◎Woof?◎
Yu Youyou felt that her life was too difficult.
Here she was desperately refusing steamed buns, while Qi Nanfeng was just as desperately trying to shove another one into her mouth.
Qi Nanfeng, eyes brimming with tears, pleaded, "I caused you to get hurt and couldn’t even save you. Just let me do one last thing for you! What if eating gives you the strength to hold on until help arrives?"
Yu Youyou spat out a mouthful of bun crumbs and mustered all her strength to yell, "Don’t waste your effort trying to save me!"
Save her? Buddy, just not killing her would be enough!
At her words, Qu Qingmiao and the other alchemists who had been stopped in their tracks froze.
Disciples of the Alchemy Sect often went out to treat the wounded and sick, and they were all too familiar with scenes of people desperately fighting for pills to cling to life.
The little girl’s injuries looked especially grievous. If it were anyone else—even an adult cultivator—they’d likely be weeping and begging to be saved, even resorting to force to coerce the alchemists into treating them.
Yet this frail-looking girl before them seemed so detached from life and death, not once pressuring the alchemists to save her?
Qu Qingmiao’s expression softened slightly.
Qi Nanfeng sobbed, his words muddled, "But I still want to try a little harder."
Yu Youyou struggled to roll over, trying to escape this guy’s relentless bun assault. With great effort, she managed to speak again, "You should go save someone else instead."
Damn it, please just spare me!
The alchemists hadn’t heard Qi Nanfeng clearly and assumed the girl was speaking to Qu Qingmiao.
Hearing Yu Youyou’s words, even these battle-hardened alchemists couldn’t help but sigh softly.
The girl was too far away to see that Yu Nianrou’s injury was just a minor scratch. Despite being on the brink of death herself, she was willing to give up her chance at rescue for someone else.
What a pure-hearted, kind little girl!
In stark contrast, the arrogant disciples of the Yunhua Sword Sect—who were clearly unharmed—and that pampered young lady seemed utterly disgraceful.
Most alchemists were gentle and compassionate by nature, and now their gazes toward Yu Nianrou shifted from reverence to outright disapproval.
Look at you, causing a scene over medical treatment—how shameful!
Qu Qingmiao could no longer stand by.
Her spiritual energy erupted, a surge of scorching flames shooting toward Jiang Yuan and forcefully repelling his sword.
Jiang Yuan’s expression darkened instantly. "What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Qu?"
"I’m going to save someone."
Jiang Yuan reminded her coldly, "Junior Sister Nianrou is the beloved daughter of the Undying Sword God, while that little girl—"
He glanced dismissively at Yu Youyou, his face icy, and didn’t finish his sentence.
The girl curled up on the ground wore tattered old clothes, her body smeared with mud and blood, a picture of utter wretchedness. The coarse steamed buns that had spilled from the worn bundle on her back only emphasized her pitiful, lowly status.
Compared to Yu Nianrou, one was like grime scraped from the bottom of a ditch, the other a radiant moon hanging high in the sky.
Qu Qingmiao knew what Jiang Yuan had left unsaid.
"That little girl is nothing but a worthless mortal."
She paused in her steps. Just as Jiang Yuan thought she had finally come to her senses, she strode forward without looking back, her voice cool and detached.
"Within the Alchemy Sect, all lives are equal."
Qu Qingmiao walked straight to Yu Youyou and looked down at the frail girl lying on the ground, her breath faint as a thread.
She was small as a kitten, blood trickling from her bony wrists into the dirt, painting winding trails across her deathly pale skin.
Qu Qingmiao’s eyes stung.
But just as she reached out to lift Yu Youyou and examine her injuries, the girl suddenly moved.
The painkillers had finally kicked in.
Truly worthy of being called the "miracle pill" in the apocalypse—take one, and even if a zombie bit your leg off, you could still run!
Using Qu Qingmiao’s arm for support, Yu Youyou nimbly rolled over and scrambled to her feet.
"Thanks."
She glanced at the buns behind her, sighed regretfully at their ruined state, then wiped her face roughly with her sleeve—only to smear the blood from her seven orifices all over her face.
Now she looked like a blood-drenched corpse that had suddenly sprung back to life.
…And weirdly energetic at that?
The onlookers: "…"
Qi Nanfeng jumped in fright, stammering, "Y-you… you’re not dead? Weren’t you about to pass out just now?"
Nose still bleeding, Yu Youyou wiped at it absentmindedly and lied, "Ah, maybe the buns you fed me worked?"
Qi Nanfeng immediately raised the remaining half-bun in his hand, eager. "Want another one?"
