Li Zhuohua: "?"
The woman's expression was serious as she carefully examined him, confirming that this person was still far from death.
At least he wouldn’t die on her turf.
So she let go, dropping the senior brother back into the barrel.
Yin Xuan slowly slipped beneath the water, curling into a ball and continuing to sleep, occasionally blowing a few bubbles.
Li Zhuohua scanned the area once more and, finding no further issues, settled down nearby to meditate and cultivate.
The main peak was undisturbed, and time seemed to stand still here.
Three hours later, Wen Shuangbai opened her eyes, visibly pleased.
The medicinal liquid had refined the spiritual bones within her body, making them increasingly translucent, like a newly bloomed red lotus flourishing amidst her meridians, blood, and bones.
Xie Ziyin and the others were still deep in meditation.
She glanced down at her own barrel—the medicinal potency had been fully absorbed by her spiritual bones, and the water had turned from a bluish-green hue to a clear, ordinary appearance.
After a moment of contemplation, Wen Shuangbai climbed out of the barrel.
Hearing the sound, Li Zhuohua opened her eyes as well.
Noticing this, Wen Shuangbai hurried over cheerfully, calling out, "Senior Sister Zhuohua!"
Li Zhuohua: "What is it?"
Wen Shuangbai: "May I ask—what will you do with the water in the barrels?"
Meeting her junior sister’s expectant gaze, Li Zhuohua answered honestly, "Of course, it’ll be discarded."
"In that case, could I take the water with me?"
Li Zhuohua was baffled. "Huh? You can’t drink that."
"I won’t drink it," Wen Shuangbai grinned. "I’ll let the fish drink it."
She had worked late into the night building a fish pond, and now it just needed water.
As the saying goes, to raise fish, one must first raise the water—and she figured her bathwater was just fine for the job.
Li Zhuohua: "Well..."
Was it safe for fish? She wasn’t sure. But if the fish died, it wouldn’t be her problem—they wouldn’t be dying on her watch.
Li Zhuohua: "Fine, take it and try. If the fish die, don’t come crying to me."
"Thank you, Senior Sister!" Wen Shuangbai beamed. "Could I also borrow the barrel? I’ll return it after pouring out the water—"
"No need," Li Zhuohua said. "You can keep the barrel too."
Wen Shuangbai was overjoyed. "Senior Sister, you’re so kind!"
Li Zhuohua: "?"
Huh. That was the first time anyone had called her kind.
Wen Shuangbai returned to her spot, storing both the barrel and water inside her storage ring.
The others were finishing up as well, waking one after another.
Wen Shuangbai went around negotiating with them, returning their storage rings while collecting barrels and water.
Shen Hefeng asked, "When your family eats grilled fish later, you’d better invite me."
Lu Jiayao: "And me!"
Wen Shuangbai: "No problem, leave it to me." She didn’t forget her generous sponsor. "Senior Sister Zhuohua, you should come too!"
Glug, glug—Yin Xuan surfaced, bleary-eyed and confused. "Hm? Are we eating grilled fish soon?"
Everyone: "..."
Seeing that everyone was awake, Li Zhuohua stood, sword in hand, and after calculating the time, said sternly, "We don’t have time for that."
Yin Xuan murmured weakly, "No, I could make time..."
"In three months, we’ll be heading to the Purple Flame Realm of Dizhou for the Profound Heaven Grand Competition," Li Zhuohua explained. "We’ll be away from Qingling Mountain for a long time. And in the next few days, the masters of each pavilion will be looking for you—none of you will have any free time in these three months."
Hearing this, Wen Shuangbai and Xie Ziyin remained unfazed.
Yin Xuan seemed lost in thought.
During his years on missions, he vaguely remembered someone mentioning that the food in the Purple Flame Realm was delicious?
Lu Jiayao gasped in shock. "What?! The Profound Heaven Grand Competition?!"
Shen Hefeng was equally stunned. "After seventeen years, the Sacred Tower of Dizhou is opening again?"
