Gazing at the blue sky overhead, You Yu calmed her nerves while sifting through the memories in her mind.
After sighing countless times, she finally accepted reality and couldn’t help but curse under her breath.
She had been a model citizen, an ordinary little academic prodigy. She had just received her doctoral diploma and came to school to help her advisor run an experiment when the lab exploded—and blew her straight into this world.
Thinking about it, she was an orphan who had worked her way through school to earn her PhD. She was about to land a job at a good company, earn a high salary, and enjoy a wonderful life. Instead, she ended up in this godforsaken Xiuxian novel, cast as a cannon fodder character meant to be sacrificed for the female lead early in the story.
That’s right—the moment she saw the names You Yu and You Xue’er, she knew she had transmigrated into the novel.
It was a xuanhuan novel she’d bought at the school flea market after getting her diploma, just to relax. Back then, when she saw a character with the same name as hers appear only once, she’d even grumbled about it inwardly.
Despite possessing top-grade aptitude, she was captured by the female lead’s crazed admirer, who drained her bone marrow and blood, using Xieshu to alter the female lead’s constitution.
And that female lead, You Xue’er… wasn’t a good person either. Her mouth cried “no,” but her body obediently absorbed every last drop from that vat. Then, using her improved body, she attracted all kinds of male supporting characters—claiming “we’re just friends” while happily basking in all the favors they showered on her.
Tsk tsk, what a lotus flower of a female lead.
Thinking of her original body—
“Tsk, a pathetic thing that wouldn’t even survive one episode!”
After resting for about a shichen, her mood had mostly settled. She climbed to her feet and surveyed her surroundings.
This was a mountain forest, with no way to tell one direction from another. She picked a path heading downhill and walked slowly.
Based on the memories from the past two days, combined with the novel’s content and the conversation she’d just overheard, she knew today was the day the major sects tested commoners’ Linggen—an event held once every five years. If she missed today, the next test wouldn’t come for another five years.
And the requirement for the Linggen test was being over ten and under sixteen years old.
So if she missed today, she’d never be able to take the test again.
That old hag at home—the female lead You Xue’er’s biological mother—had feared the original body, worried she’d be found to have a Linggen, and so had schemed to send her deep into the mountains.
Her excuse, in prettified words: “Your father isn’t well. Go into the mountains and find a medicinal herb for him. You’re his most beloved daughter, so the herbs you pick will work even better.”
Ha. Lying without even drafting a script—only that old hag could say something like that.
Everyone in the You family knew her father didn’t care for his ex-wife’s daughter, and instead doted on the female lead You Xue’er, born to his second wife just a year after the original body!
Only that fool of an original body believed it!
Two servants had escorted her, but not even half a day into the mountains, they tried to kill her.
No—they’d already killed her.
If she hadn’t transmigrated in, the original body’s corpse would have gone cold by now!
After walking for a while, her bean-sprout of a body gave out. She found a big tree to rest under and continued recalling the plot from the novel.
The novel said that today, You Xue’er would be tested and found to have a Bianyi Feng Linggen, and would be taken as a closed-door disciple by Wuhen Zhenren of the top sect, Xuanyue Zong.
The original body’s appearance at the testing grounds was never mentioned at all.
So even if she rushed with all her might now, she couldn’t make it to the testing site.
She remembered that You Xue’er’s constitution was altered a year later—meaning she still had one year to live.
No, wait. The novel said that Xiexiu sent a letter to the You family on You Xue’er’s behalf, saw the original body, discovered her special constitution, secretly captured her, stripped her bone and blood, and refined them into a secret medicine for You Xue’er.
So if she didn’t return to the You family, she should be able to avoid this death sentence.
Thinking of how the old hag had bullied her for thirteen years, and that deadbeat father who never even asked, she wasn’t the original body anyway—why should she go back?
She turned her gaze in another direction.
Following this path through the mountain range would lead to another big city: Mo Cheng.
The novel said the test there would take place ten days later. As long as she crossed these mountains within ten days, she might make it to that test.
…
You Yu made up her mind. After resting, she immediately changed direction—not heading out of the mountains, but deeper into them.
For an ordinary young girl, crossing this mountain range would be impossible. Not to mention the fierce beasts within, even the sprawling forest alone would easily get a normal person lost.
But who was You Yu?
She had skipped grades her whole life, earning dual doctoral degrees by age twenty-four. The person known as the “God of Learning” wasn’t just about theoretical knowledge.
Using forest features to determine direction was child’s play for her.
The only thing that gave her a bit of a scare was the wild beasts in the mountains.
With her current tiny arms and legs, if she ran into a beast, she’d only be a meal.
Thinking about this world of Xiuxian and her special constitution, if she didn’t cultivate, even if she managed to escape the death tribulation a year from now, she might not be able to avoid other Xiexiu.
Cultivation was her only way out.
If you don’t do it, you die. If you don’t die, you do it. As long as it doesn’t kill you, push yourself to the brink!
Since there was no other choice, she would charge forward without hesitation!
Moreover, with her special constitution, cultivation would definitely be no problem.
With that thought, her little heart calmed down considerably.
After walking for an entire afternoon, she finally found a suitable place to rest before dark.
When she was on the neighboring mountain, she had spotted a pool at the base of this cliff, with some rocks by the water’s edge and an open clearing. After making her way over, she found the place was indeed quite nice—especially those rocks, which seemed to form a small enclosed space. She could sleep inside, build a fire outside—perfect.
Earlier in the afternoon, she had seen some fruit and picked a few to eat, so she wasn’t particularly hungry now. She went to the pool’s edge to drink some water, planning to fill her water pouch and bring it over to wash her feet, easing the soreness from walking all day.
Just as she was filling the pouch, something white plummeted from the sky and crashed into the water, splashing her with a chilling spray.
She wiped the water from her face and saw a white figure floating up from the pool.
Wasn’t this one of the Xianren flying through the sky today?
Oh, what a handsome guy!
As someone who appreciated good looks, she didn’t hesitate for a second. She dove into the pool, swam over to the person, and dragged him—who was about to sink again—to the shore. But in the end, she simply didn’t have the strength; once she reached the edge, she couldn’t pull him up any further.
She braced herself against the bank, catching her breath for a few moments, before finally taking a good look at him.
A face even more handsome than the young photos of those uncles in the modern entertainment industry, skin so smooth and delicate it seemed it might break at a touch, and tightly furrowed brows that made one want to reach out and stroke them.
“So good-looking! But… why does he look somewhat familiar?”
She searched her memory, and suddenly two images burst into her mind.
The first was of today—a black figure and a white figure chasing each other across the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The second image… was from a few days ago.