Yu Youyou: "Get lost!"
Qu Qingmiao frowned slightly, studying Yu Youyou with a puzzled gaze.
Yu Youyou hadn’t started cultivating yet, so there was no trace of demonic energy on her. Her old dress—a hand-me-down from Aunt Hua—was slightly too big, the hem completely covering her tail.
Unless one had reached a certain level of cultivation, no one would realize Yu Youyou wasn’t human.
Half-demons were exceedingly rare, and few knew about the existence of bloodline backlash. Aside from the two conflicting bloodlines wreaking havoc in her veins and causing massive hemorrhaging, there were no outward signs to betray her condition.
After a thorough examination, Qu Qingmiao found nothing unusual and could only conclude that Yu Youyou was simply too physically frail.
This diagnosis tugged at the alchemists’ heartstrings. So when assigning dormitories to the youths participating in the assessment, they crammed everyone else eight to a room—except Yu Youyou, who got a private one.
After a bath and a thorough drying (plus some enthusiastic tail-grooming), Yu Youyou was content.
Life had been too harsh before, leaving her tail fur tangled and matted. But the high-quality scented soap in the Alchemy Sect’s guest rooms worked wonders—now her fur was sleek and smooth, a pleasure to pet.
It would’ve been perfect if Qi Nanfeng hadn’t insisted on looking after her "mysterious illness," moved by their "transcendent friendship," and been assigned the single room next to hers.
True to form, the restless Qi Nanfeng soon came knocking.
The moment he stepped in, he yelped, "Why are you lying facedown in broad daylight?!"
At first glance, it looked like Yu Youyou was on death’s door again.
Yu Youyou lifted her head expressionlessly, then quickly lowered it again before her nosebleed could drip.
The bloodline backlash was fading, and while her skin had stopped oozing blood, her nose just wouldn’t quit.
Qi Nanfeng finally noticed the bowl under her head, already half-filled with nosebleed.
He averted his eyes, sympathetic. "Later, let’s go to the dining hall and get some blood tofu stew to replenish your blood."
Yu Youyou popped another painkiller into her mouth and nodded. "Sounds good."
She hadn’t eaten meat since arriving in this world. Blood tofu stew sounded heavenly.
Qi Nanfeng eagerly shared the latest gossip: "Earlier, Senior Sister Qu refused to treat the Undying Sword God’s daughter, right? That Jiang Yuan immediately took his junior sister straight to the inner sect and forced one of the Alchemy Sect’s elders to heal her."
"Turns out, when the elder checked, Yu Nianrou’s wound had already scabbed over. Hah!"
"The elder said Yu Nianrou is a cultivator, so such minor injuries would heal on their own in a couple of days. But she was afraid of scarring—not only did she take over a dozen bottles of medicinal pills, but she also insisted on staying at the Pill Cauldron Sect, claiming she was worried about a relapse and wouldn’t leave until she was certain she’d fully recovered."
Yu Youyou listened with great interest. The original novel only depicted Yu Bubie slaying enemies and leveling up, never delving into the daily dramas of the side characters behind him.
That the Cloud Hua Sword Sect was so protective of Yu Nianrou didn’t surprise Yu Youyou much.
In the original story, her scumbag father doted on Yu Nianrou because it was Yu Nianrou’s mother—Cui Neng'er, the female lead and one of the male protagonist’s countless love interests—who had helped him escape the demon realm.
Of course, a female lead was no ordinary person. Cui Neng'er was the only daughter of a prominent family in the Western Region. While out on a training expedition, she was captured by demons and eventually became a maidservant to a demon princess.
Later, she met Yu Bubie, and the two instantly fell for each other. Together, they schemed to kill Yu Youyou’s mother and fled back to the human realm. Half a year later, they gave birth to twins—Yu Nianrou and Yu Chang'an.
In other words, long before Yu Youyou was even born, those two had already been rolling in the sheets!
Since Cui Neng'er was the female lead, she wasn’t portrayed as a malicious homewrecker in the original novel but rather as a pure and clever true love.
And of course, Yu Nianrou’s treatment was a million times better than that of Yu Youyou, the half-demon bastard.
Given her scumbag father’s "decisive and ruthless" nature—where he wouldn’t hesitate to wipe out an entire family of enemies—Yu Youyou suspected that if she dared expose his family’s dirty secrets now, the sword of a Nascent Soul-stage powerhouse would come flying to lop off her head.
Fortunately, he had long forgotten about the other daughter he’d abandoned in Tonghua County.
