After resting another day, Li An finally forced herself to confront the problem she could no longer ignore. The menstrual pain—that soul-crushing agony that had left her writhing on the bed for three days—would return next month. And the month after that. And every month for as long as she remained in this body.
Her mind could not endure it again.
First, she cleaned up the blood on the bedsheets and floor, her movements methodical and detached. The stains had dried into dark patches, and she scrubbed them away with cold water and a cleaning talisman she'd purchased from the sect's administration. The metallic scent lingered in the air, faint but persistent.
When the room was finally clean, she donned Li An's skin once more—the plain, unremarkable disguise that dulled the overwhelming beauty of Wu Meng Ting's true form beneath. The black hair fell around her shoulders, ordinary and forgettable. The modest curves and average features settled into place like a comfortable mask.
She needed advice. And there was only one person she could ask.
Zi Qing was in the courtyard outside her residence, practicing a series of graceful sword forms. Her movements were fluid and precise, each strike accompanied by a faint shimmer of spiritual energy. When she saw Li An approaching, she immediately sheathed her sword and smiled warmly.
"Junior Sister Li An! You're looking much better. I was worried about you."
Li An hesitated, then bowed slightly. "Senior Sister Zi Qing... I need your help with something."
Zi Qing's expression softened with concern. "Of course. What is it?"
Li An felt her cheeks flush—an involuntary reaction that still felt foreign, even after months in this body. "It's... about my monthly cycle. The pain is unbearable. I was wondering if there's a way to reduce it."
Zi Qing's eyes widened with sympathy. "Oh, you poor thing! You've been enduring it without any medicine this whole time?"
Li An nodded, lowering her gaze. "I was a loose cultivator before joining the sect. I couldn't afford pills or medicine. I just... endured it with willpower."
Zi Qing's expression crumpled, and she reached out to grasp Li An's hands. "That's terrible! No wonder you looked so pale. Come on, I'll take you to the Pill Peak right now. There's a pill that can help."
The Pill Peak was a sprawling complex of alchemical workshops, herb gardens, and storage pavilions. The air was thick with the mingled scents of medicinal herbs—some sweet, some bitter, some sharp and acrid. Disciples in green robes moved between the buildings, carrying jade bottles and wooden boxes.
Zi Qing led Li An to a large storefront near the base of the peak, where rows of jade shelves displayed countless pills in crystal vials. A middle-aged woman in green robes stood behind the counter, her expression calm and professional.
"Junior Sister Zi Qing," the woman greeted with a polite nod. "What can I do for you today?"
"We need Pain Reduction Pills," Zi Qing said. "My junior sister has been suffering terribly during her monthly cycle."
The woman's gaze shifted to Li An, and her expression softened slightly. "Ah, yes. The Pain Reduction Pill is one of our most popular products. It not only reduces menstrual pain but also dulls the pain from injuries received in battle, making it a versatile choice for cultivators. However, it's also quite expensive—five hundred contribution points per bottle of ten pills."
Li An's heart sank. Five hundred contribution points. That was the same cost as forging a personal weapon.
She bowed to the woman. "Thank you for the information. I'll return when I have enough points."
Zi Qing squeezed her hand encouragingly as they left the storefront. "Don't worry, Junior Sister. The sect has plenty of missions available. You'll earn those points in no time."
The Mission Pavilion was a large, open hall filled with wooden boards covered in mission scrolls. Disciples crowded around the boards, scanning the available tasks and discussing strategies in low voices.
Li An approached the board dedicated to Foundation Establishment cultivators and began reading through the missions. Most were monster subjugation tasks—hunting spirit beasts that had been terrorizing mortal villages or encroaching on the sect's territory.
Early-stage Foundation Establishment monsters: twenty contribution points.
Mid-stage Foundation Establishment monsters: thirty contribution points.
She selected three mid-stage missions, each targeting a different beast in the forests surrounding the sect. If she completed all three, she would earn ninety contribution points—a decent start.
At the counter, a bored-looking elder stamped her mission tokens and handed them back. "Be careful out there. Mid-stage beasts are no joke, even for Foundation Establishment cultivators."
Li An nodded and left the pavilion.
The first target was a Crimson Fang Boar—a massive, tusked beast with thick hide and a violent temper. Li An found it in a small grassy field beside the forest, rooting through the earth with its snout.
She drew her sword.
The black stick gleamed dully in the sunlight, its blunt edge utterly useless for cutting. But Li An had trained with it for weeks now, and her body had adapted to its weight and balance.