Li Zhuohua’s expression was unreadable. "Yes."
"Oh heavens! I’m actually going to compete in the Profound Heaven Grand Competition?" Lu Jiayao pointed at himself, ecstatic. "Seventeen years ago, my mother was pregnant with me during the last competition. But that day, she got so angry at Qingling Mountain’s competing disciples that she went into labor and gave birth to me that very night. If she knew I’d be participating this time—if she could see me there—she’d be overjoyed!"
The opening of the Sacred Tower and the start of the Profound Heaven Grand Competition signified that the cultivation world might soon see a change in leadership.
The last time the Sacred Tower opened was seventeen years ago. Back then, the Purple Flame Realm of Dizhou took first place, and since then, they had held the Profound Heaven Decree, guarding the Sacred Tower and overseeing the sects of the other six regions.
And the last-place finisher? That was Qingling Mountain.
After Wen Shuangbai’s scumbag father placed seventh in the competition before last, Qingling Mountain had sunk to the bottom, claiming last place twice in a row.
The people of Qingzhou could only sigh in regret.
Shen Hefeng shot Lu Jiayao a dark look. "Are you sure your mother won’t die of anger again because of you?"
Lu Jiayao: "..."
Lu Jiayao wailed, "Brother Shen! Don’t say such things! I have a temper too, you know!"
Wen Shuangbai, having collected the medicinal barrels, deftly slipped past the two scuffling men and approached Xie Ziyin.
Xie Ziyin had already dried his plain robes and tied up his long hair. Before Wen Shuangbai could speak, he said, "No."
Wen Shuangbai: "You’re raising fish too?"
"..." Xie Ziyin’s lips twitched. "I’m watering plants."
He never raised fish.
"Fine."
Wen Shuangbai studied the man before her but didn’t leave.
Now, every time she saw him, she remembered the scene where he took 101 spirit stones from the female lead.
Once one thing felt off, everything else started to seem strange too.
Wen Shuangbai pondered carefully—would the obsessive, self-sacrificing male lead from the novel really take money from the female lead?
Did obsessive male leads even have the dignity to use bathwater for plants?
What kind of obsessive male lead was written like this?
Oh right—he also picked up dung in the Taihua Mountain secret realm!
Xie Ziyin: "..."
Xie Ziyin had finally had enough. "Payment. Ten spirit stones."
At the mention of money, Wen Shuangbai snapped back to attention. "? What payment?"
Xie Ziyin: "Just now, you stared at me no less than ten times."
"Dream on," Wen Shuangbai scoffed. "You really know how to flatter yourself."
Xie Ziyin lifted his eyelids slightly, giving her a cool glance. "Then why were you staring?"
"I just find it strange," Wen Shuangbai said, her gaze flickering as she studied his expression. Her tone was probing. "Aren’t you sad that Yu Xiaoxiao left Qingling Mountain?"
Xie Ziyin’s lashes barely moved. "Guess."
Wen Shuangbai: "..."
Guess what? She hated guessing people’s thoughts—there was no profit in it.
Wen Shuangbai was annoyed. "Weren’t you crazy about her before?"
Xie Ziyin countered, "Weren’t you crazy about me before?"
...Well, that was because she was a transmigrator.
Wen Shuangbai instinctively held her breath, locking eyes with Xie Ziyin. A suspicion was forming in her mind.
Nearby, Li Zhuohua, seeing that everyone had finished their medicinal baths but were still lingering, began shooing them away. "Hurry up and leave. I need to practice my swordplay."
The two averted their gazes.
Xie Ziyin held out his hand. "Return my storage ring."
He needed to take his bathwater back.
Wen Shuangbai curled her fingers slightly, unconsciously picking at her nails. She glanced at her senior martial brothers, then turned her gaze to the man before her, finally making up her mind. "I didn’t bring your storage ring," she said.
Xie Ziyin: "?"
"I forgot it. I’ll deliver it to you later," Wen Shuangbai replied, narrowing her eyes with a faint smile. "Will you be home tonight?"
