A Maiden Named Su Fuxi

(Note: this is a niche male-to-female transformation story with the protagonist marrying a man, a 1/1 pure love pairing, and a light, leisurely cultivation-life style. Apparently, the disciple will be heartbroken, and things will get a little bittersweet later. Proceed with caution. If this subject isn't for you, just hit the X! You can block me outright; please don't leave malicious low ratings.)

(The heroine is a cold-hearted cultivator who truly struggled through every step to get where she is. She won't lose her head over love, but she has humanity. The hero looks innocent but is scheming underneath, a love-struck simp and a pure love warrior. If that isn't to your taste, don't read. The protagonists are both resilient, not delicate... If you don't like it, don't read.)

At the Azure Cloud Sect, clouds and mist wreathed the immortal mountains and jade pavilions.

In a secret chamber of Chongming Pavilion on Cloud-Capped Peak, spiritual energy gathered, only to fall into disarray moments later.

"Damn it... failed again..."

Su Fuxi couldn't help spitting out a mouthful of blood with a "pfft." As the gale of spiritual energy swirling around her slowly dispersed, she immediately sat cross-legged to stabilize her cultivation, which had fallen to the Late Golden Core after her failed breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Within a few breaths, her cultivation fell even further! Only after a long while did it barely stabilize at the Late Golden Core, no longer declining.

"I never imagined forming a Nascent Soul would be so hard!"

Su Fuxi raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her heart heavy.

He recalled how he had transmigrated into a young girl climbing the Azure Cloud Sect's trial stairway to heaven. More than three hundred years had passed since then.

This body's aptitude was ordinary, and she had only been an outer disciple at first, so she could only cultivate diligently.

It had taken her a full sixty-year cycle to reach Foundation Establishment, and her perseverance had rightfully been second to none among the outer disciples. Not to mention that two hundred years had passed since she formed her Golden Core.

He had failed his first attempt to form a Nascent Soul twenty years ago, and facing failure again today, he felt a little desperate.

"Cough... am I... destined never to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage in this life?"

"No wonder ascending to immortality is so difficult. Even breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage is this hard... is there really no other way?"

It was so hard to accept.

No! She still had nearly a hundred years of life left. After a moment's despondency, Su Fuxi refused to give up the possibility of a breakthrough so easily and pushed herself to her feet.

She sighed inwardly. In the end, this body's aptitude is just too poor. I have to spend countless times longer than others just to make any progress.

With ordinary aptitude, getting this far is already the result of all my hard work. Sigh...

Looks like I'll have to find another way...

Thinking of the resources she had spent on her two attempts to form a Nascent Soul, she couldn't help sucking in a breath at the painful loss.

Su Fuxi took a Foundation-Nourishing Pill provided by the sect from her storage bag and swallowed it, then stepped out of the secluded cultivation chamber. The restriction at the entrance rippled for an instant, and she appeared outside the pavilion.

"Greetings, Elder Su. You've finally come out of seclusion. The sect master asked you to go to the main hall."

Only a menial disciple stood guard at the entrance. When she came out, he caught sight of her distinctive immortal beauty and inevitably lost himself for a moment before hurriedly lowering his head and bowing.

Although the sect had placed little importance on her attempt to form a Nascent Soul this time, and not a single elder had stood guard for her, she was a genuine Late Golden Core elder. A menial disciple could not show her the slightest disrespect.

"Mm."

A cool, clear female voice sounded above him. By the time the menial disciple raised his head, Fairy Chongming, whose beauty was renowned throughout southern Tianshui, was already gone.

In her previous life, Su Fuxi had been a rough man, but perhaps because he had helped too many old ladies cross the road as a child, he hadn't died in the car accident. He could cultivate immortality after transmigrating here, which was why he found becoming a little girl somewhat acceptable.

Even back then, when she had been blind for decades, she had felt it was nothing compared to cultivating immortality. She had endured all the hardships and difficulties.

Being blind didn't stop her from being a stunning beauty now.

She had vermilion lips, pearly teeth, and gentle features. A purple silk ribbon covered the one flaw in her beauty, her vacant eyes. Because she was socially anxious and taciturn to begin with, and had developed a quiet temperament from years of seclusion after Foundation Establishment, even her gentle face carried a hint of aloofness.

Ordinary disciples didn't dare look her in the eye, much less harbor irreverent thoughts about Elder Su. At least, that was how things appeared on the surface.

