Before this, Qing Yun and Shen Yanye hadn't seen each other as rivals. Though the two exchanged boasts, the atmosphere remained friendly.
But now—
Cang Li had made it clear he was here to compete. The moment he laid his claim, the air between them turned tense.
He said coldly, "What good are words? Come, let's fight."
In an instant, his sword rose into the air.
The little bamboo cottage began to shake violently, almost collapsing on the spot.
"You think I'd be afraid of you?" Shen Yanye let out a cold laugh.
The next second, a massive Roaring Lion Beast materialized with a thundering growl.
Well then, the bamboo hut was thoroughly demolished.
Qing Yun casually held up the table with one hand. The teacups and pot remained perfectly still, not a drop spilled. He looked pleased, like he was settling in to enjoy the show.
As the two men truly looked ready to fight, Yue Zhao could no longer stay silent.
He stepped forward quickly and said, "Let's leave this for after Junior Sister finishes her seclusion. Since you've all traveled far, why don't I arrange a place for you to rest first?"
Cang Li and Shen Yanye continued to stare each other down.
After a long moment, Shen Yanye gave a disdainful snort. "I don't want to destroy Tianjian Peak. Fine, I'll listen. Temporary truce."
He turned to Yue Zhao. "You're Yun Jin's senior brother, right? When she comes out, you'd better make it clear what kind of unreasonable people sword cultivators are. If I hadn't held back just now, Tianjian Peak would've been in ruins."
Qing Yun chuckled.
This was killing him. Shen Yanye really was a bit like a dog—snappy, stubborn, and oddly likable.
Cang Li's face remained cold. "Spare me the nonsense. Yun Jin will make the right choice."
"Hmph." Shen Yanye only responded with a sneer.
The tension lingered, but at least both men withdrew their spiritual powers.
Yue Zhao let out a sigh of relief and quickly arranged accommodations for all three guests.
In the Earthfire Chamber.
Yun Jin was completely focused on her alchemy.
A third-rank alchemist attempting to craft a seventh-rank pill—this was pushing things beyond reason. Under normal circumstances, even if someone met the system's two criteria, their spiritual strength would still fall short of seeing the process through.
Fortunately, Yun Jin had a natural advantage in this area.
One day passed.
Then another.
By the third day, she was still maintaining maximum spiritual output, the furnace in a perfectly stable state.
Finally, the decisive moment came. Her eyes locked onto the furnace. After days of intense focus, she slipped into a trance-like state.
The world around her shifted.
The motion of the pill furnace revealed itself with deeper layers of meaning. Yun Jin's pupils shrank as vast streams of information broke apart and reassembled in her mind. When the pill furnace finally stilled, a strange fragrance filled the entire chamber. She had not yet opened the lid, but a certainty rose in her chest.
She had succeeded.
Two chances—and she had gotten it right the first time.
More than that, it felt like she had touched upon something deeper.
Yun Jin didn't rush to open the furnace. Instead, she sat down and immersed herself in the fleeting trace of insight she had just experienced.
Time passed unnoticed.
Around her, spiritual energy began to swirl in gentle arcs.
The rotation was sometimes fast, sometimes slow. At first, it seemed completely random, but the longer one looked, the more profound it became. At the same time, the golden core in her dantian began spinning in sync with the rhythm of the spiritual flow.
And with just this one adjustment, her core's absorption rate soared tenfold.
Yun Jin slowly opened her eyes. A gleam of understanding flickered within them.
An intent—she had grasped a new one.
Her twelfth: the Rotation Intent.
Like the Tide Intent, Rotation belonged to the middle grade.
Yet something about this one intrigued her.
In Taiji theory, soft force overcomes the hard. A slight redirection could turn a heavy strike aside.
Spiritual energy rotated in much the same way. In battle, this could be used to deflect force or add momentum—all in a single thought.
This intent would be incredibly useful.
Just like her Wave Intent, she could already tell this would become a staple in her techniques.
Now she was truly curious—
If a middle-grade intent could offer such power, then what of the high-grade ones?
What about the supreme-grade intents?
Could those shake heaven and earth?
She allowed herself a moment to wonder, but quickly shook the thoughts from her mind.
There was something more important now.
It was time to open the furnace and retrieve the pill.
Holding her breath, Yun Jin carefully lifted the lid.
In that moment—
A blinding light surged toward the ceiling.
If not for the Earthfire Chamber's powerful barriers, it might have alerted the entire Tianxing Sect.
One mark.
Two marks.
All the way to seven complete lines of pill pattern.
The light condensed, then flowed back into the furnace, leaving everything calm once again.
