By the corner of the secret land, deep in the bamboo forest, Wen Qing laid on a soft mattress. She held a pot in one hand and a cup in the other, pouring and drinking, while occasionally looking up at her illusions.
When she saw Qu Tiange's Golden Core broken and her cultivation ruined, she didn't respond. She was neither sad nor happy. She sat leisurely drinking her wine. Everything transpired as expected.
When she got the Stone of Illusionary Nightmare, she mastered the whole Illusion and arranged the dreamland according to her own wishes. Such a good opportunity couldn't be missed, so she quietly arranged a dreamland for Qu Tiange. Although Qu Tiange was reborn, her heart wasn't tough, so Wen Qing could easily check out her demons and obsession.
Qu Tiange's spiritual root had fallen and her Golden Core was broken, so she couldn't survive in the dangerous Sumeru Mountain. She didn't need Wen Qing to do anything, and she had no chance to get out alive.
What Wen Qing didn't expect, however, was that Qu Tiange didn't die from the secret land's crisis nor the cultivator's hideous attack, but died from her own demons.
After the regression of her cultivation, she became muddleheaded. She cried out, "He Wenqing, I want to kill you!!! I am reborn! I am the one who was loved by heaven, no one can harm me!" Eventually, she was completely controlled by demons and died of a breakout.
Wen Qing sighed, but she didn't sympathize with her. One always had to bear the consequences for her own evil.
First, she framed He Wenqing and did all sorts of bad things and colluded with an Evil Cultivator in an attempt to destroy He Wenqing. She submitted herself to the evil practice and died. Her father avenged her and died.
After her rebirth, she made some progress and stopped indulging in love, but she didn't get rid of her selfishness. She only remembered her death in her previous life, but completely ignored that she framed He Wenqing first. She constantly made excuses and beautified herself. She decided that He Wenqing was her murderer and constantly suppressed and framed her.
Wen Qing felt that Qu Tiange was very pathetic. Regardless of killing He Wenqing after being reborn because of the original plotline. Since she was lucky enough to be born in the world of cultivating immortals, was it worthwhile to waste her life instead of soaring high and living merrily?
Wen Qing felt that it wasn't worth it. She felt that it would be better to be immortal. Then she would be free and unfettered in both heaven and earth. She would be accompanied by beauties, wine, and food. Living a besotted life while doing whatever she wished.
Well, she had a job now; helping others fulfill their wishes. To put it bluntly, she was a poor worker, and her freedom had no end.
Qu Tiange was dead, and the task was finished. Although she could leave, Wen Qing wanted to relax naturally and unrestrained in the Canglan Realm for a while. Moreover, it was rare for her to come to the cultivation realm, so it was unreasonable not to take this opportunity to learn more.
It would take three months for Sumeru's dreamland to reopen, so in the meantime, Wen Qing combined the Yin bracelet with the Yang bracelet to become a real Yin and Yang bracelet. The area inside was complete with the sun and moon, which was equivalent to a small world.
Wen Qing was more experienced than most when it came to certain things. Wen Qing took what she needed and left some merits behind.
After the secret land reopened, less than half of the people came out. This was because Wen Qing reduced the risks within the dreamland after mastering it. The situation was much better than that of the one in the original book.
Qu Tiange's life stone broke when the secret world reopened. When elder Qu found out about his daughter's death, he wailed towards the sky, "Who killed my daughter!"
When he saw Qu Tiange's previous photos, Elder Qu cried in pain, "Tian Ge, it was Dad who hurt you, and Dad shouldn't have let you go..."
The picture showed Qu Tiange meditating and practicing, then suddenly her face showed pain while it was filled with dark qi. That was a sign of demons entering the body.
Elder Qu could see that his daughter died because of demon breeding. He always knew that his daughter's heart wasn't tough enough. He'd thought that she would've gone out and explored. He didn't expect her to enter the dreamland that had just appeared. The danger of the newly born dreamland was unknown. Had he known, he would've stopped her from entering, but it was too late to say anything now.
Although Elder Qu grieved over his daughter's death, he didn't seek revenge. He thought that she died of demon overload. Wen Qing didn't plan on exterminating him. Elder Qu didn't know anything about Qu Tiange.
Qu Tiange was afraid that he would be polluted by greed. She never told him about space and her rebirth. Therefore, Elder Qu didn't know her location. After all, the client's wish was to exterminate Qu Tiange, not others.
The only hidden danger dissipated, and Wen Qing's life became more and more comfortable. Because her achievement method and understanding coincided with the way of yin and yang, she hardly needed to practice.
Wen Qing soared so high that she had to go through great lengths to suppress her rate of cultivation. She had a hunch that once she rose high, it would be time to depart, and the heaven here wouldn't allow her to rise as an outsider.
Without practicing, Wen Qing began to learn alchemy refining equipment, Talismans, and various miscellaneous studies. Anyway, she had plenty of free time. She also spent her time bragging, farting, cooking, and drinking with some old friends. This beautiful life almost made Wen Qing forget who she was.