Dressed in a pale purple gown of plain silk, its layered skirts falling straight over her shoes, Su Fuxi wore her long hair half pinned up with a jeweled hairpin. The long ends of her eye ribbon streamed behind her in the wind as she rode her flying sword down like a streak of light before the great hall of the main peak, Azure Cloud Peak.

"Greetings, Sect Master." Seeing the middle-aged Nascent Soul cultivator seated in the main seat, she respectfully cupped her hands.

"No need for ceremony, Elder Su. A demonic entity has been causing trouble in our territory recently. The Foundation Establishment disciples can't handle it, and the other elders are all in seclusion, so I'll leave this matter to you." Sect Master Li Yuanqing nodded and got straight to the point, sending a jade slip flying over to her.

The Azure Cloud Sect had only two Nascent Soul patriarchs in all. One had been summoned fifty years ago by the suzerain state above the Tianshui Kingdom and had yet to return. The other was Li Yuanqing, whom everyone in the sect held in high regard.

"Yes." Su Fuxi grasped the jade slip, then saw Li Yuanqing wave a pill over to her. "This is a third-tier Spirit-Concentrating Pill. It can help you stabilize your realm. Go on, and return as soon as you can."

The Azure Cloud School had strict rules, and disciples had to earn enough contribution points to exchange for resources. This third-tier Spirit-Concentrating Pill was countless times better than a second-tier high-grade Foundation-Nourishing Pill!

"Thank you, Sect Master." She accepted the pill and bowed again.

"Pingzhou? It'll take half a day to get there." Su Fuxi examined the jade slip as she flew. The task was in Pingzhou, where a demonic entity had appeared and was ravaging the countryside. In regions within an immortal sect's jurisdiction, the Tianshui authorities would not immediately intervene in such matters.

Su Fuxi frowned slightly. She had just failed to form a Nascent Soul and was in a bad mood, so she would treat this trip as a chance to clear her head in the mortal world.

She shifted her feet, immediately speeding up on her sword and transforming into a long rainbow that vanished into the horizon.

Su Fuxi didn't know why her eyes were so unusual. She had consulted many spirit physicians, but none could cure them, and immortal arts could find nothing wrong either. The only conclusion was that it came from her soul.

Her aptitude was ordinary, and apart from her good looks, she was unremarkable in every other respect.

Fortunately, ever since gaining spiritual sense, she had regained half her sight, so to speak. But when she viewed things with spiritual sense, the whole world was gray and white; her eyes saw none of its brilliant colors.

Su Fuxi herself didn't mind. Her condition instead moved her fellow disciples to pity, and they readily offered her guidance on cultivation. Of course, it might have been because her looks were so exceptional.

To have worked her way to her present position in the sect... As Su Fuxi traveled, she was suddenly overcome with emotion. She had cultivated the Dao for three hundred and sixty-two years, and thinking of her previous life, it truly seemed like a dream of yellow millet.

In a remote village in Pingzhou, dusk descended, and evil emerged at night.

"Roar!" A mass of black mist, flickering with two points of red light, rampaged through the mountain village. Letting out a beastly roar that made one's hair stand on end, it charged straight at two young immortal sect disciples out on a training expedition.

"Fire talisman, come forth!"

"Bang!"

Flames surged into the sky and swept toward the black mist. After a muffled boom, however, the mist billowed up, unafraid of the fire talisman!

In the blink of an eye, it had swallowed the fire talisman used by Foundation Establishment cultivators whole.

"This is bad! That beast isn't afraid of fire! Senior brother, retreat, quickly!!"

Seeing the black mist pounce toward his senior brother, the blue-robed youth turned pale and shouted, sending a magic sword flying at it.

With a crack, the magic sword split and was knocked away, while the black mist was not affected in the slightest.

Clearly, this bizarre black mist was beyond their ability to contend with, and the two were struggling to cope.

Suddenly, a streak of rainbow light flew in from the horizon and landed, revealing an immortal figure. Su Fuxi immediately summoned a blue crystal flying sword, which shot straight at the black mist.

By then, one of the two fellow disciples had fainted and the other was injured. The blue crystal flying sword plunged into the heart of the black mist and struck cleanly, the Golden Core blow instantly shearing away most of its power.

"Roar-" It gave a shrill cry and revealed its true form: a skeletal beast's head with ominous red eyes.

It had been badly injured by the blow. The master behind it recognized Su Fuxi as an expert of the Azure Cloud School and, knowing he was no match for her, immediately tried to control the skull and flee.

