When Youngest Junior Brother Su Caiyi first arrived at the Taixu Sect, he was only six years old. Xie Bing had just managed to settle down in the sect herself. Seeing him so lonely with no one to care for him, she had naturally taken on the responsibility of looking after Su Caiyi.
She still remembered the tiny little dumpling Su Caiyi was, chasing after her with a gluttonous look, wanting to eat roasted meat. She still remembered taking him down the mountain, buying him candied hawthorn sticks to eat. She still remembered the sincere innocence on Su Caiyi’s face when he said, “When I grow up, I’ll treat Senior Sister well”…
In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed. Su Caiyi was now a sixteen-year-old, spirited and high-spirited youth.
Su Caiyi didn’t receive Xie Bing’s answer. Instead, he felt her gaze was extremely unfamiliar.
He instinctively raised both hands to cover his own face, puzzled: “Eldest Senior Sister, there’s nothing on my face, right? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Xie Bing’s clenched hands slowly, very slowly, relaxed.
She told herself: It’s all in the past now…
In her last life, Xuan Yao had been severely injured, her Spirit Pill shattered. Shifu and Youngest Junior Brother exhausted every possible method for Xuan Yao. They could have used someone else’s Spirit Pill, but because Xuan Yao possessed the rare Five Spirit Roots, fully restoring her to her peak required using a Five-Waste Spiritual Root as the catalyst. Therefore, they took Xie Bing’s Spirit Pill.
“Anyway, Eldest Senior Sister, you can’t cultivate. Keeping an Inner Core is utterly useless to you; it’s just an extra encumbrance.”
Su Caiyi looked at her mournfully, just as he had since childhood—every request he made, Xie Bing would always agree.
“But… this is my Spirit Pill, after all.”
“Eldest Senior Sister, you’re a waste. Even if you kept this Spirit Pill until your death, it would never respond to your connection. Xuan Yao is so pitiful; she once reached the Great Dao, and now she’s become a cripple, in a living hell. Eldest Senior Sister, she’s your Junior Sister after all. You’re so kind; surely you won’t be selfish. Surely you’ll save her, right?”
Xie Bing’s legs went weak. She slowly retreated until her back hit the wall.
She watched Su Caiyi’s mouth opening and closing, only feeling an overwhelming sense of horror.
…How could this be the child she raised?
The icy stone wall was like Xie Bing’s frozen heart.
Donating her Spirit Pill to the original book’s Female Lead… perhaps it was just a plot point in the book. After all, plots needed advancement, drama needed ups and downs. But for Xie Bing, it was real, tangible pain and torment.
Even if it was a Waste Spirit Pill, compared to a normal Spirit Pill, it didn’t diminish the agony even by half!
She didn’t want to recall the pain of having her core dug out ever again.
Listening to Su Caiyi’s question, Xie Bing slowly closed her eyes. The memories receded like a tide, crazily fading away. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was completely clear and lucid.
Her words were clear and penetrating: “This is my thing. If I’m willing to give it, I give it. If I’m not willing, no one can take it away.”
Her words landed with resolute force.
—This wasn’t just about the spirit herb matter with Su Caiyi; it was a response to her cowardly silent endurance in her last life!
What was hers, she wouldn’t give away to anyone else ever again.
Su Caiyi was stunned, looking at Xie Bing in confusion: ???
The youth’s face was forever a picture of spirited, naive frankness, his joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures all clearly written there. “Eldest Senior Sister, when did I ever want to take your things? Didn’t you say you specifically sought the Five Aggregate Spirit Herb for me?”
He reached out habitually to tug at Xie Bing’s sleeve
—for the past ten years, this was how he had acted spoiled towards Xie Bing.
The cyan sleeve was clenched tightly. As if a tiny hand had squeezed her heart, Xie Bing’s heart, for an instant, involuntarily softened.
This was inertia.
She habitually compromised, habitually considered Su Caiyi’s needs from every 360° angle, and thus, she would habitually yield to Su Caiyi.
Xie Bing gave a bitter smile. She finally understood:
In those ten years, Su Caiyi had been the youngest in the Taixu Sect. Xie Bing had single-mindedly cared for him, treating him like a child. But people change. She was used to being Su Caiyi’s sky, used to propping everything up for him. And all of this, Su Caiyi had come to take for granted.
She had become an inexhaustible supply depot. Naturally, Su Caiyi wouldn’t understand anything about gratitude.
