ALIVE

A/N: I made some changes to the few last paragraphs in chapter 2 after identifying a mistake so please if you have already read it before this recent update please reread it so you don't get confused. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 3- Alive

For the first time in her life, Xingjuan felt alive. Who would have thought after sleeping for so long, the ring in Xingjuan's core would have completely pushed away all the black, hazy substance in her system and turn a trash like her into a Second Ranked Spirit Magus of the Air Element?

As a Second Ranked Spirit Magus, she had already skipped the whole Spirit Novice Realm, which was further divided from ranks 1 through 10. She had also skipped the Novice Realm, which was organized from ranks 1 through 8. Xingjuan's went from being a trash, straight into being a Second Ranked Spirit Magus, which was after the Novice Realm. If anyone heard of what happened to Xingjuan, they'd assume that she was a monster since increasing realms was very difficult, and it took years to achieve or they might have even speculated that she had in her possession a never before seen artifact, in short people finding out was not a good thing for Xingjuan so she wouldn't dare go about blabbering her mouth about it, not like she had anyone she did dare to trust with such a secret anyway.

The levels of cultivation in the world were really complex, but once one reaches the Magus Realm, which is after the realm Xingjuan was in, they would stop aging. In fact, most people reached that realm in their thirties. It's was extremely rare to see someone who has reached the Magus Realm in their teens. Even Xingjuan wouldn't be able to achieve such an accomplishment seeing as she was still ranking apart… After all, the teen was only sixteen years old, and she was just at the Second Rank of the Spirit Magus Realm. It would take years before Xingjuan could dream of reaching the Magus Realm.

Sometimes Xingjuan wondered if she really was born worthless. Was she born like so or was she made like so? Xingjuan could never tell and it was a mystery she wanted to know.

Although her mother didn't cultivate, it didn't mean she couldn't, she just didn't. Despite having the opportunity when she was younger and her stumbling upon the abandoned, ancient temple—which led to finding the rusted ring and some books on cultivating mana—she didn't bother to use it because she felt like it was too late for her to start cultivating. Hence, she decided for Xingjuan to learn, but no matter how hard Xingjuan studied or practiced, it all came to null and didn't affect her at all, mana could never settle in her core which was the basics of becoming an elemental cultivator in Tang Qin Shang, that black substance in her core always made whatever mana she tried to accumulate dispense, it was like pouring water in a basket.

It seemed like the heavens were finally smiling down on her, Xingjuan couldn't help but smile back at them for their help. she kneeled down and kowtowed to whatever or whoever blessed her with this sudden surge of power.

Being a Second Ranked Spirit Magus of the Air Element was nothing special, but it was something Xingjuan desperately needed because it could help accelerate her speed. Which meant she could escape easier.

Xingjuan wanted to dance, sing, or basically be stupid as a result of the joy and adrenaline she was feeling but then she quickly calmed down and composed herself, she realized that this was no time to celebrate.

She decided to check on the space which was provided by the ring in her core. She could feel that her former-rusted ring had created the space, in which she decided to name her Space Ring even though the space wasn't necessarily in the shape of a ring anymore.

Xingjuan felt and subconsciously knew that she could control both space and time, but only after she reached a certain level. she also felt like the ring was way too mysterious, and there were many things she has yet to discover about it, including other powers yet to be unlocked or known.

Xingjuan sent her spirit inside the Space Ring to view what was going on inside of it. She noticed that it had a cauldron which had the words Heavenly Jade cauldron written on it. Besides the cauldron, there was a pinkish-greenish flame burning.

I have only read about this particular type of flame. Only one could have such a mythical color. Xingjuan thought in surprise, If I am not mistaken, then this flame is also called Heavenly Jade Flame. she continued thinking, this flame, although small, is eternal and can never extinguish. It is a flame that no one can obtain because the flame chooses its owner... It's a flame that alchemists kill for, but know that it's useless because if they attempt to kill the owner, the flame will just disappear into who knows where, although they were a time this information wasn't known and people actually went to war for it.

