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With a pale face, Gong Yi watched the two men, the one he had wanted to seduce but failed, and one he was about to seduce but still failed, leave one after another, without giving him a second glance. Back when the family head had sent him to that man’s side in the hopes that he could win favor and bring benefits to the family, he had learned many techniques for pleasing men. He had even successfully seduced a man to help him escape from his family. Although it was a pity that man had become a lost soul after being pushed out to block a disaster in the secret realm, it proved that his charm was effective. So why was he repeatedly hitting a wall in this Middle Realm?
Could it be that these disciples with excellent aptitude had different tastes from the people in the Lower Realm? Or was their resistance to beautiful people stronger? Unable to figure it out, Gong Yi clutched the jade tablet and stumbled back to the side courtyard of Yuan Wangyou’s residence. Ziche Duanyuan’s words had made it clear that he was being kicked out. In this Middle Realm, he had no family, no friends, and no backer. What else could he do besides cling tightly to this good-natured man, Yuan Wangyou?
An outer disciple, who had come to the courtyard for his regular cleaning duties, had just stepped into the back courtyard when he saw Gong Yi, clutching something in his hand, swaying as he walked toward the side room. He spoke with contempt, “You’ve really got some thick skin. You’re clearly just a low-class servant brought here by who-knows-who, yet you betray your master to follow another and beg for affection. Have you thought about your own status! Senior Martial Brother Yuan is just not good at refusing people, yet you act like you’ve received an order and come wagging your tail. This look on your face now, you’ve been rejected, right? Tsk tsk, if you’re that thirsty, I know a place that can make you very comfortable.” As he finished speaking, his face took on a salivating expression as he scanned Gong Yi.
He was originally a dual-spiritual-root disciple who had come to Sword Immortal Valley to become a disciple ten years ago. But the steward in charge of recruitment at the time had said his ‘heart was not firm, and he was not suited for the path of a sword cultivator,’ and rejected him. As a result, he could only do odd jobs in the outer sect now. If it weren’t for the fact that his water and fire dual spiritual roots were naturally conflicting and he could only take the path of a sword cultivator, did you think he would come to this place of arduous cultivation? Look at the others, besides him, which other dual-spiritual-root disciple was stuck in the outer sect? And his cultivation hadn’t progressed much in these ten years. Seeing Gong Yi living so comfortably, doing nothing after latching onto Yuan Wangyou, made him furious. He hadn’t touched this person before because he didn’t know Yuan Wangyou’s attitude, but now…
The outer disciple’s eyes darted and saw the jade tablet in Gong Yi’s hand. He said, “Just now, I saw Senior Martial Brother Yuan following a young man holding a cat…” Seeing Gong Yi’s expression change at the mention of a young man holding a cat, he knew his guess was correct. He boldly stepped forward and grabbed Gong Yi’s hand. “Senior Martial Brother is the type who seeks a partner for life. You don’t have a chance. Anyway, it’s boring staying here. Why don’t I take you away?” Seeing that the courtyard was clean and didn’t need much work, he started pulling Gong Yi toward the gate as he spoke.
Although this outer disciple’s cultivation progressed slowly, and he had been in the Foundation Building stage for decades, the Gong Yi before him was only at the Qi Refining stage. How could he possibly resist? He struggled desperately but couldn’t break free. He opened his mouth to shout. The man, with quick eyes and hands, slapped a silencing spell on him.
“What are you shouting for, how could there be…” His words paused. He squeezed the hand holding Gong Yi’s wrist, sending a trace of spiritual qi into it. His expression suddenly changed, and he looked at him in astonishment, then smiled. “Pure Yin.1 I’m really lucky. Since your master never touched you, you must have your heart set on someone else.” Although he wasn’t very interested in men, a person with a Pure Yin constitution could boost one’s cultivation after being harvested through dual cultivation.2 Especially since this person was still a virgin; the cultivation gained the first time would be a great tonic. Just that bit of cultivation could allow him to break through from the mid-Foundation Building stage to the late stage, and even give him a chance to enter the Golden Core stage. And this Gong Yi wasn’t bad-looking either.
The more he thought, the more excited he became. The man impatiently pulled Gong Yi toward a small side gate, eager to take him to an deserted place outside Sword Immortal Valley. At the side gate, there were a few gate attendants and outer disciples. After showing his own jade tablet, the man successfully took Gong Yi and ran out. No one asked him who he was pulling along or what he was planning to do outside the sect. Everyone in the outer sect knew of this man’s arrogance and tyranny. Besides, the one he was bullying was just a servant.
In Sword Immortal Valley, a disciple’s rank could be seen from their robes and was easy to distinguish. Servants brought by disciples wore commoner’s cotton clothes of a grayish-brown color. Outer disciples wore the sect uniform of black robes with white patterns. Inner disciples wore blue robes with white patterns. Direct disciples of the elders and the Sect Master wore white robes with white patterns. The styles of the stewards’, elders’, and Sect Master’s robes were different from the disciples’. The clothes of the young attendants and gate attendants were of another different style. Because clothing represented status, it also led to the habit of many cultivators looking at a person’s clothes before looking at the person. As for others wearing splendid clothes who appeared within the sect, apart from guests, they were the new recruits during the recruitment period, and no one with any sense would provoke them.
