Gong Shangyu, in recent years, had become the fastest-rising mysterious force in the Kongxuan Realm, the head of the Danding Pavilion.
At the same time, she was also the alchemy prodigy that the outside world speculated was hiding behind the scenes of the Danding Pavilion.
The world only knew that her talent in alchemy was extraordinary, but no one knew that inside this young body resided a soul that had endured countless despairs, burned to ashes, and then reignited once again.
Unlike Gu Qingying, who was born into a cultivation family, Gong Shangyu’s previous life began in mud and humiliation.
Before her master, Lu Li, took her in at the Broken Feelings Peak, she was nothing but a little beggar curled up in the corner of a ruined temple, fighting with wild dogs for scraps.
When she was freezing and starving, life hanging by a thread, it was that figure—cold and serene as moonlight—who stopped for her and brought a ray of life to the desperate Gong Shangyu.
It was Master Lu Li who lifted her from filth and took her back to the pure and dustless Broken Feelings Peak.
It was also Master who personally cleansed her of her dirt and gave her the name Gong Shangyu.
This name was derived from musical notes; Lu Li hoped her life would no longer be chaotic and disorderly, bestowing upon her a name filled with beautiful blessings.
Most importantly, it was Master who discovered her talent in alchemy and patiently guided her onto the supreme path toward immortality.
The days she spent on Broken Feelings Peak in her past life were the warmest moments of Gong Shangyu’s life.
The strict but protective senior sister Feng Lingshuang would silently shield her from the storms outside.
Later, the three junior sisters who joined the sect one after another brought even more warmth of family to Gong Shangyu.
It was the bustle and affection of the sect that made her forget the hardships of her childhood.
Therefore, her greatest wish in that life was to always remain by her master’s side, watching the flames in the alchemy furnace, smelling the scent of medicinal herbs, and living in peaceful times.
However, all happiness was fleeting!
With the collision of the Demon Realm and Kongxuan Realm, a terrible calamity suddenly descended.
War flames engulfed Kongxuan Realm, and all cultivators of Nascent Soul stage and above in the Xuling Sect descended the mountain to purge demons.
At that time, Gong Shangyu had already reached the peak of Nascent Soul and naturally joined the ranks following her master to eradicate demons.
Although the demon invaders were ultimately defeated, Gong Shangyu was seriously injured while rescuing her fellow disciples during a sect support mission.
Although she miraculously survived in the end, her Nascent Soul was heavily damaged, and her lifespan rapidly drained.
Her face seemed unchanged by age, but inside, she was quietly slipping toward decay.
Gong Shangyu was not afraid to die; she only feared never seeing her master again.
So she chose the most perilous path—to forcefully break through to the Transformation Spirit stage, using the vitality gained from the breakthrough to extend her life.
Before going into seclusion, she mustered all her courage to confess the deep affection she had long hidden to her master, who was as pure and distant as moonlight.
But after hearing her, Master gently refused, his tone as always warm but tinged with an almost imperceptible aloofness.
Only then did she understand—the master’s gaze had long been fixed on the senior sister Feng Lingshuang, who always stood by his side.
Indeed, senior sister was so dazzling and powerful; only she and the master were truly a perfect match.
As for her, Gong Shangyu, she was just the little beggar he picked up, and receiving the careful teaching of her master and senior sister was already a great favor; how could she ask for more?
Enough, enough…
If she could break through, then with the thousands of years of longevity granted by the Transformation Spirit stage, silently guarding him and watching the peaceful years between him and senior sister would also be a blessing.
With this bitter yet faintly relieved blessing, Gong Shangyu chose to enter closed-door cultivation.
After narrowly escaping death nine times, Gong Shangyu actually succeeded in ascending to the Transformation Spirit stage.
Then she dragged her newly acquired, unstable cultivation out of seclusion, eager to see her master safe and to congratulate him and senior sister immediately.
But what awaited her was not the joy of reunion, but a bone-chilling terrible news.
In the second year after Gong Shangyu entered seclusion, senior sister Feng Lingshuang killed her husband in pursuit of a breakthrough to the Dao!
In the end, she personally slew Master Lu Li!
This dreadful news tore her soul apart like the most malicious curse in the world.
Gong Shangyu rushed to Feng Lingshuang, screaming and demanding why.
