The bright moon spilled its light.
The courtyard lay cold and still.
Inside Ascension Hall, lamps blazed and incense filled the air. Rising steam made the entire space as warm as a spring day.
Several pretty maids stood in a corner of the hall, whispering among themselves. Each wore some trace of worry.
"There were more new seedlings this time than last. We thought we'd be able to keep a few more, but most turned out to be silver-tipped pewter spears—all shine on the outside and no use at all. Only seven passed the selection."
"That's even fewer than last time. If the Immortal Maidens are displeased and punish us, what will we do?"
"I'm not afraid of the others losing their tempers. It's Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue I'm afraid of..."
"Shh! Quiet!"
Perhaps Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue was simply too terrifying. The mere mention of her name made the maids tremble. They fell silent at once and exchanged anxious looks, fear plain in their eyes.
A clear laugh suddenly rang out. A maid with damp clothes came over from the warm bathing pool. She, too, was fifteen or sixteen, but her face was relaxed.
"Don't worry. There may be fewer this time, but we found two treasures. When the Venerable Mother hears of them, she won't punish us—she'll reward us!"
"Huh?"
Xiao Chan had changed back into her lovely, rainbow-hued finery, though the front of her clothes was still damp. She left Ascension Hall alone, descended the steps in quick little strides, and looked around. "Mother Shi, are you here?"
Tap, tap!
Heavy footsteps sounded behind her.
Xiao Chan turned and saw someone emerge from the shadow of a corridor pillar: a sturdy woman with a square face, broad forehead, and dark skin. An inch-long scar crossed her left eyebrow, lending her a fearsome look.
The fierce-looking woman was dressed for ease of movement, and her frame was exceptionally large—every bit as powerfully built as a strong man.
She stared expressionlessly at Xiao Chan. Xiao Chan drew her neck in and hurriedly held out a register with both hands. "Mother Shi, this round's list is ready. Please take it to the Immortal Maidens to review. I'll bring the new seedlings over shortly."
Mother Shi took the register and opened it, examining it by the light spilling from Ascension Hall. Her brow furrowed deeply.
Xiao Chan hastened to say, "The number isn't what we'd hoped, but two of them are outstanding. The Venerable Mother and the Immortal Maidens will surely be pleased when they see them."
She tapped the register with a slender finger. The page listed names, with notes on each person's natural gifts and capacity. Xiao Chan pointed to two of them. "You must have heard of young Master Hong. His natural gifts are of the highest grade, and he's handsome and graceful, with a face like jade. Then there's this warrior, Wang Ai. His natural gifts are ordinary... but he has a special talent. A very particular one. I've never seen anything like it..."
Xiao Chan racked her brains but could find no fitting words. "Mother Shi, you'd better see for yourself!"
Mother Shi had only glanced at the number of names before. Now she followed Xiao Chan's finger, and her breath caught. "Truly?"
"Truly!" Xiao Chan's answer was firm as a nail driven into wood.
"A Heavenly Being indeed!"
"Warrior, you cannot be mortal. Are you a Heavenly Being?"
Several pretty maids clustered around Wang Ai, exclaiming in admiration. They looked up at him with awe written across their faces as they respectfully helped him dress.
Wang Ai thrust out his chest and swept them with a haughty gaze. He even twisted his waist rapidly on purpose, as if making a swishing sound.
"Can it really be that frightening?" The other five newcomers stared, mouths agape and faces blank, as though they had taken a blow.
After the baths, only seven of the dozen or so remained. The maids helped them into new clothes, though several attended Wang Ai, while even Hong Yuan had only two.
What happened to the Flying Immortal Pool shedding our mortal flesh? What a load of crap!
Hong Yuan felt he had done nothing but wash the smell of wine off himself. The more he saw of this place, the more it resembled a certain sort of establishment—a brothel. Of course, Hong Yuan was a well-read gentleman; he would call it "heaven on earth."
