The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 92

Shi Qingqian stared with a solemn face at the fleeting images before her. She didn’t know where she was, or if everything happening now was a hallucination caused by her damaged Nascent Soul.
She only wanted to get out. Her soul was injured, weakening the power of her life-soul barrier. She worried A’Ling was in danger.
Shi Qingqian searched the cluttered, cramped room for an exit. As for the wailing child beside her, after an initial moment of confusion, she paid it no more mind.
She didn’t notice the child’s cries gradually cease, and thick black hair rapidly grow from its previously bald head. When Shi Qingqian turned back, the infant in the swaddle had already grown to the size of a toddler of three or four.
It sat quietly, its dark eyes fixed on Shi Qingqian.
Shi Qingqian’s confusion reached its peak upon seeing the child’s face.
“Who are you?”
Shi Qingqian watched the child, so frail it could barely walk steadily, yet toddling toward her. She crouched down, intending to catch it. She felt an intense sense of familiarity with this child.
But as the child ran before Shi Qingqian and Shi Qingqian reached out to embrace it, the child passed through her arms.
Shi Qingqian looked down at her hands in astonishment. Her hands had also passed through the child’s body. What was happening? Was she dreaming?
Before she could figure it out, a startled cry came from behind her.
Shi Qingqian turned to see the child climbing onto the windowsill and jumping straight down. Shi Qingqian immediately rushed out to save it, only to see Elder Zeng looking at her with a pleased smile.
“This child is truly a Pure Immortal Physique,” he said, stroking his beard and glancing at the man beside him. “Master Huo, you must take good care of her from now on. The Huo family is destined to produce a remarkable individual.”
Shi Qingqian then noticed a small, frail girl, only reaching her waist, standing before her. Elder Zeng had been smiling at her.
And standing beside them was Huo Zhen.
What was this?
Shi Qingqian walked around the little girl in front of her and came before her. She finally remembered the familiar feeling.
This was her childhood self. The crying infant she’d just seen, the child who jumped from the embroidered building, and the little girl now identified as having a Pure Immortal Physique – they were all her.
Had she returned to the past, or was she dreaming about past events?
Fleeting images. Shi Qingqian watched herself grow day by day. She hadn’t remembered these events after growing up. Now, watching them was like seeing a stranger. Her heart remained largely unmoved.
Even seeing her childhood self, confined alone in the cramped, stuffy embroidered building, then thrown into a remote, dilapidated courtyard, and finally receiving a decent courtyard and attending Hongjian Academy after being identified as having a Pure Immortal Physique, she felt no great joy or sorrow.
It wasn’t until she saw A’Ling. She had returned to the Huo family, and after learning the truth, her eyes burning red, she wanted Huo Zhen to kill Jin Siliu.
Shi Qingqian watched her hands, hanging by her sides, dig into her palms, as if oblivious to the pain, scratching at the bloody flesh.
She desperately wanted to make her stop, to pry her hands open, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t touch her hands.
Shi Qingqian tried again to possess her own self, who was watching coldly from the side.
All attempts failed.
She could only watch A’Ling’s despair and pain, and her own self’s cold, wordless observation.
Shi Qingqian never knew that seeing her past self from another angle could be so detestable.
A’Ling had collapsed before her, Jin Siliu was weeping, Huo Zhen was angry, and Lin Nianli was shocked. Only she watched it all with cold indifference, detached from all emotion.
But Shi Qingqian knew it wasn’t like that. She was actually sad too.
Shi Qingqian saw the clenched fist of her past self hidden in her sleeve from the moment she learned the truth. She wasn’t indifferent; she simply didn’t dare to be.
Shi Qingqian sighed. She was human, not a stone. Humans had emotions, joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness. But she had grown accustomed to not daring to feel them.
If she had normal human emotions, how could she endure the long days and nights alone in the embroidered building? How could she listen to others repeatedly mention the trouble her birth had caused the Huo family in the side courtyard?
And how could she view the ‘family’ she believed in, who changed their demeanor due to her exceptional talent?
