Dark Phoenix [Infinite]

[Blurb] Infinite-flow / female-led progression fantasy The Heavenly Ladder is a wondrous passage connecting the mortal realm to the Primordial Realm. It is lined with countless trials: savage spirit beasts, uncanny forces of nature, traps laid by the gods, and the sinister darkness of human nature... Every stage is fraught with deadly danger. Cultivators must safely make their way through the Heavenly Ladder and reach the Golden Core stage before they can enter one of the realms within the Primordial Realm, according to their aptitude. *The heroine's story* Yan Xuanqing is the eldest legitimate daughter of the Yan family, a great cultivation clan. Clever and quick-witted from childhood, she was doted on by everyone. At eight, she had her spiritual roots tested. To her dismay, she had five spiritual roots and narrow meridians, making her the least gifted cultivator in the family in nearly a century, bar none. From then on, her siblings scattered like birds and beasts, while her parents focused their attention on her brilliant elder brother and younger sister. She learned how harsh the world could be. After being caught in a space-time turbulence, her aptitude quietly underwent a dramatic change. Soon after, the Heavenly Ladder, which opened once every hundred years, became accessible to all cultivators. The first test was to assess their spiritual roots and cultivation level. Yan Xuanqing was the last to be tested, but something strange happened: the spiritual-root tester detected nothing, yet her level showed that she had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. In just one month, she had made the impossible leap from the first to the fifth level of Qi Refining. What had happened during that time? The Yan family members watching were dumbstruck. They wanted to notify the Yan clan leader, but it was already too late. *The hero's story* The history of the mortal realm records: Wenren Buxiao, a prodigy of the imperial family with mutated lightning spiritual roots, had always looked down on the world and rarely wasted words. He was renowned across the land for his peerless good looks and his habit of drawing his sword at the drop of a hat. A scheming heroine vs. a lucky genius hero P.S. This story has plenty of infinite-flow mystery elements. Blurb drafted on 2021.12.20 at 19:25, revised on 2022.4.2 Theme: Persevere and never give up.