"Above the antique bamboo-and-wood roof, bronze beams glimmered with a dark, murky sheen. Several straw ropes hung from them, each tied with bundles of medicinal herbs. The herbs were wilted and blackened, as though scorched by fire, yet their shapes remained intact."
After being awakened by a violent and surging headache, Yu Ying stared blankly at the dark herbs for a long time with slightly dilated pupils.
This bamboo house carried a faint medicinal fragrance and was so elegant and exquisite that it seemed like a paradise—completely different from the ruins scattered across the post-apocalyptic world.
She confirmed that she had traveled through time.
However, the headache was too severe. With veins bulging on her forehead, Yu Ying barely managed to process her feelings of confusion and shock, and was unable to concentrate on thinking deeply.
After half a day, she gave up thinking about it.
Because when she remembered, her brain had exploded.
She and several peak level-nine superpowered experts from the major post-apocalyptic bases had dragged the level-ten Zombie King—who was about to destroy the world—into mutual destruction, detonating their brain cores and perishing together.
"With the crystal cores of more than a dozen peak level-nine ability users exploding, she should have been blown to pieces.
So the splitting headache came as no surprise—what shocked her was that she was still alive."
This unexpected and unbelievable turn of events still stirred Yu Ying's curiosity.
After struggling through the headache that darkened her vision, her pain-filled eyes finally managed to focus. Wearing an indifferent, silent expression, she slowly swept her gaze across her surroundings.
Inside the room, apart from the bamboo couch where she lay, there was a long table by the window with several small bronze tripods placed upon it. Near the door stood a simple round table surrounded by round stools.
Beside it was a screen, through which the straw cushions on the floor could be seen faintly…
Yu Ying raised her hand with effort. The wide sleeves of her light blue gauze slipped down, not revealing the rough, wounded hands from battling zombies and mutated plants, but slender wrists and fair, white fingers—like the finest white jade.
Soul transmigration? It seemed she had been transported to ancient times.
Perhaps the explosion's sheer scale had triggered some qualitative change—a black hole, or maybe the act of killing the Zombie King and averting the world's destruction had earned her some strange merit.
I wonder if the others are wearing them…
No sooner had the thought formed than another violent headache struck, and Yu Ying's thoughts began to drift away, just like her pupils. It felt as if her brain were about to split open.
Yu Ying realized that although the soul had transmigrated, the exploded brain had not.
She sighed, ignored the lingering pain, and slowly closed her eyes.
Her mind went blank. She was too tired to think anymore. If this was fate, then so be it—living had always been unbearably exhausting.
In her past life, she had worked herself to the bone just to slap her unscrupulous parents in the face. She finally reached the top, but not a single good day came her way, and she didn't even get to sleep with a single handsome man before running straight into the world-destroying Zombie King.
Luck had never been on her side. In ancient times, where human life was cheap, the only thing that truly mattered for survival was using your brain.
With entertainment in the apocalypse in short supply, she even flipped through a few light novels… cough cough, ancient romance novels, just to pass the time.
Who knew what other dangers awaited? She really didn't have the energy to keep going.
Sometimes, a lifetime passes in the blink of an eye. We're all going to die sooner or later, so why not die sooner and suffer less?
Ah Ying!!' The bamboo door slammed open with a bang, and a clear female voice filled the room, frantic with worry. A gentle breeze accompanied her as she rushed forward, guiding Yu Ying to the bamboo bed.
The petite girl, whose face Yu Ying hadn't seen clearly, grabbed her and pulled her into her arms. Before Yu Ying could react, the girl shoved a pill the size of a Malteser into her mouth.
Yu Ying: '…Who is this? Poisoning me? And it's pretty potent.'
You can't kill someone by smashing their face, and you can't even hit them in the mouth!"
Before she could even offer the slightest resistance, the pill transformed into a warm current that slid effortlessly down her throat and vanished, no swallowing required.
Her pounding headache immediately eased, and the skull that had felt like it was about to shatter stabilized.
Yu Ying paused, assessing the situation. Since they were apparently friends, not enemies, she returned to her corpse-like posture.
The girl's voice was clear and gentle but the moment she spoke, a torrent of sharp rebukes poured out:
"I knew you're stupid, but not this stupid! You trust everyone but me. If you don't want your ears, I'll just chop them off myself!"
"I've worked myself to the bone in the spirit herb garden, currying favor with the manager, just to get you a Breakthrough Pill! And this is how you repay me? Are you trying to become a servant ghost for evil cultivators in a hurry?"