After leaving Sword Immortal Valley and arriving at a secluded spot in the forest, he pushed the person to the ground and began to undress him.
Gong Yi desperately clutched the weeds on the ground. This journey had been full of stumbles. As someone with a Pure Yin constitution, he ultimately couldn’t escape this path. He had long been mentally prepared, but he never expected the other party to be an unsuccessful outer disciple…
The man’s pants dropped, and he got on top of Gong Yi and began to move. Due to his past training, even though he was unwilling in his heart, Gong Yi couldn’t help but start moaning, his face taking on a seductive expression.
The man teasingly tightened his grip on Gong Yi’s waist and moved more forcefully. “Seducing men all day, as expected, you’re just a piece of goods who likes to be pressed.”
The jade tablet he had been holding fell to the ground due to their intense movements, getting covered in grass.
A long while later, the man slowly got up from Gong Yi’s body. Without bothering to pull up his pants, he sat cross-legged and began to stabilize his cultivation. His stagnant cultivation had, as expected, broken through to the late-Foundation Building stage. A smug look appeared on his face. He pinched Gong Yi’s cheek and said, “I was originally planning to sell you for some Spirit Stones, but I didn’t expect you to have this kind of benefit. In that case, I’ll just keep you from now on.” His eyes glanced at the jade tablet. He picked it up and laughed. “He even gave this back to you. It seems your master really doesn’t want you anymore.” He pressed down on Gong Yi’s hand as he tried to snatch it back and infused a trace of spiritual qi into the tablet. The surface of the tablet faintly glowed pink.
The man frowned. “This piece… isn’t…” He had intended to leave his own mark on it to make it easier to control this person in the future. But, this jade tablet didn’t seem to be that kind of tablet, even though it looked the same.
In the distance, the roar of a demonic beast echoed. Both of their expressions changed instantly. This was a jade tablet tainted with Beast-Luring Incense. As long as spiritual qi was used on it, the incense would be activated. It was something cultivators used to hunt and attract demonic beasts of the Golden Core stage or higher.
The man scrambled to his feet. He had just taken a step when he accidentally tripped on the edge of his pants and fell to the ground. Gong Yi climbed up, not caring that he was naked from the waist down, and stumbled away, stepping on the man’s back. Because of the sharp pain from behind, his speed was slow. He looked back and saw several beasts run over. They swallowed the man, who was still on the ground holding the jade tablet, in one gulp. Their crimson eyes stared at Gong Yi, and they ran toward him, opening their bloody maws.3 The Beast-Luring Incense had a flaw: the demonic beasts it attracted would all be in a berserk state, so it had to be used with caution~~
Inside Sword Immortal Valley, Ziche Duanyuan felt the jade tablet in his Sumeru Jade Pendant,4 the one that truly contained Gong Yi’s heart’s blood, shatter. The corners of his mouth curved up.
“Is Junior Martial Brother Ziche in a good mood?” Yuan Wangyou turned his head and saw Ziche Duanyuan’s irrepressibly good mood and asked.
“En,” Ziche Duanyuan replied. “Because something annoying is finally gone.”
Yuan Wangyou: ?
Pei Bufan, who had been eavesdropping: This doesn’t feel good.
“We’re here!” The two stopped in front of a large building with a plaque that read ‘Sword-Forging Pavilion.’ “This is the place where one forges their life-bound sword. After fellow Daoist Ziche has collected all the materials, you can apply to Elder Xun Dao, who is in charge here, and gain the right to use it to forge your own life-bound sword.”
Both Ziche Duanyuan and Pei Bufan stared at him.
Yuan Wangyou rubbed his head in embarrassment. “Today, the new junior martial sister who just joined happened to successfully forge her life-bound sword here, so we came to celebrate…”
Seeing his blushing cheeks, Ziche Duanyuan and Pei Bufan instantly understood.
Pei Bufan: Gong Yi’s attempt to seduce this man failed, mainly because the gender was wrong, right? As the author of this danmei5 novel, he had almost forgotten that BG6 relationships still existed in this world, and that they were the mainstream. Just because you keep seeing the male lead hooking up with guys doesn’t mean everyone in this world is with guys!! In fact, Gong Yi had probably completely forgotten about the other half of the world’s population because he had been taught to seduce guys all his life!
This year’s recruitment could be said to be a great harvest. Including Ziche Duanyuan, the elders and the Sect Master had accepted 4 disciples. Three men and one woman. There were 36 inner disciples and 113 outer disciples. Of course, compared to the Youran Sect, they were short by a whole zero. But the Grand Competition was an individual competition. Quantity wasn’t important; quality was!
