Fate Trading System – Chapter 271

Plan A

Furnace 22

[Refresher: Qi Refining stage → Foundation Establishment stage → Golden Core stage → Nascent Soul stage → Divine Transformation stage → Void Refining stage → Body Integration stage → Great Accomplishment stage]

A pitiable person must have detestable aspects, and a detestable person must have pitiable aspects¹.

This saying wasn’t entirely correct, but it applied to most situations.

Su Xin felt great sympathy. The woman in black wasn’t wrong, nor was this princess. What was wrong were the people of that era. But what fault did the people in this village and those who had been harmed before have?

Many times, the very existence of some people, intentionally or unintentionally, harmed others. But in this world, many things weren’t clearly black or white, right or wrong.

From different perspectives, right and wrong became different.

From Su Xin and Jing Yueru’s perspective, the woman in black was a villain who harmed other innocent lives for her own selfish desires.

“They’re both fine.”

Jing Yueru glanced at the two unconscious people on the ground and said softly, then looked at Su Xin’s wrist.

Xilou had swallowed another good thing and was now lazily sleeping again.

“That’s good.”

The black mist here was gradually dissipating. The body of the woman in black vanished into the air, leaving no corpse. The white bones on the bed had also turned to dust and scattered.

“She’s been dead for many years.”

About fifty-odd years, Jing Yueru roughly estimated.

“Mm, let’s wait here for them to wake up.”

Jing Yueru burned a talisman paper, chanting a specialized incantation from the Lancang Sect used to clear away resentment.

She wasn’t performing a soul deliverance; she didn’t have that ability. She could only help dissipate some of their resentment. Some souls were already fragmented, while others should still be able to reincarnate smoothly.

“How’s your body now?”

Su Xin was concerned. Although three years had passed, what if there were still some issues?

“Not bad.”

Jing Yueru’s feelings were actually quite complex right now. She had her previous memories, so she naturally knew what she herself had been thinking.

That feeling was truly a bit subtle. Was she jealous of her?

Feeling that she was too weak, unable to protect the person she loved, and even needing to ask for her power, even though they were originally one and the same, one person.

It was just that that self hadn’t regained her own memories yet. When that day came, they would truly merge into one person.

“When will you go back again?”

“Are you… trying to drive me away?”

Jing Yueru pursed her lips, looking somewhat unhappy.

“No, I’m not.”

Su Xin wondered how to phrase it. Of course, she wasn’t trying to make Jing Yueru leave. This was Jing Yueru’s own body, after all. She still preferred being with that innocent, silly little fool, because she knew they would definitely get along well. That personality was clingy, very obedient, and gave a great sense of security. But the one in front of her was not.

“We will become one person. Perhaps there will be some subtle changes compared to me, and to her.”

Jing Yueru said. Although she had that self’s memories, she didn’t have the same empathetic feelings. They were now like two individuals in one body. They clearly knew they were one person and shared some common thoughts, but it still felt a bit awkward.

“Mm, I know.”

Su Xin fell silent. She actually had a bit of confidence that Jing Yueru would still like her, but there was always a strange feeling.

No matter what, she was still Jing Yueru. Although there were some discrepancies in memories and personality, her fundamental nature was the same.

Jing Yueru pressed the red dot between her eyebrows, her expression somewhat puzzled.

“How strange.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It seems I don’t need to fall into a dormant state for the time being, but I’m not the one in control either. The restriction has become somewhat chaotic due to frequent deactivating, so our dominant consciousness might be unstable right now.”

“Meaning, you might come out in her place at any time, and she might do the same?”

“Yes, and it’s something we can’t choose ourselves.”

This could be good or bad. Not being able to choose herself was because she wasn’t sure if she’d suddenly feel like coming out to take a look, but that other personality definitely wouldn’t want to.

“I see, I understand.”

So, this person could switch personalities anytime, anywhere? How terrifying.

When Su Xin faced that Jing Yueru, her attitude was very natural and casual. That Jing Yueru doted on her, and she doted on that Jing Yueru in return. But in front of this Jing Yueru, she couldn’t help but feel a bit reserved, having to ponder what this Jing Yueru was thinking, what she wanted to do. This Jing Yueru always gave her an inscrutable feeling.

Su Xin thought of the “script” Jing Yueru held in her hands, and sighed inwardly again.

What this Jing Yueru carried was too heavy, while the other one, not remembering those things, was naturally lighthearted.

Su Xin felt a pang of heartache. This child also had it tough, to the point of developing split personalities.

Tian Ling and Guizi Qing on the ground had already woken up. Seeing that the situation had been resolved, they felt a bit embarrassed. They hadn’t contributed much at all this time, and it was over just like that. Senior Sister was truly formidable.

But they couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Senior Sister’s aura seemed even stronger than when they first arrived. That cold sensation when she glanced over… if before it was like a biting wind, now it was like a blizzard.

They returned to the Lancang Sect, and Jing Yueru received some sect contribution points.

“Can you handle the problem with your body?”

“I’ll try. Let’s go into closed-door cultivation first.”

