Morning sunlight was warm and gentle, as a few birds chirped cheerfully in the trees.
Lian Chengxue crouched beneath a tree, tilting her face sideways, somewhat awkwardly scooping water from the river to wet her stray, stubborn strands of hair, and washing her face as she went.
The flowing water reflected her face in a blur.
She looked a few years older than she had been before the transmigration—neither an innocent young maiden nor a fading beauty, but precisely a woman in her prime.
Beauty was a double-edged sword.
Lian Chengxue admitted she had seen plenty of scenes, but she absolutely refused to be the main character in any of them.
Thus, the matter of seeking immortals and pursuing the Dao had to be put on the agenda.
However, in novels, the cultivators were at most teenagers.
For example, Lin Zhi.
She, Lian Chengxue, was at least twenty-four.
Could she still squeeze into the ranks of the one-in-ten-thousand cultivators?
Just as she was troubled, a small awning boat came down the river.
The boatman on board was directing a cormorant, preparing for the day’s livelihood.
She wasn’t familiar with this area.
She had asked the Lin family, but they had lived for generations in the remote northern border and couldn’t say much.
She might as well ask the boatman—he must have seen more people than they had.
Thinking this, Lian Chengxue called out to the boatman.
“This immortal, this humble one is terrified!”
The boatman immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed.
‘…’
She was beautiful, that was true, but why did everyone think she was an immortal?
Was it because of this obviously luxurious white robe with wide sleeves?
Lian Chengxue reflected on this, gently raising a delicate hand: “Elder, please rise. I only wish to ask for directions.”
“Then… where are you headed?”
“To… where the immortals are.”
If you ask me for a specific place name, I can’t answer either.
Lian Chengxue bit her full lip, thought for a moment, then spoke slowly.
“Ah, no, no, don’t trouble this old man. I’m just a commoner; I’ve never even seen the current emperor. How could I know about immortals?”
“The current emperor? What dynasty is this?”
Surprised that this cultivation world had an emperor, Lian Chengxue asked again.
“This is the Great Qi domain. To the south lies the Mang Kingdom. Young lady, you ask what dynasty it is, but I, this old man, well, I dare not speak recklessly.”
“Then…”
Lian Chengxue wanted to ask more, but the old man raised his hand, his face full of smiles.
“There’s a martial town downstream. Young lady, if you don’t mind boarding my humble boat, I’ll take you there.”
“Thank you, but no need for the trouble. Please, go on your way.”
Harboring a trace of caution, Lian Chengxue politely refused.
Even with the Immortal Tomb for escape, possessing a treasure invited crime.
She didn’t want to show it in front of strangers and invite covetousness.
With that said, the boatman poled away, and Lian Chengxue also slipped into the Immortal Tomb, following him all the way to the martial town.
The town gate was a decorated archway inscribed with the words “Martial Town.”
Unlike the muddy, dirt-covered road outside, the inside was paved with stone slabs.
Before entering the town, Lian Chengxue saw some visiting pedestrians scraping mud off their shoes against stones.
Thanks to traveling by the Immortal Tomb, the soles of her shoes weren’t dirty.
Avoiding this trivial trouble, Lian Chengxue infiltrated the town’s pleasure quarters.
Don’t misunderstand.
She had no interest in the sordid affairs inside.
She just wanted to take some ill-gotten gains from the madam.
Disguising herself as an ordinary townswoman, she “bought” two sets of ready-made clothes and a hairband from a fabric shop.
Lian Chengxue shed her luxurious white robe, changed, and in a deserted alley, used the same trick to leave the Immortal Tomb and emerge in the town.
After switching to ordinary cloth garments, the effect was decent.
Although passersby still turned to stare, no one fell to their knees and kowtowed.
Seeking immortals and pursuing the Dao, with the Immortal Tomb at her service, travel expenses could be saved.
Only the cost of dried provisions for the road remained.
Oh, and she needed a map.
Otherwise, wandering around like a headless fly, she might die of old age before finding anything.
Lian Chengxue calculated as she kept an eye out for where maps were sold in the market.
She also bought two steamed buns and ate them as she walked.
‘It’s so boring without a phone. I wonder how Lin Zhi is doing. She’s a kind, good kid. If I get a chance, I should still lend her a hand.’
While Lian Chengxue was lost in thought and wandering the streets, three figures in lightweight white robes descended into the remote northern village.
“Chief Steward Lu, why have you stopped?”
“Tian Yi, I don’t need you telling me what to do.”
The heroic woman addressed as Chief Steward Lu threw out a curt sentence and strode forward.
A flicker of displeasure crossed the face of Tian Yi, who sported a thin mustache.
He said nothing, instead releasing his divine sense to sweep through the small village.
“Oh?”
“Elder Brother Tian,” the tall man standing behind them said with a smile, “have you found something?”
“Li Er, I never expected such a remote village to have someone with exceptional talent.”
