Tianling Dynasty.

The royal family’s ancestral hall.

There was a strong smell of blood in the somber main hall.

There was a woman trapped in the silver cage that sat in the middle of the hall.

She lay on the floor, curled up into a ball as she trembled. Her ornate palace gown was dyed with blood, the skirt eerily empty—her legs had been cut off!

There was the sound of footsteps, and Shangguan Yue looked up with much difficulty.

A familiar face appeared before her eyes.

Her heart wildly trembled because the person who appeared was none other than her fiancée whom she was set to wed—Jiang Yucheng!

“Shangguan Yue, how does it feel to lose your force and become an invalid?”

Shangguan Yue looked at him in disbelief. “It was you!”

Jiang Yucheng smiled. “How does the snow tea that I have been brewing for you for the past three years taste with a side of mortalizing powder?”

Shangguan Yue froze, then laughed desolately. She thought they had a perfect romance, but he had been out to get her right from the start! The expression on her face gradually turned cold. “Jiang Yucheng, do you know what the punishment for murdering the princess is?”

Jiang Yucheng smiled and remained silent, but a female voice appeared in the main hall. “Sister, now that things have come to this, do you still think that you’re still the high and mighty princess?”

Shangguan Yue whipped her head around, and a girl walked in elegantly. It was the sister that she doted on the most—Shangguan Wan!

The face that was usually gentle and timid was now obnoxious and arrogant!

“One day and one night, you’ve lost almost all your blood. Who’s going to come and save you? Our critically ill father, or your Thirteen Yue Guard far away at the frontiers?”

Shangguan Yue’s heart turned cold. “Father’s illness… it was you?!” They were probably behind the departure of the Thirteen Yue Guard as well!

Shangguan Wan blinked and patted her chest before she looked towards Jiang Yucheng coyly.

“Yucheng, sister’s so fierce. Wan’er is scared.”

Jiang Yucheng smiled as he put his arm around her waist. “What’s there to be scared of? She’s nothing but an invalid now. If we use her blood to cultivate your Yuan meridian, your talents will increase drastically. By then, everything will be yours!”

Shangguan Wan looked at her sister with jealousy. “Sister, you were born with a Tianjing Yuan meridian, crowned as the ordained princess. Everything you had was the best! But why? Just because your mother was the queen, while mine was a concubine?”

She was indignant, so she wanted to take everything that Shangguan Yue had and make it hers. “Don’t worry. From now on, the man you love and your future throne, I will take good care of them on your behalf!”

Shangguan Yue felt that there were weights on her chest and that she was about to explode! The two people that she trusted the most were betraying her!

As Shangguan Wan admired her sister’s tortured expression, it did not seem to be enough for her. “Oh, right. Sister, on account of your care all these years, I’ll make sure to send you off properly. Hopefully, you can be reunited with your mother and brother, who died young,” she added.

The words were like grenades that exploded by Shangguan Yue’s ears. Could it be that her mother and brother’s fatal accident by the frozen lake was not an accident?

“Did you know that when seventh brother died, he was still calling for you…”

“Shangguan Wan!” Shangguan Yue cried out.

Harming her father, betraying her, cutting off her legs, and trapping her here. All of these crimes were unpardonable! Little did she expect that her revered mother and favorite brother had perished in their hands too!

She glared at the pair with bloodshot eyes as if she were a demon from the depths of hell. In the next instance, a crimson fire swept across the hall. Shangguan Yue had activated the self-destruction mechanism of the Tianjing Yuan meridian in her body.

A fireball the size of a longan flew out and headed straight for Shangguan Wan’s dantian!

Shangguan Wan immediately felt her Yuan meridian burning! She began screaming in panic. “My Yuan meridian!”

Even though Jiang Yucheng managed to avoid it narrowly, half of his right arm had been sliced off!

“If I get a second chance at life… I’ll have my vengeance!” Shangguan Yue’s words were like a curse!

Nobody saw the flashing cryptic characters that formed on the pool of blood!

…

Year 1653 of the Tianling Dynasty. Princess Shangguan Yue passed away because of Qi deviation.

…

Pain!

Pain that could be felt in the bones!

It was like her flesh was being ripped apart and burned!

A fuzzy voice appeared in her ears. “Heh heh, big brother, even though this lass is like a twig, her face is stunning. Isn’t it kind of a waste to kill her just like this?”

“Yeah! Big brother, no matter what, she is the Chu family’s Big Missy. It must feel good to play with her!”