But the senior sister she once revered just looked at her coldly, her eyes hollow as if the person she had crushed to death was nothing more than an ant, as if her sword had never been stained by her master’s blood.
Gong Shangyu went mad and attacked senior sister, but Feng Lingshuang had already reached the Great Perfection stage; no matter how fiercely Gong Shangyu fought, she was no match.
In the end, Gong Shangyu was defeated!
But Feng Lingshuang did not kill her, only expelled her from the Xuling Sect, warning her not to show her face again, or next time she would obliterate Gong Shangyu’s soul.
Gong Shangyu was utterly despairing; she had never understood what “no greater sorrow than death of the heart” meant before.
But at that moment, she felt it clearly—and she understood that not only was there no greater sorrow than heart death, but extreme hatred was just as profound.
From that moment on, Gong Shangyu died, and what lived on was a monster existing only for revenge.
She betrayed the Xuling Sect and, relying on her exquisite alchemy skills, united with three other junior sisters who also harbored hatred toward Feng Lingshuang to stir up turmoil throughout the world.
Using alchemy to gather forces and sow discord, they made the major sects in the cultivation world all hostile toward Feng Lingshuang.
And the reason they did this was to accumulate enough power to catch up with, even surpass, Feng Lingshuang—to kill her and avenge their master.
“Feng Lingshuang! You don’t deserve—”
“Feng Lingshuang… you don’t deserve to have him! Who do you think you have his love from?!”
Countless days and nights after breaking seclusion, Gong Shangyu roared into the void, her hatred eating into her bones.
Eventually, she reached the Great Perfection stage.
Under the Heavenly Tribulation, she and Feng Lingshuang fought a doomsday duel.
The Danding Pavilion turned into a furnace that burned the world, sword light tearing the sky apart.
“Feng Lingshuang! You don’t deserve Master!”
“Do I? At least I once had him.”
During the fierce battle, Feng Lingshuang’s cold words pierced Gong Shangyu’s deepest pain like the sharpest needle.
“Yeah! I never had him!”
“After all, even looking up to him was a luxury…”
Gong Shangyu screamed through blood and tears, completely burning her origin.
In the end, the tribulation lightning and hatred obliterated everything.
The two Great Perfection cultivators died together.
When Gong Shangyu opened her eyes again, she found that her Great Perfection cultivation was gone, and her body had reverted to the appearance of a newborn baby!
Yes!
She was reborn!
Back to the moment of her birth!
Her body had not yet been harmed by demonic arts, and Master Lu Li should still be alive—everything was still in time!
Just as Gong Shangyu was excitedly thinking this, a clanking sound of gears suddenly rang in her ears.
Immediately after, a white translucent panel popped up before her—one only she could see.
[Do you want to change your destiny? Do you want to save your beloved and rewrite tragedy?]
[Yes/No.]
Faced with this mysterious translucent panel, Gong Shangyu, almost unconsciously, clicked
“Yes.”
Then she awakened the Time Pause System.
Relying on the system’s power to stop time, she rapidly grew strong, becoming the underground ruler of her city by age five.
Then, with memories of her past life, she rejoined the Xuling Sect at five years old, only to find that Master Lu Li was nowhere to be found this time.
After a surge of panic, a stronger resolve arose deep in Gong Shangyu’s heart!
Since Master is not here, then no matter where I must find him!
Using her time-stopping ability, she frantically studied alchemy in “extra” time that ordinary people could never imagine, pushing the knowledge from her past life to a higher level.
Then she quietly left the sect.
Despite her young age, she used her alchemical formulas and skills far ahead of her time to gradually build the vast Danding Pavilion.
The Danding Pavilion was not just her property—it was a huge net she was weaving!
She wanted the name of Danding Pavilion to ring throughout the world, its branches spread across the four seas, eventually forming an intelligence network covering the entire Kongxuan Realm.
And everything she did was for one purpose!
To find him—to find Lu Li!
This life, she would never let go again!
Nor would she allow anyone to harm her master even a fraction!
Yet just now…
The name of the man who haunted her soul appeared again in her ear!
She was so close to him, yet never had a chance to meet him…
Realizing this, Gong Shangyu recalled all the moments she had with her master in her past life, tears streaming uncontrollably like a spring.
She was so overcome she didn’t even wipe them away, hurriedly asking the Wu Steward beside her,
“Aunt Wu, do you know where that person went?”
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