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“Excellent.” Only then did the Grand Elder beam at Tan Yun. “A visit from the Sect Master herself is enough to show the gravity of the situation. I imagine they will think twice.”
The Grand Elder stood quietly, saying this as if it were a matter of course. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that even in seclusion, this Grand Elder still hadn’t let go of the jealousy in her heart.
Kong Yue hesitated, wanting to speak. “…But Junior Sister.”
The Grand Elder glared at him coldly. “Elder Kong, although Sect Master Tan’s cultivation was lower than yours in her childhood, making it understandable for you to call her Junior Sister, she is now the master of a sect. Is it not excessively rude for you to call her ‘Junior Sister’ like this?”
Kong Yue was choked up and fell silent.
When Tan Yun first came to the lower realm, she was only a teenager. At that time, her cultivation was at the early Nascent Soul stage, a true prodigy among geniuses. It was not out of place for Kong Yue to call her Junior Sister.
Perhaps because it was difficult to contact the Upper Realm from the lower realm, the Grand Elder’s unwillingness was gradually being revealed. She was putting on a show of force for everyone.
“But the Shengtian Continent is truly vast. Even if the Sect Master rushes day and night, it will take more than half a month to reach the Chan Dao Temple. The Sect Master has many other matters to attend to. It would be better for me to go,” the Peak Master of Heaven Sword Peak couldn’t bear to watch any longer and stepped forward.
The Grand Elder sneered, making no compromises.
Her aura surged, and a powerful pressure shook everyone. This heart-palpitating spiritual energy probably meant the Grand Elder had gained further insight into the Soul Formation stage, her strength now above everyone else’s.
Everyone knew that the Grand Elder had already abdicated and should not meddle in the sect’s affairs. But seeing her spare no effort to display her strength, it was clear she intended to interfere in the sect’s matters.
Tan Yun took a step forward, standing in front of everyone and taking on all the pressure. “That won’t be necessary. I will go. I’ll have to trouble Senior Brother Kong to look after Sui An for me.”
Kong Yue nodded. “Don’t… don’t worry, Sect Master!”
Only then did the Grand Elder smile.
…
Sui An sat quietly in the courtyard for a long time. When she opened her eyes, she felt incredibly comfortable, as if she were enveloped by a gentle force that softly pressed against her whole body. Just one night of cultivation had made her Wood spiritual root much fuller and more solid. She was just one step away from the Foundation Establishment stage. Even the injuries she had suffered yesterday had healed a great deal. Sui An was very pleased with this.
“This technique is too powerful.”
[Host can try to combine the wood spiritual energy with the fire spiritual energy. It will definitely achieve an astonishing effect, and you might even be able to kill enemies of a higher rank.]
Sui An was a little impatient. She raised her hands and extended her fingertips. A small flame danced on her left index finger, and a touch of green fluorescence appeared on her right. When she tried to touch the two together!
Bang!
Sui An was blasted, her face covered in soot.
“Cough, cough, what happened?”
[The Host has only just begun cultivating the Wood spiritual root. The two cannot yet merge. The Host can practice this through alchemy.]
“Alright then!”
Sui An returned to her room and washed up again.
She felt refreshed and invigorated. Even her steps were much larger as she walked, and she was humming a tune. But on the way to the Pill Pavilion, she overheard several senior brothers and sisters discussing the strange phenomenon from last night.
“Did you all see the phenomenon last night? It was night, but it was as dazzling as day.”
“I saw it. I heard the Grand Elder even came out of seclusion for it, and the Sect Master rushed to the Chan Dao Temple overnight.”
“I hope this phenomenon is a good omen!”
A phenomenon?
Sui An had been cultivating the whole time, so she hadn’t noticed. But for a phenomenon to appear right after she started cultivating the Yin-Yang Spirit Heart Art, it couldn’t be a coincidence, no matter how she looked at it. “System, could this phenomenon have been caused by me?”
[It was because of the Host!]
Sui An swallowed hard. “Tan Yun went to the Chan Dao Temple. She will definitely be able to determine that I was the cause of this phenomenon. With her personality, even if she doesn’t kill me, she’ll lock me up.”