Shi Qingqian actually remembered feeling fortunate when she learned Huo Zhen and Lin Nianli were not her parents. This way, she truly didn’t have to have ‘feelings’ for them.
She just hadn’t expected her ‘parents’ might be even worse. Huo Zhen at least hadn’t tried to kill her, only wishing she’d fend for herself.
But Jin Siliu told her that her father wanted to kill her.
Shi Qingqian felt nothing unusual upon learning this, as if knowing it was enough.
She did not like how Jin Siliu always asked her to avenge her mother whenever they met.
She was even more annoyed by A’Ling’s subsequent targeting of her.
But whenever Shi Qingqian considered teaching A’Ling a lesson, to stop her from misjudging situations and making false accusations, she would always remember her hands, scratched until they were bloody and mangled.
Forget it. Shi Qingqian’s thought at the time was ‘forget it.’ Once she had repaid the spirit stones the Huo family had spent on her, she would go to the inner sect and wouldn’t have to see them again.
Shi Qingqian watched the surrounding scenes change continuously. She saw A’Ling’s hatred for her grow deeper, saw her foolishly dig a pit and intend to bury her, and then saw her harm herself by digging the pit.
Seeing this, Shi Qingqian finally realized something was wrong.
This wasn’t her past. At least, from this moment on, things were different.
There was no incident of opening the demon mountain, nor the subsequent injury of A’Ling. A’Ling hadn’t even established her foundation or formed her core.
Shi Qingqian watched A’Ling working odd jobs in the scene.
For a single spirit stone, she could pump bellows in a blacksmith’s shop all night; she could also be a substitute for a donkey grinding soybeans in a tofu shop for a day for one spirit stone.
In such difficult circumstances, this fool actually sent some of the spirit stones she earned to Jin Siliu, who had previously called for her death.
She saw her happy after buying refining materials, and then she saw her repeatedly fail to refine anything.
She saw Jin Siliu find ‘her’ shortly before entering Mystic Crane Mountain, hoping she would persuade Huo Zhen to treat A’Ling better in the future before she left.
“All of this is my fault. If it weren’t for me, A’Ling wouldn’t have suffered so much. I beg you, young mistress, to speak to Master Huo and tell him that A’Ling is actually very well-behaved. If he spends more time with her, he’ll discover how good A’Ling is.”
“Right now, they just don’t understand each other, and A’Ling is stubborn. If Master Huo and Madam Huo treat A’Ling a little better, A’Ling, with her soft heart, will surely treat them doubly well.”
“Look, this is the spirit stone I found under my bedding. She must have sent it to me. I also found out she’s been doing hard labor in many places. This child has followed me around since she was young and has never lived a good life. Now that she’s finally returned to the Huo family…”
As she spoke, she began to cry, her sobs causing Shi Qingqian annoyance. If that was the case, why did she act like that back then? In her heart, she probably thought Shi Qingqian lived a life of luxury in the Huo family.
After Jin Siliu left, Shi Qingqian went to the place Jin Siliu had mentioned. She happened to see the person climbing out of a well, covered in mud. If it weren’t for her eyes, which were always astonishingly bright, Shi Qingqian wouldn’t have recognized her, the person who always opposed her daily.
“Master, look! I dug this pit a good fifteen feet deep, even a little more. You promised five spirit stones for the main job, so with the extra work, you have to give me at least seven.”
Ever since A’Ling found out about the business of digging pits for money, the skill she honed by digging pits for Shi Qingqian had come in handy.
The man being addressed inspected it and smiled with satisfaction. “You’re an honest worker, girl. Alright, take your seven spirit stones.”
A’Ling reached out to take them with a smile, only to find her hands covered in mud. She wanted to wipe herself, but found no clean spot on her clothes.
After thinking for a moment, she directly lifted the hem of her skirt, motioning for the person to throw the spirit stones into her skirt.
After receiving the spirit stones, A’Ling smiled, her silver teeth shining brightly in the sunlight. She put her things away and ran towards the south of the city, hopping with every few steps.