This one, though, seemed to cater exclusively to women.
Fair enough!
Men and women were equal, after all. There was no reason women couldn't visit brothels.
No. I have to leave.
Understanding it was one thing; getting out was another. Hong Yuan's plain scholar's robe had been left beside the warm pool. The two maids had now dressed him in a loose robe with a soft underlayer, its warmth against his skin marking it as fine silk.
Hong Yuan glanced at the slender maids and clenched his fists. Beneath his robe, his arms tightened, and he felt strength surge through them.
He had no way to test how much the benefit that came with crossing worlds had strengthened him, but one punch each ought to put these maids to sleep easily enough.
Hong Yuan resolved to slip away as soon as he found the right opportunity.
A little later, everyone had finished dressing. Xiao Chan stepped before them with a smile. "Now that you're ready, please follow me to the Immortal Terrace to pay your respects to the Immortal Maidens."
"But first, a warning. Do not ask questions on the way. Do not speak before the Immortal Maidens, and do not behave frivolously or recklessly and offend their august presence. Simply follow their instructions."
"Rest assured, Immortal Maiden Xiao Chan. I wouldn't dare cause trouble," Wang Ai said with a smile.
Xiao Chan frowned faintly. But since Wang Ai was the one who had interrupted, she did not grow angry. She merely waved a hand and led the maids ahead with their lamps.
The moment they left Ascension Hall, Hong Yuan's expression changed.
Eight sturdy female attendants were already waiting in the courtyard. Though women, they wore fitted clothes and were tall and powerfully built, with thick, strong arms and legs. They were certainly not the sort to fall over from one punch.
More importantly, two had bulging pouches at their waists that might conceal short blades. The other six each carried a staff.
The eight women did not greet Xiao Chan. They quickly split into two groups and flanked Hong Yuan and the others, their eyes sharp, as though a single misstep would bring their staffs down on them.
Hong Yuan's heart sank. He did not know how strong he was or how many he could take on, but facing staffs and blades barehanded would certainly put him at a disadvantage.
And when he peered into the darkness and listened, he caught faint footsteps. Clearly, the Jade Wutong Immortal Realm had more guards than these eight women.
The others had been startled too. None dared meet the guards' sharp gazes.
I'll have to play it by ear.
Hong Yuan sighed.
The so-called Immortal Terrace was actually the main building of this vast estate. Their route happened to pass through the lakeside garden where Hong Yuan had awakened. Another hundred-odd paces brought them to their destination.
Compared with the other buildings, the Immortal Terrace stood on foundations raised three feet above the ground, giving it an added air of authority. Bright red light shone from within, illuminating the space before the hall.
The other maids had quietly dispersed. Only Xiao Chan entered carrying a lamp, while the eight sturdy women escorted Hong Yuan and the other six into the hall.
The hall was enormous, its ceiling nearly twenty feet above the floor. At its far end stood a platform as tall as a person, with bronze mirrors carved in strange patterns hanging on three sides.
Seven people sat atop the great platform. Six were hidden behind hanging curtains, their figures indistinct and their faces impossible to make out. Only the person in the center sat openly, legs spread wide.
Yang Lie, the Hook-nosed Youth, and the others already in the hall stood with lowered heads and meek expressions, not moving a muscle.
As for the newcomers, even Hong Yuan looked toward the platform. Though the reflected light from the bronze mirrors dazzled his eyes, his mouth fell open. He stood utterly stunned.
What kind of person was that?
That was a damn pig!
No—even in this age, a pig would have a terribly hard time growing that fat.
Seven people sat on the platform, yet the one in the middle alone seemed to occupy enough space for three.
She was an elderly woman of perhaps fifty or sixty. Heavy folds of flesh crowded her broad face, and her eyes were buried deep within them, narrowed to slits that gleamed with malice.
The chair beneath her was enormous too, studded with pearls and jade. Rather than sitting in it, she sprawled across it, her whole body like a mountain of flesh.