Xie Bing looked seriously at Su Caiyi, at this bright, handsome youth whom she now had to tilt her head up to meet eye-to-eye:
“Caiyi, it’s time for you to grow up. In the future, don’t come asking your Senior Sister for things.” She paused. “I will also never give you anything ever again.”
She sidestepped around Su Caiyi and strode away, carefree.
Su Caiyi stood frozen in place, almost unable to believe the scene before him.
Senior Sister didn’t want him anymore?
A flicker of panic instantly flashed through the youth’s clear, bright eyes. He gripped his sword and followed Xie Bing, blocking her path: “Senior Sister, wait… Senior Sister…”
A hint of pleading crept into his face: “Senior Sister, are you… are you upset? Are you angry?”
Xie Bing fell silent.
She looked at Su Caiyi’s face. For a moment, a pang of soft-heartedness hit her. But…
“Senior Sister, I… I’ve been accompanying Junior Sister these past two days, showing her around the Taixu Sect. She doesn’t know anything. I was so busy I lost track of time, and only found out you were confined. Are you… are you angry at me because of this?”
Xie Bing smiled bitterly. See? Actually, no one is truly a fool; everyone understands perfectly well.
How could Su Caiyi not know he should visit his confined Eldest Senior Sister? It was simply that he had more important things to do at the moment.
Like accompanying the newly arrived Female Lead, Xuan Yao, as she wandered around.
She was just… an unimportant person.
Xie Bing’s gaze finally chilled. She spoke, her voice cold and clear:
“Su Caiyi, your Senior Sister is giving you one last piece of advice: independence and self-reliance are the ultimate keys to development.”
She looked deeply at Su Caiyi one last time, then finally walked away.
She still remembered: Su Caiyi never grew up, always retaining the innocence of a youth. But in the end, that innocence transformed into a kind of cruelty. And ultimately, he became nothing more than a stepping stone for the Male and Female Leads’ romance.
Su Caiyi stood frozen, momentarily lost and bewildered, his heart feeling completely empty.
Like a young beast suddenly abandoned and told to hunt for itself.
He futilely followed Xie Bing for a few steps, then retreated a few steps back to where he started.
He remembered: just earlier, he had confidently promised Xuan Yao he would give her the Five Aggregate Spirit Herb. Xuan Yao must still be eagerly awaiting the surprise he’d promised, right? …
The bamboo grove rustled. A gust of wind blew, lifting the stray hairs at Xie Bing’s temples.
Deep in thought, she sat on a large rock at a high vantage point, gazing at the boundless swaying bamboo leaves, a sea of vibrant emerald green.
The Taixu Sect was one of the Three Major Sects of the Cultivation World, occupying a vast territory. It was divided into various branches based on different cultivation methods, each with its own domain. Beyond these were extensive unclaimed lands. This place, the Back Mountain, was extremely remote, far from the central region of the Taixu Sect. Ordinarily, no one ever came here—only Xie Bing would wander by when she had nothing better to do.
Now, this was the perfect place for Xie Bing to study undisturbed, and conveniently, to practice her spells.
Yes, she discovered she needed to continually practice spells to increase her proficiency, thus unlocking more study materials.
This was something she only realized last night before bed.
Practicing spells and studying were principles of the same nature. Just like the famous exam study guide from before her transmigration, Five Years of Mock Exams, Three Years of Past Papers, it required practicing proficiency and the ability to apply knowledge flexibly, ultimately using it on the battlefield of the exam.
The Skill Book the system gave her operated on the same principle.
Each skill corresponded to a complete book. When she first found each book, most of its pages were blank, with only one or two lines visible—the content was “hidden.” However, after Xie Bing used a spell once, the corresponding book would slowly reveal another line of text!
A small line of text appeared on the skill page: Proficiency 1/100.
Xie Bing understood: She needed to grind proficiency in order to unlock the study books needed for the exam!
The study books were the textbooks, and the Skill Book—the Little Yellow Book—was the key exam focus!
She still hadn’t found any other suitable books in the Scripture Library, and she understood that perhaps these three reference books were all she had. A hundred percent was a waste; sixty percent was long live—she only needed to pass to complete the task!
…Studying was so hard!
So, early that morning, she arrived at the bamboo grove to practice her spells.
The heavens and earth were empty and still, clouds and mist desolate. Spitting out the stale air from her chest, Xie Bing held the Little Yellow Book… no, the yellow-covered book.