“And Chief Steward Lu is…?”
“Among the Twelve Peaks of Grand Void, only the Ninth Peak Master is still lacking a closed-door disciple. She has high standards. If she doesn’t hurry this time, her disciple might really be snatched away.”
“Oh? Someone else is here?”
Li Er didn’t sense anything.
Lu Xiumei rode the wind, flashing over to a rammed-earth house.
She heard sounds from inside—a little girl arguing with conviction.
“I’m not leaving! Where Grandma goes, I go!”
“She is advanced in years. What benefit would taking her bring you? Little girl, come back with me to the Sword Sect. Don’t force me to act!”
“Heh, quite a fine coerced abdication play.”
‘So this is one of those Sword Sect fools.’
Lu Xiumei chuckled softly.
This clinched it.
“You Sword Sect types are cold-blooded and ruthless, even killing your own when you go mad. Girl, don’t listen to him. Come with me. I’ll take you and your grandmother back to Grand Void Sect.”
Seeing another person enter, Lin Zhi quickly shielded her grandmother behind her, glaring at the newcomer with caution.
“Who are you?”
“I am Lu Xiumei, Ninth Peak Master of Grand Void Sect. Girl, you possess a Void Spirit Body, a supreme physique for cultivating the Grand Void arts. If you come back with me, taking your grandmother along, there are only benefits, no drawbacks.”
Lu Xiumei introduced herself while offering conditions Lin Zhi couldn’t refuse.
The unhurried, feminine voice entered her mind.
Lin Zhi felt her head spin, her vision blur, and then she lost consciousness, walking over to stand behind Lu Xiumei.
Old Lady Lin remained silent, her clouded eyes shedding a few tears.
She clutched the half-finished silk handkerchief she was embroidering for her granddaughter and continued threading the needle stitch by stitch.
Her withered hands trembled, praying only to be faster.
“Peak Master Lu, what is the meaning of this?”
Realizing the other party had used a trick, the Sword Sect disciple’s hand hovered uncertainly toward the sword hilt at his waist.
“Heh, junior, if you want to fight, then fight. What’s with all the hesitation?”
Lu Xiumei taunted him.
Then, a flash of green light shot toward her—the Sword Sect’s First Sword, Sixth Form: Point Sword.
Its power was middling.
“Break.”
With a flick of her finger, the sword light shattered.
Lu Xiumei waved her sleeve and, without further ado, swept both Lin and her grandmother away.
Seeing this, the Sword Sect disciple sheathed his sword, shot Lu Xiumei a deep look, transformed into a streak of light, and flew away on his sword.
The majesty of an immortal was terrifying.
The villagers watching from a distance were stunned, never imagining that a declining household without a single male member would be visited by immortals in quick succession.
For a moment, the villagers who had taken over the family’s property were all in a panic.
Someone even argued on the spot: “Back then, those bolts of cloth came from my family. She can’t…”
“When the bandits came, you were the most cowardly. Of the Lin family’s three acres, you took two and seven-tenths. I at least gave a jar of flour. Just wait, your good days are numbered!”
“…”
Under the sweep of divine sense, the mortals’ words came clearly to Lu Xiumei’s ears.
She sensed the state of her disciple in the containment sleeve, then slapped her hand down toward the ground.
Even with a Void Spirit Body, congenital deficiency had left her disciple in extremely poor condition.
She couldn’t even take medicinal pills directly for nourishment, let alone channel spiritual energy into her body—that would only destroy her meridians.
The three rose into the air, and a vast sea of yellow sand buried all traces.
They had come here for important business: Xi Bing had disappeared in the near-central region of the far northern Immortal Tomb.
He was carrying the Grand Void Sect’s supreme treasure, the Celestial Compass—they had to find him, no matter what.
Unaware of the situation in the north, Lian Chengxue was still shopping.
Her purpose was clear: just a map.
However, people constantly stopped her to buy things—either cosmetics or sewing items.
If she were truly a woman, she might have stopped to look.
Unfortunately, she still considered herself a man, a hunter who struck to kill.
Apart from the map, nothing interested her.
She only stopped to ask where maps were sold.
She walked all the way to the end of the town, where three or four horse-drawn carriages were parked.
The stench of horse manure from the nearby stable was pungent.
Lian Chengxue knew she had come to the right place.
Near the relay station, there were shops specializing in maps.
Declining the request for a copy, Lian Chengxue spent three silver taels to buy a sheepskin map.
Back inside the Immortal Tomb, she unfolded it.
The map’s routes were sparse—mostly official roads and major place names.
Some potentially dangerous paths were also marked.
In the bottom right corner were a few annotations and the surveyor’s name.
The top left corner held a wealth of information.
It read: “Lance Realm, Great Qi, You Prefecture, Martial Town,” and noted that it fell under the jurisdiction of the Sword Sect.
The Sword Sect… sword flying, wandering the world with a sword, ‘One sword’s frost chills fourteen prefectures’—what man hadn’t dreamed of that?