After exchanging names with the other three, they became acquainted and began to chat. The only girl was Tian Yunyu, who had become a disciple of Elder Xun Ming. Elder Xun Ming had no other disciples besides Yuan Wangyou, so she was ranked second. Qin Kuichen had become a disciple of Elder Xun Dao and was his only disciple. Chou Chenxi came from the Chou family, one of the four great families known for being cultivation maniacs. He had become a disciple of the only female elder, Xun Xi.
All of them were in the Foundation Building stage. As for their age, besides Chou Chenxi, who was only twelve this year, everyone else was sixteen or seventeen. From their age and cultivation, one could also see the difference in their aptitude.
During the conversation, Ziche Duanyuan’s gaze would often inadvertently drift toward Chou Chenxi. He had heard of this child in his previous life. He was a true genius. Not only did he have a single ice spiritual root, he was also very talented in sword practice. Before he was twenty, he had already formed his Golden Core, and his fame was the greatest among the new generation of cultivators. But looking at him now, he was just a young brat who had just reached the Foundation Building stage. His black eyes still held a trace of a newcomer’s curiosity and restraint. He was not at all like the cold-hearted and emotionless cultivator of the future.
As they chatted, the topic turned to Pei Bufan. Tian Yunyu, who had a natural love for cute animals, had her eyes glued to Pei Bufan the moment Ziche Duanyuan entered the door. Because she wasn’t familiar with Ziche Duanyuan yet, she didn’t dare to ask. Now that they had talked more, and seeing Ziche Duanyuan’s constant warm smile, she boldly asked if she could hold the cat.
“I’ll just hold him for a bit, very gently,” she said, her eyes shining as she looked at Pei Bufan.
Pei Bufan: …He was fine in the male lead’s arms. He didn’t like soft girls!7
Ziche Duanyuan looked conflicted and said, “He doesn’t like strangers getting close. I’m afraid he might scratch you.”
Tian Yunyu’s face fell with disappointment, and she nodded helplessly. As someone in the Foundation Building stage, how could she be hurt by a Firewood Cat? It was just the man’s polite refusal; she could tell.
Qin Muchen’s8 eyes glanced over, and only then did he notice the little black cat. He thought for a moment and asked, “I remember there was a rumor that an elder from the Divination Pavilion once traveled a thousand li9 to the Ziche family to buy a little black cat, even willing to spend tens of thousands of high-grade Spirit Stones. But the Ziche family still refused. Could it be… this is the one?”
Pei Bufan: How the hell did this rumor get twisted like this? Specially traveling a thousand li to buy a cat? And for tens of thousands of high-grade Spirit Stones? Heh heh, why doesn’t This Lord remember being so valuable?
At the mention of tens of thousands of high-grade Spirit Stones, the way everyone looked at Pei Bufan instantly changed. In terms of purchasing power in the cultivation world, one low-grade Spirit Stone was worth 10 yuan. The exchange rate between mid-grade and low-grade was one to one hundred, so that was 1000 yuan. The rate between high-grade and mid-grade was also one to one hundred, so that was 100,000 yuan. Tens of thousands of high-grade Spirit Stones… that was over a hundred million, okay?!
Wocao, male lead, hurry up and deny the rumor!! Look, now it’s not just these three, even the honest Yuan Wangyou is looking at This Lord with green eyes, okay?! A common man is innocent, but possessing a cat is a crime, do you understand?!10 This Lord is just a ‘Firewood Cat’!!! This Lord is willing to be a Firewood Cat for my whole life!!! As long as a bunch of uncles with mosaic faces11 don’t come to snatch me!! If you don’t believe me, listen: “Meow~~~~~~”
System: ……………………Idiot.
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Reika’s Notes:
- Sorry for the long wait, everyone! Translations have resumed.
- This text was translated by Kotori Translates, and given to BC Novels to publish.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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- 纯阴 – A special constitution that makes them extremely desirable for dual cultivation.
- 采补 – literally to “harvest and supplement.” A term for a type of dual cultivation where one partner (the harvester) drains the life force or cultivation of the other (the cauldron) for their own benefit.
- 血盆大口 – literally “a bloody-basin-sized mouth”
- 须弥玉佩 – “Sumeru” refers to the mythical cosmic mountain in Buddhist and Hindu cosmology, often used in xianxia to name items with vast internal space, thus this a type of spatial storage artifact.
- 耽美 – The Chinese term for the BL (Boys’ Love) genre
- BG: Boys and Girls. A common term in fan culture for heterosexual pairings, as opposed to BL (Boys’ Love) or GL (Girls’ Love).
- 软妹子 – meaning a girl who is cute, gentle, sweet, and often a bit shy or naive.
- The text switches from 秦逵晨 (Qín Kuíchén) to 秦慕辰 (Qín Mùchén). This is could be a typo by the author, but we’ll use what the author wrote.
- 里 – “li” is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, roughly 500 meters or about a third of a mile.
- 匹夫无罪怀璧其罪: “A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.” A famous classical Chinese saying, but Pei Bufan humorously changes 璧 (bì, a jade treasure) to 喵 (miāo, meow/cat).
- 打马赛克 – to put a mosaic on. Refers to the pixelation used to censor things in media. Censored faces could mean faceless criminals from a censored news report.