Murong Chao strolled through the rain, holding an oil-paper umbrella.
Over the past three years, she had visited the Imperial City of Fengyun Kingdom only a handful of times, spending most of her days secluded in her small courtyard. She had never truly explored the Imperial City. Now, with the fine drizzle falling and the streets sparsely populated, it was the perfect opportunity for a leisurely walk.
It wasn’t until she caught sight of the Protector-General’s Estate that she turned back. Glancing at the two men who had been trailing her all this way, she paused.
She had noticed them back at the teahouse. She was certain she didn’t know them, but sensing the aura emanating from one of them, her gaze halted. So, there really were people in this world with such a fate.
Murong Chao harbored a secret she had never shared with anyone: she was one of the rarest Porcelain Refiners in the world.
Porcelain Refiner was a unique profession, born of necessity. As long as one was a cultivator, there was no one who wouldn’t need a Porcelain Refiner.
Yet the conditions to become a Porcelain Refiner were exceptionally stringent. The first requirement was to possess an exceptionally gifted All-Element Spirit Root.
Awakening an All-Element Spirit Root led to two extreme outcomes: either becoming a talentless waste with chaotic spiritual roots, or emerging as a peerless genius. The latter was exceedingly rare, almost impossible.
This condition alone was enough to deter most, as individuals with All-Element Spirit Roots—whether failures or geniuses—were seldom seen.
Even if one met the criteria, some would cultivate their entire lives without ever succeeding in refining porcelain. No one was willing to waste an exceptionally gifted All-Element Spirit Root on a profession with uncertain success. Thus, Porcelain Refiners were revered yet unattainable figures among cultivators.
Otherwise, Porcelain Refiners wouldn’t be so rare and precious in this world. Even the Three Islands and Ten Continents held them in high regard.
If a Porcelain Refiner appeared on any continent, they would immediately be taken away by the people of the Three Islands and Ten Continents. It was the only profession that allowed one to go there without needing to ascend.
Therefore, there were no Porcelain Refiners on the Yagu Continent.
She had become a Porcelain Refiner because her spirit root held a secret unknown to anyone, which allowed her to uncover the mysteries of becoming one.
As the name implied, a Porcelain Refiner refined porcelain—not ordinary porcelain, but Porcelain Persons.
These Porcelain Persons were identical to the individual they represented, and most importantly, they carried the person’s Soul Breath. They could bear the unwanted parts of the person’s body or fate.
Whether it was altering one’s fate, breaking through to a higher cultivation level, or ascending, the chances of success were greatly increased with the assistance of a Porcelain Refiner.
Even incurable diseases were no challenge for a Porcelain Refiner.
However, no matter what was being refined, it could not be done without the Divination Art. Thus, to become a Porcelain Refiner, one must first be a Diviner.
The process of refining porcelain required an understanding of a person’s fate, allowing the unwanted parts to be extracted through Soul Breath and refined into the Porcelain Person.
An exceptional Diviner also needed to understand geomancy, divination, and hexagrams.
But becoming a Diviner meant bearing the fate of the Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies: the Five Flaws—Widower, Widow, Orphan, Solitary, Crippled; the Three Deficiencies—Power, Wealth, Life.
These were the Heavenly Dao Laws, and no one could defy them. After all, the profession of a Diviner involved peering into the future, and Porcelain Refiners directly intervened to alter cause and effect, inevitably paying a price.
Murong Chao was only a novice Porcelain Refiner, not yet proficient in the Divination Art. Moreover, she instinctively did not want to bear the fate of the Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies, as her own fate was already unfortunate enough.
Although she desired to go to the Three Islands and Ten Continents, she wanted to ascend there openly and honorably through her own strength, just like Yun Xiu.
Thus, she decisively abandoned the profession of Porcelain Refiner and never spoke of it to anyone.
However, with her soul having returned from a hundred years in the future to a hundred years in the past, perhaps because her spirit was now complete, although her cultivation level was not as high as it had been a century later, her strength as a Porcelain Refiner had grown significantly.