Xie Ziyin lowered his eyes, looking at the woman who was tilting her head up at him.
Her hair was tied up carelessly, loose strands tangled against her fair neck, and a faint, refreshing scent lingered around her.
Though her face was identical to the original owner’s in his memories, the aura she carried now was worlds apart.
After a brief silence, Xie Ziyin’s peach-blossom eyes lifted slightly. "I’ll be there."
---
Wen Shuangbai was someone who loved making plans.
Before bed the previous night, she had already mapped out her schedule for the day.
Li Zhuohua’s medicinal bath was an unexpected addition, and after leaving the main peak, Wen Shuangbai hurried down the mountain toward Qingzhou City.
Yin Xuan went home alone.
Along the way, swaying drowsily, he didn’t quite make it—instead, he flopped into a patch of grass and happily dozed off.
In Qingzhou, Wen Shuangbai methodically checked off her to-do list.
First, she visited five money houses to repay the 100,000 spirit stones the original owner had owed.
To be precise, it was 107,288. After settling the debt and accounting for her earnings from artifact forging, she still had a little over 9,000 left in her pocket.
Debt-free and weightless!
Reborn with vigor, Wen Shuangbai practically glowed as she headed to Xu Ruyi’s shop to collect scrap materials for forging.
The last time the young woman had come to gather scraps was half a month ago. After losing contact for so long and considering the recent major events in Qingzhou, Xu Ruyi guessed that her customer must have just returned from the sect’s competition.
Noticing the girl’s cheerful expression, Xu Ruyi casually asked, "Did you do well in the competition?"
In high spirits, Wen Shuangbai’s words were sweet. "Yes, thanks to Madam Xu’s blessings, it went quite well."
Previously burdened by debt, Wen Shuangbai hadn’t dared to entertain any distractions, focusing solely on saving money.
Even when visiting Xu Ruyi’s shop, she had never lingered—just collected the scraps, took her payment, and left.
Now, with her debts cleared and a modest savings cushion, she couldn’t resist wandering around the shop, admiring the dazzling array of forging materials and treasures on display.
Wen Shuangbai’s ambition was simple: she wanted to become a fabulously wealthy woman.
As everyone knew, small fortunes could be amassed through frugality and saving.
But for real wealth, frugality alone wouldn’t cut it—one had to expand their income streams.
In the world of cultivation, the path to riches was the path of cultivation itself.
The higher one’s cultivation, the greater their influence—and with influence came endless opportunities for profit.
At present, Wen Shuangbai could forge seventh-grade artifacts with ease, but progressing further was proving difficult.
She had come to realize that while material refinement was the foundation of artifact forging, the true key—the factor that determined an artisan’s ceiling—lay in inscription arrays.
Every function of an artifact relied on the intricate runes and arrays carved into it.
And unfortunately, this was her weak point.
Previously, strapped for cash, she had drawn runes by hand. But most artifact forgers used an inscription pen.
Unlike the brushes used by talisman masters from the Ask Heaven Pavilion, inscription pens had sharp tips designed to carve runes into hard materials, making the quality of the nib crucial.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she spotted a particular jade-green inscription pen. She hurried over, carefully picked it up, and stared at it in awe.
The more she looked, the more she loved it. Unable to resist, she asked, "Madam Xu, how much for this pen?"
Xu Ruyi smirked. "You’ve got sharp eyes. That’s the most expensive one here—a premium Kunwu pen. 90,000, no bargaining."
…Well, goodbye then.
Wen Shuangbai’s smile vanished instantly, and she suddenly found the pen rather unremarkable.
Expressionless, she placed it back. "Madam Xu, could you show me your cheapest pen instead?"
Xu Ruyi chuckled and handed her an ordinary one. "This one’s 1,000."
A moment later, Wen Shuangbai: "Hmm… do you have anything even cheaper?"
Xu Ruyi: "……"
Not at all surprised, Xu Ruyi went to the substandard section and tossed her a dull, ashy-looking pen. "400."
