After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 1

Ning Songwu  touched the side of her face. It was slightly swollen and a little sore. She sought out a small water cauldron beside the steps, borrowing the lightly rippling surface of the water to look at her face—Excellent, it was red and puffy, looking quite tempting.

This was the result of her slapping herself for the past ten minutes.

Don’t misunderstand, she has no special fetish; she was merely testing if she was dreaming.

The stinging sensation on her face told her that she was not dreaming; she was wide awake and quite sober.

That left only one conclusion: as a waste university student of the contemporary era—who habitually slept at 3 AM and woke at 5 AM, destined for the ICU sipping millet gruel—she had finally stayed up so late that she had developed a mental illness.

Otherwise, why would she find herself on these Celestial Ascending Steps (Dēngtiān Táijiē), dressed in a traditional, long, blue gown of an unknown shade? The people continuously passing by around her were all wearing ancient attire, with sweat beading on their foreheads and in their hair, heads lowered as they ascended the steps.

“The Celestial Ascending Steps. Walk up, and you can undergo the Upper Cloud Sect’s (Shàngyún Zōng) test. If you possess a Spirit Root (Línggēn) of good quality, you can enter the sect for study, and you will even have a chance to be noticed by a sect Elder and be taken as a personal disciple.”

As Ning Songwu observed her surroundings, this passage of words spontaneously emerged in her mind. It piled up before her eyes, much like that catchy song you heard countless days ago automatically plays in your brain during every exam—the melody lingers for three days, emptying your mind until only this single tune… no, this passage of words remains.

She confessed. She wept bitterly. She writhed distortedly in her heart. Damn you, Old Heaven*! She was wrong. She would never stay up late like this again. Tomorrow, she would definitely go to bed before midnight. If she ever stayed up late again, she vowed to add thirty more pages to her final term paper, and all of it handwritten.

She silently complained in her heart—

[Damn you, Old Heaven, I’m begging you like this! Can you please let me return to normal? I really don’t want to be mentally ill, wuwuwu.]*

[God the Father, God the Mother, God the Uncle, Aunt, Elder Brother, and Elder Sister! Please let me go home, wuwuwu.]

At the very end of the Celestial Ascending Steps, within a majestic main hall, a white-haired woman sitting upright in the place of honor suddenly and subtly swayed. Her brows slightly furrowed, as if she had sensed something.

The woman managing the overall proceedings sitting beside her noticed the anomaly and asked softly, “Junior Sister (Shīmèi), are you feeling unwell? You may go and rest first; there is still some time before the ceremony begins.”

The white-haired woman partially raised her eyelids. A stream of light flickered in her hand, and a folding fan landed in her grasp. She sat for a moment longer, then nodded, “This Venerable One (Běnzuò) will go out and take a look. I’ll leave this place to the care of Senior Sister (Shījiě).”

The folded fan was held tight in her hand. She gently tapped the back of her ear with it.

She felt as though she had just experienced tinnitus.

A slew of incomprehensible words had emerged from somewhere in her ear, irritating her. However, taking this opportunity to slip away from the utterly boring main hall was not a bad thing.

Simultaneously, halfway up the Celestial Ascending Steps, Ning Songwu’s long period of prayer received not a single response, not even a gust of wind. Above her head was the scorching heat of the sun, and before her were the endless steps she still did not know how long she would have to climb. The starting point behind her had long vanished into the vast sea of clouds.

[This really is the perfect start to a nightmare! Is the next second going to be these people on the steps turning into zombies to bite me, or turning into some other messed-up thing? In short, this must be a dream, right?]

In her mind, that passage of words from earlier still quietly hung, seemingly urging her to climb the steps to the end of the so-called Celestial Ascending Steps.

Celestial Ascending Steps—why did that term sound faintly familiar to her?

Prayer failed, and slapping herself did not wake her up. Ning Songwu took a breath and began climbing the stairs. In any case, these stairs had to have an end, and just standing here was not a solution. She decided to see if climbing up would bring her back to reality.

She managed to climb twenty steps, then stopped to catch her breath. She looked back—Not bad! I’m full of spirit!

For her, a university student whose daily companion was her bed and whose maximum annual exertion was the physical fitness test, this was quite an achievement.

Ning Songwu sighed and continued to climb the stairs.

[What era is this? Testing disciples by making them climb stairs! Does climbing up necessarily mean you’re strong, and failing to climb mean you’re weak? When I’m awake, it’s all about academics; when I’m asleep, it’s all about physical strength… Ah, if I roll all the way down now, will I wake up!]

In the clouds high above, the white-haired, purple-robed woman, who was leisurely watching the struggling people ascend, suddenly heard this passage of words in her mind. The slight smile that had been on her lips vanished. She touched the side of her ear again with the folding fan.

