Li Li had died.
Several thousand years after ascending to the spirit realm, her monstrous talent had made her one of only two Mahayana cultivators across the human and demon realms.
Then she died.
She had not failed the great tribulation that came once every three thousand years. No, she suffered the far more humiliating fate of being betrayed and struck from behind.
Someone had concealed themselves from her immensely powerful spiritual sense, taken a Mahayana ancestor by surprise, and succeeded. They destroyed her spiritual consciousness and seized her body, magic artifacts, and cultivation arts.
Only two people could have accomplished that.
One was her closest female friend.
The other was her husband.
Li Li had always worn a smile. After reaching late Spirit Transformation and ascending from the human world to the higher plane of the spirit realm, she sent avatars back down in secret. Every pill and rare medicine she found that could improve cultivation went to those two, all so they could grow stronger and reunite with her in the spirit realm sooner.
Beneath her weak and gentle appearance, Li Li was cold-blooded toward people she did not care about. She could smile while sending them to their deaths. Lin Xiaoqing, for example, had died after taking the blame for her, yet had not earned so much as a pitying glance.
But Li Li wished to lay every good thing in the mortal world before the few people she considered close and enjoy it all with them.
Very few ever entered her heart. The only two who had done so joined hands to betray her.
The friend who had shared life, death, hardship, and danger with her spoke in a gentle voice.
“Li, your existence shines too brightly. It also gets in my way. It would be better if you disappeared.”
The husband who had shared her bed said, “You rose from a humble mortal to a ruler feared across two realms. You accomplished all this in two thousand years. You must be very proud, Li Li. Unfortunately, you’re still too foolish. I learned the bottle’s secret long ago, so you can go to your death without any worries.”
The bottle, green and lustrous as dripping jade, produced a green liquid every day. That liquid accelerated the growth of spiritual herbs. A single drop could add a hundred years to an herb’s age.
Li Li’s natural talent was poor. She possessed four spiritual roots. Yet with the herbs she cultivated, she had overturned her fate and risen into a powerful, wealthy beauty.
The bottle was her greatest secret. She had never told anyone. Even after ascending to the spirit realm, Li Li considered its power too extraordinary to reveal.
She had intended to guard the secret for the rest of her life.
But the person who shared her pillow had guessed it.
And he planned to murder her for the treasure.
They had betrayed her trust!
A sliver of Li Li’s Mahayana spiritual consciousness ultimately escaped. She tore open space and returned.
Back to the beginning.
Back to where everything had first started.
* * *
Perfected Tianhen, a Nascent Soul elder of Shuangji Sect, had just listened to reports on his disciples’ cultivation. After rewarding some and punishing others, he closed his eyes to rest.
Several direct disciples he valued and a handful of favored descendants did not leave with the ordinary disciples. They remained where they were, lips pressed shut, waiting for their ancestor’s private lesson. Such instruction was one of their privileges.
Perfected Tianhen suddenly sensed something. His face twisted with fury.
Who dared? Who had actually dared to—
“Who was it?” he demanded with terrible menace. “Who killed Xiang Le? Who?”
“Please calm your anger, Ancestor.”
A young girl of fifteen or sixteen rolled her bright eyes. She first offered a few polite words of comfort. When impatience appeared on Perfected Tianhen’s face, she abruptly changed direction.
“Ancestor… there is something I am not sure I should say.”
“Say it!”
“This afternoon, Senior Sister Xiang Le was threatened by Cheng Yun. She said she wanted… she wanted…”
The girl twisted her sleeve, drew her neck in, and faltered before finishing. Yang Mei, a lively friend of hers, immediately took over. Adding a little here and subtracting a little there, she explained the entire affair in a few sentences.
She explained it.
She truly did.
She made everything perfectly “clear.”
Perfected Tianhen’s furious expression froze. “You are saying… Cheng Yun threatened Xiang Le and demanded that she join Cheng Yun and Lin Xiaoqing in carnal relations?”
* * *
Xiaoqing had no idea just how absurd this world could become.
After leaving the mountain where the Sect Leader lived, Cheng Yun asked what she needed to prepare. Xiaoqing did not respond. She was still drowning in thoughts such as *What was that idiot Sect Leader trying to do?*, *He’s going to work me to death*, and *Nothing about this world makes any sense.*
Wait. Their meeting had begun normally enough.
The white-bearded Sect Leader had stroked his beard and kindly asked about their recent cultivation. He offered suggestions that would help them avoid unnecessary mistakes. Yes, that was all perfectly normal.
So when had the situation gone so terribly wrong?
Was it when the Sect Leader took a pair of top-grade spirit artifacts from his storage pouch and bestowed one on each of them?
Was it when he gave them intelligence about Ouyang Yue?
Or was it when he sent them to the Northern Kingdom to wait for Ouyang Yue, while also asking them to capture several evil cultivators and protect an ordinary mortal family that happened to be important to the sect?
Why had Xiaoqing agreed?
Why had she been foolish enough to nod?
Ouyang Yue was already trouble. Now they had several more evil cultivators to capture and a mortal family to protect. Only a complete fool would accept all that work.
*Sect Leader, if I return the top-grade spirit artifact, can I change my mind?*
“Xiaoqing, we’ll first send a voice-transmission talisman to inform Master,” Cheng Yun said. “Then we’ll visit the sect marketplace and buy talismans and magic artifacts. We should prepare extra spirit stones as well—mid-grade stones, if possible. We’ll be in the mortal world for some time, and its spiritual energy is thin. We’ll need the stones to cultivate. Along the way, we can review the information the Sect Leader gave us about Ouyang Yue.”
Cheng Yun had arranged everything properly. After all, she would be traveling with Xiaoqing.
Xiaoqing nodded. “All right.”
Should she ask Cheng Yun to let her off the sword and continue alone? Perhaps she could stay behind instead.
The whole thing was giving her a headache.
“No, we shouldn’t go to the sect marketplace yet.” Cheng Yun suddenly changed the sword’s direction. “I just remembered something. It shouldn’t be too late. Never mind—let’s check first.”
She pushed her sword-flight art to its limit. Still dissatisfied with their speed, she cast several more spells in succession.
The junior brothers and sisters they passed stared in astonishment.
That figure was… certainly worthy of Senior Sister Cheng Yun. But was the person holding her Senior Sister Xiaoqing?
The rumors must be true. Those two really were involved!
Cheng Yun continued muttering under her breath.
“Damn it. I completely forgot!”
