Chapter 5: Possibly Greater

In her previous life, Jiao Yue had heard from cultivators that the stronger one's spiritual power, the greater one's innate talent for cultivation.

Now, having just been born, her spiritual power was too weak; she could only manifest it for a short time before exhaustion forced it to dissipate. In her past life, Meng Jiao Yue had once obtained a manual for cultivating spiritual power. While it could not be used to cultivate spiritual energy, it was effective for developing the mind. However, even after ten years of practice, she had only achieved a marginal improvement. It was only later that she learned that if one could cultivate spiritual power before the age of five, progress would be rapid.

This was because a person’s spiritual power typically plateaus once their spiritual roots awaken at age five, making further advancement extremely difficult. Since children under five lacked the understanding necessary to practice, their spiritual power was essentially fixed at birth, leaving little room for later growth. Consequently, a cultivator's potential was largely defined by their initial spiritual power. This was exactly why the sect recruiters had been so disappointed when she failed to awaken her spiritual roots—had she possessed them, her talent would undoubtedly have been at a genius level.

Her past life had been filled with regrets, and failing to acquire that spiritual cultivation method before the age of five was one of them. Now, she had a chance to rectify that. The thought that her spiritual power in this life would far exceed her previous one filled Meng Jiao Yue with excitement.

She began her training immediately. Though her body was that of a newborn, it housed the soul of a teenage girl. The method was simple: one had to perceive the "breath" within their sea of consciousness and set it into motion. This breath was, in fact, her spiritual power. While simple in theory, it was incredibly difficult to execute. Finding this essence within the sea of consciousness was entirely different from releasing it for external use; otherwise, such a manual would never have fallen into her hands. In her past life, it had taken her an entire year of searching to locate it.

With the experience of her former life, Jiao Yue effortlessly sensed the faint trace of spiritual power. She guided this essence to circulate within her sea of consciousness; each rotation was equivalent to one cycle of cultivation. Once set in motion, she no longer needed to focus on it. As long as she did not stop it, it would continue to circulate automatically, allowing her to cultivate without interfering with other activities. This was a technique she had only mastered after a decade in her previous life, but thanks to that experience, she could now begin this process the moment she was born. After all, as a newborn, she needed to spend most of her time sleeping to grow; if she had to be awake to cultivate, her available time would be pitifully scarce.

Even with this relentless, round-the-clock cultivation in her previous life, she had only achieved a slight increase in ten years, illustrating just how arduous the path was. She wondered if this was a world of cultivation, and if so, whether she could awaken her spiritual roots and become a cultivator. However, none of the people she had seen so far displayed any fluctuations of spiritual energy; they were clearly ordinary people, making it more likely that this was a mundane world.

Her grandfather’s face leaned in close. "Madam, let me hold our little treasure too."

"Have you ever held a child this small? Do you even know how?" Madam Meng’s two-part question left the Head of the Meng family speechless. He truly had never held a baby this young; he hadn't held his seven sons as infants, and he had only held his eldest grandson after the child's hundredth day. Yet, he could not be denied the right to hold his granddaughter.

"I’ll learn right now," the Head of the Meng family insisted, still trying to secure his right.

"No, our little treasure is precious. You can hold her once you've learned how." Madam Meng pulled away and continued to dote on Jiao Yue.

The Head of the Meng family could only peer over, admiring his granddaughter’s delicate, upturned nose and her pitch-black, round eyes that shone like gemstones. The more he looked, the more he adored her. His granddaughter was truly blessed, inheriting only the best traits of her parents; she would surely grow into a peerless beauty.

"Little treasure, I am your grandfather," he repeated over and over, fearing she might not recognize him. Jiao Yue felt speechless. She had arrived here in a single sleep, skipping the broth of Meng Po; even if she were someone else, all his pleading wouldn't make her remember him. Still, seeing how much he cared, she decided to show him a little grace.

Jiao Yue made soft, babbling sounds, trying to bargain with him. *Grandfather, I am your granddaughter. Since you like me so much, can I ask a small favor? I want to be called Jiao Yue, is that alright?* She had chosen that name for herself in her past life. To her, the cultivators who ascended on full-moon nights seemed to be heading toward the moon—a place she could never reach, no matter how hard she tried. She had given herself the name because, if she could not ascend to the moon, she could at least bear its name. Her surname came from an old, destitute man who had saved her when she was young. She did not know what surname her current family held, but even if it weren't Meng, she couldn't change it; she was determined to hold onto her chosen name.

She knew that, ultimately, her name would be decided by her grandfather, the head of the house. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to communicate, all those present heard were simple baby coos. Even so, those sounds were enough to stir the room into a frenzy. It was unheard of for a newborn to open their eyes, let alone chat with such excitement. Was this child a genius?

"Madam, look at our granddaughter! She likes me, her grandfather. She’s chatting with me; how brilliant she is!"

Meng Wenxuan was immensely proud to hear his father’s words, though he knew he was the first person his daughter had chatted with. The six young mistresses gathered around, craning their necks to see the Meng family’s newborn who could already babble. However, with their father-in-law present, they dared not push forward and could only watch with anxious anticipation. The five uncles who had followed were less restricted; they stepped forward, squeezing in with the parents to look at their little niece, showering her with endless praise.

"Our little niece is truly blessed, she’s taken all the best traits of the Seventh Brother and his wife," remarked the Second Uncle, making sure to compliment his brother and sister-in-law.

"The little niece’s skin is so white and tender, just like a freshly peeled egg," the Third Uncle added with a grounded observation.

"The little niece is truly beautiful," the Fourth Uncle said bluntly.

"Look at her big eyes, so bright and clear, just like obsidian," the Fifth Uncle praised from the heart.

"Look at her little nose, it even twitches, so adorable," the Sixth Uncle noted with fine attention to detail.

As the five uncles heaped praise upon her, Meng Jiao Yue felt quite content. It seemed this was a good family. It was a pity that her spiritual power was currently too weak to assess their luck. Very well, she would work hard to cultivate her spiritual power; in the future, she would be the one to safeguard the fortune of this house, provided they continued to treat her well. Having been an orphan in her past life, she knew all too well how fickle human hearts could be—that kindness was often conditional, a mere exchange of interests. She was a selfish person, and she did not believe there was anything wrong with that.