For instance, with the two men before her, she only needed to exert a slight amount of power to easily see through their fates—one was destined for romantic entanglements, while the other possessed the rare Lone Fiend Fate.
Murong Chao narrowed her almond-shaped eyes slightly. It seemed she had been afflicted by all the Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies across both her lifetimes.
Originally, she had lacked only the flaw of disability, but with her spiritual root dug out, she was no longer merely disabled—she was completely crippled.
As for the Three Deficiencies: wealth. Her past self from a hundred years ago was undeniably poor, not even possessing a Qiankun Bag. Although her future self from a century later had some belongings, she was still among the poorest of the Xuantian Sect disciples.
Power? She had never possessed it at all.
Life? That was even more out of the question. Not only was her fate unfortunate, but both versions of herself had met with death in the end.
Ah, Murong Chao sighed deeply in her heart.
Although Diviners were bound by the rules of the Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies, if a Diviner experienced a great calamity and endured all of them, they would no longer be restricted by these rules.
It seemed she had inadvertently broken through the greatest obstacle for a Porcelain Refiner. Could it be that she was naturally suited for this path?
How utterly absurd.
Murong Chao exchanged a glance with Qi Shujin before they passed each other by.
Xie Shikun looked from one to the other, sensing something strange in the atmosphere.
Qi Shujin lifted his foot and followed.
Murong Chao walked all the way back to the gate of the small courtyard and stopped.
Xie Shikun tilted his chin forward. “Well, she must be home.”
The implication was clear: if you plan to stay at her place tonight, you’d better hurry, or she’ll go inside.
Qi Shujin didn’t stop but continued walking toward Murong Chao.
Seeing this, Xie Shikun quickly stepped in to block him. “Are you serious?”
Although he was known for his flirtatious nature, he still respected women and had never resorted to coercion, especially when the other party was an ordinary person without cultivation.
Unfortunately, he failed to stop him. Qi Shujin had already walked up to Murong Chao.
Holding a pale purple oil-paper umbrella, Murong Chao glanced at Qi Shujin. “You’ve been following me all this way. Come in for a cup of tea.”
She could tell this man had come specifically for her.
Although neither of them carried an umbrella, their cultivation was sufficient to shield themselves from the rain with Spiritual Power, leaving their clothes completely dry.
Murong Chao felt a twinge of envy, but her current cultivation level wasn’t high enough to afford such extravagance.
It seemed she needed to focus on cultivating as soon as possible.
Upon hearing Murong Chao’s voice, though soft and sweet, Xie Shikun shuddered, goosebumps rising all over his skin. He grabbed Qi Shujin’s sleeve, trying to stop him from entering.
“I say, brother, something feels off to me.”
The continuous drizzle, the purple oil-paper umbrella, the purple dress, the stunningly beautiful woman with an icy demeanor beneath her delicate exterior, the secluded courtyard, and her initiative to invite them in for tea—it all seemed to align with some indescribable scene.
“Then I’ll trouble you, miss,” Qi Shujin said, brushing off Xie Shikun’s hand and walking forward.
Xie Shikun rubbed his arms resignedly and hurried after him.
Murong Chao pushed open the courtyard gate and entered. Qi Shujin followed, and Xie Shikun quickly stepped in as well, only to see the gate close automatically behind them.
There was no fluctuation of Spiritual Power from this woman, was there? Instantly, goosebumps covered his skin again as he hurried to keep up with Qi Shujin.
Arriving at the main hall in the front courtyard, Murong Chao closed his oil-paper umbrella and stepped inside. “Please come in, both of you.”
Qi Shujin walked in without hesitation, while Xie Shikun glanced around as he entered. How strange—such a large courtyard, yet not a single servant in sight?
Could it really be as he suspected? Had they stumbled upon something supernatural today?
He had always wondered how there could be a woman of such extraordinary beauty in this world. What should they do? Their cultivation hadn’t yet reached the level where they could exorcise demons, dispel evil spirits, or capture ghosts.