She moved.
Her footwork was light and precise, her hips swaying naturally as she closed the distance. The boar charged, its tusks aimed at her waist, but she sidestepped with a grace that felt instinctive—feminine and fluid in a way her old male body had never been.
She swung the sword.
The blunt edge smashed into the boar's skull with a sickening crunch. The beast staggered, squealing in pain, and Li An struck again. And again. Each blow was delivered with perfect posture, her balance centered low in her hips, her movements economical and efficient.
After the fifth strike, the boar collapsed, its breathing shallow and labored. Li An delivered one final blow to its head, and the beast went still.
She stood over the corpse, breathing steadily, and felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Her body had moved so naturally—so gracefully—that it almost felt like dancing.
She repeated the process with the second and third targets, each hunt ending the same way. By the time she returned to the sect and submitted the mission tokens, she had earned ninety contribution points.
It wasn't enough.
Over the next month, Li An threw herself into missions with relentless determination. She hunted spirit beasts, escorted merchant caravans, and even took on a few escort missions for outer sect disciples traveling to nearby cities. Each mission earned her more contribution points, and each hunt honed her skills further.
At night, she returned to her residence and studied the second level of the Mystic Yin Sword Art.
The manual was dense and complex, filled with diagrams of meridian pathways and detailed instructions on circulating yin spiritual energy. The second level focused on energy control—coating her weapon in a layer of destructive yin energy that could rip through flesh and bone, regardless of whether the blade had an edge.
Li An felt a surge of relief when she read that section. Her blunt sword would finally become a true weapon.
She sat cross-legged on her bed, the manual open in her lap, and began circulating her spiritual energy according to the instructions. The cold yin qi flowed through her meridians, and she felt a sharp, piercing pain as the pathways widened and transformed to accommodate the energy.
It was excruciating.
But she endured.
Night after night, she circulated the yin qi, feeling her meridians reshape themselves, adapting to the cold, destructive energy. Her body trembled with the effort, sweat soaking through her robes, but she refused to stop.
By the end of the month, she had mastered the second level.
And she had earned over ten thousand contribution points.
Zi Qing was stunned when Li An told her.
"Ten thousand points?! In one month?!" Zi Qing's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Junior Sister, you're insane! Most disciples take half a year to earn that much!"
Li An smiled faintly. "I needed the points."
Zi Qing shook her head, laughing. "You're going to make the rest of us look bad. At this rate, you'll be the wealthiest disciple on the Mystic Peak."
Li An didn't reply. Wealth meant nothing to her. She only cared about survival.
And right now, survival meant preparing for the next menstrual cycle.
She purchased a dozen Pain Reduction Pills from the Pill Peak, spending over six hundred contribution points in total. Each pill's effect lasted six hours, so she would need at least twelve pills to cover the three-day cycle—plus a few extras, just in case.
Back in her residence, she securely barred the doors and windows. Rather than relying on the sect's standard defensive charms, she reused the set of concealment formation flags she had personally refined in the past, drawing upon the decades of meticulous formation mastery gained during her former life. With a quiet pulse of spiritual energy, the intricate arrays hummed to life, completely cloaking her aura and isolating the room so that not even a Golden Core cultivator's divine sense could perceive what happened inside.
She sat on the bed and waited.
The pain began in the early hours of the morning.
A dull, throbbing ache in her lower abdomen, growing sharper with each passing minute. Li An immediately swallowed a Pain Reduction Pill and circulated its medicinal effects through her body.
The relief was instant.
The crushing, soul-rending agony that had left her writhing on the bed last month faded to a dull, manageable discomfort. She exhaled slowly, her body relaxing.
But then she noticed something else.
A warmth spreading through her lower abdomen. A tingling sensation in her breasts. A growing, insistent heat between her legs.
Her eyes widened.
The pain had masked it before, but now that the pain was gone, the other sensation—the one that had been buried beneath the agony—rose to the surface.
Pleasure.
Her nipples hardened, rubbing against the inner layer of Li An's skin. Her genitals grew wet, the sweet scent of arousal mingled with the metallic smell of menstrual blood. The muscles around her lower abdomen and thighs began to spasm, and more fluids gushed out, soaking through her robes.
Li An gasped, her hands trembling.
No. No, this can't be happening.
But it was.
The heightened sensitivity of Wu Meng Ting's body—the same sensitivity that had amplified the pain to unbearable levels—was now amplifying the pleasure.
And it was overwhelming.
