Chapter 6: The Mission

Hansu did not remain troubled for long, because her father had been monitoring her with his spiritual sense, and after retrieving his wife, he swiftly returned to tidy up the aftermath for his daughter. For the next few days, Hansu truly lived the life of a second-generation cultivator.

She cultivated, listened to her senior brother impart knowledge about cultivation, heard her mother teach the ways of medicine, and listened to her father explain the mysteries of spiritual herbs and beasts. Under the guidance of Senior Sister Su Yunmo, she gradually integrated into the circle of other young cultivators, accompanying them as they swept through the land in triumph, pillaging spiritual herbs and bullying spiritual beasts. Though the world of cultivation was austere and demanding, it never wore down Hansu. This lively, cat-chasing, dog-teasing, chicken-flying, dog-barking life was a far cry from her usual reclusive days, and she found it fascinating.

Especially since—she was not yet seven years old, and she had already reached the third stage of Qi Refining. This pace was not particularly bizarre among the second generation, given their boundless resources. But to be precise, Hansu had already reached the peak of the third stage and was about to break into the fourth. Such speed was not merely due to good resources, but also thanks to her diligent cultivation.

Why was she so diligent? She could only force a bitter smile—no other expression would suffice. When she transmigrated here, she had already decided on her future: to eat, drink, play, and amuse herself, with a casual eye on the drama. Indeed, she began just so. Every day she gnawed on the premium spiritual fruits her father cultivated, feasted on the dishes her mother crafted with her miraculous hands, savored the grilled spiritual beast meat prepared by her senior brother. She drank spiritual tea and wine, played everywhere with her friends, watched as Senior Sister Su Yunmo meticulously built the network of young cultivators, commanding the winds and summoning the rain!

There was an indescribable joy, especially since soon—she would turn seven. In a year, the grand sect competition would begin, the main event was about to start, and she could barely contain her excitement.

That day—just three months ago, after she returned from a day of marauding with her friends and fell asleep—she had a nightmare. In her dream, she entered a pitch-black room, a place so cold it chilled to the bone. But in the wall, there was a window, a modern glass window. She approached it, peered through, and was stunned.

On the other side was her home in the modern world. "She" lay asleep on the bed, her mother sat at the bedside, holding her hand and speaking softly, while her father stood with reddened eyes, back turned to them, lips tightly pressed. Hansu was frozen, tears streaming uncontrollably as the longing and pain that had been repressed for years surged forth, the sadness she masked with laughter now impossible to hide.

Of course, at her lowest moment, the plot sovereign appeared.

It was a deity akin to a news anchor, delivering the latest decree in impeccable language and expression: the deity found the plot too cliché, never surprising enough, and so brought her here specifically to stir things up. She didn't have to succeed, only to cause chaos; she didn't have to disrupt the story, but she must steal the spotlight from the protagonists! If her presence became too faint... she would be sent back to the moment she first arrived, over and over again, until she broke through.

If she succeeded in satisfying the deity, she could be arranged to die, thus returning to the modern world, to her life before transmigration. How would she know if the deity was satisfied? The deity assured her not to worry—it would always be at her side, prompting her! With that, the deity transformed into a talking necklace and lay on the floor.

Hansu crouched, picked up the necklace, and was left with tears unshed.

Did she want to return to the modern world? Of course she did—more than anything. However wonderful the cultivation world was, it could not compare to the parents she had loved for twenty years. No old friends, no familiar computers or televisions, not even the celebrities she used to mock—she missed them all. Why did she have to endure such misfortune? Others transmigrated with spatial abilities or mobile encyclopedias; why did she have to bring along a chaos-loving ancestor?

Complaints aside, she still earnestly followed the deity’s instructions, striving for an early return home. For example, the deity asked her to cultivate diligently, become the fastest-rising star among her peers, attract attention, and snatch the heroine’s aura. Unable to do much else, she could only devote herself to cultivation. After a month of effort, she advanced from mid-third stage to its peak, but in the following two months, her attempt to break through to the fourth stage stalled. The deity gave no hints about such matters, leaving her so anxious she had even skipped the daily rounds of marauding.