The worst thing in cultivation is taking the wrong path. Didn't I warn you not to listen to that bastard next door and run off to the library chasing forbidden methods? Do you think you're God's favorite daughter?!
Even if you break through to the third level of Qi Refining, you'll still have to compete in the outer sect trials to have a chance to stay. There are only so many spots in the Yao Guang Sect. What good intentions do you think he could possibly have?
Yu Ying, her head throbbing from the scolding, thought grimly to herself that she had truly lost her mind.
"If it weren't for the fact that I had your soul lamp with me, and that I had time to ask my uncle in the Spirit Herb Garden for a Soul-Stabilizing Pill, you wouldn't even have a wisp of soul left! Reincarnation would've been impossible!" The girl's chest heaved with anger.
She had discovered Yu Ying's soul lamp was almost extinguished and rushed over, only to find the foolish thing her cousin had done. If she hadn't been in a hurry to save her, she would have fainted from anger right then and there.
Yu Ying wiped the spittle from her face. As Yu Ling muttered, memories that weren't her own began to surface, popping up like sparks from a faulty circuit.
The girl before her was Yu Ling, the original body's distant cousin. Both had been concubine daughters of the royal family in the mortal world and had been selected together at the age of six to enter the sect.
Yu Ling possessed four spiritual roots. While her roots were diverse, her wood-type spiritual root aptitude was particularly strong. She had been left in the Spirit Herb Garden as an outer sect laborer and had now reached the fourth level of Qi Refining. She was well-liked by the senior uncle in charge of the garden otherwise, she wouldn't have managed to obtain the Soul-Stabilizing Pill.
The original owner, in contrast, had five pseudo-spiritual roots and originally had no chance of staying in the sect. Yet through sheer determination, she endured the Yao Guang Sect's Path of Inquiry. Only by passing it was she allowed to remain in the outer sect.
Unfortunately, the original owner's spiritual root aptitude was poor. After nine years of cultivation, she had reached only the second level of Qi Refining.
The sect did not tolerate idlers. Every year, a small assessment was held, those who failed lost their monthly allowance and their pill quota.
A grand assessment takes place once every ten years. Only those who had broken through to the third level of Qi Refining were allowed to compete in the outer sect competition. Those who earned a high enough rank could become outer sect disciples of the Yao Guang Sect.
Disciples who failed the competition were sent to various affiliated sects as ordinary disciples.
Those unable to break through to the third level of Qi Refining were relegated to corvée disciples, assigned to guard different mortal worlds.
The mortal realm was thin in spiritual energy, and rife with evil energy that needed to be suppressed. Traveling there was tantamount to severing all paths to immortality, sacrificing the final years of one's life to serve the sect.
The original owner of this body had absolutely refused to return. She was determined to push herself to the limit, willing to try anything as long as it could advance her cultivation.
The memories were vague, but the clearest one was that the original owner had been bullied by the other disciples in the same courtyard and had gotten stuck in a rut.
Even knowing the others harbored ill intentions, she had stubbornly persisted determined to succeed or die for the sect and had bribed the librarian to seek out the forbidden breakthrough technique.
"Look at what you've done with all this mess! Look at what happened! You can forget about cultivation and just wait to go to the mortal realm to become food for the evil-suppressing formation!" Yu Ling was so furious she couldn't help pinching Yu Ying's face.
Yu Ying was pulled up and had to croak out a reply, her voice hoarse:
"My cousin is right… I'm stupid. I've completely lost my mind."
The original owner's brain had never been any better than hers who, in this body, had practically no brain at all.
Forbidden techniques consumed both the soul and lifespan, stimulating the potential of one's spiritual root to allow a breakthrough.
The jade slip warned that only those with unwavering will could succeed. Those who failed either exhausted their lifespan and died, or suffered lasting damage to their soul and spiritual root aptitude. But if one succeeded, the spiritual root could be tempered and its aptitude improved.
Hmph. If there were any real chance of success, it wouldn't be called a forbidden technique.
The original owner had been told that the handyman disciple who recommended this method is a mortal blood relative of the librarian in charge of the library.
Although the original owner's cultivation level had never been high, she was exceptionally diligent. She wished she could split the twelve hours of the day into eight parts and use every moment to the fullest.
Apart from meditating to absorb spiritual energy, she spent every other moment working tirelessly, a dedication appreciated by the outer sect leaders.
The servant disciple had explained the purpose of the forbidden technique. Even a child could see the risks.
Seeing that Yu Ling still wanted to scold her, Yu Ying's headache had finally eased. She gathered some strength and lazily held Yu Ling's hand as if to stop her.