“Cheh, what Big Missy? This useless thing that doesn’t even have the Yuan meridian. The entire Chu family treats her as the family’s black sheep!”

“Big brother, since Third Missy only said to make her disappear, can’t we just burn everything after we’re done? It’s not like people from the Chu family will come looking for her.”

Fire?

Fire!

There was a sharp pain in Shangguan Yue’s brain, and she opened her eyes!

Underneath the blinding lights, she saw a perverse looking man reaching towards her chest!

“You must be tired of living!” Shangguan Yue cried out, only to find that her voice was completely different from before! Her voice was raspy as if she had not had water for a long time. However, it was rather obvious that the voice belonged to a 12-year-old or 13-year-old girl!

Before she could think things through, she grabbed the man’s wrist and bent it hard. At the same time, she kicked her leg out!

“Ah!” A tragic cry echoed in the forest!

In his moment of carelessness, the man was kicked backward, and his hand was in an eerie state. It had been broken with brute force!

“Big brother!” The two men behind him were stunned as they rushed to catch him. They were shocked to see that the man had been hurt as they turned towards the girl.

What was going on?! Chu Liuyue was known for being the Chu family’s most useless member. She could not fight at all. Otherwise, she would not have been brought to this misty forest after they easily knocked her out!

But now, she managed to break the big brother’s hand!

“You little b*tch. How dare you raise your hand against me, Song Lian? I think you are the one who’s tired of living. Brothers, go and bring her over here!”

“Yes!” Even though they were confused, they rushed over without much thought.

The three of them were stage two warriors; how could Chu Liuyue be their match? That must have been a fluke!

Shangguan Yue narrowed her eyes as she regarded the two men advancing toward her. A dark light flashed across her eyes. She then ran straight for the two men!

Just as the three were about to clash, the two men swung their knives!

Shangguan Yue seemed to have been expecting that. She bent and took a step aside, heading straight toward one of the men.

Just inches away, she easily grabbed the man’s wrist and pressed down hard in a certain position!

A sense of powerlessness originated from her wrist, and the man’s knife froze right above the young girl’s head!

Shangguan Yue’s eyes turned cold as she turned. The direction of the knife changed and decapitated the man directly!

Warm blood splattered all across her face, but she did not even bat an eyelid!

Dong!

She released her hand emotionlessly, and the headless man fell to the ground!

A cold breeze came from behind her!

That another person’s memories were in her head. After sorting everything out, she slowly opened her eyes and sighed.

It turned out that she had been reborn into the body of a young girl named Chu Liuyue. Chu Liuyue—the big missy of the Chu family—was from one of the four big families in Country Yao Chen.

Even though she was the big missy, her life was worse than the servants. She was born with a lacking Yuan meridian, so she could not cultivate. Therefore, she was seen as the shame of the Chu family.

Chu Liuyue’s mother died when she was very young. Her father, Chu Ning, had been first in line to be the family’s next head but was injured a few years ago. From then on, his status in the family plummeted. As such, it was not hard to imagine how hard she had been bullied since young.

The Third Missy that wanted to kill her was her second uncle, Chu Yao’s daughter—Chu Xianmin. She wanted to kill Chu Liuyue because of the marriage agreement that Chu Liuyue had.

It was with Country Yao Chen’s Crown Prince, Rong Jin!

Chu Liuyue would turn 14 in a month, and the engagement ceremony would be held then!

It was not only Chu Xianmin, but countless people also tried to kill her in the dark!

Shangguan Yue stood up, curling her pale lips into a smile. If she recalled correctly, Country Yao Chen was a subsidiary country of Tianling Dynasty!

This was not the end of her!

She was Chu Liuyue from now on!

The vengeance from her last life would be paid back a hundred-fold in this life!

Chu Liuyue cleaned up the three corpses, then picked up the baggage on the side. It belonged to the original Chu Liuyue.

She frowned when she opened and looked through it.

There was quite a bit of money in the bag, alongside a bunch of jewels. Even though they were nothing special to the eyes of Shangguan Yue, who used to be a princess, they were quite a fortune to a downtrodden girl from the meager Chu family.

Was she going to run away? Chu Liuyue scoffed.

Chu Liuyue could never bear to leave her father behind if she were running away, not to mention that Chu Liuyue was a timid girl, who would never have the courage to do that.

Most important of all, how could Chu Liuyue, someone who was pushed around by the Chu family, have the opportunity to get her hands on so much cash and jewelry? Someone was clearly trying to frame her!

If Song Lian and his family were behind it, they had to put on a show just to keep things under wraps.

