The Villain Is Soft and Clingy [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 4

The stone pillar suddenly lit up. Brilliant streams of light flowed beneath its intricate patterns, spreading outward layer by layer from Zhang Lan’s palm. The sight was magnificent.

Unfortunately, the radiance soon faded, leaving behind only a faint dark-green glow within the stone pillar.

Grandmaster frowned. “Second stage of Foundation Establishment.”

Zhang Lan withdrew her hand, turned toward Xia Zhitao, and smiled shyly. “Senior Sister is still more impressive.”

Xia Zhitao thought, When I first entered the sect, I didn’t have even the slightest trace of spiritual energy. As someone from the modern world, I cultivated for ages before reaching this level. You started only one stage below me—that already makes you extraordinarily gifted…

She had heard of several legendary figures in the Yashan Sect—people who reached the Dongxu Realm in their teens or formed a Nascent Soul in their twenties. Grandmaster constantly brought them up to boast about them.

However, there were only a handful of such peerless geniuses across the entire continent, so they could hardly be used as a standard of comparison.

Grandmaster’s expression was complicated, neither pleased nor dissatisfied. He patted the stone pillar and waited until the light completely disappeared before conjuring a small wooden plaque and handing it to Zhang Lan.

“You may go back.”

Zhang Lan carefully tied the wooden plaque around her waist. Then, as though guided by a radar signal, she turned her head and eagerly hurried over to Xia Zhitao.

After spending most of the day on edge, Xia Zhitao finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Congratulations. You’ve officially been accepted as an entry disciple.”

“Don’t relax too soon. There will still be an entrance trial together with the outer disciples,” Xia Zhitao reminded her earnestly, keeping the rules of the Yashan Sect firmly in mind. “Only after passing it will you be considered a true disciple of the Yashan Sect.”

Zhang Lan hummed twice in acknowledgment, but Xia Zhitao had the distinct feeling that she had not listened at all. She stood energetically beside her like a sunflower.

“Senior Sister, will you be my instructor from now on?”

The child had just passed her assessment, so it was understandable that she would be excited. Xia Zhitao sighed helplessly.

“You’re only one stage below me, so it’s unlikely I’ll become your instructor. But you can come to me for anything else.”

Zhang Lan nodded excitedly. Seeing her glued to her side, Xia Zhitao could not resist rubbing that fluffy little head again.

“Come on. I’ll take you to your room.”

Unexpectedly, her junior sister’s face immediately stiffened. She cautiously asked, “…My room?”

“Did you still expect to live with me?” Xia Zhitao replied calmly. “Entry disciples have designated residences. Although you’ll still share the building with others, everyone has a private room.”

Zhang Lan opened her mouth but could not find anything to say. She could only pack up her belongings with a miserable expression and tearfully wave goodbye to Xia Zhitao.

。

For more than ten days afterward, Xia Zhitao did not see any sign of her junior sister.

She heard that Zhang Lan had been taken away with the other newcomers for secluded training.

It was somewhat similar to military training during the first year of university. Xia Zhitao wanted to join the excitement and see how wilted and exhausted the inexperienced newcomers looked.

However, Grandmaster had not said where they were training, so she had no way to watch.

Life as a cultivator was repetitive. It consisted of little more than gathering spiritual energy, cultivating, advancing through stages, and occasionally descending the mountain to catch ghosts or deal with demons for ordinary people.

For Xia Zhitao, who was accustomed to modern phones and computers, it was unbelievably boring.

She was an upstanding young woman from the twenty-first century who had consistently ranked among the top ten in mathematics, physics, and chemistry at school. Now, she was suddenly expected to believe that “all things beneath heaven possess spiritual energy” and to sense “qi flowing through the dantian”…

It was far too difficult.

Xia Zhitao silently sighed. She glanced at the many inner disciples meditating quietly around her, closed her eyes, and began letting her thoughts wander.

What else could she do? Ask her to gather qi?

For an adult raised in modern society who firmly believed in science, the fact that she had managed to muddle her way to the third stage of Foundation Establishment was already a miracle.

“Everyone, please rise.”

Hearing Grandmaster’s deep voice, Xia Zhitao breathed a sigh of relief. She eagerly opened her eyes and rose from her meditation cushion.

Normally, after cultivation ended, the disciples would exchange their experiences and insights. This time, however, things were different.

Grandmaster smiled while stroking his thick beard. “Anyone currently responsible for guiding a junior brother or junior sister, please step forward.”

What was happening?

Xia Zhitao felt somewhat puzzled, but she still followed Grandmaster’s instructions and walked toward him.

More than a dozen inner disciples joined her. Each of them was responsible for guiding a particular junior brother or junior sister.

“Today is the newcomers’ first entrance trial. Come and watch your junior brothers and sisters perform, and offer them some encouragement.”

Grandmaster chuckled. “Anyone else who is curious may come along and join the excitement.”

—Already?

Xia Zhitao was rather surprised. At the same time, she could not help worrying about Zhang Lan.

Her junior sister had only been in the Yashan Sect for a few dozen days. Compared with the disciples who had already trained for several months, she was clearly at a disadvantage.

Watching a spectacle was evidently part of human nature. After hearing Grandmaster’s words, most of the disciples stayed.

Everyone gathered together, rose on their flying swords, and noisily headed toward the trial grounds.

Xia Zhitao followed them. Grandmaster’s figure was half-hidden among the pale clouds. As the group traveled farther, they gradually left behind the Yashan Sect’s training grounds and cultivation stones, heading north.

She frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

Unless she remembered incorrectly, wasn’t this the direction of the sheer cliffs?

Why was Grandmaster leading them toward the cliffs? Or rather, what was the Yashan Sect planning to do with a group of new disciples at the cliffs?

