Guide to the Rebirth of the Evil Woman in the Immortal Realm - Chapter 47

“A personal preference?”

Ye Xiao stared, speechless. She watched as Shen Fuxin released her grip, dropping the cockroach that had been terrorizing the Qingwu Sect kitchen into a small, dilapidated-looking tripod cauldron.

Had it been so long since I last walked the world? Are the situations of fellow Daoists outside truly this dire?

The cockroach did not even have a chance to struggle before it vanished inside the cauldron with a soft pop, turning into a cloud of ash that emitted a dull, choking odor. Shen Fuxin had no time to worry about Sect Leader Ye standing at the door; she fanned the spiritual fire until it burned even brighter.

The refinement of spiritual fire had no formal ranks; it was purely a matter of talent. Back at the Green Emperor’s Spiritual Mountain, Shen Fuxin was famous not only for her reputation as a useless waste who could never draw her sword, but also for possessing a spiritual fire even more refined than Zhao Lanying’s. Ordinary immortals typically produced orange flames, or white if they were weaker. The color Shen Fuxin could summon was a much deeper, royal purple.

It was no wonder that during those years, Sword Venerable Jiexia had maintained a sliver of hope for her and had not kicked her out of the Sword-Wielding Immortal Academy.

Shen Fuxin’s brilliant deep-purple fire nearly blinded Sect Leader Ye, who instinctively shielded her eyes. She peered through her fingers in astonishment, watching this youth of uncertain age refine a common pest. Ji Ting remained silent throughout. She felt there was no need to defend the girl’s actions; she did not want to provoke a petty argument and cause unnecessary trouble.

The cockroach shell belonging to the Immortal Gu Teng turned to ash the moment it touched the spiritual fire. However, within the ashes, a few drops of sparkling residue erupted, looking like crushed gemstones. Shen Fuxin smiled thinly, coalescing these crystals into tiny, circular pill-like orbs, and continued to scorch them within the cauldron.

An Immortal Soul was a precious thing. An immortal who lost theirs was no different from a Fallen Immortal. Although only a few fragments of the soul had dropped when Immortal Gu Teng’s physical form dissipated this time, he still had six reincarnations ahead of him. Shen Fuxin was not worried; she would catch him again and again, refining him into materials for her own use.

The impurities within the soul fragments were melted away by Shen Fuxin’s fire, leaving only the purest essence.

She retrieved the tiny soul spheres as they drifted from the cauldron’s mouth, then kept the fire burning to purge the vessel of any lingering filth before finally extinguishing it. She had not decided what to do with the Immortal Soul fragments yet, so she simply tucked them away. It would not be too late to use them once she had collected the entirety of Immortal Gu Teng’s soul.

Seeing Shen Fuxin pack away the cauldron, Ye Xiao asked hesitantly, “Is the range of materials for you pill cultivators always this broad?”

Ji Ting let out a sigh and answered on Shen Fuxin’s behalf, “My junior sister and I are just trying to make a living out in the world. It is what it is.”

Just then, Jiang Daileng returned from cleaning the rooms. Seeing the group crowded into the small woodshed, including her own master, she asked with surprise, “What are you all doing?”

Sect Leader Ye was a kind person, and since catching a cockroach for refinement was not exactly a glorious deed, she covered for Shen Fuxin. “It is nothing, Daileng. Why do you not lead our fellow Daoists to their rooms to rest? Later, we will make plenty of clear soup noodles to eat together.”

Jiang Daileng complied and led the three of them toward the vacant small hut at the mountain’s peak. Surprisingly, she said nothing along the way, silently opening the door for them. She paused, then added, “This house has been out of repair for a long time and has not been lived in for ages. Please be careful while you rest.”

With that, she gently closed the door, leaving Shen Fuxin, Ji Ting, and Shen Sha to stare at one another.

There was only one bed in the room. Seeing the sour look on Shen Fuxin’s face, Ji Ting knew they had returned to that particular issue.

