As a fire spirit root cultivator with Yang spiritual energy, Li Lin was the ideal candidate to refine the materials. Xiao Yin gleefully and solemnly handed the prepared items over to him.
A cluster of crimson Natal True Fire rose from Li Lin’s palm. He refined the five materials one by one, eventually merging them into a thumb-sized orb of five-element essence.
"Xiao Yin, what are you waiting for!" Li Lin shouted.
Xiao Yin immediately began casting the Condensation Art, a technique she had already mastered through countless practices. The leaves of the Yin Spirit Grass fluttered with incredible speed. Even though she had rehearsed these movements thousands of times, the strain of casting over a hundred hand seals left her exhausted. Had she not previously absorbed the Celestial Dew, she would not have been able to persevere.
As the final seal was struck, the essence orb erupted in a flash of light. Five-colored radiance enveloped the essence as it began to rotate slowly. Xiao Yin knew the critical moment had arrived. She focused her divine sense, painstakingly visualizing Li Xue’s appearance—since Li Xue was the only woman she had ever seen—and projected her thoughts into the essence.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Li Xue sent a drop of essence blood flying into the glowing orb. To condense a human body, one required human essence blood. Since Li Xue was the only female currently in the Dream Realm, she naturally contributed the drop, and she did so with great joy. Half an hour later, as the five-colored light gradually faded, a thumb-sized figure appeared in Li Lin’s palm.
Li Lin, Li Xue, Chi Ze, and Hei Yan—even Zi Feng and Zi Huang—all stared with wide eyes. The miniature person’s features were identical to Li Xue’s, only so tiny that she looked like a pocket-sized doll.
The next step required Xiao Yin to refine her original Yin Spirit Grass body into this new physical form, merging the two so her divine sense could fully integrate. This process was expected to be quite lengthy, but fortunately, cultivators had nothing if not time.
Li Lin cast a spell, casually setting up a Spirit-Isolating Barrier to wall off Xiao Yin and the new body from the outside world, preventing the wood essence of her original form from leaking away.
Xiao Yin began the slow process of refining her original body. This part proceeded quickly; she knew her own attributes intimately, and with the Condensation Art from the Jade Heart Script as a guide, she ensured not a single drop of essence was wasted. However, the fusion of the wood essence with the new body had to be completed with Li Lin’s help. Xiao Yin’s own cultivation was insufficient, and since her original body was dissolving, her divine sense alone could not manage the operation. She had to rely on an outsider.
The fusion of the original essence and the new body was slow but successful. Soon, everyone could sense a powerful aura of wood essence radiating from the body. In the world of cultivation, this would be known as a wood spirit root—specifically, a single wood spirit root, classified as a Heavenly Spirit Root.
Next came the integration of Xiao Yin’s divine sense with the physical body. A massive wave of agony, originating from the depths of her soul, surged through her sea of consciousness.
Li Lin sensed the violent fluctuations in Xiao Yin’s consciousness. Knowing that shape-shifting was a painful ordeal, he thought for a moment before flicking a Rank 3 inner core into the Spirit-Isolating Barrier. The water essence from a late-stage Rank 3 water beast’s core should make Xiao Yin feel a bit better.
Indeed, with the aid of the beast core, Xiao Yin endured the searing pain of fusion while absorbing the core's water essence. Water feeds wood; the addition of water essence significantly accelerated the fusion speed and dulled the sharpest edges of the pain.
Five days later, Xiao Yin’s divine sense and physical body were completely fused. With the help of the beast core, her strength recovered quickly. The thumb-sized figure had grown to the size of a human infant, floating within the Spirit-Isolating Barrier with eyes tightly shut, like a baby in a deep sleep.
After enduring days of agonizing torment, Xiao Yin had fallen asleep the moment the fusion was complete and her tension broke. She was exhausted and needed a long rest.