[Please rest assured, Host. The reason that the group at the Chan Dao Temple can perceive the secrets of heaven is because of the novel’s setting. As for the true secrets of heaven, only a few great powers with special constitutions can sense them slightly. The Host is slowly breaking away from the novel, so they cannot see your future.]
“So you’re saying my destiny is changing.”
[Yes, but the Host’s crisis remains.]
Sui An smiled. She looked at the blue sky and white clouds, the warm sunlight mirroring her current mood. She was no longer as lost as when she had just been reborn. Now she had a goal, a direction.
That was to become strong, so strong that no one could do anything to her, so strong that she would make Tan Yun look at her in a new light.
Sui An took a turn and walked towards the sect’s exit.
[Host isn’t going to the Pill Pavilion?]
“No rush.”
Tan Yun wouldn’t be back in the sect for a short while. Sui An wanted to take the opportunity to go outside the sect and test out who exactly was monitoring her.
She looked carefree as she glanced around.
Seeing a fellow female disciple pass by, Sui An called out, “Excuse me, Senior Sister, could you please take me to the sect gate?”
“Sorry, I have important matters to attend to.”
“It’s alright, then you go on ahead, Senior Sister!”
To get to the sect gate on her own two legs would take at least a day. She had movement-type spirit talismans on her, but those were for saving her life. How could she use them for this?
Helpless, Sui An asked two more people.
But both ended with the same answer of being too busy.
Sui An frowned in thought. “If you won’t take me, then I’ll just go to the Beast Rearing Garden and catch a crane to fly there.”
The Beast Rearing Garden, as its name suggested, was where the sect raised its spirit beasts. The spirit beasts inside had all been tamed and had lost their wild nature. But to ride a spirit beast, one still had to either form a contract with it or cultivate a bond.
A person could only form a contract with one spirit beast. The person raised the beast, and the beast protected its master. So, for these spirit beasts with low combat power, most people chose to cultivate a bond.
Sui An didn’t have time to cultivate a bond, nor was it possible for her to form a contract with a crane. She would naturally have to do it the hard way.
The cranes were located in the north garden’s stream area of the Beast Rearing Garden. At this moment, two servant disciples were feeding them, and the cranes were all gathered around the food.
Sui An held a rope and walked with light steps.
The cranes were slightly taller than Sui An. Once they spread their wings, their presence was as fierce as a tiger. Their talons were sharp; if one were to be scratched, even a Qi Refinement stage disciple would find it hard to withstand.
The servant disciples were surrounded by the cranes and didn’t notice Sui An approaching. The moment a crane raised its head after eating a spirit bait pill, Sui An looped the rope around its neck.
The crane was startled and let out a long cry as it spread its wings!
The other cranes were also startled and flew high into the sky.
“Senior Sister, you mustn’t!” The two servant disciples quickly ran away, shouting from a distance, “Absolutely not… Senior Sister, you can’t take a spirit beast without a Beast Rearing Token!”
“Don’t worry, I’m just borrowing it…” Sui An smiled, forcing her way onto the crane’s back. “I’ll return it right away.”
With that, the crane flew high into the sky in a panic.
It suddenly flew left, then suddenly right, spinning in the air as if it were dancing.
Sui An clung tightly to the crane’s neck. All this chaotic flying made her stomach churn, and the contents surged up her esophagus like a tidal wave.
“Blargh!” A pile of vomit drifted down from the sky.
Sui An’s current body couldn’t handle such torment from the crane. She wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, her head feeling dizzy. She quickly took out an Origin Recovery Pill.
She showed it to the crane. “See this? An Origin Recovery Pill. Want to eat it?”
The spiritual energy of an Origin Recovery Pill was countless times stronger than a spirit bait pill. Normally, no one would feed it to a crane; that would be a terrible waste of a precious resource1.
The crane’s eyes followed the movement of the Origin Recovery Pill.
“Go!” The Origin Recovery Pill was flicked towards the sect gate.
The crane followed closely, leaving the two servant disciples shouting bitterly below, their mournful cries sounding as if their parents had died.
“Quick… catch the crane!”
