Chapter 1
She wondered what strange symptom had appeared this time.
She reached out with her right hand, which she could still barely move, and felt around for the call button beside her bed, sighing helplessly to herself.
If this hand stopped working too, she wouldn’t even know how to call a nurse over anymore.
But the moment Shen Zhouxing reached out, something felt strange.
Why wasn’t there a call button beside the bed? And why… had her hand moved so quickly? Why did it feel so… strong?
Her eyes flew open, and she discovered that she was lying in an unfamiliar, dilapidated room! Where was the hospital ward? There wasn’t a single trace of anything modern inside. There was only a bed, a cabinet, and a table. Even the chair was missing a leg and lay crooked on the floor.
Had her family sent her to the countryside?
After her initial shock, she quickly calmed down.
Well, that made sense. Her latest emergency treatment had probably drained all her family’s savings.
Shen Zhouxing wasn’t particularly upset. Ever since she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), there had been only one thing she could do—wait to die.
The nightmare had begun with an inexplicable stumble, less than two years after she graduated from university.
ALS progressed slowly in some patients and rapidly in others, and Shen Zhouxing had been among the unluckiest of the unlucky. Less than two years after her diagnosis, she was confined to a wheelchair. From then on, she could no longer walk.
As Shen Zhouxing thought about this, she lowered her gaze and suddenly discovered that she was wearing ancient-style clothing. The outfit was plain white, torn in several places, and stained with patches of blood.
She tried propping herself up into a sitting position, only to find that it wasn’t nearly as difficult as she had imagined.
She stared at her toes in astonishment and tried moving them. To her surprise, she could actually feel them, and they even moved along with her ankle! Then she tried clenching her left hand, and astonishingly, she managed to make a fist!
Then…
In disbelief, Shen Zhouxing tentatively lowered her legs to the floor. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and exerted her strength.
A firm, steady sensation came from the soles of her feet, and her entire body suddenly sprang upright!
Unable to contain her excitement, Shen Zhouxing didn’t even have time to wonder why she had suddenly recovered before trying to take a step.
Her steady stride sent her heart racing, and she hurriedly lifted her other leg.
Hiss!
A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly shot through the area behind her ear. Shen Zhouxing nearly lost her balance from the pain. She raised a hand to touch it, but her vision suddenly blurred, and memories flashed through her mind.
The blinding surgical lights, the rhythmic beeping of the monitors, and that final, continuous beep—
So she hadn’t survived this time.
Perhaps that was for the best. Her parents were only in their early fifties, yet their hair had already turned completely white. Several of her older sister’s relationships had also fallen apart because of her. And as for herself…
Shen Zhouxing felt the strength coursing through her entire body.
She had been reborn!
Reborn in a perfectly healthy body!
At that thought, Shen Zhouxing finally felt relieved, and excitement surged through her once more.
Suppressing the pain, she eagerly steadied herself, picked up a mirror from the desk, and examined her reflection. Only then did she discover a large patch of blood behind her left ear. The blood had flowed down her neck to the front of her collar and had long since dried into a hard crust. It was quite a frightening sight.
The wound had already scabbed over. Although Shen Zhouxing could still feel the pain, it was bearable.
Right now, all she wanted was to go outside and walk around!
The moment she opened the door, the fragrance of flowers greeted her, revealing a rustic courtyard untouched by modern development. Beyond the courtyard stretched a vast expanse of grassland that sloped upward, seemingly leading to the mountaintop.
Her eyes lit up, and Shen Zhouxing immediately set off.
The long-forgotten sensation of solid ground beneath her feet made her heart flutter. As she walked, her pace gradually quickened until she eventually broke into a run.
Even after running for quite some time, she wasn’t the slightest bit out of breath. This only made Shen Zhouxing more enthusiastic, and she accelerated toward the far end, wondering what kind of scenery awaited her at the summit.
At last, she was nearly there, only to discover that the path ended at a cliff. After running so vigorously the entire way, she was inevitably panting for breath.
Shen Zhouxing stood with her hands on her hips, breathing heavily. The scenery before her was so magnificent that it left her feeling completely refreshed!
