Azure Cloud Sect sat atop the main peak of Cangwu Mountain Range, shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, looking from afar like an immortal palace suspended in the sky.
Luo Qingci sat on the stone steps outside the Mission Hall, holding a piece of freshly bought osmanthus cake and eating slowly.
The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the bamboo forest, casting mottled shadows on her white outer disciple uniform.
The osmanthus cake was a daily limited snack from the sect’s dining hall, made with osmanthus honey unique to Cangwu Mountain.
Soft and sweet, each bite filled her mouth with the fragrance of osmanthus.
She loved this flavor.
When she was very young, back when her mother was still alive, every autumn her mother would personally make osmanthus cake for her.
Back then, she was still the Young Master of the Luo family, wearing a small brocade robe, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, crouching on the kitchen threshold to watch her mother knead the dough, mix the honey, and sprinkle the osmanthus.
Her mother would smile and hand her the first piece of cake, saying, “Careful, it’s hot.”
Those were among the few warm memories she had.
After her mother died, no one ever made her osmanthus cake again.
The osmanthus cake from the sect cafeteria was similar, but it was missing something.
She couldn’t tell what; maybe it lacked something, or had too much of something else.
Still, she bought one every day.
Sat on the stone steps, ate it slowly, and considered it a decent start to the day.
“Junior Sister Luo.”
A voice came from above.
Luo Qingci looked up and saw a young man in inner disciple robes standing on the steps above, smiling at her.
He had a fair, beardless face, regular features, and a perfectly pleasant smile that made him look very friendly.
She recognized him.
Zhao Ping, Foundation Establishment late stage, ranked among the top thirty inner disciples in the sect.
He was well-liked and something of a minor celebrity.
“Senior Brother Zhao.”
Luo Qingci swallowed the last bite of osmanthus cake, stood up, brushed off the non-existent crumbs from her robe, and put on a proper smile.
Zhao Ping walked down the steps and naturally stood at a comfortable distance beside her.
First, he asked how her recent cultivation was going, then mentioned that the Grand Competition was approaching, and that this time the sect’s inner disciple slots were limited, so competition was fierce—did she feel confident?
Luo Qingci listened, occasionally hummed an “mm,” and nodded now and then.
She knew what Zhao Ping wanted.
He was just looking at her pretty face and decent cultivation talent, trying to build a connection.
She had seen this too many times.
Ever since she turned fourteen, senior and junior brothers had been coming up to her.
Some genuinely thought she was beautiful, others were after the reputation of the Luo family, and still others… were after something else.
She remembered last month, when a Foundation Establishment senior brother got drunk and said in front of everyone at the sect’s evening gathering, “A beauty like Junior Sister Luo—if I could Dual Cultivate with her once, I’d trade ten years of my life.”
People around had laughed, some frowned, and a few snuck glances at her.
She had smiled and said to that senior brother, “Senior Brother, you’ve had too much to drink. Go back and rest.”
Her tone was gentle, her expression kind, as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
The next day, after he sobered up, that senior brother came to apologize.
She smiled and said, “It’s nothing, Senior Brother didn’t mean it,” and sent him on his way.
She truly wasn’t angry.
She had heard that kind of talk too many times.
If she got angry at every remark, she’d have died of rage long ago.
Besides, she couldn’t beat a Foundation Establishment cultivator anyway.
She was only a peak Qi Refining expert; that was a Foundation Establishment, and a late-stage one at that.
Was she supposed to go looking for death?
Avoid their edge, endure for now.
She understood that principle well.
Zhao Ping was still talking.
He had moved from cultivation to plans after the Grand Competition and casually mentioned, “I heard that after the Grand Competition, quite a few disciples from aristocratic families will come to our sect for an exchange. I’ll take you to meet a few—could be beneficial for the future.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother Zhao.”
Luo Qingci responded with a smile, showing neither interest nor impatience.
The timing was just right.
Zhao Ping chatted a bit longer, but seeing she had no intention of taking the bait, he finally took the hint and said his goodbyes.
Before leaving, he added, “Junior Sister Luo, let’s have a meal together sometime.”
“Sure.”
Zhao Ping left.
Luo Qingci stood on the stone steps outside the Mission Hall, watching his figure disappear at the end of the bamboo path.
The smile on her face faded bit by bit.
She looked down at her hands.
Slender fingers, distinct knuckles, neatly trimmed nails.
Before she turned ten, these hands had held a sword, written characters, and practiced martial arts.
After she turned ten, it was the same—holding a sword, writing, practicing.
Nothing had changed.
Everything had changed.
Luo Qingci withdrew her hands, turned, and headed toward the inner disciple residential area.
As she walked along the sect’s main road, she encountered several groups of fellow disciples.
“Greetings, Senior Sister Luo.”
A junior sister from the outer sect blushed as she greeted her.
“Hello.”
Luo Qingci nodded with a smile.
“Junior Sister Luo, tomorrow a few of us brothers are going to the northern foothills of Cangwu Mountain to gather herbs. Want to come along?”
A Foundation Establishment senior brother stood by the roadside, wearing an eager smile.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Qian, but I have other matters tomorrow. Next time.”
“Then it’s settled—next time for sure.”
“Alright.”
One after another.
Once Luo Qingci was far away, she finally let her smile fall completely.
Sometimes she wondered: if she didn’t have this face, would these people still come flocking to her?