She chanted loudly: “Reeds and rushes are lush and green, white dew turns to frost.”
As she recited the verse, an inexplicable ancient resonance faintly trembled, triggering a subtle, profound echo.
Her Dantian grew warm. A pale blue spiritual light flashed. With a bang, a massive bamboo stalk as thick as an armful instantly became enveloped in the pale Spiritual Energy, transforming in the blink of an eye into endless, magnificent frost flowers clinging to it. In a mere moment, it had turned into an ice sculpture!
A feeling of exhaustion washed over Xie Bing’s body. She took two steps forward and touched the icy bamboo. It was a bone-penetrating, cold sensation.
It was… the feeling of being filled with Spiritual Energy.
Suddenly, her nose stung.
She had finally pushed aside the layers of heavy fog and stepped firmly onto the Great Path of Cultivation.
…
Time and again, holding the yellow-covered book, she chanted: “Gazing Across the Water, Longing but Unable to Speak,” “Speechless, we gaze at each other, only a thousand lines of tears,” “Reeds and rushes are lush and green, white dew turns to frost”…
She recited and cultivated tirelessly. When her stamina ran out, she would rest for a while, then get up and continue practicing spells. When she was sleepy and tired, she would sprawl across the rock for a short nap. Suns rose and set, and before she knew it, another two days had passed! Her perception of space-time and her psychological perception of time were completely misaligned.
Xie Bing achieved gratifying results: “Speech Ban Spell” progress 100%, “Disarming Weapon” progress 100%, “Frost Transformation Spell” progress 100%! She had successfully unlocked three tutoring books!
Complete editions, with densely packed ink-black text!
Two days remained until the exam. Xie Bing dared not slack off in the slightest. She seized every moment to dive into frenzied memorization. All these densely packed characters had to be engraved into her mind!
Only by passing the assessment could she draw in Spiritual Energy and step onto the Great Dao!
Xie Bing hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment yet, so she still needed three normal meals a day. Although Lu Chu would bring her food, she also had sect missions. Over these past two days of roughing it outdoors and studying at high intensity, Xie Bing had visibly shed weight, her body becoming much thinner.
Her cyan robe hung loosely on her now, looking somewhat empty on her gaunt frame.
She constantly consoled herself: things would get better after successfully establishing her Foundation. After Foundation Establishment, Cultivators could maintain their body’s lightness, circulating Spiritual Energy to nourish their physique.
On the evening of this day, with only half a day left until the exam, Xie Bing continued burning the midnight oil. Finally, she calmed her mind and sat cross-legged on the large bamboo grove rock, completing her pre-exam preparations.
Midnight.
Simultaneously with the system’s broadcast sound from seven days ago, the system appeared, right on time.
[System: The Immortal Cultivation Training System’s first official assessment begins. Exam format: Closed-book exam.]
[Exam Duration: Two hours.]
[Distributing exam supplies…]
Before Xie Bing’s eyes, a simple desk, an exam paper, a stack of A4 paper, and two M&G 0.5 exam-specific gel pens suddenly materialized.
Xie Bing: “…Quite realistic.”
She sat down on the chair. The moment she picked up the exam paper from the desk, her surroundings instantly transformed into the appearance of an old-fashioned Huaxia-style classroom. An enormous countdown timer conspicuously appeared before her eyes.
Silently reciting the pre-exam precautions, she began to analyze the question.
The prompt consisted of just one line:
—Into how many stages is Huaxia literature divided? Discuss your understanding of the High Antiquity period.
The corner of Xie Bing’s lips curved slightly upward, a smile of confident assurance appearing on her face.
Through these past days of devilish pre-exam preparation and cramming, all the knowledge was firmly in her mind. She wrote as if possessed by divine inspiration!
“The High Antiquity period encompasses the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties. All genres of Huaxia literature were incubated during this period, with poetry beginning with the Book of Songs…”
Shua, shua, shua—the M&G black gel pen wrote out graceful, neat characters on the A4 paper.
A breeze passed by, lifting Xie Bing’s long hair, which she hadn’t had time to tend to. Moonlight drifted by, illuminating the faint dark circles on her pale face.
Countdown 10, 9… 3, 2, 1…!
[System: Exam has ended. Stop writing, put down your pens. All rise!]
Xie Bing stood up and stretched lazily.
[System: Grading exam paper, please wait a moment…]
[Assessment complete. Your score is…]