Shi Qingqian watched the cheerful figure, feeling a strange pang of bitterness in her heart. On impulse, she followed.
She learned that A’Ling wanted to buy refining materials to practice making a magic artifact.
Watching A’Ling repeatedly fail at refining and then have to do all sorts of hard labor in the scene, Shi Qingqian’s heart suddenly ached, and she strongly wished to slap her past self, who appeared so indifferent.
The scene flashed by. A crane’s cry made Shi Qingqian wonder if she had returned to the real world. Unfortunately, the surrounding scenes continued to flash by like fleeting shadows.
She saw the Crane Gate open, and ‘she’ passed the assessment without surprise, about to enter the inner sect.
She also saw ‘her’ visit A’Ling’s door late at night before entering the Crane Gate and toss something inside.
The item flew smoothly to the desk in A’Ling’s room without making a sound.
Shi Qingqian watched the peacefully sleeping person on the bed through the unclosed window and softly uttered two words: “Fool.”
How could those inferior materials she bought refine a magic artifact? All the money earned so painstakingly had been swindled by the merchants in the south of the city who judged people by their appearance.
Utterly foolish. Shi Qingqian glanced at the magic artifact on the table. She had added meteor crystal stone to it, which could counter Huo Zhen’s Red Lotus Prison Fire. This way, she wouldn’t be completely defenseless against Huo Zhen in the future.
Thus, they were even. Although she didn’t feel she owed this fool anything.
If the two of them hadn’t been switched back then, and this fool had stayed in the Huo family, her bones would have long since been buried somewhere. Jin Siliu, though a demon, had true feelings for her.
From now on, she would have no connection with the Huo family, nor with A’Ling of the Huo family. Shi Qingqian slowly closed the window.
The scene turned black, and Shi Qingqian snapped out of her shock. What was all this? What was that just now? The Wandering Amethyst Gold Whip? Wasn’t that the magic artifact she had refined and given to A’Ling?
What exactly was going on?
Before Shi Qingqian could figure out why her past self in the scene had also refined the Wandering Amethyst Gold Whip, the scenes flashed by rapidly. She could only set aside her thoughts for now and continue watching.
From then on, all the scenes became solely about ‘Shi Qingqian.’ After entering Mystic Crane Mountain, she kept to herself, distant from everyone.
Cultivating alone, searching for a way to Qiongdian Peak, eating alone, sleeping alone, always alone.
A’Ling never appeared. Shi Qingqian recalled that in this scenario, A’Ling had not yet formed her core and entered the inner sect.
The scenes flashed by rapidly. She even saw ‘her’ miserable fall from Qiongdian Peak under the red moon. Seen from a third-person perspective, she looked truly disheveled. But what Shi Qingqian found strange was that this time, she didn’t see A’Ling.
Naturally, A’Ling hadn’t entered Mystic Crane Mountain yet.
‘She’ had somehow endured a month alone before returning to her true form.
After that, ‘Shi Qingqian’ in the scene rarely left her cave dwelling and became increasingly listless.
Her cultivation continued to advance, but she grew colder. The scenes seemed to fall silent. She truly became the ‘cold immortal’ figure spoken of in whispers by others in the scenes.
Until A’Ling’s reappearance.
Only then did Shi Qingqian see an expression return to ‘her’ face, though it appeared as displeasure, impatience, and disdain.
She smiled and turned to A’Ling, who had finally reappeared in the scene. She saw that after entering Mystic Crane Mountain, A’Ling cursed ‘Shi Qingqian’ every time they met. If there was an opportunity to dig a pit, she would definitely dig more than just dirt.
But due to this irritable nature, and because A’Ling didn’t hold in high regard those whom others revered, she was bullied in various ways after entering Mystic Crane Mountain.
These scenes were all seen from the perspective of ‘Shi Qingqian’ in this scenario.
After the long scenes without A’Ling, Shi Qingqian had now realized that she could only see what ‘Shi Qingqian’ in the scene saw.
