“I’m an orphan.” With just that one sentence, Wu Yan made Su Qingxuan feel an unprecedented sense of guilt. Su Qingxuan, whose parents were both alive in her past life and who had lived a happy, fulfilling existence, never expected that her own words would hit such a landmine.
“No parents. No friends.” Wu Yan continued.
“Ah, well…” Su Qingxuan was taken aback.
“But I do have a family member.”
“Oh?” Sensing a shift in the conversation, Su Qingxuan quickly seized on Wu Yan’s words. “Who’s that?”
“An old man who would always drag me along to pick through trash and catch fish.” Su Qingxuan could hear the nostalgia in Wu Yan’s tone as she said this.
“So you two must have had a pretty good life together?”
“Mm. Even though our circumstances weren’t great, having someone by your side always gives you something to look forward to.”
Seizing on the topic of family, Su Qingxuan felt she had found some kind of effective tactic. She began frantically asking about Wu Yan’s life with the old man before their transmigration. Wu Yan answered every question without hesitation—after all, that was the first time she had ever experienced what it meant to have a family.
They talked for who knows how long. Even as Wu Yan continued answering Su Qingxuan’s questions, Su Qingxuan realized her goal had been achieved. In a place Wu Yan couldn’t see, a Water Mirror materialized above her, reflecting the very memories she held so dear.
‘Fellow countryman, oh fellow countryman, I’m really trying to help you! I went through all this trouble just so your reborn junior sister would completely open up to you. I’m so hardworking.’
Soundlessly, the Water Mirror left this space and merged into the Iris Membrane enveloping Yu Qingyao.
Just then, Wu Yan, who was still conversing with Su Qingxuan, suddenly felt a heavy drowsiness wash over her mind. Then she fell into a deep sleep.
“Alright, I’ve done my part helping a fellow countryman. Now it’s time to teach someone with an even dirtier mouth than me a lesson!” Su Qingxuan interlocked her fingers, stretched them outward, and cracked her joints. Her tone was anything but friendly.
This must be what they mean by sharpening the knife before slaughtering the sheep.
Blood light filled the sky. The stench of blood was suffocating. A red flash flickered, and then Wu Yan (Inner) struck out with a palm.
Flames surged from beneath the earth. A pillar of fire erupted, encircling Wu Yan (Inner), who was dressed in red.
“Hahaha! You useless piece of trash can never beat me!”
Yu Qingyao’s face was full of impatience. Her movements were equally brutal. With a single sword strike, she cut down Wu Yan (Inner). ‘Those blood-soaked hands are always right there, endlessly attacking—will they never stop?!’
“You really can’t compare to Senior Sister at all!”
This was the seventy-eighth time she had killed Wu Yan (Inner) in this trial. It was just pathetic. The Wu Yan (Inner) before her was inferior to the one from her past life in terms of strength, and inferior to the one in this life in terms of character. Yet even so, having fought her seventy-eight times only deepened the frustration festering in Yu Qingyao’s heart.
Originally, she had come here hoping to find a treasure she had missed in her past life—something that would help her determine whether her current-life Senior Sister was truly a different person. But she had been dragged into this so-called Immortal Trial by sheer accident. What annoyed her most was that the trial’s content involved fighting the same Great Demon from her memories. ‘Why couldn’t it have been a trial where I get to live with a Senior Sister who might be a different person in this life?’
As Wu Yan (Inner) was slain, the space began to collapse. Yu Qingyao’s consciousness once again faded into blurriness. Where would she start this time?
When Yu Qingyao opened her eyes again, what appeared before her was no longer the sickening battlefield. Instead, it was a strange land she had never seen before. Beneath her feet was neither stone brick nor dirt, but a material she had never encountered.
Yu Qingyao crouched down, reached out a hand, and pressed against it. It was extremely hard and had a very granular feel.
A harsh, grating noise suddenly sounded right next to her ear, startling her. She immediately stood up and instinctively reached for her sword, only to find that the blade at her waist had completely vanished. Even the Spiritual Power within her body was gone.
Fortunately, her physical strength remained. So she prepared to take on the source of the noise with nothing but her body. But when she followed the sound, she saw that the source was a three-meter-tall Steel Giant Beast, charging toward her at breakneck speed. Its overall color scheme was blue and white. It was about eight meters in length. Several pairs of circular turntables made of an unknown material sat beneath its body. On its front were two extremely glaring, brilliant white lights. A roaring whistle continuously emanated from it.
Instinctively, Yu Qingyao abandoned the idea of a head-on collision and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the Steel Giant Beast’s impact.
Once she steadied herself, Yu Qingyao looked around. She found that the vicinity was full of tall buildings she had never seen before. Unlike the common brick-and-tile houses or wooden structures, these buildings were extraordinarily large. Even a random one she could point at was much taller than the Tianbao Pavilion, the tallest structure in the Central Province. Moreover, the materials used were quite peculiar—how could they support such magnificent architecture?
On the road beside her, many strange creatures resembling the Steel Giant Beast she had just encountered were coming and going in an endless stream. Even the clothes on her body were no longer in any style she recognized from the Cultivation World.
“Whose trial is this? Why are there things like this?”
Though she had no idea what that person was up to, for now she had to take things one step at a time. ‘Guess it’s true what they say about people who’ve lived an extra life—they adapt much faster than usual.’
Following the flow of people, Yu Qingyao learned how to move through the traffic of these vehicles. ‘So I just have to wait until the little figure on that pole turns green, then I can walk on the road marked with white lines.’ This was novel. Since it was part of the trial, she naturally had to complete it. So for the entire day, Yu Qingyao spent her time learning how to adapt and blend into this world.
Not until the sun set behind the western mountains and the sky grew dim did Yu Qingyao realize something important: she had no place to rest. She didn’t have any of this world’s currency, so she couldn’t stay at an inn. With no Spiritual Power, she couldn’t create a shelter in a short time, either.
‘I need to find somewhere to sleep.’ With this thought, Yu Qingyao began wandering through the unfamiliar city.
Along the way, she ran into a group of people with bizarre hairstyles who tried to forcefully take her out to have fun. But Yu Qingyao simply refused and gave them a minor lesson before leaving. How minor? Just enough that they’d likely spend the rest of their lives in the hospital.
She walked for who knows how long. By the time she came to her senses, she had already left the city.
‘Strange. How did I end up here?’ Somehow, it felt like someone was guiding her, leading her out of the city to this place.
Yu Qingyao cautiously surveyed her surroundings. Aside from a Tin Shack ahead that seemed empty, there was nothing else suspicious. This place would be fine for a night’s stay—if only she knew whether the shack was taken.
Just as Yu Qingyao was examining the small building in front of her, a young girl’s voice sounded from behind.
Yu Qingyao turned around. Standing behind her was a little girl with dirt smudged on her small face, clutching a hemp bag almost as big as herself in her hands. Her ink-black eyes were fixed on Yu Qingyao with wariness.
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