"Cousin… I'm willing to go to the mortal world. I won't do anything stupid again."
Originally, she had been waiting to die. But suddenly, she realized she could live for decades more. In terms of luck, she might as well be God's favorite daughter.
Once in the mortal realm, even the emperor would have to bow before her as a cultivator. She could eat, drink, and be merry, enjoying everything she wanted. Power, wealth, and even handsome men.! She would have time, money, and even the chance to revel like the Monkey King. This was a death she had never dared to dream of.
Yu Ling stared in silence. "…My cousin is clearly giving up."
If Yu Ying had managed to save enough spirit stones to buy a Breakthrough Pill, she might have had a chance to reach the third level of Qi Refining.
Her cousin studied and practiced diligently every day, never slacking off. It wasn't impossible for her to win the outer sect competition against stronger opponents and secure her place in the sect.
Now, with Yu Ying's spiritual consciousness shattered, a breakthrough was out of the question. Even maintaining her current cultivation and surviving a few more years in the mortal realm had become a pipe dream.
Yu Ling wanted to offer some words of comfort, but Yu Ying kept her eyes half-closed, lying there like someone determined to wait for death. It left Yu Ling feeling both heartbroken and helpless.
The two had relied on each other ever since arriving at the Yao Guang Sect. Yu Ling regarded Yu Ying as her only family in this world and could not bear to watch her go down this path.
"I asked the senior sister at the Spirit Herb Garden," Yu Ling frowned in thought. "She said the spiritual energy in the mortal world we came from is almost non-existent. You absolutely cannot go back."
"There's still a year left," she continued, determination flickering in her eyes. "There must be other ways. Even if we're sent to an affiliated sect, we can find a way to stay and avoid returning to the mortal realm…"
The less spiritual energy a mortal world contained, the more evil energy it harbored. That, in turn, forced the cultivator assigned to suppress it to expend more spiritual energy, consuming their lifespan even faster.
Given her cousin's cultivation level, she wouldn't even survive fifty years in the mortal realm.
Yu Ying simply closed her eyes completely, letting Yu Ling's words drift in one ear and out the other, until drowsiness overtook her.
The original owner of this body would have rather died than return to the mortal world. Yu Ying, however… was quite happy to go.
Go to an affiliated sect and chase people for a way out? Too tiring. She had already endured enough of that in her past life.
This forbidden technique wasn't entirely without merit; at least it didn't require the same restrictive bindings as the original body.
She will lay there, 'sad and desperate,' until she is expelled from the sect and assigned to some mortal realm, comforted by the thought that better days might still be ahead.
"I've recently been able to cultivate mid-grade spiritual herbs. My senior master said the herbs are of good quality, so he allowed me to keep one-tenth more than the other menial disciples," Yu Ling rambled, prying open Yu Ying's eyelids. She couldn't bear to see her cousin dazed and listless, waiting to die.
"Save up spirit stones and sell them in Yao Guang City. After repaying the master for the Soul-Stabilizing Pill, use the rest to hire someone to refine pills. You can use those to build connections with affiliated sects…"
Yu Ying's dark eyes flickered as they opened, and a blurry memory flashed across her mind.
The Yao Guang Sect was a major sect, sprawling across a vast, continuous mountain range.
At the foot of the sect's mountains lay a city that sheltered mortals within a thousand miles. It acted as a buffer between the mortal world and the affiliated sect, and also served as a place for sect disciples to spend their leisure time after cultivation.
Yu Ying sat up abruptly. Her previously listless peach blossom eyes now gleamed with a scorching sharpness.
Though the original owner's memories were hazy, she managed to peer through the fog and catch glimpses of countless restaurants, taverns, and entertainment venues.
"Yes! Yao Guang City!"
Maybe she'd go to hell if she died, but now… she could go to heaven!
Yu Ling was stunned to see Yu Ying sitting up abruptly from her deathbed.
Her cousin had become as assertive as she had hoped but there was something not normal about her, especially her eyes. They held a madness she had never seen before.
Suppressing the inexplicable fear rising in her chest, Yu Ling stammered, "Y-you mustn't think such things… and you mustn't act rashly again!"
Yu Ying grinned. She grabbed Yu Ling's hand and shook it solemnly, her voice transforming from weak and dazed to strong and confident.
"Don't worry, cousin, I'm not thinking straight. I won't have any wild ideas or act recklessly!"
What else do you need to think about in heaven? All you need is legs and a mouth.
Yu Ling: "..."