Therefore, after seeing A’Ling being bullied multiple times, Shi Qingqian understood why ‘she’ had rarely left her cave dwelling before and was now frequently going out.
‘She’ was protecting A’Ling.
But A’Ling seemed unaware. Every time Shi Qingqian appeared, the others stopped bullying her. After they left, A’Ling took out all her resentment on Shi Qingqian.
“You’re here to laugh at me, aren’t you?” A’Ling said coldly, looking at Shi Qingqian, who had appeared just in time again. She was nowhere to be seen usually, but the moment she was in trouble and disheveled, she appeared. This punctuality meant it was deliberate.
This person, no matter how much time passed, was still so petty!
She would not let such a person have her way. She would work hard to cultivate and eventually trample Shi Qingqian underfoot, making everyone see that A’Ling was better than Shi Qingqian.
She would make those who looked down on her regret it.
‘Shi Qingqian’ knew she was misunderstood, but she didn’t know how to explain. She also didn’t know why she was meddling in such matters.
Shi Qingqian saw her past self in the scene looking very lost. She saw her seek out her master for the first time, demanding that Mystic Crane Mountain severely punish any disciples who bullied the weak once discovered.
But the first person to be punished was A’Ling. She was reported by dozens of people for bullying the weak.
Although those ten people had ganged up to bully her, they were all newcomers and didn’t have powerful magic artifacts. A’Ling had fought against ten of them with the Wandering Amethyst Gold Whip and won.
She became the one who bullied her fellow disciples.
When A’Ling was subjected to a whipping, and learned that the inner sect had increased the penalties for such behavior at Shi Qingqian’s suggestion, she believed Shi Qingqian had deliberately set her up to harm her.
With every lash, A’Ling cursed Shi Qingqian to die a horrible death!
Shi Qingqian saw ‘Shi Qingqian’ in the scene protect A’Ling with her Nascent Soul out of its body. The whipping looked severe, but if A’Ling had been conscious, she would have realized it didn’t hurt that much.
Watching this scene, Shi Qingqian sighed softly, unsure why. Perhaps it was for the growing misunderstanding between the two in the scene.
Fleeting images. The spring, summer, autumn, and winter scenes of Mystic Crane Mountain flashed by quickly. She saw ‘her’ again attempting to reach Qiongdian Peak, being injured by the barrier and falling by the Goose Head River.
But this time it was different. She saw the silly creature with a bruised face but still lively eyes appear.
‘She’ in the scene became the ugly dog that A’Ling spoke of. Shi Qingqian was becoming increasingly confused. Many of these events were her actual experiences, but there were some temporal displacements.
Was this her dream?
A’Ling was clearly very happy to have acquired such an ugly dog. They snuggled and cuddled every day. This was different from Shi Qingqian’s experience. Why was it that this creature, equally ugly, was treated so affectionately by A’Ling in the scene, while in reality, A’Ling wasn’t like that? Although she was good to her, it was her usual tough exterior with a soft heart.
Shi Qingqian admitted she was a little jealous, jealous of the ugly thing sleeping in A’Ling’s arms in the scene.
She had tried her best and only managed to climb onto the bed. A’Ling had never pulled her into the covers.
Could all of this be her own fantasy? Did she want A’Ling to coax her into bed?
Shi Qingqian was astonished. She watched A’Ling go on missions with the ugly thing, encounter danger, and saw the ugly thing save A’Ling. She saw it instinctively whimper at A’Ling’s smile.
This was also different from her. She had been forced by A’Ling to do it in the cave dwelling, in front of Gu Jingyang and the others!
Before she could become angry about the different treatment between two equally ugly things, she saw A’Ling, who rushed out to save it, get beaten black and blue again.
Shi Qingqian watched with trembling eyes as the person protected it tightly, using her body to shield it from the blows.
It struggled to break free from the embrace, but then heard a hoarse whisper in her ear.
“Don’t be afraid… I’m here…”
After saying this, A’Ling couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Perhaps seeing that she was already miserable enough, the people left after venting their anger.
