Chapter 4

Cui Fuling was with Ye Junhua when I found him on the main peak. She lay affectionately across his knees, acting spoiled. Her cultivation had not improved; she was still at peak Qi Refining.

“Master, I want to enter the Spirit Ruins Secret Realm too.”

“No. You haven’t reached Foundation Establishment. It is too dangerous.”

“But I want the experience. My senior brothers will protect me.” She tugged at his sleeve. His face stayed cool, but indulgence hid in his eyes. Anyone who did not know them might have mistaken them for Dao companions. In the cultivation world, however, romance between master and disciple was forbidden.

I dusted off my clothes and walked forward smiling. “Immortal Junhua.”

Cui Fuling sprang up and hid shyly behind him. The smile at Ye Junhua’s lips vanished. “Who permitted you to enter the main peak?”

He still spoke down to me as if I were vermin. Fortunately, the pendant concealed my cultivation. Otherwise the game would be less entertaining.

“Immortal Junhua, I want to visit the Spirit Ruins too,” I said, imitating Cui Fuling’s soft, spoiled tone. The message was clear: I had seen everything.

Enraged, he flung his jade cup at me. It shattered against my forehead, yet left no wound. He noticed the oddity but dismissed it.

“Only Foundation Establishment disciples may enter. Even as my disciple, you receive no exception.” He poured another cup of tea and refused to look at me.

“You promised me one favor that night. I choose a place in the Spirit Ruins trial.”

Cui Fuling stiffened and tugged secretly at his sleeve. He patted her hand and looked at me with cold surprise. Perhaps he had never expected me to live long enough to claim the favor.

How disappointing for him.

“Very well. But no one will protect you. If you die inside, that is your fate.”

“Agreed.” I turned and left at once.

When the secret realm opened, I joined Spirit Sword Sect’s trial party. Cui Fuling naturally came as well, surrounded by senior brothers who watched me as if I might attack her at any moment.

In the novel, the damage to her Dao heart had likewise crippled her fire root. The secret realm happened to contain the world’s only Fire Phoenix Herb, which could repair it and raise her cultivation. If so, I was determined to take it.

I hid the sharpness in my eyes and met the others’ gazes innocently. Only then did they notice how greatly I had changed. Without powder my skin seemed purer; without rouge my lips remained red. A lotus fragrance surrounded me, and I appeared even more ethereal than Cui Fuling.

“It is time. We should go,” she said, biting her lip. Everyone gathered around her and flew ahead. I followed unhurriedly at the rear.

The heroine possessed a natural instinct for danger. Under her guidance, the group avoided disaster for several days without a single death. Admiration in her senior brothers’ eyes deepened.

I wandered at the back until we reached a precarious bridge over a bottomless abyss. The soul in my pendant awakened.

“My power is below! Down there!”

After confirming it repeatedly, I formed a plan. Cui Fuling had long wanted me dead, so I would give her the opportunity.

“The bridge is safe,” she announced after sweeping it with her divine sense.

As the group stepped forward, I blocked them. “Senior Sister Cui, glowgrass grows on the broken bridge. Medical texts say it attracts six-winged beasts. This is dangerous.”

“What scheme are you playing now?” Second Senior Brother snapped. “Junior Sister Fuling’s senses are never wrong. If you refuse to cross, get out of the way.”

He struck my shoulder and took Cui Fuling’s hand protectively. I stumbled back, suppressing a smile. Glowgrass attracted nothing. But my clothes were coated with beast-luring powder. His palm had picked it up and smeared it onto Cui Fuling.

“What are you smiling at?” Third Senior Brother began.

“B-beasts!” disciples screamed.

Several monsters charged toward the bridge. Everyone had trusted Cui Fuling and stood completely unprepared. She and Second Senior Brother, marked by the powder, suffered the worst attacks. She crawled on the ground sobbing for help, unable to use her meager power.

Her Golden Core senior brothers could have escaped, but were injured rescuing her. Cui Fuling’s face was slashed, Eldest Senior Brother’s right hand was severed, Second Senior Brother lost his left eye, and an inner disciple died.

As for me, a beast seized my powder-covered body and carried me over the abyss. No one cared.

“The formation core is here. Go down!” the soul cried.

Wind roared past as the beast circled. At his signal, I condensed spiritual power into a sword and slashed upward. Beast and woman plunged together amid a shriek. White light flashed, and I vanished into the abyss.

The six-winged beast died when we landed. Guided by the soul, I entered a cave residence. A seal covered its vermilion doors.

“Try some blood,” he suggested.

I cut my palm and pressed it to the door. The wood drank every drop until the seal opened. Why could my blood unlock it? Was I connected to the cave’s owner?

There were no heaps of treasures inside, only an old mortal home. The soul drifted toward a scroll. “Little girl, the person in this painting looks like you!”

A married couple leaned together in the portrait, their features resembling mine. Before I could study them, another remnant soul darted from a corner and fused with my companion. The jade pendant blazed white and pulled me inside.