The wind lifted her hair and billowed her white robes. The surrounding cranes2仙鹤 – red-crowned crane. Literally “fairy crane” or “crane of the immortals.” One of the rarest cranes in the world. In Chinese culture, immortals are commonly depicted as riding on cranes.3 flew behind her, and passing disciples hurriedly flew on their swords to catch them. It was truly a scene of cranes flying and people jumping.
Seeing this scene, although Sui An felt a little apologetic, she let out a silver-bell-like laugh. Just like the playful her from before, she seemed carefree and thoughtless.
After being whipped seven times in her past life, she had become even more determined to escape. She was unwilling to be a caged bird, single-mindedly opposing Tan Yun, but she had overlooked the scenery around her.
It had been a long time since she had felt such joy.
Sui An was getting closer and closer to the main gate.
She looked around, but still saw no one coming to intercept her. “Was I wrong? Could it be that Tan Yun didn’t send anyone to watch me?”
Just as Sui An hesitated, Xufu suddenly appeared.
“Junior Sister, you must not leave the sect.”
Sui An hadn’t expected it to be Xufu. The one who had always taken care of her, like an older brother, was actually Tan Yun’s informant. No wonder she was caught so quickly during her last escape in her previous life.
She didn’t know what to feel in her heart. She smiled and said, “So it’s Senior Brother Xufu. I wonder why you say I’m leaving the sect?”
“I… I was just catching spirit cranes when I happened to see you flying towards the sect gate.” Xufu’s handsome face was scrunched up. “Junior Sister, don’t forget the Sect Master’s punishment a few days ago.”
Sui An looked at the sect gate, which was just within reach, and patted the spirit crane. “I was just trying to go to the Pill Pavilion and borrowed this spirit crane for a ride. Who knew it would be so disobedient and fly this way.”
Xufu’s straight back relaxed slightly. He reached out a hand to her. “So that’s how it is. Junior Sister, how about I take you to the Pill Pavilion?”
He still wore his usual gentle smile, but in Sui An’s eyes now, she could no longer tell how much of it was real or fake.
She sighed lightly. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“It was presumptuous of me,” Xufu said, raising his hand. A sword flew out from the air. “Junior Sister, please.”
Sui An jumped and flew towards the Pill Pavilion on the sword.
The spirit cranes flew around chaotically, leaving a trail of feathers on the ground.
Xufu controlled the sword from behind her, carefully maintaining its balance. “Junior Sister, if you want to go anywhere in the future, you can send me a sound transmission.”
Sui An smiled faintly. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”
The Pill Pavilion was located in a relatively remote area. The building was three stories high, and there were many small, empty houses around it. Although the scenery here was beautiful, because the sect knew little about alchemy and alchemical talent had withered, it was sparsely populated.
Sui An landed, turned to bow, and said, “Thank you for escorting me, Senior Brother. If you have other matters, please go ahead!”
Her attitude was neither cold nor warm, neither servile nor overbearing. Although they were close, Xufu felt as if she were a world away. A distance had unknowingly formed between them.
“I…” Xufu hesitated, “Alright… if you need anything, Junior Sister, remember to send a sound transmission.”
“Okay.”
Xufu took two steps back, his body as light as a swallow’s. He flew high into the sky with one hand behind his back, his white robes making him look like a cold and handsome young master.
Sui An rubbed the space between her eyebrows, feeling deeply exhausted from the matter of trying to guess people’s hearts.
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Reika’s Notes:
- This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
- 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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Glossary
Nascent Soul Stage (元婴期, yuányīng qī): A major cultivation stage after Golden Core. Cultivators at this stage form a “Nascent Soul,” a miniature version of themselves, in their dantian, which grants them great power and a chance at rebirth if their physical body is destroyed.
Heaven Sword Peak (天剑峰, Tiānjiàn Fēng): The name of one of the sect’s peaks, presumably specializing in sword arts.
Spirit Talisman (灵符, língfú): A piece of paper inscribed with magical symbols, used to cast spells or achieve various effects.
Beast Rearing Garden (育兽园, Yùshòu Yuán): The area of the sect dedicated to raising and caring for spirit beasts.
Spirit Bait Pill (灵饵丸, líng’ěr wán): A low-grade pill specifically made as food for spirit beasts.
outsch, and suddenly all respect was lost
poor Xufu