As usual, Ding Yun chose the high-paying jobs, so she naturally signed up quickly. Then she picked a concept-level River God she considered quite formidable and went to the Immortal and Demonic Sea.
This time was somewhat different from the last.
This time, everyone could bring a map of the Immortal and Demonic Sea and choose the plane they wanted to enter on the map to conquer.
Ding Yun still followed the strategy of "far from the emperor, distant from heaven."
Naturally, she chose a plane in the outer reaches of the map that was relatively dim, planning to use it as her newbie village to practice her skills first.
...
Half a *xūyú* later.
Ding Yun woke up in a new body, seamlessly taking over all the original body's memories.
The original body was from a small village, with two older sisters and one older brother, and a younger brother. Before the age of six, she lived the life of an ordinary ancient girl.
At the age of six, during their village's annual Spirit Testing ceremony, the original body was detected to have low affinity for the four spirit roots: wood, fire, earth, and metal. Because the spirit roots were somewhat poor, and most importantly, the spiritual energy affinity was also low, there was basically no possibility of Foundation Establishment, and even reaching the late stage of Qi Refining would be difficult.
So, the original body was directly rejected by the sect.
Then she was taken away by government officials and sent to the royal estate of the Qixia Kingdom for cultivation, specifically for cultivation as a concubine, or more accurately, as a breeding machine.
This had been the custom in the Qixia Kingdom for many years.
Those favored by sects were taken in as disciples. Those not favored by sects, but possessing cultivation talent, were usually taken in and cultivated by the royal family.
When they reached a certain age, some were made concubines or male consorts to the royal family, while others were bestowed upon officials and noble families.
Although there were no precise rules for spirit roots, there was a general trend. For example, the probability of two parents with spirit roots having children with spirit roots was undoubtedly higher than couples where only one had spirit roots, or neither had spirit roots. This was the general trend in the birth of spirit roots.
Those with good talent would be taken in by sects. Even if they were to marry and have children, it would be decided by the sect. Local dynasties had no right to interfere. Therefore, the royal families of those dynasties had to find another way by gathering a large number of men and women with spirit roots who were not favored by sects, and then, through having many children, increase the chances of their own descendants having spirit roots. If they were lucky enough to have dual-spirit roots or single-spirit roots, it would be even better.
Of course, this was only possible if the dynasty's royal family was strong enough. For dynasties with weaker royal families, even those with talent within their borders but not favored by sects would be preempted by noble families, either being won over or directly taken back and kept.
What resistance could a six-year-old original body have?
She could only go with the flow.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye. Ten years later, the original body was neither outstanding nor beautiful. In the end, she was bestowed upon a collateral branch of the royal family, the Zhongwei of Fengguo, as a concubine. The original body was actually quite happy about this, because although the Zhongwei of Fengguo who was to take her as a concubine had a low status, he was at least young.
He was only eighteen years old this year.
Compared to the seventy or eighty-year-old princes and the fifty or sixty-year-old county princes, the original body genuinely felt it was quite good.
What made the original body even happier was yet to come.
When she was carried by a sedan chair to the doorstep of Liu Yunpeng, the Zhongwei of Fengguo, she was taken directly to another courtyard and changed into a grand red wedding robe. She then went through the proper wedding procedures and became the main wife, not a concubine.
Long after, the original body understood the reason.
The Zhongwei of Fengguo was already a descendant of a county prince six generations removed, which was the lowest tier of royal noble titles. This level was essentially no different from a fallen relative in a remote, impoverished area in the eyes of the royal family. Apart from receiving a small monthly stipend, there were basically no other benefits, but there were many restrictions.
For Liu Yunpeng, marrying a wife was not difficult, as the Zhongwei of Fengguo was at least a sixth-rank noble title. However, it was extremely difficult to marry a wife with spirit roots without going through the royal family.