Yet she wore luxurious brocade and was covered in jade, gold, and pearls. Even her wrists, thick as tree stumps, bore more than one pair of gold bracelets!
Hong Yuan did not know how anyone else felt. He was close to retching.
Merely sitting there, the mountainous old woman wheezed without pause, her breathing rasping like a bellows.
She gave a sharp cough, and two people in colorful clothes immediately sprang forward.
They had been on the platform all along, standing behind the old woman, but her mountain of flesh had blocked them from view. Even Hong Yuan had not noticed them at first.
Now he looked once, then again. He no longer merely felt sick; he wanted to gouge out his own eyes.
He had assumed they were female attendants. Only now did he realize they were two men in women's clothes, their faces powdered and rouged. Even dressed so absurdly, they were clearly rather handsome.
One stroked the fat woman's chest to ease her breathing—assuming he could find her chest at all. The other crouched halfway down, lifted his head, and waited with perfect obedience.
What the hell...
That poor young man!
At last, the fat woman coughed up whatever had been stuck in her throat. She seized the brightly dressed man who had leaned toward her with one large hand.
The man trembled, his legs already going weak.
Hong Yuan was not a man without manners, but he truly wanted to curse. Unable to bear the sight, he abruptly turned his gaze to Yang Lie, who stood with his head lowered and eyes shut, his body trembling faintly.
I get it! I get everything now!
Brother Yang, you're the real hero!
No wonder Yang Lie was tall and strong yet had dark circles under his eyes, looking as though he had hardly slept. It would have been a miracle if he had.
Hong Yuan suddenly thought of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and the many collections of supernatural stories. In plenty of them, young scholars, wandering heroes, or traveling merchants stumbled into immortal realms by chance, met Immortal Maidens, and shared a night of passion with them.
But viewed through modern eyes, some read those stories differently. What immortal realms? What Immortal Maidens? They were merely lonely noblewomen shut away in great houses, putting on an act of mystery and pretending to be spirits so they could lure men in.
How very much this resembled those tales.
Hong Yuan had considered the possibility of immortal cultivators. He had also wondered whether the Jade Wutong Immortal Realm was the work of mountain spirits and monsters. Now it seemed to be nothing but the illusion of an immortal realm, built with power and immense wealth.
To people of this age, though, perhaps it was no illusion. To ordinary folk, what difference was there between these powerful nobles and immortals living in a celestial realm?
Even in the ancient age of Hong Yuan's previous world, people saw the one seated in the temple as a City God and the county magistrate as a City God on his feet. A successful scholar was a literary star descended to earth, and the emperor was the Son of Heaven...
All were sacred. None were mere mortals!
"Urgh!"
Someone beside him finally could not hold back a retch!
As one brightly dressed man wiped the fat woman's mouth, she cast a sidelong glance through narrowed, malicious eyes. A sturdy guard immediately lunged forward, seized the retching person by the back of the neck with a thick hand, and hauled him away like a hawk carrying off a chick.
The man coughed loudly and struggled with all his might. The guard clenched her free hand into a fist and struck hard, driving it into his temple.
His body convulsed once, then went limp as mud.
The guard snorted. She tucked him under one arm and carried him out of the hall.
Hong Yuan's pupils contracted.
The others fell silent as cicadas in winter.
Another guard slammed her staff against the floor. Bang! "Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue sits before you, and you dare act so insolently? Lower your heads, all of you! Do not look directly upon the Venerable Mother's sacred face!"
Venerable Mother of Might and Virtue waved one fat hand. Her narrowed eyes swept over everyone below, and she nodded. "This time, the immortal realm is taking in new seedlings. I shall accept only two as personal disciples..."
She spread her large hand and pointed a thick finger at Hong Yuan and Wang Ai. "These two shall enter my tutelage and cultivate Immortal Arts," she said with a hoarse laugh. "The rest of you may divide the remaining seedlings among yourselves."
Before you continue