The first thing Shi Sheng saw when she opened her eyes was an endless sea of flame, which she was standing in the centre of. Her skin was cracking from the heat and her mouth had already dried out. Her hair had long since been reduced to charcoal.
Her clothes were made of some unknown material that hadn’t been damaged from the flames. However, they didn’t manage to insulate her that well from the heat.
“f.u.c.k, well isn’t this just a lovely time!” ‘Are you attempting to burn me(bbb) to death?!’
Shi Sheng scanned her surroundings for an exit but there were only flames. They were endless and reached way past the visible horizon with nothing to break them up. Boiling hot waves of air buffeted her. In the short amount of time she had been awake, she had nearly reached her limit. She thought she could even hear the sizzling of her skin being roasted.
‘What the h.e.l.l kind of place is this?! System, you come out here! I want to have a discussion about life!’
“Martial Aunt, Martial Aunt, wake up! Martial Aunt, wake up please…” A sudden voice resounded in the s.p.a.ce.
‘There’s someone else here?’
“Martial Aunt, it’s an illusion, hurry and wake up!”
Shi Sheng’s mind blanked out for a moment and her willowy eyebrows drew together. ‘Illusion? This is a Xuanhuan story? The f.u.c.k! Even if it is a Xuanhuan story, how come I met an illusion the moment I came here? Something seems fishy!’
Gritting her teeth, Shi Sheng shut her eyes and calmed herself down. The sounds of flames crackling slowly faded and the heat around her gradually dissipated. The pain she was feeling lessened until it could no longer be felt, to be replaced by a cooling sensation. With a swift exhale, Shi Sheng opened her eyes, her chest heaving. She saw a rather cute young woman standing there, worriedly looking at her. That girl seemed relieved when she saw Shi Sheng open her eyes.
“Martial Aunt, you scared me.” There was a joy from surviving a tribulation written on her face.
Shi Sheng secretly sized up this girl in front of her. She was wearing a long, white robe similar in style to the one Shi Sheng was wearing. Only the colour was different. Shi Sheng’s new body was wearing a dark blue coloured robe. Some words floated to the forefront of Shi Sheng’s mind, ‘direct disciple.’
Information about the plot and this body’s memories a.s.saulted Shi Sheng, causing her brain to feel like it was swelling up. Before she blacked out, she seemed to hear the girl calling for her in a panicked voice but her consciousness drifted further and further away.
This was a story about killing monsters and levelling up[1].
The main character was a woman by the name of Ye Qingqiu. She was a Yuanying expert who had been reincarnated into the body of a shunned daughter of the Ye clan. She cleansed her meridians and marrows and began to make her way to the top of the cultivation peak once again.
Ye Qingqiu was determined to have pure Water Spirit Veins when the Misty Sect went to the mortal world to scout for new disciples. Those with Water Spirit Veins pretty much all suffered the fate of being cultivation furnaces. But would the main character of the story be reduced to this state?
The answer: Of course not.
The female lead was accepted as a disciple under Misty Sect. The Sect Head just so happened to be Love Interest No.1. Under Love Interest No.1’s protection, the female lead’s life in the sect was smooth sailing. From pill-refining to talisman-drawing, there was nothing the female lead was incapable of! How could the villainous female side characters allow the female lead to lead a one-person show though?
This body’s previous occupant was precisely one of those villainous female side characters. She was called Shan Shu, the direct disciple of Heaven’s Edge Peak’s Master, Yu Xiao.
Shan Shu liked her Senior Martial Brother, Chu Ye. But the one Chu Ye liked was Ye Qingqiu. Hence, Shan Shu naturally started provoking Ye Qingqiu, like the professional villain she was.
Shan Shu had planned on teaching Ye Qingqiu a lesson in the annual Sect Compet.i.tion but hadn’t expected to be the one to suffer. As a result, her cultivation dropped to the 8th level of Qi Refining.
The levels for cultivation in this world are as follows: the Qi Refining stage (which consists of 10 substages {Look here}), followed by Foundation Building, Azoth Core, Nascent Soul, DemiG.o.d, Grand Achievement, and finally Tribulation Crossing.
