Shui Lianyue turned around. In order to avoid the ending she was fated to meet in the original story, she had been working harder than anyone else ever since her memories returned, and finally broke through to the Golden Core stage just before the plot was about to kick off.
The old man before her was none other than her master, Luochen.
He was also one of the founding ancestors of the Yinxian Gate, possessing a cultivation base already at the Tribulation Passing stage, just a single step away from ascending to the immortal realm.
Yinxian Gate—true to its name, the sect she belonged to was capable of summoning Heavenly Immortals down to the mortal world, and its profound heritage could be said to be among the very top tier across the Four Continents.
It was an utterly unadorned and unpretentious name, without the slightest hint of exaggeration.
"Master."
Luochen looked at Shui Lianyue before him with satisfaction. Ever since he took her in as a disciple, she had never given him a single reason to worry. Just as the rumors in the outside world went, she was an Innately Sacred Being, and her aptitude could only be described as defying the heavens.
It took her merely a glance to thoroughly master any cultivation technique and apply it to herself, and the same went for spellcasting.
"Mm. Since you have successfully broken through to the Golden Core stage, you should head out into the world to undergo some tempering. Just in time, Master has a task for you. Three years ago, when I was traveling through the Divine Continent, I discovered a promising sapling in a mortal kingdom and should have taken her in as my disciple.
"Yet, due to the workings of heaven's secrets, the master-disciple fate between us had not yet ripened. Now, three years later, the time has come to bring her under my tutelage.
"Therefore, Lianyue, your mission is to bring your little junior sister back to your master."
Hearing this, Shui Lianyue’s eyes flickered slightly. Had the plot finally begun?
The beginning of this novel was just like many others she had read: the female lead started out with a crippled physique and had to acquire certain fortuitous encounters to completely awaken her constitution.
At the very beginning of the novel, the female lead was bullied, and Shui Lianyue descended from the skies to bring her back to the Yinxian Gate.
From then on, Shui Lianyue held the number one spot in the female lead's heart, even though Shui Lianyue frequently bullied her.
Yet in the female lead's eyes, those were merely harmless little pranks; the female lead even mistook them as proof of how close their relationship was.
In the original story, after Shui Lianyue died at the hands of a Demonic Entity, the female lead was consumed by grief and decadence for a long while. In a sense, she could actually be considered the female lead's white moonlight.
Well, a dead white moonlight—it was just that her particular white moonlight was stained with a few other colors.
After bringing the female lead back to the Yinxian Gate, Luochen dumped her onto Shui Lianyue to care for and guide in her cultivation.
In Luochen's eyes, Shui Lianyue was an Innately Sacred Being and also a Golden Core cultivator, which made her more than qualified to instruct a cultivator merely in the Qi Condensation stage.
Seeing that Shui Lianyue remained silent for a long time, Luochen assumed she was unwilling. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "Unwilling? Well... shall I lend Daniu to you to play with for a few days?"
Hearing Luochen's words, Shui Lianyue snapped out of her daze, shook her head, and said, "I'm not unwilling. As for Daniu... you should keep him, Master."
Daniu was an ox possessing immortal veins. Without those immortal veins, purely based on its appearance, it would look like nothing more than the most ordinary ox in existence.
According to Luochen's own explanation, he was imitating Lord Laozi to give off an air of high-level mystique, but wasn't Lord Laozi's mount a green ox?
Shui Lianyue herself couldn't quite remember clearly anymore.
"As long as you agree. Pack up and get ready to set off. I'll send you the location. Coincidentally, the Seeking Immortals Grand Assembly is happening recently—go bring your little junior sister back."
Luochen assumed the posture of an expert, and a map fell from the void. Shui Lianyue reached out and caught it.
"Understood, Master."
Shui Lianyue did not refuse. She had no intention of dodging the plot.
She wanted to see what the young girl who, in the original story, always made her past self uncontrollably want to bully actually looked like.
***
The Divine Continent of Dongsheng, the mortal kingdom of Xuguo, capital city—Ranxu City.
Though called a mortal kingdom, there were still small sects within Xuguo, and the strongest cultivators among them were only around the Foundation Establishment stage.
