Chapter 52: Seeing the Female Lead

After failing to draw Spirit Qi into her body despite consuming Spirit Rice, Ruan Xing worked in the fields at the foot of the mountain for three years. Every year, she would secretly keep some Spirit Rice for herself. Although the Spirit Qi still dissipated and did not remain in her body in the slightest, she had become very familiar with it. While she could not store it within her, she could attach it to low-grade Talismans, which increased the power of her 【Break】 Talismans slightly.

What was unexpected was that her Acquired Martial Arts Realm, which had not improved for a long time, showed slight signs of loosening. She was just about to try and see if she could enter the Dao through martial arts, but the defenses at the foot of the mountain were not as stable as those on the mountain itself. During one Spirit Rice harvest season, she was killed by an Evil Cultivator in the fields.

Seeing this memory, Ruan Xing fell silent. She had not expected that after transmigrating into a world of Cultivation, she would be a useless person without Spirit Bone who could not practice.

Fortunately, she had not chosen memory when she first obtained the Simulator; otherwise, she might not have been able to accept such a blow at that time and might have chosen to restart or just give up and lie flat.

As for now, she was only six years old, and there was still a long time ahead. Perhaps she could encounter other cultivation methods, such as the manual *Nether Ghost Record*; it did not even require a body, so it certainly would not need Spirit Bone.

As long as she could find a similar technique, she could still embark on the path of Cultivation, but... it would certainly be much more difficult than normally joining an Immortal Sect to study orthodox Immortal Methods.

This memory also yielded quite a few gains. Besides the Basic Qi Refining Technique she had silently memorized in her heart, there was also the control and application of that wisp of Spirit Qi that did not belong to her after consuming Spirit Rice. If she practiced more, perhaps with her body that lacked cultivation, she could also draw high-quality low-grade Spirit Talismans.

There was also... Ruan Xing looked at Cui Yurong, who was unaware of anything in front of her, and felt a mix of emotions in her heart. Cui Yurong's appearance was eighty percent similar to the mistress in her memory, only their identities were somewhat different.

Because the original plot began with a concubine bullying the female lead, the female lead's original family was only mentioned in passing. Ruan Xing vaguely remembered that the female lead was the daughter of a low-ranking official in the Capital, not the daughter of an Imperial Merchant.

Her age also seemed not to match. She became a concubine after being noticed by an official at sixteen. At that time, the official already held a high position in the imperial court, but the male lead, surely, would not be some old geezer; he was probably, perhaps, only in his twenties?

A male lead in his twenties ten years later... hiss, being in his teens now, it did seem that he was indeed about the same age as Cui Yurong.

Judging by Cui Yurong's appearance, it was likely that the female lead was either her or her sister, or some other relative; there must be a blood relationship.

Ruan Xing could not help but ask, "How old are you this year?"

"Ah?" Cui Yurong was stunned for a moment. "Fourteen, why?"

Ruan Xing pressed on, "Then what about your sister? Or do you have any cousins who look particularly similar to you?"

"My sister should be about the same age as you, seven years old this year." Cui Yurong smiled. "As for cousins... my family has few people; I don't have a single uncle, aunt, or cousin. Otherwise, even if my father were trapped in prison, it wouldn't be my turn to lead the merchant caravan to deliver goods. I do have a younger sister on my uncle's side, but she is only one year old this year and it's too early to tell if she looks like me. Why do you suddenly ask this, Miss Ruan? Could it be that you have seen a woman who looks similar to me?"

It seemed it could only be her.

Ruan Xing sighed inwardly. The male and female leads of the plot, whom she had tried to avoid, had still encountered each other under unpredictable circumstances.

That wasn't right either. If she hadn't saved Cui Yurong, perhaps Cui Yurong would have already committed suicide when her purity was slandered; how would she have become the female lead? Eh... the female lead was forced to lead the merchant caravan because her father was imprisoned due to the silk weaving case. The silk weaving case was exposed because she returned the granddaughter to the old City Lord to save the Red Head Gang, and the old City Lord left Jiangning City early.

So, all in all, she had already disrupted the plot without knowing it.

In the original timeline, the silk weaving case was probably only exposed after the old City Lord finished his term and left. One could also see clues in her previous simulations. In one instance when she was nine, Ruan Mu said that the Weaving Workshop was severely short of people and brought Ruan Xing, who was still learning to weave, into the workshop early. Normally, the workshop would not accept a nine-year-old weaving apprentice. That time was likely because the silk weaving case had arrested too many people, leading to a temporary shortage of staff at the Weaving Workshop.

At that time, the female lead would have been seventeen and might have already been married; she would never have run a merchant caravan and suffered such an unprovoked disaster.

Even if her father were implicated in the silk weaving case, it would not have been as serious as it was now. After all, she had a son-in-law who was a high-ranking official. Perhaps this female lead only endured humiliation and suffered many unnecessary shames in front of the male lead because of this disaster befalling her maiden family.