As Li Xue and Li Lin looked at the infant, they both felt a strange sense of blood-related connection. Moreover, the baby looked exactly like Li Xue. An outsider would undoubtedly assume the child was Li Xue’s daughter. Li Xue didn't mind the idea of having another child at all.
Li Lin’s feelings were even more peculiar. This child had been crafted from materials he personally refined. The sense of shared bloodline combined with a face identical to his mother’s softened his heart. From now on, he would have a younger sister.
Half a month later, Xiao Yin opened her eyes. Realizing she had finally achieved human form, she excitedly reached out her hands. When she saw her tiny infant hands, her eyes went wide. Why was she so small? Would she never grow up? She didn't want to be a baby; she wanted to be big, very big! In her agitation, she burst into loud, wailing sobs.
This sudden outburst gave the onlookers a fright.
Li Lin reached out to hold Xiao Yin’s tiny hand, sending a thread of spiritual power to investigate. He didn't find anything wrong; on the contrary, Xiao Yin’s physical body was excellent, likely a top-tier spirit body. Li Xue also checked and found no abnormalities. They looked at each other, completely baffled.
"Xiao Yin, where does it hurt?" Li Xue asked gently.
"Waaaah! Haven't you noticed how small I am?" Xiao Yin cried.
Li Lin and Li Xue both nodded.
"Does that mean I'll never grow up? Am I stuck being this small?" Xiao Yin asked aggrievedly.
Li Lin and Li Xue looked at each other and burst into laughter simultaneously.
"Xiao Yin, don't worry. You've just taken form, so of course you're the size of a baby. As you cultivate, you will slowly grow. Oh, right—at Rank 2, you should be able to grow into a seven or eight-year-old girl. Rest easy!" Li Xue hurried to comfort her.
Only then did Xiao Yin cheer up. She began touching herself here and there, finding everything very novel.
Watching Xiao Yin’s movements, Li Lin’s lips twitched. Her mannerisms were so similar to his mother’s. If he hadn't watched Xiao Yin take form with his own eyes, he would have suspected she was his mother’s biological child.
The spirit beasts crowded around, marveling at the sight.
"This body of Xiao Yin’s is truly remarkable. It’s perfect!" Chi Ze praised after testing her condition with his spiritual power.
Hei Yan added, "Condensed from five-element essence... if this were the Primordial Era, this would definitely be the fastest body for Divine Cultivation. What a pity, what a pity."
"She has a wood spirit root now. Her cultivation speed certainly won't be inferior to Li Lin’s," Li Xue remarked.
"What a beautiful body. Even I want to shape-shift now!" Zi Huang said enviously from the side.
"If you put in more effort and spent less time gossiping, your shape-shifting wouldn't be so far off," Zi Feng remarked sarcastically.
Zi Huang huffed dismissively. "The Mistress said it herself: a day spent in sorrow is a day, and a day spent in joy is also a day! A day spent in dull, bitter cultivation is a day, and a day spent in happy cultivation is also a day. Why shouldn't I cultivate happily?"
Li Xue nearly spat out the spiritual tea she was drinking.
Zi Huang was certainly good at applying what she learned. Was this bird really just a spirit beast?
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 凝化诀 | Condensation Art | The technique used to form a physical body from essence. |
| 本命真火 | Natal True Fire | A cultivator's innate, high-grade flame. |
| 隔灵罩 | Spirit-Isolating Barrier | A protective shield used to prevent spiritual energy or essence from leaking. |
| 玉心诀 | Jade Heart Script | The name of the cultivation manual/art Xiao Yin is following. |
| 天灵根 | Heavenly Spirit Root | A rare, high-quality single-element spirit root. |
| 修神 | Divine Cultivation | A path of cultivation focused on becoming a god/divine being, often considered superior to standard immortality (Xiuxian). |
| 三阶内丹 | Rank 3 Inner Core | The internal energy core of a Rank 3 magical beast. |
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Ascended Without Me: Cultivating with a Genius Son | Chapter 101 | Xiao Yin’s New Form | Novela.app | Novela.app
