Holding the Sword to Carry Away Senior Sister (Transmigration) - Chapter 38

When Fu Yan finally woke up, she had no idea how much time had passed. A gray haze of smoke clouded her vision; she propped herself up slowly, and after a long moment, her thoughts began to clear and return to her.

A campfire crackled and burned before her, and the smoke finally began to dissipate, allowing her field of vision to open up once more.

She seemed to be in a cave. Outside, perhaps because night had already fallen, it was almost pitch black; she could only see rows of tree shadows, blurred and somewhat surreal.

Fu Yan looked down at the pile of dry grass beneath her and wasn’t particularly surprised. Her Ling Long broken sword lay quietly by her side. Judging by how fresh the fire looked, the person who started it couldn’t have been gone long.

Although she didn’t see Bai Yueli upon waking, Fu Yan wasn’t too worried. With Bai Yueli’s current cultivation at the Great Circle of the Opening Light stage, she could roam freely as long as she didn’t encounter a Level 4 magical beast.

Having slept, Fu Yan felt much better—at least strong enough to sit up. Taking advantage of Bai Yueli’s absence, she quickly swallowed two or three True Qi pills and began to meditate on the spot to slowly recover and regulate her breathing.

Bai Yueli hadn’t gone far and returned in less than half a stick of incense. Seeing Fu Yan meditating, she didn’t speak to disturb her, only quietly adding a few dry branches to the fire.

When Fu Yan had suddenly fainted, Bai Yueli had felt a moment of panic. Only after a careful examination did she realize Fu Yan had simply overextended her spiritual power and True Essence, and that her body was otherwise fine. Only then did she truly feel at ease.

As her thoughts settled, Bai Yueli withdrew her gaze. Seeing the fire was burning brightly, she took several fish from her storage ring, skewered them on long branches, and began to roast them slowly.

For a time, the cave was exceptionally quiet.

After successfully digesting the spiritual energy of the three True Qi pills, Fu Yan began to draw spiritual energy into her body, quickly condensing several wisps of True Essence into her nearly depleted Qi Sea. Once finished, she felt as though she had truly come back to life.

Opening her eyes, Fu Yan saw Bai Yueli sitting by the fire. In her clean white dress, she looked out of place in the messy cave, yet as beautiful as a painting.

Fu Yan couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

“Senior Sister,” Fu Yan spoke softly as Bai Yueli turned to look at her.

Seeing her awake, Bai Yueli handed over a roasted fish and said slowly, “When True Essence is overextended, you cannot recover too aggressively, or you’ll easily damage your foundation.”

Fu Yan understood this principle, which was why she had only taken three pills. Taking the fish, she nodded slightly and replied, “Don’t worry, Senior Sister, I’ve only recovered two or three tenths of my True Essence.”

As she spoke, Fu Yan’s gaze fell on the roasted fish. She was already famished, so she didn’t stand on ceremony and took a large bite.

“Hoo— it’s hot!!”

With one bite, the heat made Fu Yan’s tongue go numb. The scalding meat stayed on the tip of her tongue; she couldn’t bring herself to spit it out, so she could only reflexively blow hard to lower the temperature.

“Heh.” Seeing Fu Yan get burned, Bai Yueli suddenly found it amusing and couldn’t help a light laugh.

Hearing the soft laughter, Fu Yan thought it was an illusion. When she quickly looked up at Bai Yueli, she caught the slight upward curve of the other’s lips, though it vanished in an instant.

It was as if no one had laughed at all.

“What is it?” Sensing Fu Yan staring at her in a daze, Bai Yueli asked with some confusion.

Fu Yan snapped out of it. The fish in her mouth had cooled slightly; she chewed a few times and swallowed before explaining with a smile, “It’s nothing. I just realized that this seems to be the first time I’ve seen you laugh, Senior Sister.”

Laugh? Bai Yueli paused.

This remark sent Bai Yueli into deep thought. Had she never laughed before? She wasn’t sure herself. In her memory, she indeed rarely showed much expression, but the Fu Yan before her laughed often.

She looked a bit silly when she laughed, but also very clever; her clear eyes would curve into crescents, looking quite comfortable and naturally lifting one’s mood.

“You should laugh more often, Senior Sister. It looks very good.”

Fu Yan’s crisp voice rang out again. Bai Yueli looked up at Fu Yan, who had returned to eating her fish, and noticed her heart skip a beat. Something seemed to be on the verge of surfacing.