Xingjuan edged closer to the flame, now I understand where the flames disappear to. It seems like the flame returns into the Space Ring and the Space Ring itself also chooses to use Space Magic to disappear to wherever it chooses.

She couldn't be sure if her speculations were true or not, Xingjuan could only assume.

Because of how the Heavenly Jade Flame behaves, nobody bothered to bully those who own it except those who do it out of jealousy. They believed that if they couldn't have it, then no one should. But others preferred to befriend the owner of the flame because the owner tended to wield infinite power.

The Heavenly Jade Flame helped alchemists produce perfect pills, but it consumed a lot of mana, and it couldn't be used too frequently because it could harm the body. The flame was a priceless possession so Xingjuan wondered why it with her of all people.

She didn't believe that such an item would choose her especially when it had been years since the flame appeared in the world to the extent that people believed that it was just a myth.

Xingjuan shook her head, maybe I am thinking too much into this.

She looked at her body and she felt like her body was glowing. She realized that her skin was way softer and whiter, her hideous marks and scars that made her look like a beast appeared to be gone, but she didn't bother to completely assess the situation with her appearance so she pushed it to the back of her mind.

Her Air Element surged at the right time and she couldn't help but thank her mother for giving her the Space Ring because for some reason, Xingjuan knew that without it, she wouldn't have been able to be there. She wished she could have used it for her mother as well, but she understood that wasn't possible as she had already met death.

Xingjuan threw every thought out of her head and focused on what she would have to do now to escape.

She waited until dark for everyone in the camp to sleep, then she stepped out of her tent sneakily. She knew that some guards were on lookout for bandits and thieves, but Xingjuan knew their routine so escaping their eye wouldn't be too difficult, also most of them were too lazy to stay awake through the night anyway.

As soon as Xingjuan was at a safe distance from the set-up camp, she started to chant the most basic Air Element Magic spell she remembered from reading one of her books that her mother gave her. She wanted to activate her Second Ranked Air Spirit Magus realm element to make her escape easier.

"I call on the heavens, I call on my Air Element ..." before she could finish the chant for the spell, the mana in her core, although very minimal, activated itself and Xingjuan felt it spin around her core. Air gathered around her feet and she understood subconsciously how it should work hence she was soon speeding off into the distance, her lips curled up into a smirk, she wasn't flying since she couldn't do so yet but just using the air element to increase her speed was still better than running like a mortal.

She didn't know what the book containing the spell was because it was really old and didn't even have a cover or a name. Her mother said that she found it alongside the ring from the same ancient abandoned temple and that Xingjuan should use it to learn and hopefully awaken her cultivation. Her mother had also thought that it was something elementals used when they started cultivating hence deciding that Xingjuan should try her best to gather as much information as possible.

Xingjuan had a feeling that as long as she memorized the chant, she could activate it without the necessity of words being spoken. Xingjuan wanted to experiment her theory, but she knew that her escape was more important hence making a mental note to do it later.

Xingjuan noted that using her Air Element was exhausting and even mentally draining, she had to rest on intervals by stopping the use of it and running naturally like mortals do.

She hoped that as time passed, she would reach a point where she could not just run faster than the speed of light but also fly up in the sky with her Air Element without experiencing any setbacks. Just the idea of flying caused Xingjuan to grin with excitement and push herself harder in a bid to get closer to her objective which was to cover as much distance as possible.

Xingjuan was not stupid to think she was now omnipotent, but now she could at least defend herself and had a fighting chance.

Xingjuan felt alive with exhilaration.

She ran for a long time and suddenly her mind began to recall all the recent events that have happened particularly seven days ago.

She was summoned to the Mo's Manor and it led to her end but also to her new beginning..she didn't want to think about those events now, her escape was more important but how long could she run from them... Not long at all.