A sect that could be officially endorsed by the government wouldn’t be a small force.
Besides, the map also marked their location.
Lian Chengxue silently committed all this to memory, planning to go try registering with the Sword Sect.
She hoped they didn’t only accept male disciples.
The location—Qian Yuan Que Di—would require traveling southeast from Martial Town. It was a fair distance.
Amazed at the Sword Sect’s vast jurisdiction, Lian Chengxue prepared her dried rations and water flask while it was still early.
When night fell, she stood by the canal, pondering the issue of bathing.
‘In the river again? No, that won’t do. I’m inside the town. If someone saw me, it would be trouble.’
She felt the remaining silver in her pocket.
She might as well rent a room and get some food while she was at it.
“Oh, honored guest, are you stopping for a meal or staying overnight?”
“Staying overnight.”
Lian Chengxue lined up nine copper coins on the counter.
After a moment’s thought, she added two pieces of silver.
“One guest in the private room upstairs!” the innkeeper’s assistant said with a beaming smile, handing her a pass to hang on the door.
He turned back to the kitchen and called out, “One serving of superior room food and wine!”
“Come, come, honored guest, this way, please. Tea will be served immediately.”
Following the inn assistant upstairs, Lian Chengxue reached the superior room.
She watched as the assistant lit the candle, wiped down the table, poured a cup of fragrant tea for Lian Chengxue, then closed the door and withdrew.
Sitting down on the stool, Lian Chengxue didn’t make the bed.
She had booked the room only to enjoy the guest service that provided hot water.
In ancient times, there was no sanitization; she couldn’t accept sleeping in someone else’s used bedding.
Tonight, she would stay in the Immortal Tomb.
As for hot water, she had asked the assistant.
He said their inn had special wooden buckets and towels for female guests.
That was perfect.
Knock knock.
Soon, a knock came.
Lian Chengxue opened the door, and the assistant set out a few small dishes before withdrawing again.
Peanuts, pickled vegetables, a small bowl of sliced tendon meat, and a plate of freshly stir-fried wild greens.
She took a couple of bites of the tendon meat—it was salty.
The stir-fried wild greens were mildly salty and slightly bitter, just the thing to cleanse the palate.
Following the principle of not wasting food, she ate about seventy or eighty percent of it.
Another knock came—the hot water had arrived.
She opened the door.
It was a bit different from what Lian Chengxue had imagined.
She had thought it would be a bathtub large enough to immerse the whole body, like in a romance drama.
Instead, it was just a wooden bucket filled with water, with a towel draped over the rim.
Which meant, unlike the perfunctory wash in the river, this time she would have to thoroughly wipe down her body.
‘Hiss… This isn’t good. Do I really have to do this?’
‘If not? If I think any longer, the water will get cold. You’ve transmigrated; you’re still you. If you can’t even face yourself, your Dao heart is impure. What kind of immortal are you trying to cultivate?’
‘That makes sense.’
She was an optimistic person and tried to persuade herself to forget unpleasant things.
In the end, Lian Chengxue convinced herself.
‘It’s just wiping the body. Nothing special. It’s like last night—I’ve already been through the first time. Cabbages and turnips!’
She blew out the candle, pulled the bucket and towel into the Immortal Tomb.
Inside the bright main hall, Lian Chengxue picked up the white robe with wide sleeves that she had laid on the stone floor, took out the inner garment, and set it aside.
This robe would serve as her sleeping garment.
What she was wearing now would be the mattress, and that white robe would be the blanket.
After a little more mental chatter, Lian Chengxue tested the water temperature.
Knowing she couldn’t delay any longer, she steeled herself, untied her belt, and stripped the upper half of her clothes down to her waist.
‘Cabbages and turnips, cabbages and turnips…’
Lian Chengxue mumbled as she soaked the towel in hot water, wrung it out, and applied it.
The warmth touching her skin carried a new, amplified sensation.
A subtle tingling numbness spread quietly across her entire chest.
Her heart pounded uncontrollably.
The tips of her fingers trembled slightly as she pressed the towel down and began to wipe carefully.
She was so unfamiliar, yet so… sensitive.
Each touch felt an entirely different structure from before, bringing a more restrained yet more intense stimulation, like a tiny electric current running through her.
Her cheeks burned, and she dared not linger.
Lian Chengxue didn’t dare rub hard, only using her fingertips to trace gentle circles over the towel.
She was a veteran with a spotless record—from graduation all the way to her job, she had never indulged in self-gratification.
She was afraid that one careless move would trigger an irreversible reaction.
Finally, the hot water turned cold.
The ordeal ended.
Lian Chengxue threw on her inner garment haphazardly, burrowed into the blanket made from her clothes, and closed her eyes.
‘Go to sleep. When I’m asleep, it’ll be fine. When I’m asleep, I won’t think about it anymore.’