Definitely not.
The years from ten to fourteen, when her cultivation was lost and her appearance hadn’t yet blossomed, were her quietest years at Azure Cloud Sect.
No one tried to get close, no one fawned over her, no one said those grating words in front of her.
Those years, she lived in peace.
Luo Qingci returned to her residence.
It was a small courtyard in the farthest corner of the outer disciple zone.
The location was remote, and the spiritual energy was weaker than in the main courtyard, but it had the advantage of being secluded.
She pushed open the courtyard gate.
Inside, an osmanthus tree was planted—the same tree her mother had personally planted in her yard when she was three years old.
Later, when she left the Luo family to come to Azure Cloud Sect, she brought nothing except a twig she had broken off from that tree.
Three years ago, she casually stuck that twig into the ground in this yard.
To her surprise, it had taken root and was now a small tree.
Under the tree were a stone table and two stone stools.
A pot of cold tea sat on the table.
Luo Qingci sat down on a stone stool, reached out and touched the tender new leaves of the osmanthus tree.
A smile curved her lips—the first genuine smile of the day.
She sat under the tree for a while, then took a letter out of her storage pouch.
Sent yesterday.
“Qingci, long time no see. You are now seventeen, so the matter of your engagement should not be delayed further. Young Master Xiao is of a suitable age. Your father has already settled the matter with Old Master Xiao, and we have chosen a date for the wedding. Cultivate well in the sect. Do not worry.”
It was from her father.
His tone was as if he were writing to a stranger…
It hadn’t been like that before.
Then, when she was ten, that accident happened.
He came to see her once.
Stood beside her bed for a long time, and finally said, “Can’t change back?”
She nodded.
Her father was silent for a long moment, then turned and left.
From that day on, she never received another family letter with any warmth in it.
Luo Qingci held the letter paper over a candle and burned it.
Now, there was only one thing on her mind: call off the engagement.
She had never met that Young Master Xiao, but she had heard of him.
A waste who had been stuck at the first layer of Qi Refining for almost ten years.
A waste and a waste, maybe they’d be a good match.
But no matter what kind of person he was, she didn’t want to marry him.
It wasn’t rebellion, nor was it spite.
She simply didn’t know what identity she was supposed to use to get married.
A man?
A woman?
Neither.
She was nothing.
Before she turned ten, she was the Young Master of the Luo family.
She wore men’s clothes, studied swordsmanship, and when her father took her to meet guests, he introduced her as “my son.”
She had playmates, followers, and a master who taught her techniques.
She had an entire future laid out for her—inherit the family, bring glory to the clan, marry a wife, and have children.
Then everything ended on that rainy day.
An accident.
Spiritual Energy Turmoil.
Every meridian broken.
Cultivation lost.
Even worse, her body had changed.
When she woke up, she found she had become a girl.
The physician said it was a physical mutation caused by the Spiritual Energy Turmoil, irreversible.
Irreversible.
Three words, light and carefree, sentenced her to a lifetime of punishment.
The first few years were the hardest.
Cultivators matured early; the way of life she had learned was already etched into her heart.
She didn’t know how to walk, how to speak, how to sit, how to stand.
She had spent ten years learning “how to be a man,” and suddenly it was all wrong.
The looks from her clan members changed too.
Before, she was “Young Master.”
Later, she was “that guy.”
Someone said to her face, “A perfectly good young master—how did he turn into this?”
Others whispered behind her back, “What do you think she is now? A man or a woman? Neither one nor the other—it’s disgusting.”
And some “kindly” advised her, “Since you can’t change back, just be a good girl. Find a good family to marry into—that’s a way out.”
Marry into.
As if her only way out was those two words.
That was why she ran away, came to Azure Cloud Sect, where few people knew about her past.
Deep down, she also felt a little unconvinced…
Two people who had never met—why should they be tied together for life?
And now she was a peak Qi Refining cultivator in just three years, a minor genius.
Why should she marry a good-for-nothing?
Luo Qingci folded the letter.
She really wanted to call off the engagement.
She decided to write a letter to that Young Master Xiao she had never met.
Since she wanted to break it off, she should first be polite and then resort to force.
She would test his attitude first.
If he also wanted to call it off, everyone would be happy.
If he didn’t, she would go to the Xiao family herself to talk.
She picked up her brush, thought for a moment, and wrote:
“To Young Master Xiao, please read…”
Halfway through, she crumpled the paper.
Too formal.
She spread a new sheet:
“Brother Xiao…”
Crumpled again.
Too intimate—she didn’t even know him.
The third time, she simply skipped the salutation and wrote directly:
“We are strangers to each other, so why force a bond? If you share the same intention, I hope you will send a reply so we can discuss a plan to dissolve this engagement and each seek our own freedom.”
After she finished, she looked it over, found it still not quite right, and crumpled it again.
If she was breaking off the engagement unilaterally, she would need to offer some compensation…
Better to go to the Xiao family in person later…
And she would do it in her own name, Luo Qingci, face to face with that Xiao Han, and cancel this absurd engagement.
She didn’t want to get married.
After she won first place in the Grand Competition, found a Golden Core master as her teacher, successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment, then she could act a little spoiled with her senior brothers and sisters, scrounge up some cultivation resources, and go break off the engagement.
Right.
Act spoiled.
After all, she really was very beautiful.
She knew at least a little about how to act spoiled.