Once A’Ling confirmed the people had left, she took the ugly thing back to her room. She endured the dull pain on her body and carefully checked the ugly thing. “It’s fine. Next time, you must be careful. Run away quickly when you see someone.”
After saying that, she seemed unable to hold on any longer. She touched the ugly thing’s head. “Stay put, obediently. I need to sleep for a while.”
She climbed onto the bed with trembling difficulty, curling herself up, trying to lessen the pain from her injuries.
Shi Qingqian jumped onto the bed, stepping on the overturned dog bed. She looked at the person on the bed, her face contorted with pain. It wanted to call her awake, wanted to take her to Apothecary Mu Ling.
A’Ling felt the ugly thing nudging her beside her, thinking it also wanted to get into the covers. Despite her severe pain, A’Ling didn’t want to upset it.
This action was habitual. She directly lifted her hand and pulled the ugly thing into her embrace, letting it rest its head on her arm. She gently stroked its neck. “Sleep. You won’t hurt when you’re asleep.”
These words seemed to be for herself.
Shi Qingqian sighed in the warm embrace, looking at A’Ling’s bruised face. Anger gradually rose in her eyes.
She had originally planned to stay with this person for a few more days, but now she understood. In her current state, she couldn’t protect the person before her. She had to return to her body as soon as possible.
After A’Ling had recovered from her injuries, while A’Ling was out one day, Shi Qingqian returned to her cave dwelling and her true form.
Shi Qingqian saw A’Ling following the ugly thing to the cave dwelling in the scene and knew things had gone wrong.
As expected, the subsequent scene made Shi Qingqian unable to bear watching. A’Ling misunderstood ‘her’ and thought she had stolen her dog, demanding that Shi Qingqian hand it over.
In the end, she naturally couldn’t hand it over. From then on, A’Ling hated Shi Qingqian. Previously, it was mostly verbal ridicule and abuse. Now, every time she saw Shi Qingqian, she would throw whatever she had in her hands, and even though she couldn’t win, she would charge forward and whip her a couple of times.
Shi Qingqian watched as A’Ling’s relationship with ‘her’ in the scene grew worse and worse.
Although ‘she’ in the scene protected A’Ling time and again, A’Ling was completely unaware. ‘She’ also didn’t explain anything.
For the first time, Shi Qingqian began to reflect on herself. The personality of the person in the scene was actually very similar to hers, even identical. If it weren’t for these experiences that she didn’t have, she would have even suspected it was her.
She realized for the first time how infuriating it was for someone to say nothing.
If she couldn’t touch the person in the scene, she would even want to slap her.
Watching the two people in the scene become like fire and water as time passed, their relationship had reached a point where A’Ling would ignite just by being in the same scene.
The scenes constantly changed, and things became worse. A’Ling was even possessed by a ghost, and ‘she’ kissed her.
Shi Qingqian could not accept this scene at all. She desperately wanted to know what was going on. Who was the person in the scene?
‘She’ had no right to kiss her!
She didn’t want to watch anymore. She wanted to get out of this illusion. This wasn’t real!
But no matter how hard she pounded on the screen before her, it continued. She saw Elder Qi Yu deceive A’Ling into taking the Spirit Suppressing Incense, and finally, something happened, and she was expelled from Mystic Crane Mountain.
When ‘she’ in the scene arrived, A’Ling had already fallen into demonic cultivation.
A’Ling had fallen into demonic cultivation! How painful was it for a mortal to cultivate demonic arts? The person in the scene actually said cultivating demonic arts was not bad! Did ‘she’ think everyone could do it as easily as her?
‘She’ had sent A’Ling to the demon realm! What kind of place was the demon realm? Although she hadn’t been there, she had heard of it. How could A’Ling live there?
Shi Qingqian was furious. She tried again to channel her spiritual energy to break through these scenes, but still failed. A great sense of panic welled up in her heart. Would she be trapped here forever?
Or did she have to finish watching these scenes?
Since she couldn’t get out, Shi Qingqian could only continue watching. She watched A’Ling curse ‘Shi Qingqian’ day after day for thirty years in the demon realm.