So it turned out that there was a destined order in the dark. She caused the female lead to suffer an extra disaster, and thus, she also saved the female lead and resolved this disaster without knowing it.

Was this the will of the Heavenly Dao in the plot world?

Even if she changed the plot without knowing it, it would still find various coincidental ways to return the plot to its original position.

Ruan Xing suddenly felt a chill all over her body; it was a bit terrifying.

However... Ruan Xing recalled the Evil Cultivator she saw when she died, but it was not Cui Yurong's appearance. During her first simulation, did the Simulator say it was a Ghost Cultivator or an Evil Cultivator? She couldn't quite remember, but she hadn't chosen memory the first time, so now there was no way to know who she had died at the hands of that time.

Some details of the plot had already changed. As a cannon fodder who died in the first few dozen chapters, she was probably irrelevant to the entire plot line; otherwise, the official wouldn't have found a second favorite concubine to replace her. Being able to know this was a good thing; she was not an important supporting character, so she could detach herself from the plot.

It was just that Cui Yurong... Ruan Xing looked at her with an inexplicable meaning in her eyes and continued, "I have seen one. That woman met the wrong person and married a scholar. That man had not a shred of true affection for her. After he passed the imperial examination and became an official, he favored his concubine and extinguished his wife. She lived a life of misery and suffering, and in the end, both she and her child were killed. I heard that people who look alike also have somewhat similar fates. When you marry a husband in the future, you must keep your eyes open and don't be deceived."

"How pitiful." A look of sympathy appeared on Cui Yurong's face. "If I were her, I would rather ask to be cast aside. What is the point of living such days of mutual loathing? I would take my child and my dowry back to my maiden home; my parents would not despise me."

"In short, don't forget what I said when you get married in the future. See clearly what kind of person you are marrying." Ruan Xing said all she could; the Heavenly Dao's will of the plot was too bizarre, and she could only offer a slight reminder.

"Don't worry, I will." Cui Yurong didn't take it to heart and smiled. "The dishes are all served, let's eat."

Ruan Xing nodded absentmindedly and picked up her chopsticks to fill her stomach.

After the meal, seeing that Ruan Xing had no interest in continuing to stroll, Cui Yurong suggested returning to the inn, and Ruan Xing readily agreed.

Having slept in the afternoon, Ruan Xing had no sleepiness at all in the evening. She just kept thinking, in other cultivation novels, they all had names like such-and-such Gate or such-and-such Sect, so why was the Immortal Sect here called 【Six Suns Study】? What a strange name.

Anyway, she had no aptitude for cultivation. Staying in the Immortal Sect meant either farming or doing other hard labor. The defenses at the foot of the mountain were not high, and every time, Evil Cultivators could easily break through. It would be better for her to leave the Immortal Sect and go see other parts of the cultivation world; perhaps she could have some gains. Anyway, from the time she arrived at the Immortal Sect to the time she died, there was at least a three-year gap.

Thinking of it, she did it. Ruan Xing began to simulate. 【Simulating...】

At twenty, the official was noticed by an Immortal, killed his wife to attain the Dao, and followed the Immortal to practice cultivation. You begged him bitterly to take you with him, but you had no aptitude and could only follow by his side as an Immortal's servant. After arriving at the Immortal Sect, you told the official that after seeing the aura of the Immortals, you felt ashamed and unworthy of dragging him down, and requested to go down the mountain to be an ordinary servant. The official did not care about your departure, and you were assigned to be a vegetable-chopping maid in the Outer Sect canteen halfway up the mountain.

Because of your beauty, which was famous in the Outer Sect, many Outer Sect Disciples with low cultivation wanted you to rely on them. You played along with them and obtained some Spirit Food containing faint Spirit Qi given by male Cultivators. You ate the Spirit Food and made a few 【Break】 Talismans containing Spirit Qi. You randomly chose a male disciple at the second level of Qi Refining from among your pursuers and asked him to take you down the mountain to see the towns in the cultivation world. He happily agreed.

After leaving the Immortal Mountain, the male disciple hoped to get close to you on the road. You used a 【Break】 Talisman to kill him when he was caught off guard. You searched his belongings and obtained two Low-grade Spirit Stones, some Silver, and a Dharma Sword. Afterward, you continued walking alone. Two hours later, you arrived at a town where Immortals and mortals lived together. After handing over one Low-grade Spirit Stone as an entrance fee, you planned to find a job in the town and settle down temporarily.

Because you possessed the Medicine Refining Mastery skill and the herbal knowledge from *Hundred Herbs Detailed Explanation*, you planned to find work at a pharmacy. A small herbal shop took you in with a wage of ten taels of silver per month. You used eight taels of silver to rent a small single room to live in.

The shop mainly dealt in purchasing and selling medicinal herbs and refining pills on behalf of others. The shopkeeper was a low-grade Alchemist. Upon learning that you had experience in refining Mortal-grade Pills, he handed over all the orders for unranked pills and Medicine Liquid to you to handle.

