“Going to buy Foundation Consolidation Pills again? Are you really planning to participate in the family competition?”
Yan Qingyan was holding two low-grade spirit stones in her hand, about to go out for a stroll, when a surprised voice suddenly came from behind her.
“I’ve heard this kind of talk many times already. Why does Elder always like to ask the same question?” Yan Qingyan frowned, turning around to see that it was Elder Yan Shi again, and couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed.
Elder Yan Shi was the most sarcastic elder in their Yan family, and every time they met, she would be mocked.
Sure enough, Elder Yan Shi acted as if he didn’t notice Yan Qingyan’s aversion to him, continuing with a sarcastic tone, “I’m just giving you well-meaning advice. With your Spiritual Root aptitude, you should stop dreaming about Cultivation. You’ll never be able to build a foundation in your lifetime. Want to stay by participating in the family competition? Who can you defeat at the third layer of Qi Refining? You’d be better off saving those spirit stones to add to your dowry.”
“My spirit stones are mine to spend however I want,” Yan Qingyan replied unhappily.
So annoying, why hadn’t she just slipped away earlier? She should have just left!
Elder Yan Shi seemed oblivious to the displeasure in her tone and continued rambling, “You should start planning what to do after leaving the main family. You can’t possibly risk venturing outside, can you? Don’t forget how your parents died.”
“Hey, hey! I haven’t finished yet, don’t walk away!”
How did Yan Qingyan’s parents die? They died somewhere in a remote secret realm while traveling far from home.
Yan Qingyan didn’t want to continue arguing with him and left without looking back.
Every time she had a conversation with someone who made her uncomfortable, it felt as if her mental energy was being quietly drained away. It was exhausting!
The Yan family Yan Qingyan belonged to was one of the three major families in Qingyang City, which sounded quite impressive. However, she was only a collateral disciple with no exceptional aptitude to rely on. To cultivate quickly, Foundation Consolidation Pills were a good choice.
A bottle of Foundation Consolidation Pills cost one low-grade spirit stone and contained only five pills. For someone as poor as her, whose entire fortune consisted of just a few spirit stones, this was already a significant expense.
She had spent a long time mentally preparing herself before leaving!
She was indeed going out to buy Foundation Consolidation Pills to aid her cultivation, but the family competition?
Hah! Yan Qingyan sneered inwardly.
The Yan family stipulated that collateral disciples must participate in the family competition assessment upon turning eighteen. Those who failed would be assigned tasks by the steward and sent away, or they could choose to venture out on their own.
Yan Qingyan had never intended to stay in the Yan family. Even after her parents died unexpectedly a few years ago, it hadn’t shaken her determination to venture out into the world!
Yan Qingyan’s face was filled with fighting spirit.
How could a cultivator like me fear hardship?!
Behind her, Elder Yan Shi shook his head and sighed with the tone of someone who had seen it all, “Sigh! Really, someone who’s about to be sent away, why bother putting in the effort? Trash is trash, and all this fuss is just a waste of time.”
……
Qingyang City’s main street.
The usually bustling street was unusually quiet today.
Yan Qingyan strolled along the street, puzzled by the unusual atmosphere. However, she had only come to buy Foundation Consolidation Pills today and didn’t want to investigate further.
As Yan Qingyan approached the familiar pill shop and was about to enter, a commotion suddenly erupted nearby, accompanied by a woman’s piercing scream.
Yan Qingyan turned her head, drawn by the noise.
“Ah! Help! Let me go!”
A man dressed in lavish brocade robes kicked a vegetable vendor aside, revealing a beautiful young female cultivator.
The female cultivator’s cultivation level was clearly inferior to that man’s. Being publicly harassed, her face flushed red with anger yet she had no strength to resist.
“Oh? Already shy? If you follow me, you’ll enjoy all the luxuries—benefits aplenty!” Yin Siwen flashed a smile he thought was handsome, gripping her tightly with one hand.
“Let go! I won’t go!”
“If I don’t let go, what can you do?”
The beautiful female cultivator was furious—was she shy? She was enraged!
Who didn’t know Yin Siwen?
Qingyang City relied on the Biyue Sect, one of Qingzhou’s three major sects, offering a batch of cultivation resources every ten years for protection. This time, the one collecting the “fee” was Yin Siwen, a pure Cultivation Second Generation. With a father at the Nascent Soul stage, he began tyrannizing and bullying men and women from his first day in Qingyang City, stirring resentment throughout the city, yet no one dared speak out.