Yun Jin raised her hand.
A single, crystal-clear pill rose slowly from within the furnace.
She gazed at it, focused and unwavering.
This was it—
A seventh-rank pill.
The Butian Pill.
Over two months of effort.
Attempting to craft a seventh-rank pill with Golden Core strength.
She had done it.
Of course she was happy. But more than that, she felt this was only natural. From the moment she joined the sect, she had set this goal. Now that it was achieved, it simply meant the plan had been fulfilled. No surprises. No miracles.
A small smile played at her lips.
She couldn't help but wonder what her master's reaction would be when she saw the pill.
But that would have to wait.
She had no intention of ending her seclusion just yet. After three days of intense output, her spiritual energy was still surging. And with her core now rotating, her absorption rate had increased dramatically.
Her current state was perfect for cultivation. She would remain in seclusion until she broke through to mid-stage Golden Core. As for the Butian Pill, she could just have Senior Brother pick it up.
Yun Jin sent a message to Yue Zhao, letting him know the pill was complete and ready for collection.
Back at Tianjian Peak.
"It's been three days…" Qing Yun glanced at Yue Zhao. "Your junior sister still hasn't emerged?"
Cang Li and Shen Yanye both turned to look as well.
Yue Zhao braced himself. "Maybe something unexpected happened…"
Just as he spoke, his message talisman lit up.
When he read the message, joy flashed across his face.
She did it. She really did it.
The Butian Pill—complete.
Just one pill would be enough to restore their master to peak condition.
"What is it?" Qing Yun asked, curious.
"Honored seniors, I have an urgent matter to attend to. Please excuse me." Yue Zhao didn't wait for a response. With a flash of light, he was already gone.
Si Wanning and Yu Songnian seemed to guess what had happened, though they didn't dare say for sure. Still, excitement lit up their faces.
Why the sudden happiness?
Qing Yun narrowed his eyes.
The timing was just right. Could it be that Yun Jin had emerged from seclusion? Advanced her cultivation?
Even so, was that really worth getting this excited about?
As he pondered this—
Cang Li stood up without a word and followed after Yue Zhao.
Shen Yanye hurried after him.
Qing Yun raised an eyebrow.
Well then. He might as well go see what was happening too.
===
Hi everyone~ Just dropping by with a little update ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
One of my other translation projects, titled My Daughter is the Empire's Lucky Charm, is now fully translated!
Yup, I've completed the whole thing! ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶
It's still updating on the site, but you can look forward to daily releases until the end.
As for my next project, I'll be diving into a post-apocalyptic rebirth story. The female lead is a mother who survived two years after the world ended, only to be reborn before the apocalypse began. In her first life, she was mistreated and used by her husband and his mistress. But in this second life, she's determined to protect her daughter and live for herself. Revenge? Oh, absolutely. But her child comes first.
Like most apocalypse+rebirth stories, she has a space with still-time storage. Alongside her daughter, she forms a small survival team: a male gym instructor, a college student, a women (I forgot her exact pre-apocalypse jobs) with her grandmother. Oh, and if I remember right... there's a dog too!
This isn't a zombie apocalypse, by the way—it's a full-blown natural disaster apocalypse.
What left the deepest impression on me was the twist near the end. I honestly didn't see it coming. Without spoiling too much, let's just say that by the final chapters, most of humanity is wiped out by a disaster so bizarre and illogical... it actually works as a narrative gut punch.
After that novel, I plan to return to ancient Chinese historical fiction, specifically set during the Qin Dynasty and though it shares some vibes with Lucky Charm, but it's at least twice as long. Expect more intense kingdom-building, politics, and national development!
I'm also eyeing a novel where the female MC is the daughter of Wu Zetian, the first Female Emperor in Chinese history. I haven't read it yet, but the premise sounds fascinating, so I've added it to my list of upcoming translations. Both are fairly long works, but I think you'll enjoy them!
On the flip side, I've decided not to pick up that popular novel about a female police officer transmigrating to ancient times, fleeing danger, and becoming an empress. While the story has its strong points, the heroine's core beliefs just don't align with mine. I enjoy kingdom-building and strategic development, but one of her major principles really grated on me. And since translation is more than just a one-time read, forcing myself to work on something I clash with would feel like mental torture (´-﹏-`). I wouldn't be able to bring my best to the table that way.
I might also start working on a yuri-themed ancient historical novel—daily updates, maybe one chapter per day. That one's still in the planning stages though, so no promises yet!
Thank you for reading my ramblings and for supporting my work! Stay tuned for more exciting stories ahead~ (≧▽≦)💕