Inside the city, it was a bustling scene. Surrounding sects had come to recruit new disciples, and youths aged six to fourteen had all gathered, yearning to enter an immortal gate and tread the path of immortality.
The streets were surging with crowds, and wherever there were people, there were conflicts. At this moment, three youths had surrounded a young girl, shoving her amidst a barrage of insults and curses.
"Ye Xiangli, your family already tested you and found out you have a crippled physique, yet you still have the audacity to come and participate in the recruitment tests of the major sects! You truly have no shame and are just asking for humiliation!"
Ye Zifan wore an expression of impatience, while deep within his eyes lurked unresigned greed—the girl's beauty was such that even he felt his blood run hot.
What a pity; she was not something he could touch.
Ye Anbai chimed in with a sneer, "That's right! In this Ranxu City, who doesn't know that you, Ye Xiangli, are good for nothing? An innate cripple—don't stay here and embarrass our Ye Family name. Hurry up and come back with us!"
"We've already found two Foundation Establishment cultivators for you to serve as a medicine boy. You're getting a real steal here—even our Ye Family ancestor is only at the Foundation Establishment stage!"
Thinking of what the family elders had said back then, Ye Fengxu felt a pang of envy in his eyes. Those were Foundation Establishment cultivators! If he could follow them, he'd be willing to do whatever they asked!
Though called a medicine boy, it was essentially a cultivation furnace.
The commotion stirred up here attracted the gazes of the surrounding onlookers, all wearing expressions of eager anticipation. No matter where one went, watching a lively spectacle was always people's top priority.
The girl caught in the eye of the storm was named Ye Xiangli, the sixth young miss of the Ranxu City Ye Family, and also the target of Shui Lianyue's current trip.
As for the youths surrounding her, they were the young masters of the Ye Family.
Though Ye Xiangli was a cripple constitution-wise, her looks were top-notch. Exquisitely painted features, her brows and eyes naturally radiating a fragile delicacy; autumn-water pupils holding rippling waves of faint sorrow.
There was still childishness lingering between her brows, yet it was enough to attract the affection of certain peculiar individuals and satisfy one's desire for cultivation nurturing.
Otherwise, the Ye Family wouldn't even have thought of handing her over to a Foundation Establishment cultivator to curry favor.
Even though the Ye Family also possessed a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his days were numbered, his vitality had withered away, and he utterly lacked the strength to withstand the Golden Core heavenly tribulation.
Hearing the words of the three Ye Family young masters, Ye Xiangli's face instantly turned exceptionally pale. Her bloodless lips bit down softly, her spring-water-like eyes shimmering with moisture as she shook her head and took a step back, only to find her path blocked.
"I... am not willing..."
Ye Xiangli's voice was soft and weak, resembling a gentle breeze; if one didn't listen closely, it would hardly reach the ears.
Hearing this, Ye Fengxu instantly widened his eyes, blurting out what was on his mind in a flash, "Ha! The family has raised you up to this age, and now that it's time to make this contribution, you're not willing? If those two lords only wanted you, I'd even want to go be a medicine boy myself! Truly ungrateful!"
As soon as those words fell, the other two young masters of the Ye Family wore looks of disgust and stepped back a few paces, while the onlookers all cast profound, knowing gazes.
After all, who didn't know the implications of being a medicine boy?
Ye Fengxu likewise realized what he had just blurted out, though he didn't care in the least. Anyway, in this world, the strong were respected. As long as one could grow stronger, what did it matter even if one was thrown in there?
If Shui Lianyue knew his internal thoughts, she would probably only have two words to evaluate him: defying the heavens.
Faced with Ye Fengxu's words, Ye Xiangli's mouth parted slightly. "Third Brother, you should examine the problem from within yourself. Have you worked hard, Third Brother?"
In response to Ye Xiangli's query, Ye Fengxu—whose mouth always ran faster than his brain—blurted out, "How have I not worked hard? I don't even wear clothes—"
Halfway through his sentence, he finally realized something was amiss and glared fiercely at Ye Xiangli. Out of exasperation, spiritual energy gathered in his palm, and he actually intended to strike Ye Xiangli directly.
Seeing this, Ye Xiangli instinctively raised her hands to block, but the expected pain never came.