Shan Shu had nearly managed to build her foundation before her cultivation dropped two sub-stages. This caused Shan Shu to hate Ye Qingqiu even more.
Fortunately, Shan Shu’s Master truly cared for her. He requested a pill from the Sect Master to help her regain her strength. After that matter, Shan Shu started to devote herself to cultivation. She wished for all her heart to surpa.s.s Ye Qingqiu so that she might attract Chu Ye’s attention.
There was an Inter-sect Tournament that was held once every 50 years where the disciples of the large sects could pit themselves against each other.
However, when Shan Shu and Ye Qingqiu fought each other, it was discovered Shan Shu had used some underhanded means, causing Ye Qingqiu to nearly be utterly humiliated by someone. When the one who did so was caught, he actually claimed it was Shan Shu who ordered it!
Only Shan Shu herself knew that she didn’t do anything. In a fit of rage, the Sect Master ordered Shan Shu’s cultivation to be wasted. Shan Shu attempted to deny involvement but no one believed her. Only her master, Yu Xiao, spoke up for her.
Because Yu Xiao took the brunt of the Sect Master’s anger, Shan Shu’s cultivation wasn’t wasted. However, she still received a heavy punishment.
Chu Ye detested her even more. As one of the female villains, Shan Shu was naturally unwilling to just let the matter go.
During a tempering experience, Shan Shu once again courted death. However, she hadn’t expected to accidentally break the seal on the Demon race. Demonic qi invaded Yu Xiao when he tried to save Shan Shu. And for the sake of saving Chu Ye, Ye Qingqiu pushed Shan Shu into the demon qi-rich sealed area. Yu Xiao used the last of his strength to send Shan Shu out once again.
A pity that Shan Shu’s luck was abysmal. She fell into the Demon World once again and was invaded by demonic qi. Her looks were destroyed and her cultivation ruined. She thought she would die then.
But she didn’t. After a while, she discovered that her cultivation was slowly returning. She cultivated diligently and was finally able to leave the Demon World when the seal broke again.
She was back for revenge.
She conspired with an ambitious male from the Demon race to trick Ye Qingqiu into a secret realm where the male would force himself on her. However, he was killed by the male lead before that happened.
Though Shan Shu had ran at the first sign of trouble, the male lead had found her quickly.
Shan Shu died very gruesomely. She was killed by the male lead using thousands of cuts. It was a pain difficult for ordinary people to imagine.
Shan Shu hated. She hated Ye Qingqiu.
But even more, she felt regret.
Her last wish was to make sure Yu Xiao didn’t die, and if she could, spend her entire life with him. She wanted revenge.
“Has Junior Martial Sister woken up yet?”
“No, Master. Grandmaster said… Martial Aunt’s cultivation has regressed… Martial Aunt was about to build her foundation though… If Martial Aunt had managed to build her foundation this year, she would be the Misty Sect’s youngest Foundation Building disciple. But now it’s all gone. If Martial Aunt knows, she’ll be very upset.”
Sigh…
The first thing Shi Sheng heard when she regained her consciousness was a long sigh.
“Martial Aunt, you’re awake!” A girl’s voice shouted beside Shi Sheng’s ear. “Master, hurry up and call Grandmaster!”
Shi Sheng’s temples throbbed. The pain was difficult to bear. It only subsided after a long while, allowing Shi Sheng to finally see the girl at her bedside clearly. It was Lin Yiyi, a disciple of Heaven’s Edge Peak. She had a pretty good relationship with Shan Shu.
“How long have I slept for?” Shi Sheng licked her dried lips. Her voice was very hoa.r.s.e. Her throat was burning, even swallowing was difficult.
“Three days! Martial Aunt, have some water. Grandmaster will be here soon.” Lin Yiyi went to pour a cup of water and help Shi Sheng drink it.
The refreshingly cool sensation of water wetting her throat made Shi Sheng feel a little bit better. She looked at the simple layout of the room.
Her eyes lowered, hiding the murky look in them. This was the scene where Shan Shu’s cultivation had dropped after the fight with Ye Qingqiu.
[1] No, there’s no game elements. It’s just a way of poking fun at Xuanhuan/Xianxia for giving the MC progressively stronger enemies as they ‘level up’ or get stronger.