Jade Crown

After hearing Lingshe's explanation, her grandfather wasn't disappointed in the least, even smiling.

"Little Lingshe, you don't have to worry about my lifespan! I look this old, not because I am old! Alas, it's a long story. I was injured when I was still in my middle age, just around the time you were born. Fortunately, the clan was already safe, and I had only entered my forties. A martial artist of my strength can live up to 150 years… if I was healthy, I could fully life that time!

Now that I don't have to worry about my health, just with this blessing, I should be able to fully keep my strength and live up to the last day of my lifespan!" He was very happy. This meant he could protect the clan longer – his worry of the next clan leader disappeared. Although his granddaughter was capable, it was better if she was able to focus on other things.

He had a feeling that she didn't belong to this world, since she was born, he didn't set his sights on letting her inherit, he only gave her a strong position to defend her and to stop all the elders who were trying to recommend their own children.

Lingshe smiled at her grandfather and nodded "I hope grandfather can live as long as heaven and earth!" she said this with a certain feeling in her heart. She didn't know what it was, but she felt that if her grandfather could truly have these added hundred years and use them to help the world, it wasn't an impossible thing!

But this feeling was fleeting, and she didn't know exactly how to do it, so she just shook her head and looked at the middle pillar.

Her grandfather saw this and smiled, walking to the middle. This time, it was without any pattern, he walked straight to the middle, then kowtowed directly in front of the pillar, hitting the ground with his head.

His head didn't break, nor did the strong ground. He repeated this twice more until the jade in the middle opened itself, revealing a little crown. Instead of taking the crown, he kept his head down, telling Lingshe who was shocked behind him "Take the crown."

She was surprised but followed the order, taking the crown with her hand. Nothing happened and after he saw her taking the crown out, he also stood up, walking back towards the table.

"This is the Jade Crown, the main inheritance of our Yu clan. It represents supreme authority over our lineage. Those who reign naturally have servants who have to be loyal.

The mechanism is built like this, if one doesn't have a strong servant who is willing to risk dying by shaming their head, or a servant who is supreme strong but still willing to bow his head to their master, then they won't be able to open the inheritance pillar.

If a master doesn't have a loyal nor a strong servant, then he doesn't deserve a treasure such as this jade crown." When he said this, he subtly talked about himself being a servant, but he didn't look saddened or depressed at all. Instead, he felt proud.

Lingshe didn't reply to this. She knew her own goal and her plans required her supreme authority in many matters, but she didn't want to acknowledge that her grandfather, the only remaining person she truly cared about, saw himself as a servant. This caused a silence in the room, but it didn't cause any dissatisfaction to either of the two.

In the end, her grandfather just smiled and explained "It is said that this jade crown is the true inheritance of the Yu clan. No clan records mention anything deeper, only mentioning that once a chosen descendant has awoken, they would naturally know how to use this crown."

Yu Lingshe nodded for the first time, indicating that she knew what to do with this inheritance, unlike the other two, which made her clueless. In the story, it was this treasure that caused her death.

In fact, the story itself didn't explain truly what it could do. This didn't sadden her, because she knew that regardless of what it could do in the story, it was probably even better now that it was in her hands.

In the story, Lingshe herself only knew the effect later on when she had already embarked on the path of cultivation. The Yu family decided to give this to her when she left, with the idea that she would inherit the family and continue it in the cultivation world.

As for the other two items, at that point in time, the way to open the two pillars was lost. There was only a small line written about a side character such as hers – she didn't miss anyone in her clan.

Just from this, Lingshe had a guess. Her grandfather must have somehow died. The next ancestor must have been unwilling to give Lingshe the inheritance, thinking she wouldn't come back anyways. Now that she heard her grandfather explain the way to open the middle inheritance, she felt that it must have been her usually unreliable father that sacrificed his life to give her this inheritance.

After thinking of this, she became even more unwilling to accept fate and a murderous intention arose. But, instead of being dominant, it was like a hidden shadow that would devour the opponent at the first chance.

It quickly retreated but her grandfather, a strong martial artist, still felt it. He didn't say anything, thinking it must have something to do with her dream, but he was still happy his granddaughter had such a strong side.

Lingshe the smiled and took the jade crown. It was a beautiful crown made from gold, in the middle of it, there was a large jade. There were four branches stemming from the centre, two diagonally upward left and right, like a butterflies' feelers, hanging backward, while two other branches went straight two the two sides.

The branches had leaves covering them, looking like tree branches. At the end of each branch, there were green jade pearls hanging, of a slightly greener colour than the central hade. Hanging on them were three white pearl strings, ending with aquamarine crystal pendulums.

They represented the flow of water becoming wood and wood becoming jade. It represented the origin of jade in the element of water and wood. All mutated spiritual roots have an origin in the five elements with a different focus.

In the cultivation world, the five elements each represent a different aspect of the world. The first four elements are Wind, Fire, Earth and Water, they are the creation elements and also disasters of the world, such as thunderstorms, volcanic eruption, earthquakes and floods. In addition to these, there is the element of wood that completes the five elements.

Wood represents the cycle of life and death, the growth of trees throughout the seasons.

These five elements of wind, fire, earth, water and wood are the elements that constitute the foundation of the world. They are the core that hold everything, so naturally any other spiritual root besides these are mutated that have formed from the essence of five elements intertwining together with different core elements.

For example, the thunder element has the core of wind and the auxiliary of fire and water, with wood and earth barely playing any role. In the case of jade, it has no auxiliary but two core elements of water and wood. There is no high or low between single spiritual roots – in the end, they all represent the supreme purity.