Holding the Sword to Carry Away Senior Sister (Transmigration) - Chapter 44

Inside the high-grade cultivation chamber.

Fu Yan’s figure flickered rapidly amidst the countless obstacles. Her palms were extended with straight, forceful energy—one moment fluid like rippling water, the next turbulent like a rushing waterfall. Her movements grew faster and faster, as if she were trying to carve out a vacuum in the airflow with her bare hands.

“Cloud-Clearing Palm!”

With a low shout, Fu Yan struck out directly against the wind. For a moment, the wind blades that made contact with her palm seemed to disintegrate instantly.

Gazing at the result, Fu Yan didn’t allow herself any premature joy. She retracted her palm, calmed her breathing, and once again erupted her True Essence. Following the surge of energy, she struck the stone wall.

Bang! A massive sound echoed through the chamber.

After a while, the wind blades in the room became even more acute. Fu Yan felt that without her protective True Essence, her face might have been shredded.

“No wonder they say an average Middle Opening Light cultivator can’t last half a day in a high-grade chamber. The pressure is immense; in just this short time, nearly a quarter of my True Essence is gone,” Fu Yan muttered to herself.

However, since she had already paid two mid-grade spirit stones, she wasn’t about to let them go to waste. She was determined to stay for the full duration.

She pulled a mid-grade spirit stone from her ring, gripping it tight to absorb the abundant spiritual energy within. Once replenished, she wasted no time and plunged back into training under the heavy pressure of the wind blades.

Time trickled by. After enduring two cycles of fierce wind-blade storms, Fu Yan finally grasped the essence of the Cloud-Clearing Palm. Palm and fist techniques are generally straightforward martial arts, so mastering the basics in a day wasn’t an earth-shattering feat, but a solid step forward.

Since the palm technique was learned, the next step was practical application. She stowed the manual and pulled out the remnant scroll.

“I don’t know the name of this swordplay, but this move, ‘Wind Rolls the Clouds,’ is a powerful area-of-effect attack. If I can learn it, it will be a huge asset,” she mused.

She picked up her Ling Long broken sword and made her first attempt.

Suddenly, the temperature in the chamber spiked. Within minutes, she was drenched in sweat. The room felt like a massive oven—stifling and hot. This was the chamber’s way of tempering a cultivator; she had to divert True Essence to resist the heat while focusing on the complex, broken sword movements.

Because the scroll was incomplete, her movements were clunky and disconnected.

First attempt: Failure.

Second attempt: Failure.

Third attempt: She got stuck halfway through.

When Fu Yan finally emerged from the vortex entrance, two days had passed. She had gained nothing from the remnant scroll—she couldn’t even grasp the basic concept of “Wind Rolls the Clouds.”

She wasn’t discouraged. Trying to figure out a broken Earth-grade sword manual in one day was something even a Void-Transforming powerhouse would find impossible. Cultivation was a marathon, not a sprint.

As she descended the cliff, she noticed a different registrar on duty. She didn’t think much of it and walked away. She didn’t notice a figure in the crowd watching her back.

“Quick, report to the Second Miss. That person has come out of the cultivation chamber.”

“On it. Don’t lose her, or you know the Miss’s temper!”

At the Ye family estate:

“She’s out?” Ye Zhiyan sounded surprised. “I thought she was something special, but she only lasted two days in a high-grade room? What a waste of resources. I want to see exactly who she is to dare ignore me.”

Fu Yan walked into a tea house, sensing through the soul contract that Shui Liuqing had returned. While sipping her tea, she felt a gaze on her.

She looked out the window. A man dressed as a common servant was pretending to window-shop, but his eyes had been on her. I’m being followed.

She didn’t have to wait long before Shui Liuqing entered and sat across from her.

“When did you get back?” Fu Yan asked.

“Yesterday,” Shui Liuqing replied, handing over the 5,000 spirit stone reward from the mission.

Fu Yan accepted the reward but watched the rising steam from her tea. “A transport array from a stronghold shouldn’t take this long. Why the delay?”

Shui Liuqing gave a helpless smile. “I visited my Master’s (Elder Zhou) residence.”

Fu Yan chuckled. “So, Elder Zhou still won’t let it go? How does he plan to deal with me?”

Shui Liuqing pulled out a black porcelain bottle and placed it on the table. “He asked if I had succeeded during the mission. I used Senior Sister Bai as an excuse for why I couldn’t act. He gave me this: Demon Spider Purple Liquid.”

“The True Essence of anyone poisoned will become chaotic and explode their meridians. Their face will rot, and the death is slow and agonizing. Even a Void-Transforming expert might not be able to clear it,” Shui Liuqing explained. “He said if I fail again, he will come down the mountain personally.”

Fu Yan remained calm, sipping her tea. “Keep it. Use it as you see fit.” She wasn’t interested in the poison, but she found it amusing to think of Elder Zhou’s reaction if he knew his precious toxin was now in her servant’s hands.

“By the way,” Fu Yan asked, “do you know anything about the Ye family?”

“The Ye family is a first-class family in Chaoyang City,” Shui Liuqing explained. “The Second Miss, Ye Zhiyan, is a pampered girl and an inner disciple of the Fengling Sect. She’s arrogant, and this city is their home turf.”

Fu Yan recognized the name. In the original novel, Ye Zhiyan was a spoiled character who initially looked down on the male lead before eventually falling for him and living a life of unrequited longing.

“The auction starts tonight at the Chunlü Pavilion,” Shui Liuqing added.

“Let’s go then. But wait—” Fu Yan stood up. “Don’t forget to pay for the tea. I don’t have any small change (silver).”

Shui Liuqing: “…”

At the Chunlü Pavilion, the crowds were massive. Fortunately, they secured a private booth. Fu Yan decided to put an item up for auction: the Heavenly Strengthening Scripture (Grade 4 body-tempering) she took from the bandit Lang Meng. To a sect disciple, it was common; to a rogue cultivator or a minor family, it was a treasure.

Shui Liuqing went backstage to handle the delegation. There, she ran into Ye Xuanhe, the heir of the Ye family. Because of their families’ business ties, they were old acquaintances.

“Liuqing! Use my crystal card,” Ye Xuanhe offered. “It will cut the commission fee by a third.”

Shui Liuqing accepted, feeling the irony of using her connections to serve Fu Yan.

Back in the booth, she told Fu Yan: “A Grade 4 body-tempering manual should fetch at least one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.”

Fu Yan was satisfied. As the noise in the hall reached a fever pitch, the auction officially began.