An Encounter with the Tsundere Immortal Lady Chapter 39

At the bottom of the sea, the secret realm, which had just quieted down, rippled once more with the arrival of a cyan figure. That figure quietly walked to the entrance of the secret realm, raised her hand, and made an oath: “I, Lin Wuxi, swear by my inner demons: if Senior can help me successfully reach the Immortal Realm, I, Lin Wuxi, will definitely enable Senior to return to the Immortal Realm. If I break this vow, may I be devoured by my inner demons, suffer torture until death, and my soul be shattered and scattered!”
Silence, deathly silence. The nine-headed demon dragon, which had been hiding all along, finally couldn’t bear it anymore. Risking discovery by the Immortal Realm, it leaped out and roared: “Are you crazy? Do you know what you’re saying? How dare you make such an oath?”
Where did that carefree and confident girl in that gloomy place who spoke eloquently to me go? Where did that dazzling girl who repeatedly spoke of defying fate go? Where did that calm and composed girl, unafraid of my deterrence, go? Where did that girl who righteously and fearlessly reprimanded me go?
This one now is just a gambler, a desperate gambler betting everything she has on an extremely slim possibility.
“Do you know, if you go, you’re practically giving up all your previous efforts. All that talk about defying the heavens, never yielding—everything you painstakingly pursued might vanish into thin air because of this. You, think about it again. Do you really still want to go?” The nine-headed demon dragon’s nine heads all straightened up high, its eighteen eyes glaring angrily at Lin Wuxi.
After not seeing it for so long, the demon dragon was much smaller than when it first entered the secret realm. Even fully stretched, it was perhaps only half a person’s height. Though not much, its nine heads together still had some presence.
Lin Wuxi was very grateful for the demon dragon’s concern. She bowed slightly and said to it, “You should know, once I’ve decided on something, I don’t easily change my mind. This journey is fraught with danger, but it’s a necessary step. If I don’t even have the resolve to face danger and bear the consequences, how can I speak of defying the heavens?” The cyan figure smiled faintly. Even though the truth she spoke was so outlandish, her slender and composed figure still gave an inexplicable sense of security.
“Are you really planning to help me return to the Immortal Realm? With your power, how is that possible?” The demon dragon hesitated.
“I may not have overwhelming strength, but I have a brain. Strategy is also a form of power.” Lin Wuxi tapped her own head with her finger. “If I can make good use of my strategies, the chances of success can be increased to seventy percent.”
“Alright, you’ve been out for so long now. The risk of being discovered has increased quite a bit. Go now. I hope you’ve recovered from your injuries and regained your strength by the time we meet again.” Lin Wuxi’s gentle voice sounded, but anyone could hear the determination contained within her words.
“Senior, the oath I made is still valid. With such conditions, would you be willing to help me travel to the Immortal Realm?” Turning slightly, Lin Wuxi’s words were as calm and undisturbed as ever, as if she had never made that terrifying oath.
“You may.” The ancient voice finally gave an affirmative reply. Everything went as she wished. In the end, she still embarked on this journey of unpredictable paths.
To use a blood oath as the price to have the elder of the secret realm help her travel to the Immortal Realm—this was something Lin Wuxi had planned long ago. But Lin Wuxi never imagined that the passage to the Immortal Realm was not in this undersea secret realm, but in the Xuantian secret realm she had entered before.
The Xuantian secret realm was originally a passage connecting the Immortal and Mortal Realms, personally opened by an Immortal Lord from the Upper Realm. It was closed due to the ancient battle in the cultivation world known as the ‘Immortal-Demon War.’ Nowadays, few in the cultivation world know of it. And the elder of the secret realm, therefore, used his power to open an entrance and send Lin Wuxi once more into that abandoned passage.
Speaking of the Xuantian secret realm, Lin Wuxi had also wondered about its origins. The perennially gray sky, the strange and magnificent scenery outside its borders, and the extraordinarily grand and beautiful palaces all made her sense its extraordinariness. But even she had never imagined that it was actually created by an Immortal Lord from the Immortal Realm.
In the gray sky, thunder rumbled continuously, and thick dark clouds roiled ceaselessly. Bright lightning illuminated the surroundings like daylight, and the booming thunder seemed to split the void, directly striking one’s soul.
Arriving at the Xuantian secret realm again, this place was still as vast and boundless as before. Only the churning dark clouds revealed its true terror to visitors. Forcing open the sealed passage unavoidably triggered some of the Xuantian secret realm’s defense mechanisms.
“Go.” As soon as these two words sounded in Lin Wuxi’s ears, she felt herself pulled by a strong force, allowing herself to be drawn along by this power. The moment she left the ground, a sentence flashed through Lin Wuxi’s mind: “Remember your promise. You can go to the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace to find your Senior Sister.”
The immense pulling force interrupted Lin Wuxi’s thoughts. Her slender body plummeted rapidly towards the void. Even with the elder’s magic protecting her, the tearing force of breaking through space was not pleasant.
In a remote forest, a figure with disheveled hair stumbled along. Her cyan robe was torn in several places, and her smooth face was also cut, with trickles of blood seeping out. In this Immortal Realm, where spiritual energy was so dense it condensed into mist, the appearance of such a wretched person was truly strange.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” an old man herding cattle near the village asked.
“I… who am I?” the cyan-robed woman murmured. “Where is this?” The woman looked around, only seeing vast, ethereal immortal energy and an utterly unfamiliar scene.
