Female Lead, Something's Not Right (GL) - Chapter 1

“It’s the divine relic, the Lingxiao Flower!”

In an ancient secret realm, Gu Shiyan, her spiritual energy nearly depleted after a battle with a demon cultivator, fled to a cave sealed by a restriction. On the stone door of the cave, a flower with petals like iridescent glass, shimmering with a dazzling seven-colored light, was growing. She clearly remembered it from the Divine Medicine Scroll—the Lingxiao Flower.

A surge of overwhelming joy broke through her rationality, making her ignore the demon claw filled with sinister killing intent that was closing in behind her.

“Ugh!”

The demon claw instantly pierced through Gu Shiyan’s dantian. She looked at the demon cultivator in disbelief. “Why? Why is there a demon in this secret realm?!”

….

Spiritual stones aren’t a panacea, but you can’t do a thing without them!

This was the last thought that passed through the mind of the dying Gu Shiyan.

She was too poor to afford spiritual stones to cultivate to the sixth stage of Qi Condensation, so she remained a mere chore-doing disciple in the outer sect and couldn’t participate in the inner sect competition.

She was too poor to have a flying talisman, so she was savagely beaten by a demon beast during a sect mission. Not only did she fail the mission, but she also lost her storage bag.

Having used all her savings to finally secure a spot in the ancient secret realm, she was too poor to have revitalization pills. Her spiritual energy was exhausted during a fight with a demon cultivator, and her Sea of Consciousness was pierced by a demon claw.

Gu Shiyan collapsed to the ground, unwilling to accept her fate. With her Sea of Consciousness destroyed, her mere ten years of cultivation had come to an end.

Suddenly, a silver-glowing sword pierced through the back of the demon cultivator. The demon shrieked and fell to the ground, its divine sense transforming into a wisp of black smoke that streamed from its eyes, flailing in panic. Before it could escape, it was scattered by spiritual energy.

The newcomer was clad in a celestial white robe stained with blood, like plum blossoms dyed with snow.

The lifeless Gu Shiyan struggled to lift her head, meeting a pair of cold, beautiful eyes as placid as an ancient well.

This was the Tianxuan Sect’s revered True Monarch Hehua, Shen Shu. The words “aloof as jade,” “crane-like posture,” and “the darling of the Heavenly Dao” were perfect descriptions of her.

Though the two were close enough to touch, their status was a world apart.

Darkness enveloped Gu Shiyan. With a bitter sense of envy, she faded away, her passing unheeded.

After all, she was just an outer sect disciple of the Alchemy Division, timid and not good with words—an insignificant grain of sand among countless cultivators. Who would remember her existence?

Thinking back on her path of cultivation, she realized how incredibly difficult it had been.

…

After who knows how long, Gu Shiyan awoke to find herself in a vast white space. Wisps of white mist drifted beneath her, and when she lifted her foot, faint ripples appeared on the ground.

“Where is this? Am I not dead?” Her heart was filled with surprise. She looked down and touched her dantian, finding it perfectly intact. “Could this be a great opportunity from a powerful being in the secret realm, bringing me back to life?”

Gu Shiyan walked through the white expanse, and the mist parted on its own to form a small path. Following the path, she came to a carved desk with a book on it: The Legend of True Monarch Hehua.

As she softly murmured the book’s title, a flood of new memories filled her mind.

The protagonist of The Legend of True Monarch Hehua was none other than the Shen Shu she remembered. The book detailed how Shen Shu, as the legitimate daughter of a cultivation clan, used her genius talent to rise step by step, becoming the Tianxuan Sect’s chief disciple. Her cultivation repeatedly broke through until she opened the Immortal Gate, awakened her divine bloodline, and returned to the Upper Realm.

The book also told the story of how this stunning beauty and the male lead, Xiao Ze, fought demons and monsters, explored secret realms for immortal treasures, and endured hardships to fall in love and become a divine couple.