Shen Fuxin made the first move. “This bed is mine!”

Shen Sha did not fight them for it. The bed was neither wide nor long; it was a tight fit even for Shen Fuxin, let alone Shen Sha. She found some cushions in a cabinet and began making a bed on the floor, leaving Ji Ting standing there.

Ji Ting tried to appeal to logic and emotion. “Little Fu, you know, people who are not cultivation partners can still sleep in the same bed.”

Shen Fuxin sneered. “Even if we were partners, you could not sleep with me, unless that partner was a corpse.”

As she spread her blankets, Shen Sha added disapprovingly, “Ghost marriages are not exactly in style these days.”

The phrase ghost marriage successfully shut both Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting up. Shen Fuxin occupied the bed, and Ji Ting did not argue further. She stood up and began to explore the room. She extended two fingers and wiped the edge of the bedframe, finding a very thin layer of dust on her fingertips.

“Sect Leader Ye said this house was uninhabited,” Ji Ting noted. “In the two adjacent houses, the Sect Leader and Jiang Daileng likely occupy one each. So, who was this extra room kept for?”

Shen Sha, sitting cross-legged on the floor, guessed, “Perhaps they intended to recruit a new disciple in previous years, and the room was prepared for them.”

Ji Ting shook her head. Jiang Daileng had said upon their arrival that no stranger had set foot on the mountain for ten years, and they themselves had not descended. In ten years, an empty room would inevitably be used for storage, yet this room clearly had not been used for that. In fact, someone came here regularly to clean.

Ji Ting looked down at the extremely thin layer of dust on her finger.

“When we arrived, Ye Xiao’s gaze was very strange,” Shen Fuxin recalled. “She looked surprised and joyful, as if she were seeing an old friend. She even asked Jiang Daileng if her Eldest Senior Sister had returned.”

She paused. The three of them looked toward the empty space of the room simultaneously, as if they could see the ghost of that non-existent Eldest Senior Sister floating there.

This place was odd. It was on a mountain, but judging by the surrounding scenery, it was not exactly remote. Furthermore, this world had spiritual energy and cultivators; one could simply fly up on a sword. How could it go ten years without a single visitor?

Shen Fuxin thought of the barrier she had sensed enveloping the entire mountain top but said nothing.

Ji Ting rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window, watching the master and disciple chopping vegetables in the courtyard. Beneath Ye Xiao’s youthful exterior lay the demeanor and soul of an old woman. Jiang Daileng also possessed a strange, indefinable energy.

Their dynamic did not quite feel like master and disciple. Jiang Daileng was practiced in her words of comfort for Ye Xiao, having clearly said them countless times. Ye Xiao either truly had a poor memory or something was wrong with her mind; she seemed to be fooled by Jiang Daileng every single time.

Shen Fuxin’s primary business was done. The three of them could leave whenever they wished, but since they were already here, they decided to stay for a couple of days to observe the situation.

They rested in the room for a while. Ji Ting seemed to never need cultivation; she only occasionally spoke up to guide Shen Sha with a few pointers. The rest of the time, she was lost in thought. When Jiang Daileng finally knocked to call them for dinner, Shen Fuxin and Shen Sha ceased their meditation and stepped out under Jiang Daileng’s complicated gaze.

The meals of the Qingwu Sect were simple, as evidenced by the supplies in their kitchen. There was a stone table, a few wooden chairs, a large pot of cold-steeped clear soup noodles, and a few slightly worn bowls. At the bottom of each bowl lay a glistening fried egg.

Perhaps because it had been so long since they had guests, Jiang Daileng ate in silence with her head down. Sect Leader Ye, however, was quite happy, repeatedly urging Shen Fuxin to eat more. Whether it was because she looked the youngest or because of her heroic feat of burning a cockroach in the kitchen, the Sect Leader showed Shen Fuxin a subtle favoritism.

Shen Fuxin’s chopsticks slowed and then stopped. She looked up, staring at the faint image of a golden lotus on Ye Xiao’s sleeve. This lotus was identical to the one she had snatched from the tomb of the Emperor of Si.