Clouds and mist swirled before her, pierced by multicolored rays of sunlight that shimmered with an extraordinary radiance. Through the haze, she could vaguely make out a flat area atop a mountain across from her, where quite a few people had gathered. Were they… wearing ancient-style clothing too?
While she was still puzzled, a flock of birds, perhaps cranes or something similar, flew past her. They then swept gracefully upward in an arc, crying out as they disappeared into the brilliant sunlight.
Oh my goodness! What kind of place was this? She had visited all sorts of 5A-rated tourist attractions before, but none had been this beautiful! It was absolutely breathtaking!
Having been cooped up indoors for so long, Shen Zhouxing couldn’t resist cupping her hands around her mouth and letting out a long, loud shout toward the magnificent scenery. “Heeeey!—”
Her voice immediately echoed back in overlapping waves. The people on the opposite mountaintop seemed to have heard her as well, and they all turned to look in her direction.
Noticing their gazes, Shen Zhouxing instantly felt so embarrassed she wanted to disappear. She hurriedly turned around and fled without looking back.
Seeing Shen Zhouxing suddenly shout for no apparent reason before turning around and running off with a spring in her step, the people across the mountain began whispering among themselves:
“Isn’t that Shen Zhouxing? What’s gotten into her?”
“I saw Li Xiang and his gang corner her again the day before yesterday. Don’t tell me they bullied her until she went crazy?”
“Well, as long as she doesn’t die, nothing serious will come of it. After all, Li Xiang has someone backing him, and that person is…”
“Do not gossip about others.”
“Yes…”
Someone had spoken up, finally putting an end to their discussion.
Of course, Shen Zhouxing couldn’t hear any of this.
She ran all the way back. Whenever she grew tired, she simply let herself fall backward onto the grass, breathing in its fresh fragrance and staring blankly at the sky.
Suddenly, someone shouted in the distance.
Who’s yelling about something?
“Shen Zhouxing!”
Huh? Is someone calling me? The voice was coming from too far away for Shen Zhouxing to hear clearly.
“Shen! Zhou! Xing!”
Hey, someone really was calling her.
Shen Zhouxing immediately sat up and looked into the distance.
At the foot of the mountain stood an old Taoist with a white beard, stamping his feet in anger and shouting her name one syllable at a time.
Who’s that? Another person in ancient clothing. Could she really have been reborn in an ancient world?
The old man finally saw that Shen Zhouxing had noticed him and marched toward her in a huff.
Huh? How had he gotten so close in just a few blinks?!
“Well, well, look at you! I told you yesterday that you’d already missed two days of morning lessons at the Cultivation Hall. And now that I’ve come to check on you today, I find you’ve gotten so bold that you dare skip classes for several days in a row?!”
Before Shen Zhouxing could react, the white-bearded Taoist grabbed her by the ear.
“Ahhh!!” She still had a wound behind that ear! The pain made Shen Zhouxing cry out immediately.
“What happened to your neck?”
The white-bearded Taoist was startled and immediately released her ear. Tilting his head to take a look, he finally noticed the wound behind it.
How should I know?!
Shen Zhouxing was in so much pain that she wanted to cover the wound, but she was afraid touching it would hurt even more. Her hand froze a palm’s breadth away from the injury as she glared indignantly at the old man who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Has that brat Li Xiang been causing trouble for you again?” The white-bearded Taoist seemed to understand immediately what had happened. When Shen Zhouxing didn’t answer, he took her silence as confirmation.
“Sigh, no wonder.” The white-bearded Taoist hadn’t intended to wait for her answer anyway. Stroking his beard, he said, “Go to Guangji Hall and have someone take a look.”
What? Guangji Hall? What was that? Where was it?
Seeing Shen Zhouxing still standing there in a daze, the white-bearded Taoist looked somewhat surprised. “I heard people saying on my way here that you’d been beaten senseless. Have you really lost your mind?”
“I…” Shen Zhouxing didn’t know how to answer. Was she supposed to tell him that she had been reborn?
“Right, you! Come here!!!” The white-bearded Taoist was an impatient man. When he turned his head and spotted a boy of about ten peeking around a tree not far away, he immediately called out to him.
The boy had intended to hide, but since he had already been spotted, he had no choice but to come forward.