A month later, two Qi Refining disciples from Six Suns Study came to the town to hunt down a low-level Cultivator who had killed an Outer Sect Disciple of Six Suns Study. They found you and asked what happened when you went out of the city with that male disciple that day. You said that you felt the chores on the mountain were too hard and you couldn't take it, so you made a deal with the male disciple to accompany him for a few days in exchange for him escorting you into the town to live. He sent you to the city gate and went back alone.

Because you had no cultivation, you could not use Spirit Talismans, so the two disciples believed what you said and left.

Afterward, you kept refining unranked pills and Medicine Liquid in the herbal shop.

At twenty-one, you focused on refining medicine, learned many Mortal-grade medicine formulas, and your Alchemy skills improved.

At twenty-two, you focused on refining medicine and occasionally purchased some medicine prescriptions, trying to find the direction to refine Luoqi Pill.

At twenty-three, you focused on refining medicine, an Evil Cultivator suddenly attacked the town, and you died.

【Simulation Ended】

Please choose the reward for this simulation: 1, the memory at twenty-three.

2, a random item on your person at twenty-three.

3, a random skill mastered at twenty-three.

4, the cultivation realm reached at twenty-three.

Ruan Xing chose the memory.

Never had she expected that this Evil Cultivator attack was not a small-scale raid, but an attack on both the town and the Immortal Mountain! This shouldn't have been done by the original female lead, right? It was only three years from her death; even if a Ghost Cultivator's cultivation speed was fast, it couldn't be that fast, right? And they had gathered so many high-cultivation Evil Cultivators. She had lived in the town for three years, and although she spent most of her time refining medicine, she had learned some common sense about the cultivation world. For example, the highest-cultivation Master of the Study in 【Six Suns Study】 was a Nascent Soul True Monarch who had been practicing for six or seven hundred years.

Even with supreme talent, it would take six or seven hundred years to reach Nascent Soul. No matter how heaven-defying the female lead's luck was, she couldn't negate others' six hundred years of effort in three years.

It must be some node in the plot, such as the male lead losing the protection of the Sect, and only then remembering the good of the original female lead, and then chasing his wife? This was too absurd; Ruan Xing quickly shook off this thought.

She was not worried that the two Outer Sect Disciples would pursue her for escaping from the mountain as a servant, because such things happened too often to be managed, and it wasn't a big deal, so they just turned a blind eye.

Because not all servants of the Immortals' disciples are truly servants; many have bought their spots with money just to follow the Immortals into the world of Cultivation. Those people, having lived in luxury, naturally do not wish to be servants once they reach the mountain, yet their aptitude is insufficient to become Outer Sect Disciples, so they can only go back down the mountain. A portion of the ordinary mortals in the towns came to be this way over the years; some even married and had children in the cities, leaving behind descendants, finishing their lives with the regrets of ordinary people who have seen the world of Cultivation.

Ruan Xing can already confirm that the "Immortal" who took them away is a cultivator from the Six Suns Study, which is the National Preceptor in the National Teacher Palace. Every once in a while, a new National Preceptor goes to the dynasty to recruit disciples, and that is the so-called Immortal.

Moreover, Silver is also used in towns where Immortals and mortals live together, but the prices are somewhat overly inflated. An ordinary mortal can earn ten or twenty taels of Silver a month, barely enough to maintain their own life, while one Low-grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for one thousand taels of Silver.

Cultivation is indeed a very expensive profession, but if the investment is successful, earning Spirit Stones also becomes easier. Even an Outer Sect Disciple at the second level of Qi Refining can obtain a few Low-grade Spirit Stones through Sect missions; even if he never improves his cultivation level again, he can still live quite comfortably in a town for the rest of his life.

It was just that when she asked the shopkeeper about matters of the Cultivation world and mentioned a feudal dynasty with no Immortals but only mortals, she was refuted by the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper said that all the towns in this world are controlled by Sects and Cultivation Clans. They jointly nominate a City Lord to manage the town, but there is absolutely no such thing as an emperor or ministers. Mortal Dynasties are legends from thousands of years ago; with Immortals present, no mortal would dare to claim the title of king.

Ruan Xing was speechless. Could it be that the feudal dynasty she lived in was merely a sheep pen fenced in by the Six Suns Study to recruit disciples for themselves?

She asked again how the Six Suns Study recruits disciples, and the shopkeeper said quite naturally that as long as one can test for a Spirit Bone, they can all go up the mountain to enter the sect as Outer Sect Disciples.

Ruan Xing then asked, "Then do they not recruit Inner Sect Disciples?" The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, thought about it, and said he did not know.

Perhaps Outer Sect Disciples who perform well are promoted to the Inner Sect, or perhaps Inner Sect Disciples are only recruited from Clans and are not open to ordinary mortals.

However, Ruan Xing knew... the disciples that the cultivator took away from the dynasty, including the original male lead, were all, without exception, Inner Sect Disciples.

The mysteries are becoming more and more numerous.

Thanks to qilabaobei for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Wukejun for the monthly ticket~ (End of this chapter)