The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 4

“Qingqian’s back, weren’t you—” The words were on Sun Juhao’s lips, but she quickly swallowed them back. She entered the house with Shi Qingqian, carrying a plate of lily and shrimp paste.
After putting down the plate, she looked at A’Ling somewhat angrily. “You child—” The words were on her lips, but she swallowed them back once more. Come to think of it, this child A’Ling has it rough, and now she has a grievance against Qingqian. If she said anything now, it would seem biased.
She could only pretend as if nothing had happened. “Qingqian, quickly sit down and eat.” Then, as was her custom, she wanted to serve food to both of them. Usually, whenever Qingqian came to eat, A’Ling would get up and leave, asking for her meal to be brought to her room instead.
No matter how she tried to persuade her, A’Ling would glare at Qingqian with hostility. If you ask me, everyone was at fault for the swapped babies, but what fault could Shi Qingqian, who was also a baby at the time, have?
She hoped A’Ling would come to terms with it soon.
Sun Juhao sighed. As she picked up an empty plate to serve some dishes, she found that A’Ling had already started eating…
Just as Aunt Sun put down her utensils, A’Ling had already started eating by herself. She was hungry; nothing was more urgent than filling her stomach.
She noticed Aunt Sun’s astonished gaze, raised an eyebrow, and saw a flicker of inquiry in Shi Qingqian’s eyes as well.
A’Ling sneered inwardly. Of course, she remembered that in her previous life, she would never eat at the same table as Shi Qingqian.
Now that she thought about it, she was truly foolish. This was her home; why should she be the one to leave? It should be Shi Qingqian who couldn’t eat.
Sun Juhao watched for a while, finding that A’Ling seemed to have truly come to terms with things, eating quietly and no longer throwing tantrums. She felt relieved and gratified, thinking the child had grown up.
Seeing Shi Qingqian just sitting there without touching her chopsticks, she urged, “Qingqian, don’t just sit there stunned. Aunt Sun made your favorite Mountain Sea Pouch today; it won’t taste good when it’s cold.”
Seeing Shi Qingqian pick up her chopsticks, Sun Juhao, relieved, left the dining room to tend to her tasks.
As soon as she left, A’Ling let out a cold laugh and scooped the entire plate of Mountain Sea Pouch into her own bowl.
Shi Qingqian seemed unconcerned. She simply turned her chopsticks and picked other dishes.
A’Ling watched what Shi Qingqian was about to pick and immediately went for the same thing. Her speed was swift; like a hungry dog snatching food, she intercepted her every time.
After several times, A’Ling saw Shi Qingqian stop her chopsticks. Feeling victorious, she ate with even greater gusto, feeling delighted inwardly.
A’Ling felt that with this rebirth of hers, she had become younger, and her personality had become somewhat childish. In the Demon Realm, she would never have done something so childish, nor would she have been so happy over snatching a bit of food that she would eat two extra bowls of rice.
However, thinking about how she had stayed in that pit for three days in her previous life, and Shi Qingqian had returned only a little later than her, she still felt very displeased.
She had been foolish. Although that pit was deep, it could only trap ordinary people. Shi Qingqian had already formed her Golden Core; how could a mere pit trap her?
It was one thing for her to be foolish in her previous life, but how could she still be so foolish in this life?
A’Ling thought for a moment and attributed all of this to the pain of her body exploding, which had affected her normal thinking.
The most urgent matter was still to cultivate as quickly as possible. A’Ling put down her bowl and chopsticks, let out a satisfied burp, and casually wiped her mouth.
As she got up to leave, she also conveniently took the plate of chilled Qilin melon, cut into small pieces, from the table, not leaving a single piece for Shi Qingqian.
Shi Qingqian’s expression remained unchanged. Looking at the food, which looked as if it had been scavenged by a wild dog, and the empty spot in front of her, she pondered what new trick A’Ling was trying to pull this time.
Back in her room, A’Ling put down the melon in her hand, took off her shoes, got onto her bed, and began to meditate.
