Even though Mu Zhaoran had decided to train hard so she could enter the Juntian Hall and bring back the Chengtian Mirror for Nanrong, when she actually saw her spiritual foundation completed and realized her future life was destined to be spent rolling in soil, mud, and stones, she couldn’t help feeling a bit down.
She didn’t even have the energy to argue with the old man anymore. She just sat on the field ridge, head down, repeatedly looking inward at her dantian.
The longer she looked, the more she noticed that the patch of land inside her dantian had several round pits, connected by thin, thread-like inscriptions, like stars embedded in the ground.
Her dantian wasn’t filled with real soil. The spiritual foundation made from earth energy also had the old man’s oral instructions—magical formulas—engraved into it.
These characters were intertwined with the earth energy, densely forming her foundation. Only a small portion was fully lit, while much of it remained dim inside her dantian.
The old man’s aged voice drifted to her ears: “This is the Earth Star Formula, the result of a lifetime of my work. If you find the five Earth Star Stones—Daxiao, Zhonghua, Yinghuo, Zhen, and Chen—and refine them into yourself, you will gain endless power from the earth.”
Mu Zhaoran opened her eyes and looked at him, startled.
He suddenly looked even older. His white hair had grown thinner and brittle, his wrinkles carved deep into his face, his back completely hunched, and the vigor he had before was gone.
He squatted down, cupping a handful of soft soil in his frail hands. The way he held it was reverent, as if it were a priceless treasure, not just dirt.
He truly loved this land.
He kneaded the soil in his hands until it formed a shape with a nose, ears, and mouth. Earth energy poured into it, and a bright reddish-brown glow burst forth. From the light, a little earth dog suddenly jumped out, barking at the old man.
The old man laughed heartily, tapping its nose and gesturing, “Go on, go.”
The earth dog, surprisingly smart, turned and ran toward Mu Zhaoran. She jumped back, yelling, “Don’t come near me!”
The dog didn’t understand her refusal. The more she dodged, the happier it became. Its tail wagged like a fan, and it jumped into her, covering her with mud and leaving footprints on her skirt.
Mu Zhaoran held it at arm’s length, trying to avoid the dog licking her hands. She thought of her little clay doll, and for a moment didn’t know whether to hold or let it go. She lifted it as best as she could and complained, “Don’t lick me! Your paws are full of dirt, don’t wipe it on me!”
The old man sat nearby, drinking from a clay bowl, watching them and laughing.
Finally managing to calm the dog, Mu Zhaoran caught her breath and asked, “Five Earth Star Stones? Then why are there six pits in my dantian?”
The old man stroked his long beard and smiled, eyes narrowing into thin lines. “The extra pit is called the ‘Lock Star.’ It belongs to your Golden Core. You yourself are a star in the Earth Star Formula.”
Since she had now inherited his technique, Mu Zhaoran seriously poured a bowl of rough tea and performed the apprentice bow.
The old man accepted the tea but refused to tell her his name. He only looked at her deeply. In his cloudy eyes, a rare glimmer of his former spirit appeared. He said, “Only you, I, and Xiao Huang know about this inheritance. When you leave, don’t tell anyone I am your master.”
Mu Zhaoran jumped up from the ground, brushed the soil off her knees, and asked defiantly, “You look down on me?”
The old man nearly choked on the apprentice tea, waving his hand, “How dare I! Look at you—you’re fiercer than Xiao Huang. If one word goes wrong, I’d be afraid you might try to kill your master!”
Mu Zhaoran: “…” She looked away guiltily, holding Xiao Huang and rubbing its head hard, trying to change the subject. “So… I can’t tell anyone that I’m practicing the Earth Star Technique, right?”
The old man waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. The Earth Star Technique is something I created in my old age. It hasn’t been shown to the world yet. Just tell people you dug it up from the soil randomly.”
Mu Zhaoran looked at him suspiciously. An old man so afraid of being found out—could he be some extremely evil person trapped in the Earth Scroll?
Then she thought again. Even really evil people would be locked in the Crime Stele, like how her own name had once been recorded there. So she relaxed a little.