Jing Yueru planned to deal with it through closed-door cultivation. She actually really wanted to visit the places from before, but her current strength wasn’t very high yet. She needed to become stronger.

Jing Yueru’s intrinsic magic weapon was also a sword. That sword had been sealed within her body along with her. It could only be unsealed when her cultivation reached a certain realm. At the very least, she had to retrieve her weapon before going to those places to take a look.

The superficial cultivation of this body was currently at the early Golden Core stage. She would need to reach at least the early Nascent Soul stage to retrieve the weapon.

The one who destroyed their clan was the Heavenly Dao.

Jing Yueru wanted to retaliate, but she had no way to do so.

The Heavenly Dao was specific in its actions, yet utterly ethereal. If the Heavenly Dao wanted to destroy someone, it was an effortless matter, because all things in this world were created by it.

Jing Yueru pondered how to survive her next tribulation. If the Heavenly Dao intended to continue destroying her, then she might very well become a Destroyed One.

If she became like that, what difference would there be from being dead? It would be better to just die.

“Alright, let’s go into closed-door cultivation first.”

The immortal path is long and slow. Worldly matters like this were nothing in the eyes of cultivators.

What they had most was time, and a youthful appearance that wouldn’t age after reaching a certain realm. They had to keep cultivating, not only driven by the pursuit of power but also by the desire to live longer.

The higher one’s cultivation, the longer one could live. This was a fact known to everyone.

Time flew by, and twenty years passed in a flash.

Su Xin had successfully entered the Golden Core stage, becoming what could be called a very promising young person. But even more famous were the medicinal pills she refined.

Her name had already spread within the circle of alchemists, and she had befriended many of them. Those people helped promote her, and gradually her fame grew.

Su Xin thought it was fortunate that the little girl’s initial wish was for most cultivators on the continent to know her name, not to become some number one expert on the continent.

“Junior Sister Wei, is my Junior Sister still in closed-door cultivation?”

The one who came was Second Senior Brother. He had come to visit several times over these years.

“Yes, she is.”

“Why has she been in seclusion for so long this time?”

Second Senior Brother asked strangely. Usually, it was three to five years, ten at most. Those with higher cultivation would stay in seclusion longer.

“I don’t know.”

Second Senior Brother had gotten used to his junior sister’s good friend. He didn’t really have any particular business with Jing Yueru; he just hadn’t seen his junior sister for a long time and missed her. Then, he would conveniently come here to deliver medicinal herbs to Su Xin. Some things he didn’t need himself, so he’d give them to Su Xin for alchemy. In return, Su Xin would sometimes give him some pills.

Su Xin was also waiting for Jing Yueru to come out of seclusion; otherwise, she would have been running around causing trouble long ago.

Time seemed to pass incredibly quickly. She didn’t know how long she had been in seclusion, but Fourteen had always kept track for her.

She had gone into seclusion six times, for varying lengths of time, adding up to over a dozen years. The rest of the time was spent on alchemy.

Shang Huai would occasionally appear before her, but most of the time he was busy in other places, preparing the medicinal ingredients needed for the final pill.

The sky suddenly darkened, and tribulation clouds appeared from the horizon.

“Who’s undergoing a tribulation? It looks quite grand. Could it be a Nascent Soul stage mighty figure undergoing tribulation? But it doesn’t quite look like it.”

But if it was for the Golden Core stage, it also seemed unlikely. There shouldn’t be such a terrifying tribulation cloud for advancing to the Golden Core stage, right?

And so, Second Senior Brother watched as that enormous tribulation cloud leisurely floated over to where they were.

“Is it Junior Sister?”

Second Senior Brother still remembered the situation of his junior sister’s last tribulation. Thinking that if it was his junior sister, then it might be possible. After all, the commotion from her last tribulation, advancing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, also didn’t seem like a typical one.

His junior sister seemed to be particularly ‘favored’ by the Heavenly Dao. Such a person would either become a dragon among men, or perish at the hands of heavenly lightning.

This commotion was no small matter. Xuan Yi immediately rushed over to set up restrictions, his heart heavy.

“Sigh.”

This sigh, however, couldn’t help but escape his lips.

Xuan Yi seemed to somewhat understand why the Hidden Clan, such a powerful clan, had suddenly vanished.

The people of the Hidden Clan were skilled in divination. Divination meant prying into heavenly secrets, which inherently shortened one’s lifespan. And their clan possessed such formidable abilities.

The Heavenly Dao was indeed the Heavenly Dao; it effortlessly destroyed what it did not want.

When this terrifying momentum passed, a figure walked out from between the rocks.

Her white robes were still clean, but her face bore red, thread-like markings, making one’s heart tremble to see them, as if this body was about to shatter at any moment.

Her gray eyes held an unusual expression. Jing Yueru didn’t even look at her master and senior brother to the side, directly wrapping her arm around Su Xin’s waist.

“Still not fused together.”

Still not fused together.

Though it was one person speaking, Su Xin felt like she heard overlapping voices.

“The body can’t hold on much longer.”

The body can’t hold on much longer.

“Help me.”

Help me.

Su Xin’s hand touched Jing Yueru’s chest; the temperature there was scorching hot.

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