After reading it all, Gu Shiyan shook her head helplessly. As expected, in both her past life and the book, she was always the most insignificant person. Her appearance in the secret realm was merely a catalyst to get Shen Shu’s attention, allowing her to obtain ancient treasures and deepen her relationship with Xiao Ze.

With a look of emotion, Gu Shiyan reached out a finger to touch the heavenly book, and in an instant, she was sucked into it.

When she came to, she found herself in the outer sect dormitory of the Alchemy Division—the six-person shared room from her past life.

“Have I been reborn?”

Gu Shiyan stood rooted to the spot, her heart racing. She stared at the familiar surroundings in disbelief, then reached out and pinched her cheek. The sharp, real pain brought tears of excitement to her eyes.

“Who says ordinary people are all like dust? Perhaps their chance just hasn’t appeared yet!”

Recalling the heavenly book she saw, some memories still lingered. Although she didn’t remember the specific details, she knew the major events.

Most importantly, in this life, she would properly prepare, save spiritual stones, and cultivate well to survive. Gu Shiyan knew her luck was at its limit. Even if she knew where others’ opportunities lay, she wouldn’t try to seize them.

Her priority was to avoid Shen Shu and protect her own life.

Gu Shiyan knew she couldn’t compare to the brilliant and famous Shen Shu and Xiao Ze. She wouldn’t harbor jealousy or resentment, as that would only bring trouble. If troubles can’t be resolved, they become obsessions, which turn into inner demons—a surefire way to destroy one’s cultivation path and a major taboo!

The Heavenly Dao is full of constant change. One different step leads to a different path.

Gu Shiyan believed that in this life, she could survive and find her own path to immortality! Currently, she was at the third stage of Qi Condensation with mixed-element spiritual roots of earth, wood, and metal. She had been at the sect for four years, and her cultivation hadn’t progressed since her breakthrough last year.

A mixed-element spiritual root basically meant she was a bit more talented than a mortal, able to live for an extra hundred years, but for cultivation, it was a fool’s dream. Throughout the entire cultivation continent, it was extremely difficult for someone with three spiritual roots to reach the Golden Core stage, and it only happened with a massive investment of resources. Gu Shiyan knew how hard it would be to break through two stages in two years to qualify for the inner sect competition.

With this in mind, she rushed out, no longer stubbornly cultivating in the stone formation like she did in her past life. Instead, she went to the sect’s mission hall to earn spiritual stones. Her solitary cultivation was useless now; the impurities in her spiritual roots prevented spiritual energy from entering her dantian, making her efforts futile. But with a Marrow Cleansing Pill, she could purify her roots and surely break through in two years.

“Senior Brother, here’s my jade token. What missions are available?”

The disciple in charge of distributing missions picked up her token. “Feeding spirit beasts at the Spirit Beast Gate costs three low-grade spiritual stones. Collecting herbs in the back mountains costs five low-grade spiritual stones. Or cleaning some fellow disciples’ yards for ten low-grade spiritual stones. Which do you want to take?”

Gu Shiyan thought for a moment. As an alchemist from the Alchemy Division, collecting herbs in the back mountains was the most suitable, but it would take a long time. Right now, time was her most pressing concern.

“Senior Brother, please give me the yard cleaning job,” Gu Shiyan said after a moment’s thought. “If possible, could you give me a few more tasks?”

The disciple carved a few lines onto a jade slip. “That’s no problem. The Tianxuan Sect is a large sect, and many of the outer sect disciples are quite proud and are reluctant to take on cleaning jobs. I’ll give you both of today’s yard cleaning tasks.”

Gu Shiyan was overjoyed. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

With the mission in hand, Gu Shiyan hurried toward the Sword Division. Fortunately, both yards were there, so she could finish before the curfew at the Alchemy Division.

After handing her jade token to the gate-keeping disciple, Gu Shiyan began cleaning up the messy kitchen in the back. Normally, disciples at the Foundation Establishment stage only ate Bigu Pills, but some still indulged their desire for food. It seemed the owner of this yard was one of them. The state of the kitchen showed that this person had no talent for cooking.

