“Mm……”
Lu Ning let out a muffled sound and suddenly opened her eyes.
What met her gaze was a thick, swirling spiritual energy, coalescing into visible white mist that shrouded everything around her in a haze.
“Wasn’t I… just pulling an all-nighter gaming?”
Lu Ning murmured to herself, fragments of memory beginning to fit together.
She remembered she was playing an online xianxia game called , and had grinded through three days and nights to clear it.
Then, a sharp pain struck her heart.
Her vision went black, and after that, nothing.
Sudden death.
A textbook ending.
But what was going on now?
Has the Underworld’s welcome party become so luxurious?
Even comes with a spiritual spring soak?
Lu Ning braced herself against the jade edge of the pool, trying to stand, only to find she couldn’t muster the slightest bit of strength.
Her body felt hollow inside; there was not a trace of true essence flowing through her meridians.
She looked down at her body.
Ripples danced on the water, mist swirled about, but she still saw clearly.
Her skin was so delicate and fair it was almost unnatural, and under the milky springwater, it gleamed with a lustrous sheen.
Her arms were slender, her fingers long and graceful, the nails healthy with a pink glow.
These were not her hands.
Her own hands had grown knobby from years of typing, with a few faint calluses.
A ridiculous thought surfaced in her mind, and Lu Ning’s heartbeat sped up uncontrollably.
Trembling, she slowly lowered her hand.
Boom!
Lu Ning’s mind went completely blank.
She, a man for over twenty years—a model youth—now… had become a woman?
“No… impossible…..”
She checked again, unwilling to believe it.
But reality was cruel.
The “brother” that had accompanied her for over twenty years was gone.
“Damn it…”
A curse stuck in her throat, but she couldn’t get it out.
Because the voice she made was a cold, slightly hoarse woman’s voice.
It sounded pleasant, but right now it made her skin crawl.
Just as her worldview shattered and she began to doubt her own existence, a string of cold mechanical sounds echoed in her mind.
[Ding! Soul fusion with host successful, binding identity…….]
[Identity: Tianmo Sect Leader · Lu Ning]
[Current status: Severely wounded and near death, cultivation at the Great Ascension stage completely lost, meridians shattered, spirit soul damaged.]
[Current situation: Extremely dangerous!]
[Beginner’s gift pack issued. Emergency threat detected—automatically opening beginner’s gift pack.]
[Congratulations, host, you have received: ‘Absolute Intimidation’ trial card (one-time consumable)]
[Absolute Intimidation: Upon use, forms a temporary false aura on the surface of your body, exuding the pressure of your peak period (Great Ascension stage completion). Note: Only pressure, no actual attack power. Lasts for ten minutes. Please use with caution.]
A flood of information poured into her mind, making Lu Ning’s confusion and headache even worse.
Tianmo Sect Leader?
Lu Ning?
That was the exact name of her game character in !
So, not only had she transmigrated, she’d entered the game she played—and become her own character?
But her character was clearly a man!
A mighty demon overlord, awe-inspiring and unparalleled!
When did the game company secretly switch the character’s gender?
Shouldn’t they compensate for this?
No—focus! That wasn’t the main point.
The real problem was that the time she’d transmigrated into was extremely unfortunate.
According to the game’s plot, in the mid-game storyline, the Tianmo Sect Leader Lu Ning was ambushed by the three righteous path leaders working together.
Though she eventually escaped, she was gravely injured, her cultivation crippled, and fell from grace.
It was precisely from this moment that unrest began within the Tianmo Sect.
The Holy Maiden who’d always coveted the leader’s position, the elders suppressed for years, and all sorts of traitors who’d secretly thrown their lot in with the righteous… They were all waiting for a chance—a sign to confirm the sect leader’s vulnerability.
Once Lu Ning’s weakness was exposed, the consequences were clear.
She’d be devoured by these so-called “own people” until not even bones remained.
At this thought, Lu Ning couldn’t help but shudder.
Not only was she now powerless, but she was… a woman.
A demon sect leader disguised as a man?
If that got found out, it would be twice the trouble.
Just as Lu Ning’s mind was in chaos, trying to think of a way out, soft and measured footsteps sounded outside the hall doors.
The person approaching suppressed their aura, but Lu Ning could still feel a subtle pressure.
“Master…”
A clear, pleasant female voice rang out through the heavy doors.
“I heard you have awakened, Qinghuan has come to serve you.”
Qinghuan…
Gu Qinghuan!
The Holy Maiden of the Tianmo Sect!
Lu Ning’s pupils contracted sharply.
If, after the leader was wounded, anyone posed the greatest threat… it was undoubtedly this Holy Maiden.
She was the personal disciple the former leader Lu Ning had personally raised, blessed with extraordinary talent, already a powerful cultivator in the Integration stage at a young age, and held immense prestige in the sect.
But in the game’s story, she was also the first to turn against her master, attempting to seize the throne!
Now she said she’d come to “serve,” but likely there was more “testing” in her visit.
Lu Ning took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She absolutely could not panic.
What was the original Lu Ning’s persona?
Cold, aloof, proud, imposing, emotions never shown, seeing all life as mere ants.
She had to maintain that character, and not show a single flaw.