"Trying to run?" Su Fuxi formed a seal with both hands, locking her spiritual sense onto the skull. The blue crystal flying sword flared and moved even faster this time, stabbing straight into it. At the same time, she formed a one-handed incantation, and a Lightning Summoning Technique descended upon the skull. With a thunderous boom, the skull shattered.

"Pfft!" The black-robed figure hiding in the shadows spat out a mouthful of blood and turned to flee. Su Fuxi naturally couldn't leave trouble behind!

She stepped onto her flying sword and gave chase. She might not be able to form a Nascent Soul, but couldn't she deal with this little punk who hid his head and showed his tail?

Su Fuxi had been bottling up frustration, and this man had run right into the muzzle of her gun. He could only blame himself for not checking the almanac before going out today!

After she had chased him over several mountain peaks, the blue crystal flying sword, a magic treasure refined with Su Fuxi's spiritual sense, suddenly shot out and struck the black-clad man thirty meters ahead.

Her Late Golden Core spiritual sense and speed far exceeded his at the Early Golden Core Stage. The sword strike severely wounded him, and like a trapped beast, he staggered and fell into the woods.

By the time Su Fuxi landed, she had already sent a golden handprint the size of a bushel flying from her hand, its oppressive force feeling quite extraordinary.

"Fellow Daoist, please show mercy!" The man's face filled with alarm. He immediately summoned a jade tablet to block her handprint, and it actually held her attack at bay. Su Fuxi's expression turned cold, a flash of purple appearing in her vacant eyes, and she shouted, "Sword slash!"

Who's your fellow Daoist? Over the past few centuries, Su Fuxi had learned to pull up the grass by its roots, her heart hard as iron. Besides, this man had murdered mortals and slaughtered villages.

"Pfft." Before the black-clad man's horrified eyes, the blue crystal sword flashed like a thread of blue light straight into his back, snuffing out his life. He died with his eyes open.

With a "clack," the jade slip glowing with green light in midair lost its master's control and fell into the grass. Su Fuxi reached out from a distance and drew it into her hand. The jade slip was a magic treasure with excellent defensive capabilities, able to withstand even her secret handprint technique.

After all, she had obtained that handprint technique in the ruins of a secret realm a hundred years ago. Although the latter half was incomplete, after so many years of cultivation, the first half was already far beyond ordinary spells.

She put the jade slip into her storage bag, which was shaped like a pouch at her waist, and walked over to the black-clad man. She kicked him to make sure he was thoroughly dead, then collected his storage bag from a distance. She even controlled the blue crystal sword to dig out his Golden Core and put it away. Finally, she cast the Fireball Technique to destroy the corpse and wipe out the traces.

She had refined her Fireball Technique to perfection. As soon as the fireball appeared, the surrounding temperature soared, and the air seemed to boil. Nearby grass and trees turned to ash in an instant. Only after the corpse had burned to ashes did she leave, reassured.

She stored the blue crystal flying sword in her sea of consciousness and rode another flying sword back. There were still some matters to take care of in the village.

As she went, she sent her spiritual sense into the black-clad man's storage bag.

Aside from a few dozen high-grade spirit stones and some ordinary talisman paper, it contained a jade slip stored together with a small banner.

"Hm?" She gave a quiet exclamation. "Could this be the legendary Soul Banner? Was that man a cultivator of the Netherworld Sect... no, that can't be right. If he really were a Netherworld Sect disciple, I definitely couldn't have offed him so easily."

But from the jade slip's description, it did seem to be an outer-sect cultivation method of the Netherworld Sect.

Su Fuxi swept her spiritual sense over the jade slip, feeling a little uneasy.

"Hiss, I didn't just offend someone from the Netherworld Sect, did I? Could it be that the black-clad man offed the jade slip's owner and picked it up?"

The Netherworld Sect was not a sect of the Tianshui Kingdom. Su Fuxi had only seen its people at an immortal sect gathering more than fifty years ago. It was a sect several times larger than the Azure Cloud Sect and a long way from the Tianshui Kingdom.

Even if he really was an outer disciple of the Netherworld Sect, it was only natural for him to get taken out after daring to cause trouble in the Azure Cloud Sect's territory.

After pondering for a moment, Su Fuxi put everything into her own storage bag. She made sure the drab, ordinary storage bag bore no tracking marks, and after some thought, decided not to throw it away.

The disciple recruitment assembly was coming up soon. With no hope of forming a Nascent Soul, perhaps she could take on a disciple for fun and be his angel investor?