Mu Zhaoran had just completed her spiritual foundation and wasn’t very strong yet. She spent the following days in the forest training, playing with the little earth dog, joking with the old man, and eating the vegetables he grew. There was little oil or flavor, so the food wasn’t very tasty.
The old man grew weaker day by day. At first, he could still cook a few dishes, but later he even needed a cane to stand. Mu Zhaoran had to learn to cook for herself, eating plain boiled vegetables every meal, and they both looked pale from the diet.
As the Earth Scroll’s closing approached, Mu Zhaoran felt it coming. Holding the little dog, she was worried but tried not to show it. She carefully asked what would happen to him and Xiao Huang when she left—could they leave the scroll too?
The old man pointed to a patch of field and said calmly, “Before you go, dig a pit there for me.”
Mu Zhaoran opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything. After teaching her the Earth Star Technique, it seemed he had completed his life’s wish. His spirit and body were quickly fading.
Would he still die because of her?
This life was different from the last. In the previous life, she had never interacted with him and had no master-apprentice bond. Even though she had been a cruel villainess to others, she could feel some attachment to people around her.
Thinking that he might die because of her, she felt sad. The guilt of killing him in her past life still weighed on her heart.
The old man seemed to notice her feelings and held out his frail hand. “Give it to me.”
Mu Zhaoran reached out, but her hand passed right through his. She looked up in surprise. “You…”
“You don’t need to worry. I am already dead. What remains in the Earth Scroll is just a lingering attachment. Once it is resolved, I can finally rest in peace.”
Mu Zhaoran froze, then squatted on the ground and began wiping her tears.
The old man walked around her, and the little earth dog barked happily by her side.
The old man laughed. “Oh? What’s this? You’re usually carefree—so you’re this attached to me?”
Mu Zhaoran grabbed her sleeve, wiping her tears randomly. The guilt inside her cracked, almost making her want to hit him with her hoe in frustration. “Who’s attached to you, you old fool!”
Why didn’t he say he was already dead! Did he know how miserable she had felt all these days?
The old man quickly backed away, clutching his chest. “You little girl, why are you still so fierce?”
Mu Zhaoran snorted. “I’m like this—you’re too late to regret it!”
On the last day, following her master’s instructions, she dug a big square pit in the field full of rich earth energy.
The Earth Scroll closed. Mist descended from the sky, the forest began to fade, and Mu Zhaoran’s body was pulled out of the scroll uncontrollably. In her last moment in the scroll, she saw the old man standing by the pit she dug, waving at her and saying something.
Xiao Huang barked twice at his feet, then collapsed into a pile of soil.
Mu Zhaoran’s shout of “Master!” stuck in her throat. She tried to read his lips, eyes wide in shock. When she finally fully exited the scroll and landed on the Xujin Platform, she was still dazed.
Master Cen hurried over, looking her over. “Zhaoran, Mu Zhaoran!”
She snapped out of it, saw everyone staring at her, and her racing heartbeat gradually calmed. She instinctively looked up at the half-open scroll.
The scroll closed completely, the five-element spiritual energy forming cords to seal it, and it sank into the mountain, disappearing.
Those who had entered the scroll gained something: some got Buddhist scriptures, some learned skills, and some received their life instruments. Everyone’s cultivation improved. Even the least experienced successfully built a foundation.
The saying was true: “Even a thrown pig can build a foundation in the Earth Scroll.”
Everyone’s experiences could be watched by outsiders, except for the period when Mu Zhaoran disappeared—no one knew what she had gone through. Master Cen asked, “Zhaoran, did something special happen in the scroll?”
Mu Zhaoran shook the mud from her skirt. “I accidentally found a field rich in earth energy. I stayed there to cultivate until I completed my foundation, then the scroll ejected me.”
The mud on her skirt indeed carried strong earth energy.
The Earth Scroll was meant to give all disciples a chance. Some were luckier than others. If a disciple didn’t say much, the masters didn’t push. Mu Zhaoran came out successfully, so the masters relaxed.