The Yashan Sect was not named for the “treasure basin” terrain created by its thirteen interlocking peaks. Instead, its name came from Yubai Peak, one of its principal mountains, whose steep and treacherous stone face was as smooth as a mirror.

When Xia Zhitao first entered the sect, someone had taken her there once.

The rocks covering the peak were smooth and even, without a trace of vegetation. The mountain looked as though it had been sliced straight down by a blade, making it rather terrifying to behold.

By Xia Zhitao’s estimate, the slope on the back of Yubai Peak was probably close to ninety degrees. She had no idea how it had remained standing for centuries.

They crossed several mountain peaks in an instant. From a distance, they could already see a cluster of ant-like figures standing beside the bottomless cliff, seemingly waiting for someone.

Judging by their clothing, the people standing there respectfully were probably the new disciples.

At their head stood a master dressed in white feathered robes. Her arms were folded as she gave the newcomers instructions.

“Qin Zhi!” the bearded Grandmaster called with a hearty laugh.

He leaped from his immortal sword and reached out to pat the leading master on the shoulder. “How are these new little brats doing?”

The woman he called Qin Zhi glanced at him and avoided his hand, her voice cold.

“No good.”

She frowned. Her ink-black hair rested casually over her shoulders. When she raised an arm, the layered white feathers covering her sleeve swayed lightly and rustled together.

The bearded Grandmaster did not mind. He rubbed his palms together and pointed at the crowd of disciples who had followed him.

“Look, I brought a whole group to watch. Isn’t that supportive enough?”

“This group of disciples is acceptable. Their comprehension barely passes, and several possess decent cultivation aptitude,” Qin Zhi said indifferently, holding her chin high. “Under my instruction, they should have no problem with the first trial.”

The Yashan Sect recruited new disciples only once every ten years. Since the instructor differed each time, the trials they created also varied.

Xia Zhitao had been instructed by the bearded Grandmaster, so naturally, she had no idea what sort of trial Master Qin Zhi had arranged.

Xia Zhitao stood properly behind the bearded Grandmaster. She curiously looked over the new disciples and immediately spotted her junior sister.

When Zhang Lan noticed Xia Zhitao looking at her, her previously indifferent little face suddenly lit up like the sun.

She stood on tiptoe and waved her arm vigorously at Xia Zhitao.

Judging by her excitement, she was only a step away from rushing over and clinging to Xia Zhitao without letting go.

Xia Zhitao blinked at her, then began observing the other disciples.

The young men and women standing at the front were clearly the most talented. Their expressions contained unconcealed arrogance, and the wooden plaques tied around their waists differed in design, indicating their respective ranks.

Her junior sister, however, seemed rather isolated.

The new disciples stood in small groups of two or three, while Zhang Lan remained alone in a distant corner. No one paid her any attention, making her look pitiful.

…What was going on? Was she being excluded?

What was wrong with these children?

Xia Zhitao felt dissatisfied, but given the circumstances, she could not say anything. She could only silently pray that Zhang Lan would successfully pass the trial.

Qin Zhi briefly explained what she had taught them. Then she raised her chin slightly and calmly pointed toward the vast abyss beside everyone.

“Go. Show us what you’ve learned.”

Following the direction of her finger, Xia Zhitao glanced at the cliff.

Its sheer face disappeared into the clouds, while nothing but darkness stretched below. The bottom could not be seen.

She turned to look at the group of young and inexperienced newcomers. Suddenly, a terrible feeling rose within her.

Wait, Master—are you planning to make all these inexperienced young disciples jump off the cliff together?!!

She stared at Qin Zhi in disbelief.

The other woman remained calm and composed, appearing quite pleased with herself. Meanwhile, the new disciples spontaneously divided themselves into several groups, stood in neat rows at the edge of the cliff, and began circulating their spiritual energy.

They really did look as though they were preparing to jump.

The leading disciples summoned wooden swords, stepped onto them, and plunged toward the bottom of the cliff.

The disciples who could not fly on swords also had their own methods.

Some used water spiritual energy to form small pathways, while others constructed stone steps. All of them proceeded downward one careful step at a time.

Although their methods of descending the mountain were mostly similar, each was fundamentally connected to the nature of their spiritual roots and the abilities produced by their spiritual energy…

Except for her junior sister.

While the other disciples hurried downward, Zhang Lan lazily dragged over a thick bundle of hemp rope from who knew where. Without the slightest haste, she began tying it around her waist.

What was her junior sister doing?

The other disciples had already set off, yet Zhang Lan alone remained on the cliff, holding the other end of the hemp rope and turning around in circles.

Xia Zhitao was confused.

Although she was forbidden from helping as a senior disciple, she was still allowed to offer a few words of advice.

She walked toward Zhang Lan.

Her junior sister had stepped onto a protruding rock and wrapped the hemp rope around it several times, while the other end remained tied around her waist.

“Senior Sister!”

After securing the rope, Zhang Lan skipped excitedly toward her. “Did you come here to watch me?”

The young girl’s voice was sweet, soft, and fluffy like cotton candy. She looked delighted, seemingly completely unaware that she had already fallen behind in the trial.

Seeing her like this, Xia Zhitao sighed repeatedly in her heart, growing unbearably anxious.

—If you don’t leave soon, you really will come in last!

Author’s Note:

【Mini Theater】

Zhang Kuang: This Lord endured countless hardships and swallowed every grievance to stay with these children for an entire month. I finally get to see the person I’ve been longing for, so who cares about your ridiculous trial? Consider yourselves fortunate I haven’t torn down the entire mountain.

【Author】

I read every single comment, and small red-packet rewards will appear from time to time! Quietly asking—can everyone see the cover? Somehow, I can’t see it myself.