“Sect Leader Ye, is there a story behind the lotus on your sleeve?” she asked with feigned innocence, setting down her chopsticks. “The pattern looks familiar. I feel like I have seen it somewhere before.”

“The lotus?”

Seeing her curiosity, Ye Xiao smiled. She truly is young, not even knowing of this lotus. She must be a novice cultivator indeed.

She did not hesitate to answer. She pulled her sleeve taut to show them the embroidery. “You mean this, little friend? This lotus is related to the legendary Goddess who created heaven and earth. Many cultivators later adopted it as a pattern for their robes to invite good fortune.”

Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting exchanged a glance. Ji Ting smiled and said, “We would love to hear more. We are just orphaned rogue cultivators who started late. Our master passed away early and never told us of such things. Please, do not mind our ignorance.”

Ye Xiao nodded understandingly. She thought for a moment and decided to start the story from the very beginning.

“It is said that at the dawn of chaos, all things in the universe were tightly fused into a single sphere. The first life born from that chaos was the Goddess Shie. Shie possessed immense strength and split the chaos in two, creating Heaven and Earth. But as she walked between them, she found the heavens murky and the earth parched; no living things could be born like her.

“She wandered for a hundred thousand years, searching every corner of the world. Shie realized her innate duty was to create. Merely splitting Heaven and Earth was not enough. There needed to be billions of her so that the world could function and all things could thrive. So, Shie tore herself apart. Her blood nourished the ground, giving the heavens clear days and chaotic nights. Her eyes became the sun and moon, her fingers and toes the mountains, her blood the rivers, her hair the trees, and her skin the sprawling land and grass.

“Though Shie’s physical body perished, her will remained. In the place where her body fell, her blood nourished a primordial lotus. It grew in the pool of her blood, introducing the essence known as spiritual energy to the world. The lotus is the culmination of all heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, the reincarnation of the Goddess in this world. Even if the spiritual energy becomes tainted or depleted one day, as long as the lotus remains, it can purify the energy and preserve the clarity of the world. It is the lotus of creation, and also the final lotus of salvation.”

At this point, Ye Xiao gave a helpless smile. She pulled back her sleeve and said softly, “It is all just a legend. If that lotus truly existed in this world, we would not have reached this state where spiritual energy is withered, cultivators are fewer by the day, and ascension is nothing more than an ancient myth.”

Shen Fuxin remained lost in thought.

After the meal, they returned to their room. Shen Fuxin occupied the bed, Shen Sha took the floor, and Ji Ting stood by the bedside, staring at Shen Fuxin. Shen Fuxin closed her eyes to sleep, but for a long time, she did not feel anyone join her on the bed. She turned over, and after a few moments, someone finally leaned in close.

Now is the chance, Shen Fuxin thought. You came here on your own. It will not be over the line if I give you a kick.

With that thought, she opened her eyes.

Under the deepening moonlight, a figure was leaning against her bed. Ji Ting’s long hair was loose, and she was sleeping peacefully by the side of the bed, as well-behaved as the spiritual pets they used to keep in the Immortal Realm. Her eyelashes were long. Shen Fuxin reached out, feeling an impulse to touch her, but as her palm drew near, she noticed Ji Ting’s breathing pause for a fraction of a second, as if she were waiting for something.

She was awake.

Shen Fuxin’s fingertips curled. If she followed through with the touch and Ji Ting opened her eyes, she would not know how to explain herself. Ji Ting was hiding too many things, and her identity was suspicious. Although they had walked side by side all this way, Shen Fuxin felt an invisible barrier between them.

It is better to keep things as they are. She withdrew her hand, the strange feeling in her heart growing stronger. Aside from hatred, she had never felt such a powerful emotion.

Was it love? Shen Fuxin looked down, her gaze lingering on Ji Ting’s face.

Perhaps not.

She was a vessel reborn from hatred, lacking both the talent and the ability to love.