Meanwhile, Zhu Qinglan’s actions in the Sword Valley drew attention. The last time the valley’s weapons resonated together was when Xing Tianjun took the sword.
This time, the valley’s weapons resonated again, different from before, and several sword masters watched closely.
Zhu Qinglan didn’t want to reveal her nine-tail identity, so she swallowed the broken tail’s blood and teeth and had a prepared excuse: “That great sword was just a test. It looked dangerous but wasn’t lethal. After I showed my resolve in the face of death, the weapons retracted. The masters outside were worried, but there was no real danger.”
She performed a polite bow while speaking.
After a brief Q&A, everyone left the practice field to rest.
Mu Zhaoran returned to Zhuxi Pavilion. Everyone gathered around, happy to see her.
Liuyue said, “The Earth Scroll really lives up to its reputation. When Your Highness was in Nanrong, even with the elder’s daily guidance, you couldn’t build a foundation. One day in the scroll, and you succeeded.”
Shuangxu replied objectively, “Your Highness spent two of the three days sneaking off to play, and on the last day, half was spent dozing and half trying to avoid the elder’s punishment. If you had really trained every day, you would have built a foundation long ago.”
Mu Zhaoran blushed, pretending to cry in pain, and showed her hands with blood scabs.
Everyone’s attention was drawn, and Liuyue quickly took her inside to clean and dress the wounds, murmuring as she worked.
“Didn’t they say the scroll was safe? How come Your Highness got hurt in the Heavenly Dao Palace? You’ve never suffered so much before.”
Mu Zhaoran saw everyone’s worried faces and almost smiled, but thinking of how they had died in her past life, her mood sank again.
When leaving the scroll, her master’s last words echoed in her mind: “Changing fate is an act against Heaven.”
He spoke with deep compassion, as if he already knew her past and had foreseen her future.
She seemed to understand his unspoken message: changing fate requires power beyond the norm, but she was too young, too weak, and not strong-willed enough.
Just as he had first said: “What could you achieve?”
Perhaps he knew his time was near and could no longer wait for a better disciple, so he reluctantly entrusted his life’s work to her.
Mu Zhaoran lowered her head, staring at her palm, the tangled lines of her hand reflecting the uncertain future. She trembled, clenched her fist, then quickly released it in pain.
“Your Highness, don’t move. I’ll dress it. It’ll heal soon,” Liuyue said, wrapping her palm carefully.
Mu Zhaoran looked away, stunned for a moment, then suddenly asked, “What’s Ye Lizhi doing?”
Shuangxu noticed her special interest in Ye Lizhi. While not clearly good or bad, it was unusual, so they kept an eye on Ye Lizhi.
She replied: “Before entering the scroll, Lady Ye arranged a task for her—to collect morning dew from cliff chrysanthemums on the eastern cliffs of Juefeng Mountain every day, filling a pot for tea. Without cultivation, it’s dangerous. She injured her leg this morning and only collected half a pot, so she’ll probably be punished again.”
Mu Zhaoran took out the Fuyun Sword from her storage pouch. The sword was pure white, its scabbard like condensed clouds with cloud patterns. When drawn, the blade was also clear and white.
However, the blade was still dull and unsharpened.
Shuangxu, being a sword cultivator, immediately noticed its power. Her eyes lit up. “Did Your Highness get this sword from the scroll? Even unsharpened, it has strong energy. Once sharpened, it will be a top-class magical weapon.”
Mu Zhaoran had seen the sword in action and had experienced its power herself.
The moment she was locked by its sword energy, winds and clouds swirled around her. The flowing clouds were so soft and mesmerizing that she almost let her guard down, wanting to sink into them.
But the moment she actually touched the cloud-like strands, the rainbow-colored sword light could cut a person to pieces in an instant. This was a gentle-looking sword, but each strike could kill.
Only by giving this sword to Ye Lizhi could the karmic stain on her soul be erased.
Instead of letting Zhu Qinglan finish refining the Zhuochen Pill to open Ye Lizhi’s spiritual meridians, it was better to act first—let Ye Lizhi open her meridians using this sword.
Mu Zhaoran needed to become a kind, loving girl who got along well with the heroine.