The reason their family was willing to let the original body enter as the main wife was primarily to hope that she would give birth to a child with spirit roots. If she could even give birth to a triple-spirit root, they might have a chance to be promoted in rank.
Giving her the status of main wife was equivalent to an early investment.
Even if she only gave birth to a quadruple-spirit root or quintuple-spirit root, it would still provide some advantage in future marital alliances.
In short, as long as she gave birth to a child with spirit roots, it wouldn't be a loss.
If she could give birth to a single-spirit root genius, it was even possible to be granted the title of King, as there had been precedents in the past.
Many collateral branches of the royal family with lower noble titles generally chose approaches similar to Liu Yunpeng's. Since they couldn't afford to marry daughters from prominent families, they might as well let those with spirit roots be the main wife, so that the children born would be legitimate sons. If they really didn't like them, they could always take in a few more concubines with good looks later.
However, the original body didn't know this at the time.
She was quite moved and excited.
Later, even when she knew, she didn't feel dissatisfied. After all, who would want to be a concubine if they could be the main wife? Unless it was the concubine of the Emperor, who could then contend for the position of Empress Dowager!
Afterward, life and childbirth proceeded normally.
The original body even managed to find her family through her husband. Although she didn't bring them over, she occasionally sent money back to support them.
Overall, the original body was quite content with this life.
In the years after her marriage, she gave birth to three children in succession.
The first was a daughter, the second a son.
Not long after she became pregnant with her third child, the original body often felt a lack of strength, and symptoms of deficiency in both qi and blood.
This made her husband and mother-in-law extremely happy.
Because her pregnancy signs were very similar to the fetus having high innate talent and excessively absorbing the mother's energy, her husband and mother-in-law showed unprecedented care and tenderness, almost draining their savings.
They bought all sorts of tonics for her to eat.
With the help of those tonics, the original body finally managed to recover, and she began to have some expectations for the child in her womb. Especially when the child had been in gestation for twelve months without signs of labor, everyone was happy, except for the original body who felt her own body was in great pain.
Because everyone believed that all these anomalies indicated that this pregnancy was extraordinary.
Even the imperial clan specially bestowed several bottles of Body Strengthening Pills. These pills, costing one thousand taels of silver each, were bestowed in several bottles for the original body to consume.
Fourteen months and six days into the pregnancy, the servant responsible for delivering money to her maternal family returned with news that the entire village where the original body's maternal family lived had been massacred by demonic cultivators and refined into soul magic artifacts.
They were currently being pursued by the Qingyang Sect.
Upon receiving this news, the original body immediately had a mental breakdown and was grief-stricken, and at the same time, she began to show signs of labor.
Then came a difficult labor and severe bleeding.
The child was born with a strange fragrance.
At that moment, everyone's attention was focused entirely on the child. Liu Yunpeng was laughing heartily, and his mother was also laughing. The midwife, who was about to report on the mother's severe bleeding, was drowned out by the laughter and was then stunned by a reward of ten taels of gold.
After a long while, she mentioned the mother's severe bleeding, but Liu Yunpeng and his mother paid no attention. They instructed the servants to give the original body a Body Strengthening Pill later, and then they took the child and rushed to the Imperial Clan Court.
They wanted to test the child's aptitude.
Although this world generally set the age for spirit root testing at six years old, in reality, spirit roots were formed at birth and could be tested. However, the younger the child, the more difficult it was to test spirit roots, and the more resources were needed. Ordinary people tested at six, but some large families or sects usually tested at three.
If the child was born with auspicious signs, they might even be tested at birth.
Liu Yunpeng and his mother felt that since this child had auspicious signs before birth and a strange fragrance after birth, their talent must be extraordinary. Moreover, when the imperial clan bestowed those bottles of Body Strengthening Pills, they also mentioned that as soon as the child was born, they would be sent to test their spirit roots.
Therefore, they were so happy that they completely forgot about the original body.
And the Body Strengthening Pills were completely unsuitable for her condition.
Thus, the original body naturally perished.