However, she didn’t understand what it was.

Fu Yan had simply made a casual observation and didn’t think much of it. After all, given Bai Yueli’s appearance, her smile was bound to be beautiful—a kind of ethereal, otherworldly beauty.

After her comment, Fu Yan realized she was truly starving. She cast aside her worries about her image and began to devour the cooled fish. Although there weren’t as many seasonings as in the modern world, the fish Bai Yueli roasted was delicious. Fu Yan ate three in one go, while Bai Yueli only took a single bite.

Eventually, Fu Yan gave a sheepish laugh. “Sorry, Senior Sister. Did I eat too much?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bai Yueli replied.

Cultivators generally have little interest in food, usually eating simple meals only in the two days after a period of fasting.

Fu Yan didn’t dwell on it. She wiped her mouth and regained her usual serious expression. She looked at Bai Yueli and added, “By the way, I haven’t congratulated you yet, Senior Sister, on successfully breaking through to the Great Circle of the Opening Light!”

She was genuinely happy for Bai Yueli. This feeling was no different from when Fu Yan achieved a breakthrough herself.

“Thanks to you,” Bai Yueli said suddenly.

Fu Yan waved her hands repeatedly. “Don’t say that, Senior Sister. I didn’t do anything, and I even provoked that Red-Eyed Great Bear out of my own selfishness.”

Speaking of this, Bai Yueli seemed to remember something. She looked intently at Fu Yan and asked very seriously, word for word: “Did you… already comprehend the Heart-Piercing Strike?”

Her tone was questioning, yet Bai Yueli spoke with absolute certainty.

Though Bai Yueli had been in the middle of a breakthrough at the time, she was still aware of what was happening outside. She knew the moment Fu Yan had suddenly unleashed that strike.

Fu Yan had no intention of hiding it. Under Bai Yueli’s serious gaze, she nodded and said, “But I’ve only just started; I haven’t even reached the ‘Small Success’ stage.”

While sinking to the bottom of the river, the bone-chilling water had been exceptionally clear, causing Fu Yan—who was on the verge of losing consciousness—to open her eyes. Beneath the water, she had looked at the Ling Long broken sword that sank with her.

In that instant, something had flashed through her mind.

Bai Yueli looked at Fu Yan and said nothing. Comprehending the Heart-Piercing Strike at the Middle Opening Light stage was an incredibly startling feat, yet she remained remarkably calm after getting a definitive answer.

It was as if… it was simply meant to be.

The campfire continued to burn, crackling from time to time. The two in the cave said nothing more, and the night felt exceptionally quiet.

The next day, light finally reached the vast forest.

After a night of slow recovery, Fu Yan’s spirit and True Essence were mostly restored. The two didn’t delay any further, leaving the cave and quickly heading toward Han Shangzhi’s escort convoy.

Perhaps because they were very close to the outskirts of the Shadow Forest, they encountered no powerful magical beasts along the way. Soon, they successfully caught up with the convoy.

“Fellow Daoist Bai, Fellow Daoist Fu, are you alright?” Han Shangzhi was the first to approach and ask.

Fu Yan looked at the crowd. Everyone’s expression was calm, except for Shui Liuqing, whose face was noticeably grim upon seeing her. Clearly, the fact that Fu Yan returned safely was difficult for her to accept.

Fu Yan gave Shui Liuqing a silent smile, which made the latter’s face turn even darker with rage.

Bai Yueli nodded but noticed several ordinary guards were injured. They had been fine when she left. “Did you encounter more magical beasts?” she asked.

Han Shangzhi gave a bitter smile. “Indeed. Last night we were suddenly attacked by a pack of Cold-Toothed Venomous Snakes. Fortunately, Young Master Wang was here, so our losses weren’t too severe.”

“The Shadow Forest has been quite restless lately. I suspect it’s because a beast tide is approaching, so the beasts here are exceptionally irritable and behaving strangely,” Han Shangde added, slowly sharing his theory.

Fu Yan took the opportunity to say, “Then we should leave the Shadow Forest as quickly as possible.”

The two Hans nodded.

At this point, Wang Qingyang also approached, his gaze filled with surprise as he looked at Bai Yueli. “Junior Sister Bai… you broke through?”

At those words, everyone looked at Bai Yueli in surprise. Since most people present had a lower cultivation than her, it was difficult to notice the fluctuations in her spiritual power without careful observation. As a fellow peer, Wang Qingyang was naturally the first to notice.