She watched ‘Shi Qingqian’ appear in various identities, guiding A’Ling out of the Evernight Forest to find amusement in the human realm.
As stars turned and fleeting images passed, Shi Qingqian didn’t know how much time had passed in the real world, but a century had gone by in the scenes.
Saint Venerable Dao Rong had also emerged from seclusion.
‘Shi Qingqian’ in the scene, along with Shi Qingqian outside the scene, heard Saint Venerable Dao Rong speak of the ‘truth.’
He said her mother had approached him intentionally, for his cultivation, but he had fallen in love with this particularly bold woman.
He had been determined to eliminate her demonic nature and help her return to the righteous path, but it was too late.
“Your mother’s personality changed drastically after having you, which caused the demonic energy to lose control and invade her internal organs. She also lost her sanity, and in her confusion, she hallucinated that I wanted to kill her. She actually gave birth to you prematurely and sent you away, and also wanted to kill me.”
Speaking of this, Saint Venerable Dao Rong covered his face with one hand, appearing heartbroken. After a while, he regained his composure and continued.
“In the end, your mother’s demonic energy exploded uncontrollably and she died. I was also injured in my soul and could only heal on Qiongdian Peak.”
“But I have always missed you. I sent people to search for you for ten years, but unfortunately, I never found you.”
As he spoke, he choked up again. This sad appearance was strangely out of place with his detached demeanor, but he truly looked like a loving father.
Shi Qingqian didn’t know if ‘she’ in the scene believed him. She didn’t believe a single word. Perhaps it was because after she was identified as having a Pure Immortal Physique, Huo Zhen often played the role of a ‘loving father,’ which made her very annoyed by such behavior.
‘She’ in the scene also likely didn’t believe him, but couldn’t find any other evidence to prove Dao Rong was lying.
She saw ‘her’ go to the demon realm in a daze, and then she saw a scene that angered her even more.
Shi Qingqian had never wanted to kill someone so much. She watched the two people in the scene tightly embracing each other. Although she saw that A’Ling only wanted to steal her power, ‘she’ took advantage of her vulnerability!
She couldn’t stand it anymore. She wanted to kill ‘her’!
Shi Qingqian’s jaw tightened, her eyes filled with rage. She tried once more to channel her spiritual energy.
She heard muffled groans coming from the scene, but they were not of pain. It was a sound of pleasure mixed with an itchy, urgent craving.
She watched A’Ling’s forehead, neck, and the exposed arm beneath her falling clothes all flush with a rosy hue.
‘She’ in the scene let out a light chuckle.
This chuckle was like the last stick of dynamite igniting Shi Qingqian’s reason. She went mad and threw a punch at the face that was exactly like hers.
A blinding light flared up, like the burst of a talisman, forcing people to close their eyes tightly.
In an instant, when she opened her eyes again, only the person she had just hit remained in the scene.
She still hadn’t succeeded. She watched helplessly as her fist passed directly through ‘her’ body without causing any damage.
But ‘she’ seemed stunned, sitting blankly on the white jade bed, her fist clenched tightly, her eyes red as she stared at the empty pillow.
Where was A’Ling?
Shi Qingqian suppressed her anger. There was only the person who had made her want to kill in the bed.
That person was clearly also confused. She clutched the item in her hand and looked around at the specks of dust-like light in the air.
A’Ling just now?
No, it couldn’t be. It was impossible.
“A’Ling?”
Shi Qingqian pushed aside the bed curtains and called A’Ling’s name repeatedly into the dim secret chamber, but there was no response.
She stumbled off the bed, clutching the item in her hand, searching for the person everywhere in the secret chamber.
“A’Ling? A’Ling, where are you?”
After searching the entire secret chamber, she sat back on the white jade bed in despair. A gust of wind blew past.
The next moment, the dim secret chamber suddenly lit up as brightly as day.
Saint Venerable Dao Rong appeared abruptly in the secret chamber, his brows furrowed, a curve on his lips that was impossible to tell if it was a smile or a sneer.