She cleared her throat, using every bit of strength to mimic the game character’s world-conquering tone, coldly spitting out two words.
“Leave.”
Her voice was a bit hoarse from weakness, but the chill that kept others at bay was played to perfection.
Outside the door, silence fell for a moment.
Lu Ning was betting that Gu Qinghuan, without absolute certainty, wouldn’t dare defy “Lu Ning’s” command outright.
Yet, the next moment—
Creak—
The heavy doors were slowly pushed open.
A tall, slender figure appeared in the doorway, backlit by the light.
She wore a black, gold-embroidered fitted dress, accentuating her elegant, curvaceous figure.
Her long hair fell like a waterfall, simply bound with a jade hairpin.
Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, but those phoenix eyes—usually clear—now flickered with a chilling ambition and scrutiny.
Gu Qinghuan wore a perfect, poised smile as she walked in, her gaze locking directly onto Lu Ning in the spiritual spring.
“Master, your aura is so weak, Qinghuan is truly worried for you…”
Her words brimmed with “concern,” but her eyes swept over Lu Ning like a hawk, scrutinizing every detail.
This is bad.
Lu Ning’s heart sank.
This traitorous disciple wasn’t playing by the script.
She had barged in.
At her weakest and most disheveled moment.
Their eyes met, the air seemed to freeze.
Once Lu Ning recovered her senses, she immediately called out in her mind:
[System! Use “Absolute Intimidation”!]
[Ding! ‘Absolute Intimidation’ trial card activated, remaining time: nine minutes fifty-nine seconds.]
Almost as soon as the system chime faded, a terrifying, overwhelming pressure erupted from Lu Ning’s body!
Gu Qinghuan, who had been approaching slowly, found her smile freezing on her lips.
Her true essence stalled, her legs weakened, and she nearly dropped to her knees.
That was… the pressure of the Great Ascension stage!
Her master’s aura at the peak of her power!
How could it be?
She had clearly sensed that her master’s aura had faded to near nothing, like a candle in the wind!
Gu Qinghuan looked up in horror at Lu Ning in the spring.
Lu Ning still leaned against the edge, her expression indifferent, those deep eyes without the slightest ripple.
As if that earth-shaking pressure just now was no more than a bored sigh.
She looked at Gu Qinghuan and spoke, her thin lips parting.
“Did you not hear what I said?”
Cold sweat drenched Gu Qinghuan’s back.
Could it be… her own judgment was wrong?
Was her master not truly gravely wounded?
Was he using some secret art to heal, making his aura appear weak for a time?
No, that’s not right.
If that were so, why would he allow her to intrude so brazenly?
Given his temperament, she’d be a corpse by now.
There was something suspicious here!
Gu Qinghuan braced herself against the soul-shaking pressure, forcing a smile and bowing respectfully.
“Disciple admits fault. But master, your health is most precious. Please exit the bath soon, lest you catch cold and worsen your injuries.”
She deliberately emphasized the word “injuries” as a final test.
Lu Ning sneered inwardly.
Trying to play mind games with me, are you?
Expressionless, she rose from the spiritual spring.
Water droplets slid down her fair skin, tracing a stunning, perfect silhouette through the mist.
Gu Qinghuan’s breath caught for a split second.
She had always thought her master’s figure was tall, strong, full of power.
She never expected that beneath the broad sect leader’s robes was a body so perfectly proportioned, with a suppleness only a woman could possess.
Perhaps it was due to years of cultivation.
Gu Qinghuan suppressed the odd feeling in her heart, not daring to linger her gaze, lowering her head to await orders.
Lu Ning walked step by step out of the spring, every step painfully slow.
Not because she wanted to make a show of it, but because she genuinely had no strength.
She relied entirely on the aura from the “Absolute Intimidation” card.
She made her way to the clothes rack at the side, where a set of intricate black sect leader’s robes hung.
“Dress me.”
Lu Ning commanded coldly.
It was the most in-character move she could think of.
Having this rebellious disciple dress her would both assert her authority and let the girl feel her pressure up close, dispelling any suspicion.
Of course, the real reason was that Lu Ning now had no strength at all.
“Yes, Master.”
Gu Qinghuan’s eyes flickered, suppressing all stray thoughts, respectfully taking a clean inner robe.
But as she prepared to help Lu Ning don it, her gaze inadvertently swept across Lu Ning’s chest.
There, tightly wrapped with a broad white cloth band.
Though bound tightly, a curve remained that no man could have.
What was that?
A chest binder?
A wild, absurd thought took root in Gu Qinghuan’s mind.
Her thoughts went blank, and her hands stalled unconsciously.
Lu Ning, seeing her freeze, grew impatient, just about to urge her on.
At that moment, Gu Qinghuan seemed to make up her mind. She reached out, and, under the pretense of “straightening Master’s clothes,” her fingertips “accidentally” brushed against the white band.
A soft sensation was clear at her fingertips.
For a moment, time seemed to stop.
Gu Qinghuan jerked her head up, staring straight into Lu Ning’s eyes.
Those eyes, once filled with reverence, now burned with a flame called “fanaticism.”
She didn’t speak. She simply mouthed two words to Lu Ning, without sound.
“Woman?”