min's initial Blazing Sun Body without the blessing of the Nanming Lihuo. Many special constitutions also locked spiritual roots, guaranteeing post-awakening superiority over even heavenly spiritual roots.
She waited patiently for the right moment.
As Su Min observed, the playground became a microcosm of human joy and sorrow. Those with spiritual roots and talent could resonate with a special crystal orb, manifesting their roots.
Those without got nothing.
Faces fell across the field. Cultivators held supreme status, occupying all elite positions while ordinary people were relegated to menial jobs. One could theoretically advance through intellect alone, but that path was vanishingly narrow.
"Wahh..."
Some broke down crying upon learning they had no potential. The dimensional rift had devastated civilization. Humanity had nearly lost the oceans to endless mutated creatures, fracturing global infrastructure and cutting off maritime resources.
This forced surface populations into dire straits. With constant monster attacks, nations maintained massive militaries and expenditures.
Thus cultivators defending against these threats received priority access to all resources. Each cultivation breakthrough brought greater power and higher status. Those who couldn't cultivate had almost no future prospects. Just look at the school - the principal was Foundation Establishment, while other administrators required at least Qi Refining.
"This gap is truly despair-inducing."
Watching the emotional rollercoaster, Su Min sighed.
She herself was a supreme beneficiary of this system, and even she couldn't change it. But for every sorrow, there was joy. A commotion erupted when a girl's touch made a crystal orb erupt with light that shot skyward.
Heavenly Fire Spiritual Root
Even in Su Min's sect, this would immediately qualify as an inner disciple, personally trained by a Golden Core elder. Competition for heavenly root disciples sometimes turned physical among elders.
Su Min had witnessed several such brawls. While she understood the excitement, heavenly roots barely registered in her eyes. She'd never been interested in taking disciples anyway.
"Heavens, a heavenly root!"
"That's basically a Golden Core guarantee!"
"Gulp..."
Students gazed awestruck at the proudly preening youth. Teachers reacted similarly. These orbs required constant energy infusion from a Foundation Establishment cultivator during testing - something ordinary families could never afford.
Thus governments conducted unified testing when students entered high school. Only wealthy clans or cultivator families tested privately, making talented commoners exceptionally rare here. Each discovery meant tangible political achievements.
The groggy principal even slapped the table: "Hahaha! We're definitely topping the rankings this year! Not just bonuses - we might get additional technique rewards!"
"Indeed. A city of millions might go years without a heavenly root. They naturally reach Golden Core, possibly higher."
Teachers voiced their envy - this youth would soon become someone they could only look up to. Already they pondered what gifts to offer, hoping to curry favor for future benefits. Most here had no hope of further breakthroughs, but they could pave the way for their descendants. Amidst the celebration, a relatively pretty girl trembled before an unresponsive orb.
"Sorry, no resonance at all."
The operator spoke coldly. After witnessing countless such scenes, he'd long stopped offering comfort, mechanically completing his task.
"I..."
The girl shivered. Her family was poor - her parents, ordinary laborers, had accidentally contacted pollutants. They now carried crippling debt with payment deadlines looming. Default meant losing everything, including evicting her bedridden father. She dared not imagine the consequences. Her only hope was awakening a high-grade root to prove her potential.
Such talents received government support - debt extensions, even partial repayments. She gazed enviously at the celebrated boy. With his roots, his family debts would vanish instantly. Even those responsible for her father's condition would face consequences. A heavenly root meant destined greatness.
"..."
Emotions churned within her - envy, pain, jealousy, coalescing into bitter resentment and utter despair.
"Stop holding up the line—"
The operator began impatiently urging when a voice spoke in her ear:
"Girl, do you crave power?"
Suddenly she realized everything around her had frozen. This was Su Min's temporal law. In this world with far weaker suppression than her original one, and with no powerful figures present, stopping time was trivial. A full Dao Comprehension expert could still move under temporal suspension, albeit slowed.
"Who's there?"
Only the girl's eyes could move as her body turned statue-still. Su Min had only freed her consciousness.
"Just a passing kamen rider. If willing, sign this."
A scroll unfurled in her soul containing meticulously crafted terms ensuring she could never reveal Su Min's presence even in death.
Su Min didn't know this world's depths. While she estimated no openly active Divine Transformation experts could comprehend laws (otherwise they'd have handled that monster she killed), something had harmed the qilin clan.
Thus she needed to remain hidden until uncovering this world's secrets.
"This is..."
"A soul contract binding even immortals. Think carefully."
"I accept."
"Oh?"
"Someone like me could never resist someone like you."
"Tch."
With the girl's agreement, the contract sealed into her mind.
As the pact completed, Su Min descended before her. The girl saw a radiant, nobly dressed woman descending like a celestial being, her transcendent aura and unique presence utterly intoxicating. Higher cultivators naturally emitted mesmerizing auras - not sexual, but profoundly attractive.
For a moment, the girl was entranced.
"Lin Yao, the contract is sealed."
Before Lin Yao could react, dozens of rare herbs materialized around her. Flames surged in the woman's hands as the ingredients flew in, instantly forming a pill that was popped into her mouth.
Strange energy flooded her body.
"Ah—"
Before she could speak, time resumed. The impatient Foundation Establishment cultivator's words caught in his throat as the orb now blazed with ghostly blue flames.
"Fire spiritual root... mutated? Not heavenly grade, but respectable. Congratulations - your unique root must have caused the initial misreading."
Lin Yao felt dreamlike, yet the pill's warmth and lingering taste confirmed reality.
"Hey girl, you'd better work hard for me now."
The familiar voice whispered again before cheers surrounded her. Her spiritual root quality had been recorded:
High-grade Mutated Fire Spiritual Root