“Nine… Nine Heavens Immortal Palace… Do you know what place this is?” The cyan-robed woman stared blankly at the old man. Her memories were a blank slate; only the words ‘Nine Heavens Immortal Palace’ constantly surfaced in her mind and slipped out of her mouth.
The old man initially looked at the cyan-robed woman with pity, sighing inwardly that one so young had lost her wits and seemed mad. But when he heard the words ‘Nine Heavens Immortal Palace’ from her mouth, his face, which had been smiling, immediately turned stern. Frowning, he quickly covered the cyan-robed woman’s mouth and whispered, “What nonsense are you spouting! Is that a place a little girl like you can talk about carelessly? Be careful, or you’ll lose your life!”
Even when the stranger covered her mouth, the cyan-robed woman didn’t struggle at all. She stood there dazedly, as if she hadn’t heard the old man’s words.
“Sigh, forget it. Can you even survive?” the old man asked helplessly. Looking at her like this, could she be both deaf and foolish? The old man was kind-hearted and couldn’t bear to leave a person like her here to wait for death. He could only resign himself to his fate and try to pull her back to the village. Unexpectedly, the cyan-robed woman stood there like a stubborn donkey, not even looking at him, just murmuring: “Go to the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace.”
“Hmph!” The old man was so angry his beard bristled. What bad luck did I have today to encounter such a deaf, foolish, and stubborn person! He couldn’t be bothered to waste more words, so he directly tied the cow-leading rope to the cyan-robed woman’s hand and threw back a sentence: “If you want to reach the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace alive, then follow me.” As his voice fell, he raised his hand and whipped the old yellow ox, leading it unswervingly towards the village.
The cyan-robed woman was dragged stumbling forward by the ox. This time, she wasn’t as stubborn as before and remained silent all the way. It was unknown whether she was in a daze or pondering something.
The village was very close to the small forest. In a short while, they could see wisps of cooking smoke rising from the village. Paths crisscrossed the village, and the crops in the fields were enveloped in a hazy immortal energy, looking very extraordinary.
“Stop looking. Those are for the immortals. Ordinary folk like us can’t afford to eat such precious food. If you’re hungry, there’s some home-cooked food in the house. I’ll heat it up for you to eat. But you can’t eat for free. Even if your mind isn’t all there, you still have to do some work.” The old man walked ahead, muttering. The woman, who had been following the old man in a daze, suddenly said: “Thank you for your kindness, but I can’t stay here—”
“Alright, alright, I know you want to go to the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace, but you have to eat your fill to have the strength to travel, right? Looking as dazed as you are, you’ll starve on the roadside before you even reach a city. Besides, do you even know the way?” The old man interrupted the young woman’s words. This girl looked dazed, but he didn’t know why she was so insistent on going to the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace. He knew that wasn’t a place ordinary people could go.
“Eat up. After this meal, hurry up and go find some work. The village doesn’t support idle people.” The old man brought out some food from the inner room, placed it in front of the young woman, and gestured for her to eat quickly.
Looking at the three dishes and one soup on the table, the young woman picked up her chopsticks, about to eat. But a metallic taste seemed to surge in her mouth. She put down the chopsticks holding rice before they even entered her mouth. She instinctively said: “I have already abstained from mortal food. I can no longer consume ordinary food. Thank you for your kindness.”
“Abstained from mortal food? You mean you’ve reached that stage? That’s fine too. Just eat a little. You still have to eat something, otherwise you won’t have the strength to travel.” The old man said doubtfully. But it seemed he hadn’t truly grasped the fact that the young woman couldn’t eat ordinary food.
As she thought this, her stomach suddenly rumbled. Lowering her head, the young girl felt a little flustered by her own reaction.
“Since you’re hungry, just eat,” the old man said, shaking his head and sighing, his voice tinged with a hint of lament. “Don’t mind that the food here is simple. For a remote little town like ours, it’s good enough to have something to eat.”
The young girl touched her stomach, glanced again at the rice in her bowl, and picked up the chopsticks she had put down. Her slender fingertips held the wooden chopsticks, and her cherry-like lips parted slightly. The plump, glistening grains of rice entered her mouth, but it didn’t have the smoky taste she had imagined. Instead, the firm, smooth rice grains carried a peculiar sweetness. The taste was unexpectedly good.
“This…” The young girl was a little dazed. But the wooden chopsticks in her hand, moving faster than her thoughts, reached for the three dishes and soup on the table: a clear meat stew, braised perch, braised pork, and green vegetables. The young girl tasted them, her movements quickening, and soon she was eagerly eating them with her rice.
The clear meat stew was glistening and appetizing. The perfectly balanced seasonings fully brought out the meat’s savory flavor. The delicious soup made her reluctant to even put down her chopsticks.
The perch was cut into pieces. Its tender flesh, gently simmered, turned translucent. Ladled with broth, the fish pieces, in the bubbling sauce, gradually absorbed its color. Hot steam rose, carrying the unique aroma of fish, inviting one to taste it.
The braised pork, cut into cubes, was stewed for several hours in a secret sauce. The surface of the marbled pork cubes glistened with oil from the sauce. When the firm lean meat and melt-in-your-mouth fatty pieces entered her mouth, the unique flavor of meat spread across her taste buds. The satisfaction it brought was enough to make one eat several bowls of rice in one go.
The only vegetable dish, though simply stir-fried, was made with the freshest ingredients and cooked for the perfect amount of time, making this simple side an indispensable part of the meal. The vibrant green leaves, complementing the main meat dishes, were by no means outshone.