By the time Qi Nanfeng finished gossiping, it was already late. Yu Youyou stuffed cotton up her nose and went with him to the Pill Cauldron Sect’s dining hall for dinner.
Cultivators below the Golden Core stage still needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves normally. And since the taste of fasting pills was indescribable—reportedly like cockroaches—no one wanted to eat them, so the dining hall was quite lively.
Qi Nanfeng generously ordered a large pot of spicy blood stew and carried it with Yu Youyou to a corner to eat.
Just as the two were about to dig in, a commotion broke out nearby.
It turned out that a few disciples from the Cloud Hua Sword Sect had also come to eat.
Jiang Yuan and Yu Chang'an flanked Yu Nianrou protectively while two other sword cultivators went to fetch dishes. Soon, over a dozen plates covered their table.
But Yu Nianrou still seemed in a foul mood. She didn’t even lift her veil, let alone eat.
Looking at that lavish spread of meat dishes, their pot of spicy blood stew suddenly seemed bland in comparison.
In her past life during the apocalypse, she’d never eaten well, and in this life as a half-demon, she still couldn’t enjoy good food. Yu Youyou’s eyes practically glazed over with longing.
Qi Nanfeng, however, mistook her expression for sadness over being bullied earlier and comforted her, "Don’t be upset. She’s just got a good father, that’s all. It’s not like you can help that your surname is Yu and hers is… wait, I don’t even know your name. What is it?"
Yu Youyou glanced at him. "Yu Youyou."
Qi Nanfeng clicked his tongue. "Yu Youyou? Who came up with that name? It’s so tacky."
"…"
Yu Youyou didn’t argue. Instead, she zeroed in on the largest slice of tripe in the bowl and deftly picked it up with her chopsticks.
Hah, she knew it. With this guy’s negligible intelligence, he’d never connect her to Yu Nianrou. Then again, no sane person would think the two of them were sisters.
Just then, Yu Youyou sensed someone’s gaze lingering on her. She looked up and met Jiang Yuan’s furrowed brow.
Clearly, Jiang Yuan was blaming her for the earlier incident.
But Yu Youyou didn’t avert her eyes. Calmly, she popped the tripe into her mouth and chewed with relish.
Jiang Yuan glared at her coldly for a long time, only to watch as Yu Youyou ate with increasing gusto—polishing off four bowls of rice and even dipping two large steamed buns in chili sauce!
"…"
He swallowed hard, suddenly feeling hungry.
But just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks—
"I have no appetite. The food here is too crude. Even a dog wouldn’t eat it." Yu Nianrou stood and walked off.
Jiang Yuan: "…"
Woof?
The next day’s assessment began as scheduled, with all candidates brought to the testing peak.
Since this was the official examination, aside from Qu Qingmiao, an outer sect elder had also arrived.
"The Pill Cauldron Sect’s outer sect assessment does not test spiritual roots, nor does it require you to refine pills. We only evaluate your knowledge of medicinal herbs." Elder Wan, his forehead gleaming, amiably explained the rules to the gathered youths.
The outer sect of the Pill Cauldron Sect didn’t involve pill refining—most disciples studied herbology and basic pill formulas. If the entrance exam required refining a pill, countless promising talents would be missed. Spiritual roots weren’t crucial either, as most outer sect disciples would eventually tend to or process herbs, tasks that didn’t require spiritual energy.
"This year’s assessment is this."
Elder Wan waved a hand, and emerald spiritual energy unfurled like ribbons, lifting hundreds of small boxes into the air before distributing them to the examinees.
Yu Youyou opened hers to find a pea-sized pill inside.
"This is a newly developed pill by an inner sect disciple last month. The formula hasn’t been disclosed, but I can tell you it contains ten medicinal ingredients."
"This peak houses hundreds of sealed stone chambers, each containing one hundred types of herbs. Within seven days, you must identify the ten ingredients used in this pill!"
"The first to succeed will earn the additional reward of freely selecting one first-grade spirit herb from the herb garden!"
A first-grade spirit herb!
Yu Youyou’s eyes lit up.
She didn’t know what it was yet, but it sounded impressive. What if there was an herb that could cure her bloodline backlash?
The Pill Cauldron Sect was truly generous!
Qi Nanfeng immediately shouted, "Elder Wan, does the herb garden have—"
Before Yu Youyou could hear what foolish question he was about to ask, a flash of light filled her vision. When she opened her eyes again, she was inside one of the stone chambers.
"Boom!"
With a heavy thud, the stone door sealed shut behind her.
