After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 19

The rising sun dispelled the last vestiges of chill from the back mountain of the Ye family estate.

In the hidden spot beneath the stone wall, Ye Li had finished packing her meager belongings. A simple satchel held a few changes of clothes, the anonymous body-movement technique incomplete scroll she got from the Martial Skills Pavilion (the contents long memorized, the original left behind), the Clarity Pill gifted by Su Wanyun, and most importantly—the mysterious gray-hued ore and the ancient runic notebook.

Most of the spirit stones and elixirs obtained from the Grand Competition had been consumed in her cultivation; the remainder was carefully tucked away close to her body. The short sword from the treasury, which seemed unremarkable (she ultimately chose the sharpest yet most inconspicuous one from the armory), was tucked into her waistband, slightly concealed by her clothes.

She stood before the stone wall, taking one last look at the place that had given her a new beginning. The cold spring remained icy, and the Dew Condensation Grass had long been plucked and consumed, helping her stabilize her high-level Qi Initiation Realm cultivation. This place bore witness to her transformation from a despairing waste to the family champion.

It was time to leave.

She shouldered her satchel, emerged from the hidden spot, and followed the familiar path toward the Ye Manor gate. Today was the day to head to the assembly point for the Profound Cloud Sect selection.

She made no effort to hide her movements. Along the way, she inevitably encountered many members of the Ye family.

The collateral branch disciples and servants who had once bullied, ridiculed, and regarded her as nothing now looked upon her with expressions of extreme complexity. Fear, envy, jealousy, regret… a myriad of emotions were intertwined.

To her surprise, a few collateral branch adolescents who had been equally bullied or held low status, along with a few servants who had once received a tiny kindness from the original owner (such as a cold bun), plucked up their courage and timidly approached her.

“Sister… Sister Ye Li…” A scrawny youth, who seemed to be one of those bullied by Ye Lang and his group, clutched a small cloth pouch in his hand, his face crimson. “This… this is dried rations my mother made, you… you can eat them on the road…”

“Miss Ye Li,” a middle-aged woman, seemingly a kitchen helper, cautiously offered a kettle of clear water. “Have some water for the journey…”

“Thank you… thank you for winning us collateral branches some respect…” another girl murmured, quickly stuffing a pair of roughly sewn but sturdy cloth shoes into Ye Li’s hands, then scampering away like a startled rabbit.

Their gifts were insignificant, even humble, but the gratitude and goodwill revealed in their cautious demeanor stood in sharp contrast to the coldness of the family.

Ye Li looked at the nervous yet sincere faces before her, at the coarse dried rations, the water, and the cloth shoes. In the lake of her icy heart, a small stone seemed to have been cast, creating an almost imperceptible ripple.

She was silent for a moment but did not refuse. She took the dried rations, the kettle, and the cloth shoes, placed them in her satchel, and gave them a very slight nod.

No words were exchanged, but this gesture caused the collateral branch members and servants to be overwhelmed with emotion, their faces breaking into excited and joyful smiles, as if they had received the greatest affirmation.

On the other side, several direct lineage disciples, such as Ye Ming and Ye Liang, who happened to pass by, stood far away, their eyes venomously fixed on her, like lurking vipers. Especially Ye Lang, who stood on a distant pavilion, his gaze so sinister it could almost drip poison. He clenched the railing with both hands, his knuckles white.

But none of them dared to step forward again.

Ye Li’s powerful presence—the memory of her defeating Ye Hua with one finger, head-butting Ye Feng, and finally claiming the championship—as well as the likely existence of a “miraculous encounter” behind her and the subtly circulating ambiguous attitude of the family elders, all pressed down on them like an invisible mountain, suffocating them, leaving them devoid of the courage to provoke her face-to-face.

They could only watch, helplessly, as this “waste” they had once trampled upon not only achieved glory but was also beginning to win hearts, and was about to embark on the Sect path they all dreamed of!

The jealousy and powerlessness almost ripped apart their lungs and hearts.

Ye Li was oblivious to the malicious stares, or rather, simply didn’t care. She accepted the humble gifts and continued her stride forward.

She walked through the familiar pavilions and terraces, along the secluded paths once stained with the original owner’s tears and blood. Every blade of grass and tree seemed to carry the memories of the past—humiliating, despairing, and cold.

She arrived at the imposing main gate of the Ye Manor. Outside, several carriages prepared by the family were waiting to transport the qualified disciples to the Profound Cloud Sect’s selection point in the nearby town.

She paused, slowly turning around.

The morning light gilded the massive Ye Manor compound, with its flying eaves and imposing structure. This was the starting point of her rebirth, but it was also filled with ignominious memories and cold calculations.

Her gaze swept over the towering walls, as if she could see the unfathomable eyes in the Patriarch’s study, the sinister face of the Third Elder, and the conspiracies and betrayals hidden beneath the façade of glory.

The mystery of her parents’ disappearance still weighed heavily on her mind.

The bullying and humiliation were not entirely forgotten.

But at this moment, her gaze was complex yet no longer lost. Everything from the past, good or bad, had settled, becoming part of her, the whetstone that sharpened her edge.

This place was her root, but also her shackles.

Now, it was time to temporarily break free from these shackles and soar into a broader world.

She took a deep breath. The thread of complex emotion ultimately transformed into an icy-cold determination and sharpness.

This place was merely a starting point, not the end.

Her true journey lay in the sea of stars, at the peak of the myriad domains, and at the end of all karma!

As if sensing her surging emotions and resolute will, the fragment of the Reincarnation Mirror, which had been dormant deep within her soul, once again spontaneously and lightly vibrated, emitting a faint yet profound clear light that instantly circulated throughout her body.

An indescribable, momentary sensation—as if resonating with a higher-level spacetime—flashed through her. A slight part of the mist obscuring the path ahead seemed to have been momentarily pushed aside, revealing glimpses of an unpredictable and vast trajectory.

Ye Li’s eyes suddenly brightened, then quickly returned to calm.

Without a shred of nostalgia, she resolutely turned around and strode out of the Ye Manor gate, the symbol of boundaries and constraint.

Outside the gate, the sky was high and the clouds were vast.

A new journey lay at her feet.

The carriage slowly set off, carrying the Ye family’s future hopes, and also carrying her flame of revenge and pursuit of the Dao, driving toward the distance.

The Ye family estate shrank behind her, eventually becoming a black speck in her vision.

An old story drew to a close, and a new legend slowly began to unfold.