Desire began to overcome her reasoning.
Her peerless body grew hotter and hotter beneath Li An's skin, the heat building until it felt like she was burning from the inside out. She tore off her robes with shaking hands, exposing the flawless, snow-white skin beneath.
Even through the disguise, she could feel the perfection of Wu Meng Ting's form—the full, soft breasts with their cherry-red areolas and pink nipples; the impossibly narrow waist that flared into wide, child-bearing hips; the long, slender legs that seemed to go on forever.
She pinched her nipples with trembling fingers, pulling and rubbing the sensitive buds.
A jolt of pleasure shot through her body, so intense that her legs buckled. She collapsed onto the bed, gasping, her mind spinning.
This is... this is too much...
But her hands wouldn't stop.
She kneaded her breasts roughly, pinching and twisting the nipples until they were swollen and aching. Each touch sent waves of pleasure crashing through her, and she felt her legs spreading involuntarily, her hips lifting off the bed.
A mild orgasm tore through her, and she cried out, her voice high and breathless. Fluids gushed from between her legs, soaking the bedsheets beneath her.
But it wasn't enough.
The desire only grew stronger.
Her trembling hand slid down her stomach, past the soft curve of her abdomen, and into the triangle of fine, black curly hair between her thighs.
The moment her fingers brushed against her clitoris, a lightning bolt of pleasure shot through her entire body.
She screamed.
Her legs clamped together instinctively, trapping her hand, and she writhed on the bed, her back arching. The sensation was so intense, so overwhelming, that she couldn't think—couldn't breathe—couldn't do anything but feel.
Her fingers moved clumsily at first, circling the swollen bud, but her body quickly learned. Each touch ignited a fire inside her, and she felt herself growing wetter and wetter, the slick fluids coating her fingers and thighs.
Her other hand returned to her breasts, kneading and pinching the sensitive nipples, and the combined stimulation sent her spiraling into another orgasm.
And another.
And another.
She lost track of time.
Her fingers moved faster, more desperately, plunging into the wet entrance of her flower cave. The feeling of fullness was intoxicating, and she thrust her fingers deeper, scraping against the sensitive folds inside.
The sounds she made were obscene—low, guttural moans mixed with high-pitched whimpers. Her hips bucked against her hand, and she felt her inner walls clenching and spasming, trying to pull her fingers deeper.
She was completely lost.
Her mind was blank, consumed by the primal need for release. She didn't think about the sect, or the missions, or the danger of being discovered. She didn't think about Li Feng, or Wu Meng Ting, or the body-swap that had trapped her in this form.
She only thought about the pleasure.
Hours passed.
She climaxed again and again, her body convulsing with each wave of pleasure. Her fingers were soaked, her thighs trembling, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
And then, finally, the effect of the Pain Reduction Pill began to wear off.
The pain returned—sharp and sudden—and Li An gasped, her body going rigid. The pleasure vanished instantly, replaced by the familiar agony.
But this time, the pain was more manageable.
Her violent masturbation had widened her passage, and the menstrual blood flowed out smoothly, no longer trapped by the tight, virginal entrance.
She collapsed onto the bed, her body trembling, her mind slowly returning to clarity.
When she finally regained her senses, she felt a deep, burning shame.
What... what did I just do?
She stared at her hands, still slick with fluids, and felt her face flush with embarrassment.
The last time she had climaxed in this body was in the ancient ruins, when she had been trapped in the coffin chamber with her original male body. But that experience—intense as it had been—paled in comparison to what she had just endured.
Wu Meng Ting's peerless female organs brought her pleasure a thousand times greater than what her previous male body could ever produce.
And unlike her male body, which needed to rest after ejaculating, this flawless body could climax again and again, without pause, without mercy.
It was addictive.
Terrifyingly, soul-crushingly addictive.
Li An shuddered at the thought.
I can't... I can't let this control me. I won't become some... some mindless creature who spreads her legs for anyone just to satisfy this hunger.
But she also understood something else now.
As long as the pain accompanied the pleasure, it would offset the desire. The agony of menstruation would keep her grounded, keep her sane.
And this experience had been with Li An's skin—the plain, ordinary disguise that dulled Wu Meng Ting's sensitivity.
If she were to remove the skin and experience this in Wu Meng Ting's true form, with her primordial yin spiritual roots fully exposed...
She couldn't even imagine the consequences.
I have to be careful. I have to stay in control.
She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath.
The next three days would be long.
But she would endure.
She always did.