If people found Chu Liuyue’s body and saw the items, they would have assumed that she had stolen things and ran away under the pretext of shopping.

Thieves deserved to die!

Chu Xianmin was trying to ruin her, even after she died!

Since she was borrowing Chu Liuyue’s body, then she had to settle this for her host. Besides, Chu Liuyue’s identity made her future operations much easier.

After looking through everything, Chu Liuyue looked around. She could hear the faint sound of a stream.

She was covered in blood and dirt right now, and she really needed to take a shower. Conveniently for her, there were fresh clothes in the baggage.

…

Cutting through the lush forest for about 15 minutes, Chu Liuyue finally arrived at an azure-blue lake.

What was astonishing was the layer of fog floating above the lake.

Even from where she was standing on the bank, she could only see the lake water near her. Everything else was obscured.

Chu Liuyue stretched out her hand and was a little surprised when she ran it through the fog.

This fog is formed by extremely concentrated force! If I cultivated here, I would improve drastically!

As the princess, the heir to the Tianling Dynasty, she knew the ten subsidiary countries rather well. Even though such a place could not compare to the places where she used to cultivate, it was considered great in a small place like Country Yao Chen.

At this time, there was a low roar.

She looked up and saw a snow-white tiger by the lake, staring at her with icy-blue eyes! This was a high-stage demonic beast!

Just as Chu Liuyue was thinking of how to deal with it, it suddenly shook its tail and lay down again, closing its eyes.

Chu Liuyue was stunned.

Is it going to leave me alone? However, guardian beasts are supposed to be very hot-tempered!

Before she could finish her thoughts, the lion opened its eyes and glanced at her. It then stood up and walked towards her!

When it reached her, the white lion raised its paw and swept Chu Liuyue’s baggage to the floor and nudged her forward with its head.

“You want me to go in?” asked Chu Liuyue uncertainly.

The white lion sat down on the ground as it looked Chu Liuyue in the eyes as if telling her that it would not leave if she did not enter.

Chu Liuyue was speechless.

She laughed, thinking the white lion was rather cute. She patted it on the head, and the lion closed its eyes contentedly.

She then removed her blood and filth covered clothes and stepped into the lake, allowing the warm water to surround her.

A vigorous and warm force gushed towards her.

Chu Liuyue closed her eyes as she began examining the condition of this body.

…

Mainland Xuan Wu was about survival of the fittest.

There were two kinds of cultivators. One kind was warriors, who absorbed the Heaven and Earth Force into their flesh and blood. The other kind was Xuan Masters, who could muster their force through amulets and see into the workings of Heaven and Earth Force.

Although both were classified as cultivators, the conditions for becoming a Xuan Master were much higher, so they were rarer and more respected.

In order to become a cultivator, one had to possess the Yuan meridian. The Yuan meridian was the only medium through which cultivators could take in Heaven and Earth Force, so it was especially important.

There were four grades to a Yuan meridian: Tianjing, Dijing, Xuanjing, and Huangjing.

Tianjing was the highest grade. Even the Tianling Dynasty had only produced two people with a Tianjing Yuan meridian in 1,000 years.

The first was the founder of the dynasty. The other was… her.

This was also why she was the most revered princess! To her, cultivation was as simple as it could be. However, her current body had a defective Yuan meridian. It could channel force, but it could not contain it, much less transform it into powers for Chu Liuyue’s use.

Chu Liuyue was therefore born a good for nothing!

“Seems like I have to restore this Yuan meridian first…” mumbled Chu Liuyue.

Other people’s jaws would drop if they heard her. How could the Yuan meridian, which was inborn, be repaired?

Probably nobody in the entire Country Yao Chen was capable of doing that! However, it was nothing to Shangguan Yue, who was once the princess of the Tianling Dynasty!

Heavenly doctors were the most secretive and revered existences on the mainland. They could revive the dead and restore skeletons to human form. Nothing was impossible for them! But becoming a heavenly doctor was even tougher than becoming a Xuan Master! Their cultivation was different from Xuan Masters and Warriors as well.

Even if it was a piece of rotten wood, Chu Liuyue could perform magic with it!

I wonder what grade the Yuan meridian will be after restoration… As she was thinking, a red light flashed before Chu Liuyue’s eyes!

She looked towards her hands with knitted brows, only to see a strange crimson amulet text appearing on her palms!

“This is…” She had never seen the text, nor did she know of its origins. Did this belong to the original Chu Liuyue? Just as the thought flashed across her head, she felt a sense of familiarity. It was as if the text belonged to her!