Yin Siwen grinned sinisterly, seemingly savoring the spectacle of forcibly seizing a common woman in public, until he sensed a disgusted gaze fixed squarely on his back.
Yin Siwen turned and frowned upon seeing the face of the person behind that gaze.
“What are you looking at? A mere third layer of Qi Refining, daring to disrespect me? Seeking death!”
Yan Qingyan, seeing him turn, felt no fear.
She seldom indulged in gossip. Having just ended her cultivation retreat days ago, she immediately went out to buy medicine, so news of the Biyue Sect envoy’s arrival hadn’t reached her ears.
Ignorance… naturally breeds courage!
Yan Qingyan, relying on her status as a member of Qingyang City’s Yan family—even as a collateral branch—felt secure within Qingyang City. How could this person speak to her like that? Had he not seen the Yan family identity token at her waist?
But she restrained her gaze now. She couldn’t discern his cultivation level, but it was definitely higher than hers!
In the Cultivation World, seniority is ranked by cultivation level. Unless you have a powerful backing, you must show no slightest disrespect toward stronger cultivators.
Yan Qingyan silently lowered her head, but clearly, he wasn’t planning to forgive her disrespect lightly!
A flash of ruthlessness crossed Yin Siwen’s eyes as he continued darkly, “Your appearance doesn’t suit my taste. You think I’d indulge you?”
He beckoned a guard beside him, “Xiang Jiu, cripple her Dantian for me!”
“Yes!”
Yan Qingyan: ?
Yan Qingyan widened her eyes abruptly, clearly unprepared for this sudden turn.
“What?!?” Yan Qingyan tensed up entirely. Her heart racing wildly made her limbs somewhat clumsy. She wanted to raise her identity token.
His strength far surpassed hers—she couldn’t resist!
She wanted to cultivate! She absolutely couldn’t have her Dantian crippled here!
Xiang Jiu’s pace unchanged, he arrived before Yan Qingyan in an instant.
At this moment, time seemed stretched endlessly long. The surroundings froze. She resembled an utterly powerless ant, the whole world leaving only her inner despair and cries.
“Wait, Senior’s actions are somewhat excessive, aren’t they?!?” This sentence was her final struggle.
Thump—
“Aaaaaahhhh!”
A smear of blood, carrying silent pain, became Yan Qingyan’s last memory before she fell unconscious.
Unnoticed within her sleeve, two low-grade spirit stones slowly dissolved and vanished.
……
……
“If you were given a golden finger, which one would you choose?”
“Spiritual Spring Space!”
It was a green pattern resembling a four-leaf clover, and just a glance seemed to bring a sense of impending luck.
Yan Qingyan thought, ‘I truly am the chosen one—I will surely remain lucky forever!’
……
“Having a golden finger that can save your life is wonderful. When zombies come, if I can fight them off, I’ll eliminate them and dig out their crystal cores. If I can’t, I’ll just hide in my Space!”
“Heavens! Is that a level-five zombie?! Hehe, I’ll retreat to my Space and lay low first. Once my special ability levels up, I’ll come back for a fight!”
[Drip—Space upgrading…]
“Huh? What?! Why didn’t you say it was going to upgrade earlier?!”
“Don’t come any closer!”
“Ah—”
……
Inside a quaint, antique-style cottage, a young woman lay quietly on a bed, her clothes stained with blood.
Although it was utterly silent outside, her ears seemed filled with all sorts of chaotic noises, as if countless roars and wails surrounded her.
Her eyes were tightly shut, her brows deeply furrowed, as if trapped in a nightmare, sleeping restlessly.
“Ah!”
After an unknown length of time, Yan Qingyan suddenly opened her eyes, sitting up with a swift motion like a carp leaping. The wound in her Dantian was unexpectedly pulled, sending a sharp pain through her that made her gasp involuntarily.
“Hiss—”
Ignoring her injuries, Yan Qingyan focused intently on sensing the activity in her consciousness sea. Only when she saw that familiar pattern again did an unrestrained look of wild joy finally spread across her face.
“I remember now!”
She remembered what those recurring dreams from childhood truly were—they were memories of her past life, proof that she had once existed in another world!