She had not yet reached Foundation Establishment, so the most urgent matter was to guide spiritual energy into her body.
After a while, she opened her eyes. What was that spiritual energy guiding cultivation method again?
How could she not remember…?
A’Ling tried hard to recall the basic cultivation methods taught by her teachers when she first began cultivating in her previous life. No matter how hard she tried to remember, she just couldn’t.
A’Ling smacked her own head in frustration. This brain of hers was truly unreliable. She could remember the exact date she dug a pit for Shi Qingqian even after a hundred years, yet she couldn’t remember the basic cultivation method.
Never mind. A’Ling attributed all of this to the pain of her body exploding still affecting her mind.
It even affected her body. She felt so tired; her eyelids felt heavy after eating their fill. She simply lay down to sleep, swearing inwardly before falling asleep that from now on, she would definitely cultivate diligently.
Early the next morning, Sun Juhao saw A’Ling come to the dining room to eat without needing to be urged. She looked at the sky in surprise. It was still one sun, not two.
This was truly strange.
After they finished eating, A’Ling got onto Shi Qingqian’s carriage to go to the academy together. Sun Juhao looked at the sky again.
This time, the Huo family’s coachman also looked at the sky with her.
A’Ling couldn’t be bothered to care about their surprise. This was originally the Huo family’s carriage, and she was the Huo family’s young lady. Previously, it was she who didn’t want to be in the same space as Shi Qingqian.
“Aren’t you going?” A’Ling glared at him. The coachman snapped out of his daze and glanced uneasily at Shi Qingqian.
Old Master Huo had originally arranged for him to pick up and drop off Young Lady Qingqian. Later, the Huo family somehow gained another young lady. At first, Old Master Huo told everyone that Huo Ling was his younger daughter who had been separated from them, and that she and Young Lady Qingqian were sisters.
It was only later, when Young Lady A’Ling argued and shouted with the Old Master, that they learned the Huo family’s child had been swapped back then.
All the servants rather liked Young Lady Qingqian; although she wasn’t very talkative usually, she never made things difficult for them.
They originally thought they would have to serve Young Lady A’Ling now, but the Old Master said to continue as usual.
The coachman uneasily looked at Shi Qingqian. Old Master Huo hadn’t said A’Ling couldn’t ride, after all.
“Let’s go.” Shi Qingqian glanced at the scowling A’Ling. She didn’t know what she was thinking, but said nothing else, only telling the coachman to depart.
A’Ling knew that because of Huo Zhen’s attitude, these servants treated Shi Qingqian, the fake young lady, much better than her, the true young lady.
Just you wait. Once her cultivation surpassed Shi Qingqian’s and surpassed Huo Zhen’s, she would make those who had harmed her kneel at her feet and beg for forgiveness.
Then she would smash their skulls open.
As soon as they arrived at Hongjian Academy, A’Ling was the first to get off the carriage and walked straight in without looking back.
Hongjian Academy was located at the westernmost part of Longyin Town, right next to Mystic Crane Mountain.
From the Star-Gazing Pagoda within Hongjian Academy, one could even see Mystic Crane Mountain’s tightly closed Crane Gate. Every time the ice-sculpted white crane above it awakened, Hongjian Academy would be the first to hear its crane cries.
A’Ling remembered that Hongjian Academy was the largest and best cultivation academy in the Outer Sect, and it selected the most students to enter the Inner Sect each year.
There were only two types of students who could enter Hongjian Academy: those with strong personal abilities and those with powerful family backgrounds.
A’Ling belonged to the latter, thanks to Huo Zhen’s influence. Although he was nobody in the Inner Sect, he still had some reputation in the Outer Sect.
A’Ling originally thought Shi Qingqian also got in because of Huo Zhen. When she first returned to the Huo family, she even went to Huo Zhen to make him force Shi Qingqian to drop out, but she ended up being proven wrong.
Shi Qingqian hadn’t used Huo Zhen’s influence back then; she had passed the entrance exam on her own.