Wen Shuangbai inspected it. Though ugly, the nib seemed far better than the 1,000-coin pen’s. She immediately decided, "Perfect, I’ll take it!"
"I should warn you—this pen has issues," Xu Ruyi said.
Wen Shuangbai hadn’t noticed anything wrong. "Such as?"
"Even I don’t know," Xu Ruyi admitted, puzzled. "It was actually sold once, but the customer came back days later to return it, saying it worked intermittently and often went missing. I couldn’t figure out the problem either, but no refunds—you’ve been warned."
Wen Shuangbai didn’t mind. For something this cheap, flaws were to be expected.
Wanting both affordability and perfection? That was just wishful thinking.
After paying, she tucked the inscription pen into her storage ring and rushed back to Qingling Mountain, heading straight for Xie Ziyin’s place.
---
The round trip took Wen Shuangbai several hours, and by the time she reached the medical pavilion, night had long since fallen.
Xie Ziyin’s cottage was secluded. As she walked deeper into the woods, passing numerous other dwellings, the surroundings grew increasingly desolate.
Finally, in a valley, she spotted a small courtyard.
The courtyard walls were peeling with age, and under the moonlight, the place looked eerily like a haunted house.
The roof, however, was brand new—likely repaired recently.
Nearby, a freshly tilled plot was enclosed by a fence, with tiny sprouts just beginning to peek through the soil.
A light was still on inside, casting the silhouette of a man against the paper window.
Under the lamplight, Xie Ziyin was reading a medical text.
Wen Shuangbai walked up and knocked.
A moment later, the door creaked open, revealing Xie Ziyin.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes, and his tone was as chilly as the night. "How early of you to arrive. Any later and the sun would’ve risen."
Exhausted from the day’s errands, Wen Shuangbai yawned and handed him the storage ring. "Sorry, I got held up with a few things."
Xie Ziyin pressed his lips together, took the ring, and checked its contents with a sweep of his consciousness. Confirming that the barrel of bathwater was still inside, he slid the ring back onto his finger.
His gaze lingered on Wen Shuangbai, who showed no intention of leaving. Subconsciously rubbing the ring, he lowered his lashes, veiling the glint in his eyes as he waited patiently for her to speak.
Would she?
Wen Shuangbai was about 80% suspicious of Xie Ziyin, with the remaining 20% still uncertain.
After all, what if he wasn’t a transmigrator but some spirit that had possessed the original owner’s body?
In a world of fantasy, anything was possible.
To be safe, she needed a passphrase only a fellow transmigrator would understand—one that would leave locals utterly baffled.
"Odd changes to even, sign depends on quadrant"?
But what if this guy was a foreigner?
Ah, got it.
One question would settle it.
Without hesitation, Wen Shuangbai blurted out at lightning speed:
"Bro, where are you from?"
Xie Ziyin: "?"
Suddenly, disaster struck—a bolt of violet lightning, serpentine and fierce, tore through the star-studded night sky, hurtling straight toward Wen Shuangbai and Xie Ziyin with the overwhelming might of heavenly wrath!
Wen Shuangbai was rooted to the spot, every hair on his body standing on end. In an instant, his face paled, and he found himself utterly paralyzed.
In that frantic moment, Xie Ziyin grabbed Wen Shuangbai and swiftly pulled them both into the shelter of a distant thicket.
The violet lightning struck with brutal force, and Xie Ziyin’s house bore the brunt of the blow.
Under the fury of the electric storm, the courtyard trembled like a candle in the wind, offering no resistance before collapsing in a thunderous crash.
Bricks, stones, and wooden beams clattered to the ground in a chaotic heap, sending plumes of dust swirling dramatically into the air.
Wen Shuangbai: “……?”
Xie Ziyin: “………………”
For a long moment, the two of them stood in stunned silence.
Silence—tonight’s Cambridge.
After what felt like an eternity, Xie Ziyin finally released Wen Shuangbai, glancing first at his freshly repaired house, then at the stunned instigator of this calamity.
Xie Ziyin: 6