Right. Shen Shu’s path was the way of the sword.

But she definitely wouldn’t run into Shen Shu. As the sole disciple of the chief among the nine elders of the Tianxuan Sect, she lived on her own peak, and it was rare for anyone to see her.

Lost in thought, she finished cleaning the back kitchen. She handed the remaining good ingredients to the junior disciple.

The disciple checked the mission’s completion and nodded in satisfaction, handing ten low-grade spiritual stones to Gu Shiyan. Gu Shiyan smiled and put them into her storage bag.

The junior disciple waved his hand at the ingredients. “You can take those and throw them away.”

“Throw them away?”

“Yeah, you can keep them if you want. We won’t be using them anyway.” The disciple’s expression was a mix of exasperation and a desire not to say more.

Gu Shiyan didn’t hesitate, thanked him with a smile, and hurried to the other female cultivator’s yard.

As soon as she entered the yard, Qin Qianqian, dressed in a red and green gauze dress, frowned. “Why are you so late?”

“I’m sorry, Senior Sister. Our outer sect disciples have low cultivation and can’t compare to inner sect senior sisters. Even with sword flight, it takes longer,” Gu Shiyan said, lowering her gaze to apologize to the arrogant person.

“Don’t you know how to use a flying talisman? If you don’t finish watering the herb field before curfew, you won’t get any spiritual stones from me.” Qin Qianqian impatiently frowned, no longer picking on her after being appeased. She simply told her to hurry up and then turned to go inside.

Once the person was gone, Gu Shiyan went to the herb field. It was planted with a medium-grade immortal herb called the Hundred Flower Dew. Though the field wasn’t large, with only about a hundred plants, it was a difficult task for Gu Shiyan.

This immortal herb was a main ingredient for the Face-Beautifying Pill, and it was incredibly difficult and fragile to cultivate. Its care required someone to manually and meticulously drip spiritual water from a hot spring into each flower’s stamen, which was the size of a fish’s eye. The job didn’t require high cultivation, but it demanded extreme care and patience. A little too much spiritual water, and the plant would wither and die.

“How did a task like this get assigned as a low-level mission? This kind of work usually pays around fifty low-grade spiritual stones. Did Senior Brother Zhou make a mistake?” Gu Shiyan wondered to herself.

There was no time to think. She could only blame her own excitement for not asking more questions earlier. If she had known she had to water the Hundred Flower Dew with spiritual water, she would have never taken the job.

But she couldn’t just abandon the mission. She wouldn’t be able to take on any other tasks for a month, and she only had one chance to give up a mission in a year. She didn’t want to waste it, so she had to grit her teeth and do it. At worst, she wouldn’t get paid for completing the mission.

After some time, she felt a subtle gaze from behind her. Just then, a message paper crane flew into the yard.

Qin Qianqian came out and grabbed the paper crane. A woman’s hurried voice came from it: “Senior Sister Qianqian, down the mountain…”

Hearing this, Gu Shiyan’s hand trembled, and spiritual water gushed out. The Hundred Flower Dew in her hand instantly withered and died, just like her impending fate.

Qin Qianqian!

Gu Shiyan finally understood why this strange mission appeared. The person who posted it did so on purpose. It wasn’t to target her specifically but was an indiscriminate attack, and she just happened to be the scapegoat.

In her past life, she had heard of Qin Qianqian in the outer sect. She was a beautiful but malicious woman. Her master was an inner sect disciple of the Seven Stars Peak elder, so she was arrogant and overbearing with her master’s backing. Gu Shiyan remembered her because of her strange hobby of tormenting people.

This woman was already at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment and was a dual-spiritual root Artifact Forger. She would often use various excuses to have outer sect disciples test the venomous artifacts she created.

In her previous life, one of her roommates was tormented, causing damage to her bones and spiritual roots. As an outer sect disciple, she had no one to turn to and was forced to leave the sect in sorrow.

There was also something else… she had read in the heavenly book that Qin Qianqian harbored feelings for True Monarch Hehua!