Mm, he had no other intentions—he simply wanted to check on his junior brother's love life. Tsk tsk, he had heard from the Medicine Peak Master who treated Junior Brother Mingxiao's wounds that his junior brother had actually lost his virginity on this trip back.
Just who was this Song Zhizhi, to make his junior brother, as cold and proud as a snowy mountain, fall in love?
In Ten Thousand Swords City, not far from the Sword Sect, a stunning woman in azure robes suddenly sneezed. "Achoo! Who's talking about me?"
Author's Note:
The twenty-year-old male lead: His face turns red just from touching a little hand.
The five-hundred-year-old male lead: Driving with his eyes. (Ahem, can I even say that?)
This story has no heavy, soul-crushing conspiracies, doesn't torture the male or female lead, and has no partings in life or death. Any conspiracies will be cleverly resolved by the female lead. It's simply a
relaxing
sweet little story about raising children.
Cultivation Drowsiness
The woman in azure was none other than Song Zhizhi. Half a month ago, she had fled the mountain cottage. After thinking it over, she had decided to follow the original host's plan and participate in the Sword Sect's disciple selection tournament.
Song Zhizhi had already accepted the fact that she had transmigrated into a novel. Over the past half month, she had sorted through the original host's memories and incidentally learned about this world.
Perhaps because this was a female-lead cultivation novel, this world's cultivation ranks were much the same as those in most cultivation novels. From low to high, they were Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Mahayana, and Ascension.
At present, the strongest known combatant in the Cultivation World was Sword Venerable Mingxiao of the Sword Sect's Red Cloud Peak. Though he was only at Mahayana Early Stage, Sword Cultivators were invincible among those of the same rank and could fight above their level. With the divine artifact Blood Drinker in hand, even those at Mahayana Peak were no match for him.
Yet such a formidable figure was mentioned only once in the original text. That was when the female lead, Song Miaomiao, reached the Nascent Soul stage at one hundred years old, and someone remarked that her talent was no less than that of Sword Venerable Mingxiao, once the number one genius of the Cultivation World.
Perhaps this Sword Venerable Mingxiao simply did not like joining in the excitement.
Of course, the world of geniuses had nothing to do with Song Zhizhi, nor had it anything to do with the original host.
Children in the Cultivation World underwent a unified Spiritual Root test when they turned ten. The original host had been found to possess Dual Water-Fire Spiritual Roots. Ordinarily, dual Spiritual Roots were not bad aptitude, but Water and Fire Spiritual Roots were different. These two Spiritual Roots generated and counteracted each other, making cultivation even slower than with an ordinary Triple Spirit Root. The original host had begun cultivating at ten, and now, at eighteen, though she had been more diligent than anyone, she had only reached the fifth level of Qi Refining.
Meanwhile, Song Miaomiao, who had grown up alongside her, had been found to possess a top-grade Mutated Ice Spiritual Root. Crowned a genius unseen in a thousand years, she had already reached the peak of Qi Refining at only eighteen. If the Song Household had possessed a suitable Foundation Establishment cultivation technique, Song Miaomiao would have established her foundation long ago.
Everyone said she was inferior to Song Miaomiao. They trampled on her to praise Song Miaomiao, telling her that with Song Miaomiao around, no one would spare her a second glance. So, on the journey to participate in the Sword Sect's disciple selection tournament together, the original host had entertained dark thoughts. She had wanted to drug the female lead, only for it to backfire on herself and drag down Song Zhizhi, the innocent novel transmigrator, along with her.
The original host could not see clearly while trapped within the situation, but Song Zhizhi, an outsider, saw it plainly: the original host had been used as a weapon by someone else. Otherwise, where would someone who had been ostracized and spent all her Spirit Stones on cultivation get such costly Spring Day Powder?
But that did not mean the original host was innocent. It was a fact that she had envied Song Miaomiao and done wrong. Song Zhizhi had no face left to return to the Song Household, and this body possessed a face of devastating beauty. In the Cultivation World, where martial virtue ran rampant, it was dangerous to lack the power to protect oneself.
After thinking it over, she still decided to follow the original host's plan and take part in the Sword Sect's new disciple selection tournament.
The current Cultivation World was led by three great sects: the Sword Sect, which focused on Sword Cultivators; the Profound Moon Sect, which focused on Dharma Cultivators; and the Heavenly Feather Sect, which focused on Artifact Cultivators and Healing Cultivators. The lesser sects beneath these three would not be discussed for now.
Song Zhizhi preferred the wealthy Profound Moon Sect, where cultivation would not be too arduous. But the Profound Moon Sect's next recruitment was five years away. Moreover, the Profound Moon Sect and Heavenly Feather Sect were friendly allied sects that frequently interacted with each other. Xie Xiuji was a disciple of the Heavenly Feather Sect, so the two of them might run into each other one day.
Whenever Song Zhizhi thought of Xie Xiuji's name, she could not stop herself from feeling guilty. To avoid running into Xie Xiuji, she decided to join the Sword Sect, which was farthest from the Heavenly Feather Sect and also had the worst relationship with it.
After joining the Sword Sect, she would never go out unless absolutely necessary. She would do her best to lie low until Xie Xiuji forgot all about her.
*
Ten Thousand Swords City was a bustling city at the foot of the Sword Sect's mountain. Mortals and cultivators alike lived within it, and with the selection tournament drawing near, the city was exceptionally lively.
Song Zhizhi paid the entrance fee and passed through the majestic city gates. Inside, the streets were thronged with people, and youths in their teens darted through them. They were likely all here to participate in this Sword Sect selection.
Song Zhizhi had not arrived especially early. The better rooms in the inns had all been booked, leaving only rooms in less desirable locations or rooms with cramped conditions.
Fortunately, Song Zhizhi was not picky. The room had a bed, a table, and tiles over her head. It was far better than sleeping in the wild.
Song Zhizhi entered the room and sat on the bed. She had intended to meditate and cultivate, but before long, her consciousness grew hazy. Her head began nodding bit by bit as drowsiness overtook her.
Perhaps it was because she had been traveling for the past half month without resting properly and was simply too tired. Song Zhizhi remembered that whenever she returned from business trips in another city in her past life, she needed three to five days of sleeping in before she could recover. So she did not think much of it.
She cast a Cleansing Spell on herself, removed her outer robe, and collapsed onto the bed. In less than a minute, her breathing became long and steady. She had clearly fallen into a deep sleep.
Half dreaming and half awake, Song Zhizhi seemed to hear little birds chirping. It was not particularly loud, but it rang beside her ears the entire night, as though they were calling, "Mama, Mama."
When Song Zhizhi woke and recalled that dream, she could not help but smile. It was rare for her to dream, yet she had dreamed of something so absurd. Even in the Cultivation World, little birds could not speak human language. Those who could speak human language were of the Demon Race, and the Demon Race was not welcome in the human world.
A few faint birdcalls seemed to drift in from outside the window. Song Zhizhi pushed it open and saw a bird's nest in the tree outside. Inside, fledglings held their mouths open, waiting for their mother to feed them.