This time, she could be sure it was not tinnitus; someone was definitely speaking inside her head.

How truly bizarre! Had someone among this group of small mortals already mastered the art of Spiritual Sea Transmission (Shíhǎi Chuányīn)? Yet, at a glance, apart from a few junior disciples who had studied in the Outer Sect, all of them were ordinary people who had not yet even begun their path to Dao.

However, this person was right. She, too, felt that testing disciples by climbing stairs was incorrect; it was too boring. Next time, they should make this group of people fight instead.

The woman gave a soft laugh. Her white hair, tied at the back of her head, moved with the wind. The silver strands were exceptionally crystalline under the sunlight, quietly outlining a silver border around the woman.

She watched for a little longer, but then found it uninteresting. She had just stepped onto a cloud, intending to leave, when a commotion suddenly erupted on the steps; it seemed someone had fallen.

Falling from this height could be life-threatening. The woman dared not delay. She pressed the cloud lower and was halfway through forming a hand seal when the same voice rang out in her mind—

[Oh my god (Lǎo Tiān’é), I just thought about whether falling would wake me up, and you actually made me fall! Why won’t I wake up, won’t I wake up, won’t I wake up! Heavens, am I going to fall to my death…]

The voice grew increasingly faint and distant. An unprompted sense of panic rose in her, as if some precious thing were about to leave, making her increasingly irritable. She simply changed her seal, raised her hand, and summoned a Vermilion Bird (Zhūquè) to rush down from the cloud.

The woman floated gracefully onto the steps, and the Vermilion Bird flew up, gripping the trembling young woman in its talons.

The young woman was slender and small, her ink-black hair tied up on her head, with a few stray wisps on her forehead. She looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, wearing the Outer Sect disciple’s moon-white robes, which were somewhat ragged from the wind. Her cultivation base was shallow; she had only recently entered the Foundation Establishment (Zhújī) stage.

There was no fear on her face; instead, she was staring at the woman blankly.

So, the one who had been constantly chattering was this young girl?

The Vermilion Bird loosened its long talons. The young woman was dropped onto the steps, sitting blankly in place, seemingly not yet having processed what had happened. Yet, her gaze remained fixed on the woman’s body, a burning intensity mixed with disbelief.

[Oh my god (Lǎo Tiān’é), is she that beautiful! Can I actually dream of someone this beautiful?!]

After the woman’s graceful descent onto the long steps, all the surrounding onlookers bowed and kowtowed. Only this young woman’s eyes were blazing, and she even faintly swallowed.

Ran Fanyin (冉繁殷) now understood clearly, confirming that the person who had been chattering was the girl before her. She raised the corner of her lips slightly, tapped the tip of her fan on the girl’s head, and left with ease.

What if she could hear her? If this girl could not climb these Celestial Ascending Steps, their connection would be limited to this very spot.

An interesting little fellow. You must work hard.

Only after the woman left did the people who had been bowing and kowtowing breathe a sigh of relief. Ning Songwu swallowed hard and flexed her arms, which were still numb.

Her hands and feet were stiff, and her body ached. The fear brought about by the fall from a great height was truly too shocking. Even after sitting here and recovering for so long, her arms and legs were still numb and immobile.

Moreover, this silver-haired woman was… beautiful to the point of being a shock. Silver hair and purple robes, holding a white-faced fan with a golden border. Her pair of Phoenix Eyes (Fèng Yǎn) held a light flow, with a calmness that contained a hint of majesty. The fan tip that gently landed on her head made her heart slightly tremble, filling her with ten parts terror and nine parts surprise.

Celestial Ascending Steps, silver-haired woman, golden-bordered fan…

Wasn’t this all stuff from the rotten novel she had read before going to sleep?!

The young woman swallowed lightly. In her already confused mind, only one sentence remained—It can’t be, can it?

Several people came over to help her up. She snapped back to reality, her vision gradually focusing, and the buzzing noise in her ears turned into complete sentences.

“Was that Elder Ran (Rǎn Zhǎnglǎo) just now? Heavens, has she actually been watching these Celestial Ascending Steps all along?”

“How could it be Ran Fanyin? They all say that woman is as aloof and solemn as an exiled immortal; that person was smiling!”

“How dare you call Elder Ran (Rǎn Xiānzhǎng) by her full name? Be careful you aren’t kicked off these Celestial Ascending Steps.”

The discussion revolved around the woman who had floated in and out. Ning Songwu strained her ears to listen for a couple of sentences. Her hands and feet grew colder, and her two legs, which had just regained strength, were trembling and soft, nearly making her fall to her knees again.