More ancient clothing. Had she really traveled back to ancient times? Well, that was fine too. As long as she could run and jump, she didn’t care. She had gotten tired of electronic devices anyway.
And so, following the old Taoist’s instructions, the boy led Shen Zhouxing to the so-called Guangji Hall.
Along the way, he chattered endlessly, sometimes cursing Li Xiang and sometimes lamenting when the two of them would finally be free from their miserable circumstances.
From listening to him, Shen Zhouxing learned that his name was Lü Jing and that both of them were targets of Li Xiang’s bullying. Li Xiang had come looking for trouble with her three days earlier, and judging from the situation, the wound behind her ear was his handiwork. As for Guangji Hall, it was the medical hall here.
“Neither of us has much talent. Next time, you’d better stop going against him. His uncle is…”
Lü Jing continued advising Shen Zhouxing when a figure suddenly streaked across the distant sky.
Holy crap! Someone was actually flying on a sword!
Shen Zhouxing was utterly stunned. Could she have transmigrated into a xianxia world?
Before she could fully process her shock, she heard Lü Jing beside her exclaim admiringly, “As expected of Lord Yanqing… Among the younger generation of disciples, anyone who can fly a sword at even half her speed is already impressive…”
“What did you say?!” Lü Jing was still immersed in admiration when someone suddenly grabbed both his arms and shook him violently, interrupting him. “Lord… Lord Yanqing?? Don’t tell me her name is Ye Lan???”
“Shen Zhouxing, don’t tell me you really were beaten senseless? Of course…”
Shen Zhouxing’s pupils contracted in shock. “Don’t tell me this place is the Jiuxiao Sect!”
Lü Jing looked completely bewildered and replied awkwardly, “Y-yes, it is… Are you really al—” Before he could finish saying “all right,” he heard a loud wail.
Halfway through her wail, Shen Zhouxing abruptly turned serious. Eyes wide, she leaned closer and demanded, “What kind of spiritual roots do I have?”
“Def… defective spiritual roots…”
Another anguished howl rang out.
Shen Zhouxing had indeed been reborn. More precisely, she had transmigrated into a book.
The book was an extremely clichéd xianxia romance novel. Its world was one where strength reigned supreme and immortals and demons were sworn enemies.
And that Ye Lan was the novel’s female lead, the chief disciple of the Jiuxiao Sect. Three years ago, her entire family had been massacred by demonic cultivators, leaving Ye Lan as the sole survivor. Ji Yun, the acting sect master, had brought her back and accepted her as a disciple.
In less than three years, Ye Lan had advanced from a complete beginner to the late Golden Core stage. She was truly a genius among geniuses, upright in character and fiercely intolerant of evil.
The main plot of the entire novel followed the male and female leads as they met, became acquainted, fell in love, and fought against each other before finally reconciling and joining forces to kill the Demon Lord. In the end, the two each took command of one side, righteous and demonic. From then on, the two factions made peace, and tranquility returned to the world.
As for Shen Zhouxing herself, she was a background character so insignificant that she could hardly be considered a character at all.
She was a disciple whom Elder Miyou had brought back and left in the outer sect. The novel mentioned her in just that single sentence, with no additional information whatsoever.
Back when Shen Zhouxing read the novel and noticed a background character who shared her name, she had even complained about it.
What exactly did having defective spiritual roots mean?
It meant being only slightly better off than someone without spiritual roots. She could use spiritual energy, but her qi sea was practically nonexistent.
If not for that Elder Miyou, she probably wouldn’t even have been able to enter the Jiuxiao Sect’s outer sect.
After asking around, she learned that the original Shen Zhouxing had been brought here as an infant.
Three years ago, Li Xiang had come up the mountain and begun bullying her.
Some said she was Elder Miyou’s illegitimate daughter, while others claimed she was a hostage held by the Jiuxiao Sect.
Shen Zhouxing didn’t believe either version.
What kind of elder’s daughter would be treated like this? As for being a hostage, she would have to be valuable, and more importantly, she couldn’t be allowed to die.
The original owner of this body had already died, yet no one had noticed for three whole days. Valuable? Who could a major cultivation sect possibly threaten with an infant who had defective spiritual roots?
By the time Shen Zhouxing returned from Guangji Hall, she had only one thought in mind.
She was getting the hell out of here!
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