The text flashed, then disappeared quickly.

Before Chu Liuyue could focus on it, she felt a new sensation in her dantian.

The originally withered dantian was filled with a red light! Floating right in the middle of her dantian was the text that Chu Liuyue had seen earlier!

She took a closer look and focused her energy.

The text did not exist alone. It was inscribed on a transparent book page! The page was extremely thin as if it was ripped off from a book. The edges were uneven as the page hovered there. It would be hard to see if not for the crimson text.

Just as Chu Liuyue was about to take a closer look out of curiosity, the transparent book page turned into a puddle and formed a small lake in her dantian.

The amulet text disappeared completely as if it had never appeared.

Chu Liuyue looked towards her palms. There was no trace of anything.

Her body returned to its usual tranquility.

As she pondered, she could not understand what was going on, so she chose to stop thinking about it. It did not seem like it would hurt her.

It was more important to settle the troubles of her host first!

She turned around, about to return to shore when her eyes turned cold. She hid her body in the water and looked straight ahead. “Who’s there?” At the same time, she removed her hairpin and held it in her hand, ready to strike!

In the thick fog, there was an elusive, tall figure. It was accompanied by the deep, gentle voice of a man, which seemed to be concealing a smile. “Little lady, I don’t think it’s good for you to be trespassing on other people’s territory.”

Perhaps it was because of the foggy atmosphere, but his words were a little dragged out, tinted with a hint of laziness. It was like a breeze plucking at the strings of a musical instrument. It was captivating.

A man was actually hiding in the middle of the lake!

Chu Liuyue was shocked. She had been coming here for so long, but she was clueless about it. Although she no longer had her previous body’s strength, she was still sharp, and her eyesight still excellent. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to take care of Song Lian and his two other companions by herself just now.

This man must be very strong.

“Is this your territory?” she asked cautiously.

The water rippled. Chu Liuyue could vaguely see a tall figure coming out of the water. His silhouette could be seen through a veil of white mist.

Straight shoulders, a broad back, and a curvy figure were vaguely hidden by the lake.

Chu Liuyue gripped her hairpin tightly as she continued to stare. She had just been reborn; she didn’t want to die again.

A low laugh came out of nowhere. “Do I look that good?”

A gust of wind dispersed the white mist. That man’s figure became clearer. It seemed that he was keen to meet her face to face.

Chu Liuyue sneered inwardly. She had seen worse. Why should she be intimidated by this? “I can’t get a good look with the mist in our way. Let me take a closer look; I can give you my answer then.”

The flowing mist came to a sudden stop. The man probably didn’t expect a young lady like her to talk in this manner.

“If you are really that keen, I will be happy to oblige. However, I’m worried you’ll stab me with your hairpin before you’ve seen more.” He didn’t seem annoyed because there was laughter in his voice.

Chu Liuyue remained silent. The man was strong, smart, and definitely not easy to deal with. He had figured out her intentions with one glance. She wouldn’t face such a person head-on when dealing with them.

She simply rolled her eyes, pulled her hair back, and calmly inserted the hairpin into her bun smoothly. “My apologies. I didn’t know this was your territory. I thought there was nobody until I intruded. I hope you will forgive me for my intrusion.”

The man was silent for a moment.

“There’s no need for that.” His voice sounded distant.

Chu Liuyue was flabbergasted. Was he letting her off this easily? Her mind was so confused that she didn’t say anything.

“The water in Lake Bibo may be good for health, but your meridian points are blocked. It’s better if you don’t stay for long.” The man stood up and made his way to the shore as soon as he said that. In a flash, he was done dressing.

Chu Liuyue could barely make out his silhouette despite the white mist. She could still see the man’s figure. Indeed, it was a really good one.

She, too, wore her clothes with haste without feeling embarrassed and left. This was not a man to be trifled with.

Before she could take a step, the man’s voice rang behind her. “Young lady, I have no wish to pursue this matter, but I have to know who has intruded into my territory today.”

The tone of his voice was smooth, but it carried a hint of a superior person’s irrefutable nobility.

Are his words meant to intimidate me into telling him my name? Chu Liuyue turned around. A man was standing not too far away from her.

She held her breath.

When she was a princess, she saw countless talented and handsome young men. Her fiancé, Jiang Yucheng, was also the most handsome man in Tianling Dynasty.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but feel amazed when she first laid her eyes on this man.

He had a pair of saber-like eyebrows which slanted into his temples, a straight nose, and sparkling eyes. Even the most beautiful starry night sky couldn’t compare to those deep eyes. One glance at those eyes was enough to make one crazy and sink into its light.