Seeing Bai Yueli nod honestly, Wang Qingyang’s expression became complicated. In terms of innate talent, his was noticeably higher than hers, which was one of his main points of pride in pursuing her. However, seeing her catch up to him so quickly caught him off guard. It seemed he had been a bit lax lately; after this mission, he decided he would return to closed-door cultivation to prepare for the Hedo stage.

At this thought, Wang Qingyang’s gaze drifted toward Fang Yu on the other side, his eyes darkening. If he had a Demon Core in hand, his chances of success would be even higher.

Soon, the group continued their journey. Of course, this seemingly peaceful team was already full of hidden agendas.

Fearing another attack, Han Shangzhi led the group at an accelerated pace, not even giving the ordinary guards time to rest at night. They traveled for a day and a night continuously before finally exiting the Shadow Forest.

Fu Yan was still at the rear of the convoy. Stepping out of the forest and seeing the open landscape, she felt a bit out of place. She squinted slightly, gazing at the distant scenery.

Once clear of the forest, Han Shangzhi breathed a visible sigh of relief and allowed everyone to rest.

Fu Yan’s True Essence wasn’t fully recovered yet. Taking advantage of the break, she sat to meditate, intending to consolidate her Qi Sea properly. She didn’t want any flaws in her foundation. After all, the Qi Sea is the root of every cultivator and cannot have even a single issue.

As Fu Yan closed her eyes, Shui Liuqing cast a glance toward her, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

When she first started drawing spiritual energy from heaven and earth, Fu Yan didn’t notice anything wrong. But after a while, she suddenly discovered a trace of black qi in her Qi Sea.

This black qi was exceptionally domineering, darting around within her True Essence. More terrifyingly, it seemed to sever the connection between her Qi Sea and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making it impossible for her to continue condensing True Essence.

Realizing this fact, Fu Yan snapped her eyes open, her face filled with disbelief. For a moment, she couldn’t identify what this black qi was—or when it had entered her body. Her body had felt perfectly normal until yesterday.

At this thought, Fu Yan closed her eyes to meditate again. Her divine sense scanned her Qi Sea meticulously, inside and out, finding that the black qi had indeed entered without her knowledge.

If she couldn’t expel it, Fu Yan could immediately foresee the consequences: her True Essence would drain away bit by bit, but she would never be able to condense new energy again. In other words, she would eventually die once her True Essence was completely exhausted.

Fu Yan felt a surge of horror, and beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. Just then, Bai Yueli’s voice reached her ears.

“Fu Yan?”

Bai Yueli had walked over at some point. she was staring strangely at the meditating Fu Yan; the girl looked as if she were having a nightmare, her whole body trembling slightly and her hair damp with sweat. She looked very unsettled.

Hoo—

Hearing Bai Yueli’s voice, Fu Yan finally opened her eyes. She let out a long breath and looked up at Bai Yueli, panting slightly.

Because of Bai Yueli’s voice, the others looked over in confusion. Seeing Fu Yan’s state, they were startled.

“What is it? Did Fellow Daoist Fu experience a cultivation deviation?” someone speculated.

“That’s right, you can’t be too aggressive in your cultivation, or it’s easy to suffer a deviation. Luckily it’s nothing major; if you truly suffered a deviation, no one could save you without a Void-Transforming stage expert,” another person added.

Seeing Fu Yan’s condition, Bai Yueli frowned. She knew Fu Yan was usually stable and wouldn’t be so aggressive. She paused and asked again, “Are you alright?”

Fu Yan finally seemed to snap out of it. Looking at Bai Yueli, she forced herself to stop thinking about the black qi. Calming her mind, she said, “I’m fine, don’t worry, Senior Sister.”

It wasn’t that Fu Yan didn’t want to tell the truth, but with so many people around, she didn’t plan to say anything until she was sure what had happened.

Hearing this, although Bai Yueli was still worried, she didn’t say more. After all, she couldn’t detect any abnormality in Fu Yan’s body.

Soon, Fu Yan stood up as if nothing had happened. To prevent Bai Yueli from worrying, she almost started jumping around to prove she was fine.

Fortunately, the others soon looked away, and Bai Yueli returned to her position.

At that moment, as if by premonition, Fu Yan quickly turned her head.

She locked eyes with Shui Liuqing.