The person who had rushed over and knocked her down the steps a moment ago also seemed to have been chanting “Elder Ran.”

No way…

“Fellow Daoist Ning (Níng Dàoyǒu), are you alright? Can you still continue?” The girl supporting her on the side asked sincerely.

Ning Songwu’s heart, which had already hit rock bottom, chilled even further. She turned her head and asked in a trembling voice, “Fellow Daoist, what did you call me?”

The girl was slightly stunned. “Fellow Daoist Ning, of course. Ning Songwu. Did you hit your head when you fell? What number is this?”

The girl said, holding up five fingers and waving them in front of her. Ning Songwu raised her hand and knocked the fingers away, muttering, “Five. I didn’t hit the ground, so I didn’t hit my head.”

“That’s good. Fellow Daoist Ning, you are the one with the fastest cultivation speed in the Outer Sect. You absolutely cannot have an accident.”

“The Outer Sect? This is… the Upper Cloud Sect?”

The girl nodded, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed. “Fellow Daoist Ning, what’s wrong? Weren’t you raised at the foot of the Upper Cloud Sect and entered the Outer Sect for cultivation at a young age? How could you not remember?”

“Fellow Daoist Ning, do you still remember my name?”

Ning Songwu tentatively asked, “Liu Ruoying (Liǔ Ruòyìng)?”

Liu Ruoying clapped her on the shoulder happily: “Hey! That’s right! It’s me! It’s great that Fellow Daoist Ning still remembers my name!”

Ning Songwu’s lips trembled slightly. She held back, ultimately swallowing the words she had almost spoken.

[Sister, I remember you because we both die in Chapter 3.]

Above the clouds, the white-haired woman gently shaking her folding fan paused—What Chapter 3? A storybook? Is this child obsessed with reading storybooks?

Yet, since she had heard these things, Ran Fanyin still released two strands of spiritual sense to land on the two people, temporarily protecting them.

Amidst the countless disciples, she could distinctly hear this thin and small girl. Although this girl was mystical and rambling, she was not guarded and seemed unaware that Ran Fanyin could hear her inner thoughts. How could this not be considered a karmic connection (yuán)? Since it was a connection, a little protection was certainly beneficial.

Regardless of whether she could climb the steps and come before Ran Fanyin, the crucial thing was that she should not die because of this incident.

Below the clouds, on the steps, Ning Songwu kept a straight face. After sitting for a while longer, she finally got up.

“Fellow Daoist Ning, shall we go together? We’re almost at the end.” Liu Ruoying supported her, assuming she had been frightened by the recent experience. Plus, this person was usually cold and quiet, so her silence was not too strange.

Ning Songwu looked up at the distant endpoint. After thinking for a moment, she quietly asked, “Is it too late for me to go down the mountain now?”

If this was truly that book, going up meant death for her. It would be better to escape down the mountain and live as a carefree person. At least she could save her life. She was not interested in cultivation or the path to immortality!

“Ah? Fellow Daoist Ning, what’s wrong? You are known as a genius in the Outer Sect, reaching Foundation Establishment at only sixteen! Do you want to give up?”

Ning Songwu was nearly in tears. The genius was the Ning Songwu in the book, not her, this useless, lazy university student who was merely lucky enough to share the same name! Her life goal was just to lay flat, while Great Elder Ning’s life goal was to diligently cultivate and ascend to become an immortal.

Even though Great Elder Ning died in three chapters, she was still a Great Elder!

Please, stop joking.

Furthermore, she had absolutely no memory related to “Ning Songwu.” Foundation Establishment? She would have to be able to use it first!

Ning Songwu nodded, “Yes, I plan to give up.”

Liu Ruoying’s eyes widened. She stammered, “Heavens, has the world gone mad? If Ning Songwu is giving up, then what about me…”

Ning Songwu raised her hand and pressed the girl’s shoulder, “You cannot give up! You are a small genius! Work hard!”

“But… but my cultivation speed is slower than yours.”

[Although Liu Ruoying is also cannon fodder, she possesses a high-quality Wood Spirit Root (Mù Línggēn). If she can avoid disaster and apprentice under Elder Qin (Qín Zhǎnglǎo) to study medical arts, that would be a good path.]

Thinking of this, she raised her hand and pressed Liu Ruoying’s shoulder, “Young woman, you must stay far away from all Fire Spirit Root cultivators, especially those with Heavenly-Grade Fire Spirit Roots, understand?”

“Ah… ah… What if I am one?”

“You have a High-Grade Wood Spirit Root. Don’t worry.”

Liu Ruoying jumped up, “Really? How do you know?”

Ning Songwu twitched her lips, took a step back, “You don’t need to ask. I’m leaving now. Farewell.”

As soon as her voice fell, she turned and ran.