His scarlet lips were lightly pressed together into a flawless radian, which appeared thin. However, the bead in the middle of one of his lips made them look redder.

His eyes were the cleanest starry night in the world, while his lips were the most ambiguous spring color in the world. He was pure yet mysterious. He was elegant and noble, like an impenetrable contradictory form that seemed to drive one crazy as it attracted all the attention.

Chu Liuyue sized him up, and a word came into her mind—Demon!

“Chu Liuyue.” She had no intention of hiding her identity. After all, he looked like a man of many means. Lying would only cause more problems.

The man stood across her and stared, but his gaze was like the moonlight as his eyes lightly grazed past her. They finally remained fixed on her face. “Let’s forget about this since Xue Xue was the one who let you in.”

Xue Xue? Is it that white lion?

The man suddenly stepped forward and approached Chu Liuyue until he stood in front of her.

Chu Liuyue was on high alert. However, she suppressed her feelings so as not to show him any hostility. She looked at him calmly.

He stood unmovingly. Suddenly, he reached out and grazed her cheek lightly with his warm fingertip. “Lady Chu, you can’t go home in such a mess with blood on your face.”

Chu Liuyue was shocked. She looked down and saw the bloodstain on his fingertip.

The two breathed, taking in each other’s scent for a moment.

His deep voice stirred her eardrums. “Also, my name is Rong Xiu.” Before Chu Liuyue could say anything, he told her, “You should go.”

Chu Liuyue pursed her lips. She might not know what he was up to, but she had a feeling that there was another battle to be fought when she returned to the Chu family. “Thank you.”

…

It wasn’t until the young girl’s slender figure completely disappeared into the forest that Rong Xiu finally withdrew his gaze and glanced at the white lion.

His warm and friendly demeanor dimmed a few notches. “Did you betray your master to get into her good graces?”

The white lion was motionless.

“If you pretend to be dead, I will tell her your other name is Hua Hua when I see her the next time.”

Roar!

The white lion suddenly stood up. Its name was Xue Hua [Snowflake], not Hua Hua! It would be so embarrassing if others came to know about this.

“The Imperial City should be quite crowded these days, so I’ll leave you to it.”

Xue Hua’s eyes lit up.

…

The atmosphere in the Chu family’s hall was tense.

Anxiety was written all over Chu Ning’s face. He paced around uneasily while looking out nervously.

“Yue’er has been gone for the whole day. It’s already evening. Why isn’t she back yet? First Elder, we should send a search party out quickly.”

What should they do if something happened to her? Yue’er was completely defenseless.

First Elder, Chu Xiao, sipped his tea and told him nonchalantly, “Chu Ning, stop fretting. This isn’t the first time she has gone out. What could happen? Perhaps, she was having so much fun that she simply forgot the time.”

Chu Ning was extremely anxious, but he knew they wouldn’t agree to his request. It’s getting dark. Yue’er wouldn’t be so insensible. She should be back by now. “I will search for her myself!” He went out alone without waiting for them.

The Third Missy, Chu Xianmin, came dressed in a yellow dress. She had a pretty face. She respectfully bowed before saying with a whimper, “First Elder, I know that my sister hasn’t come back yet, so I shouldn’t bother you. B-but… there is something that I don’t dare to hide—my things have been stolen.”

First Elder frowned. “What happened?”

Tears began to well up in Chu Xianmin’s eyes. “I invited my sister to my room this morning, wanting to give her some money so she could buy something for herself when she went out. However, when I checked earlier, all the money and jewelry my parents gave me were missing.”

Chu Ning barked. “What are you trying to say? Are you implying that Yue’er is the thief?”

Chu Xianmin cried harder. Aggrieved, tears fell from her eyes.

“I didn’t mean that… How could I accuse my sister? However, she was the only one who has gone into my room today.”

First Elder squinted his eyes. “Perhaps… she stole Xianmin’s money and ran away? How dare she!”

Chu Ning was about to argue when he heard the announcement.

“Big Missy is back!”

Everyone in the hall froze.

A tear had been lingering at the corner of Chu Xianmin’s eye as she concealed her disbelief. How? Chu Liuyue should be…

A petite silhouette approached against the light.

“First Elder must be joking. As the Chu family’s eldest daughter, I have a share of all the family’s assets. Why would I steal my sister’s money and betray my family?” Chu Liuyue walked into the hall with a smile, but it made Chu Xianmin quiver. “Am I right, Sister?”