Thinking of all these past events, A’Ling felt depressed. What made her even more depressed now was that she couldn’t find her classroom and had forgotten which class she was in.
Like human world schools, Hongjian Academy also divided classes based on ability. A’Ling remembered there were a total of three grades.
Grade A was the lowest, consisting of new students who hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment.
Grade B was better, for those who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage but hadn’t formed their Golden Core.
Grade C was the best here. After forming their Golden Core, one could go to Class C to learn how to refine their innate magic artifacts.
Because one of the conditions for Inner Sect selection was for cultivators to reach the Core Formation stage, Grade C had only one class, consisting of gifted students who already had one foot in the Inner Sect.
Shi Qingqian was in Class C.
A’Ling hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment, so, needless to say, she was in Grade A.
The problem was that Grade A had a large number of students, and it was further divided into ten classes. A’Ling had forgotten which Class A she was in.
“A’Ling, what are you doing standing there? Come in quickly! I snagged you a great spot.”
A’Ling looked towards the voice. Zhao Diqing was standing on a cloudwood desk, waving at her.
A’Ling looked up at the nameplate nailed to the doorframe outside the classroom: Class A-6.
Well, Class A-6 it is.
The row of windows in Class A-6 facing the corridor were all open. A’Ling could see everything inside at a glance.
The reason she had almost walked past this classroom at first was simply because it was too noisy inside.
Boys and girls laughing and playing, scattered papers, crooked and overturned desks, and meditation cushions that this group of children were haphazardly throwing around like weapons.
A’Ling’s head started to ache. Were her teenage years like this? So lively?
She entered from the back door and walked towards Zhao Diqing. As she reached the spot, she believed Zhao Diqing had indeed snagged her a good position—the very corner of the classroom.
“A’Ling, what’s wrong?” Zhao Diqing noticed that after a night, A’Ling seemed even more unfamiliar.
A’Ling ignored her. She patted the meditation cushion and plopped down.
Zhao Diqing had spent all last night trying to recall if she had done anything to displease A’Ling, but she couldn’t think of anything even after a whole night.
Then there wasn’t.
Zhao Diqing formed another guess: A’Ling might not be angry at her.
“A’Ling, did your father scold you again?” Zhao Diqing asked tentatively, then, as if concerned for A’Ling, she steered the conversation towards Shi Qingqian. “Did your father find out about yesterday’s incident?”
A’Ling sneered inwardly. After all that talk, wasn’t she just trying to find out what happened to Shi Qingqian?
Her intentions were practically written all over her face. How could her past self have not seen it?
“From today onwards, stay three feet away from me,” A’Ling said coldly. “If you’re even an inch closer, I’ll break your leg!”
Zhao Diqing could hardly believe her ears. “Huh?”
Before she could ask for clarification, the bell for morning class rang out over the academy. Its sound was lingering and deep, and every classroom instantly fell silent.
This wasn’t a human world school; anyone who could teach at Hongjian Academy had some skill to subdue others.
A’Ling was very satisfied with this.
Their Grade A students only learned the basics of guiding spiritual energy into the body. After Foundation Establishment, they could move to Grade B.
A’Ling listened carefully to the teacher’s explanation. She had originally thought it would be an easy task, but suddenly found that reality was somewhat different from what she had imagined. Could it be that she had cultivated the demonic path for too long and no longer understood the methods of mortal cultivation?
Why couldn’t she gather spiritual energy?
She had originally thought it was just a matter of forgetting the cultivation method, but now it seemed that wasn’t entirely the problem.
What was she to do? If she couldn’t gather spiritual energy, she couldn’t reach Foundation Establishment. And if she couldn’t reach Foundation Establishment, how could she speak of cultivation?
If she couldn’t cultivate, what was the meaning of her coming back this time?
How else was she going to trample Shi Qingqian underfoot?!
A’Ling felt unresigned. No, this absolutely wouldn’t do. She absolutely had to find a way to gather spiritual energy!