Tang Xi felt her heart race as the book in her mind began to open. Its pages, made of pulsating light and a characters that seemed to float in space, radiated an oppressive yet fasating power. At first, she thought it might be an iance manual for formations or an advanced map of matrices. But as she read the first lines, it became clear that it was far more.

  It was a cultivation teique — and not just any teique. Tang Xi couldn't determis level, but it was evident that it surpassed any teique she had ever seen or even heard of. The mere glimpse of its descriptions seemed to transd her uanding of what ossible, filling her with both awe and apprehension.

  As she tried to move to the introdu, an ued message appeared before her eyes, etched into her mind as though spoken by an immortal voice:"If you are receiving this message, it means you have been chosen by the teique. This is the teique I practiced and uood as I sought to uhe cycles of nature and the mysteries of the five elements, bathed iernal wisdom of the stars, whiow and see all. It is much more than a mere teique. It is se. It was not created but has always existed, waiting for the right moment and the right practitioner. No being cultivate it unless chosen by it and deemed to possess the talent it requires."

  The words resonated with a depth that seemed to touch her soul. Tang Xi stood still, abs every phrase. Her inner gaze returo the book's pages, whiow dispyed characters shiftiween the colors of the five elements — green for wood, red for fire, yellow for earth, white for metal, and blue for water.

  A new message appeared, written in vibrant tohat seemed to pulse with life itself:"The Harmonic atrix teique only be practiced by one who possesses the Root of Chaos."

  Tang Xi raised her eyebrows in surprise. —"Root of Chaos?" —she murmured in fusion. She had never heard of such a thing before. But as if the book could sense her bewilderment, more information appeared:"The Root of Chaos is a rare talent that tains the five elemental roots in perfect harmony. Each root is of equal length, purity, and size, f a perfect cycle of the five elements. This dition is so rare that, since creation, only a handful have possessed it."

  Tang Xi felt the weight of the words. The idea of such a perfectly banced stitution was almost inceivable to her. 'But… this doesn't make sense,' — she thought. 'I know my affinity for fire and wood is stronger. If I had the Root of y affinities should be equal for all five elements.'

  Once again, as if the book could hear her thoughts, a response emerged:"You cultivate me."

  The words were straightforward yet carried immense weight. A shiver ran down Tang Xi's spine.—"But how?"— she whispered, feeling on the brink of an unfathomable mystery.

  The pages responded again, now with a more detailed expnation:"To cultivate me, you must form, during the process, the perfect cycle of the five elements. This is possible by using me and your stelr energy. Harmony will be achieved throughout cultivation. And you have already begun without realizing it."

  Tang Xi remained silent, digesting everything she had learned about the Harmonic atrix. The stelr energy she possessed, a urait granted by her Lunar Imperial Body, seemed to be the key to unlog the teique's true potential. Yet, setting aside her doubts for the moment, she resolved to uand more about what the teique truly did before making any definitive decision.

  The description that unfolded before her left her speechless. The perfect cycle of the five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal, and water — was not an i effect of the teique but a trait of those who possessed the rare Root of Chaos. For Tang Xi, however, this harmony would be essential to her practice.

  The essence of the teique was astonishing: it allowed the practitioo manipute the five elements in perfect bance, creating a unique resohat amplified their power to unpreted levels. The iioween the elements not only reinforced one another but also unleashed devastating offensive, defensive, and supportive abilities. Furthermore, it could be used to assist a master of formations.

  Even so, the doubt liang Xi khat the teique her adoptive father had given her, focused on the elements of fire and wood, was a safe choice. She hesitated, weighing the risks and bes. Sensing her indecision, the Lunar Umbrel, a spiritual binding artifact that had apanied her sihe beginning of her journey, vibrated faintly, as if advisio proceed with the practice of the eique.

  vinced by her intuition and trust in the Lunar Umbrel, Tang Xi finally made up her mind. She could not ighe call of this unique opportunity. Determined, she prepared the enviro for her cultivation.

  Openie pouch, she retrieved thousands of spiritual stones, scattering them around the meditation room. The air filled with an oppressive density of Qi that seemed to hum with anticipation. With everything ready, Tang Xi sat in a lotus positioally opehe manual, and began the practice.

  At first, nothing happened. Hours passed, and the energy around her remaiill. Aire day slipped by without any sign ress. She began to feel slight ay but quickly trolled her thoughts, recalling the words of the teique. Slowly, she allowed her mind to wander and focused on the essence of the teags.

  "Wood gees fire, fire gees earth, earth gees metal, metal gees water, and water gees wood. And thus, the cycle pletes, creating the heavens and the earth, life, and nature..."

  Suddenly, something within her shifted. Tang Xi felt a faint vibration in her body. The wood element tinged her liver with a light green glow. Soon, fire ignited her heart in shades of red, followed by earth, which stabilized her spleen with golden energy. Metal filled her lungs with a silvery radiance, and finally, water energized her kidneys with a deep blue hue.

  The five elements began cirg within her, f a cycle that tempered each part of her body. In the room, the formation gathering Qi activated, draining energy from the spiritual sto an arming rate. The energy flowed like a torrent, trating on Tang Xi as her body absorbed every drop.

  The cycle of elements repeated tinuously, strengthening with each pass. Her body was tempered over and over, like a bde repeatedly fed in a furnace. In a sudden moment of breakthrough, Tang Xi asded to the sed level of Body Tempering.

  The energy didn't stop. She advanced once more, crossing into the third level. Only then did the process slow, allowing the elemental cycle to stabilize. Her internal ans glowed faintly with the colors of their associated elements, marking her progress.

  When she finally opened her eyes, Tang Xi noticed the entire room was covered in a fine white powder. The spiritual stones she had used were pletely depleted.

  Surprised and incredulous, Tang Xi murmured to herself:— "I… reached the third level of Body Tempering in a single meditation?"

  The result exceeded all her expectations. Her heart overflowed with gratitude and renewed determination. She khat advang with her awakened physique would be easier, but she hadn't imagined she would leap two levels in her first practice of the teique.

  However, something peculiar caught her attention as she sehe ges in her body. A mysterious e to the five elements now seemed intrinsic to her. She briefly focused and realized she could project her body's spiritual energy into uacks, a trait that, acc to her knowledge, was exclusive to cultivators of the Primary in realm—a realm above the Body Tempering stage she had just surpassed.

  Still surprised, she decided to end her practice. Training behind closed doors alone would be detrimental; she needed practical experiend bat. Exiting the room, she entered a servant...

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