Until Huayin and others soared one by one. A few of them were masters of Dacheng, and they were only a level away from ascension. When Huayin was sent away lastly, Wen Qing was alone. While holding her little Phoenix, she advanced to the next level.
She appeared in her space. When she returned to her yard again, Wen Qing felt that she needed a change of scenery. She sent off He Wenqing after refining the power of merit. Wen Qing was ready to have a rest; otherwise she wouldn't be able to recuperate.
When Wen Qing got up, she was refreshed; her exhaustion had vanished. When she saw the Phoenix wandering around the yard, she smiled, "I have raised you for so long, why are you still so small?"
The little Phoenix tentatively glanced at her and said in human words, "Is the divine beast's growth period not long?"
"You can't stay the same for a thousand years, can you? I also fed you so many spiritual plants, even a pig would turn into a divine beast. Aren't you a chicken!" Wen Qing increased her tone, "I think you are afraid of me eating you so you're pretending to be like this."
The Little Phoenix hurriedly denied, "No, no, I'm not afraid of you eating me!" It still remembered what she said at the beginning, that its body didn't have enough meat to stick between her teeth. Therefore, it didn't dare to weigh more than two pounds over the years!
Wen Qing joyfully said, "Okay. No need to act. I said it earlier to tease you. Yet you still took it seriously! You'd better get back into normal shape. Your body is getting smaller and so is your brain. You are almost a thousand years old and still so stupid!"
The little Phoenix didn't believe her. It was afraid that the moment it changed back, she would immediately pluck it and roast it!
Wen Qing was trying to tease it again when she heard the evocation bell at the door ring. She told the little Phoenix, "Don't talk, someone is coming."
"Wenqing, failed the physical examination. The retest will be next week!"
As Wen Qing opened her eyes, she heard a stern voice. She didn't know the situation and didn't dare to speak rashly. The person who spoke was also simply too impatient to hear her answer and walked away once he finished. As soon as he left, a girl came running to hold her. "Wenqing, are you all right?"
At the moment, Wenqing's weakness would be caused by the physical fitness test. She said to the girl holding her, "I'm fine."
Upon hearing her, the dainty, pretty, and elegant girl smiled, "Then it is good. Don't be sad about the test. I will practice with you when we return. The next time you will definitely pass."
Wen Qing smiled, "Well, thank you, Su Ruan."
Wen Qing, who had seen the dead stone, naturally recognized this girl as the future hostess. Why was she from the future? Because the hostess hadn't transmigrated yet.
Su Ruan, the hostess, was a world-class singing queen in the contemporary era. After her accidental death, she was reborn as Su Ruan in the interstellar era.
The cause of Su Ruan's death was also very contrived, that was, just now—
"Then it is good. Don't be sad about the test. I will practice with you when we return. The next time you will definitely pass."
"Who wants to be with you? You've passed, and I didn't. Now you're pretending and mocking me, aren't you?"
This was the original Wenqing's words. She gave Su Ruan a push, and then Su Ruan died. She was occupied by Su Ruan who transmigrated.
After Su Ruan transmigrated, she got the memory of the former Su Ruan. Knowing that the original owner was killed by Wenqing, she made up her mind to avenge the original owner in return for her kindness of sharing her body.
Well, there was nothing wrong with that.
But Wenqing was also a person with deep merit, so after her tragic death, she went to Wen Qing and asked her to help complete her wish. Her wish wasn't difficult—
"I'm ill-tempered, unruly, and willful, and I bear my own devils, but I just don't want to resign! Both she and I were orphans, and we were admitted to the Union Military Academy from the Commonwealth orphanage. Although the military academy paid for our study expenses, the training expenses were individually paid by us. I am beautiful and I can sing so I made a lot of money by going to the live broadcast. I was responsible for both our expenses."
"I have a bad temper, so I have been acting as a protector since I was a child, biting back the bully like a mad dog. She was a coward. She didn't care if I bullied her, but I never let others bully her."
"If she disliked it, she could scold me. Instead she hurt me behind my back and stabbed me. I can't accept it. But as I think, I owe her, I bullied her and she came back, so we are even."
"But I'm unwilling to die in such a way. The Orphanage fostered me and sent me to study in a military school, but I didn't have a chance to repay. And my fans, they helped me and supported me when I was going through a difficult time. I regarded them as my family from my heart, but I let them down so much, and I owe them. Therefore, my wish is to repay the Orphanage, be a good hostess, and not let my fans down."
[TL Notes]:
[1]: Leave a thread in everything, and see you well in the future; means Farewell
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This is the end of the 3rd arc. How do you feel about the arc? Personally I feel the death of Qu Tiange was a bit fast (is it only me~). Wen Qing was as always cool. I wish I could have seen more battles between these two.
This is my first time translating something related to cultivation and lord! It needs so much research. Out of all the novels I am translating, this takes most of my time on research and at the same time I am also learning something new. Like different arcs, different stories, different timelines and different glossaries.
If you have any suggestion on translation or editing you could tell us in the comments or join us in the discord.
Thanks to all of your support till now. Do not forget to leave comments and reviews in the NU sites. We will be more than just thankful to you.