Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Fairy Xinlian
***
“Thank you…”
Having no choice, since the person had helped her after all, Lin Muyu still expressed her gratitude.
“You’re welcome, little punching bag. See you at the finish line~”
The girl in luxurious robes lifted the corners of her mouth. Her previously willful appearance disappeared, replaced by a very sunny smile that unconsciously radiated charm.
She didn’t continue to say much more, just walked straight toward the Heavenly Stairway, leaving behind only a figure with fluttering, flamboyant red hair.
“Little punching bag? Me?”
Unaffected by that charm, Lin Muyu just bent her little finger to point at herself, her eyes full of disbelief.
How was that possible? After all, she had been a man in her previous life. Did her current self really have no masculine spirit left?
Lin Muyu was starting to doubt life itself. Even though she had completely become a girl, she shouldn’t be a punching bag, right?
In other people’s eyes, did she look like a punching bag?
No way, she felt she was quite assertive.
That red-haired girl in luxurious robes must have been blind. Lin Muyu quickly consoled herself.
Without time to think more, although hearing that title was somewhat depressing, someone had already stepped onto the Heavenly Stairway, so Lin Muyu had no choice but to follow.
“Why can’t I go up?!”
An ordinary-looking young man had just lifted his leg when he was blocked by an invisible barrier. No matter how he pounded with both fists, it was useless.
In the end, he could only hang his head and half-kneel on the ground, his expression unreadable.
“No talent, obviously.”
Still that young master, having just stepped onto the Heavenly Stairway, lightly waved his feather fan with a contemptuous tone.
His brows were full of smugness, as if he had completely forgotten his earlier embarrassment.
“Tch.”
The red-haired girl in luxurious robes looked completely disdainful. Taking two steps at once, she rushed upward, and in no time had opened up dozens of steps ahead of everyone.
The sight left everyone stunned.
“Wait, how is she running so fast? Why do I feel such great resistance?”
A freckled girl was very anxious. Although she had successfully stepped onto the stairway, there was a great resistance hindering her.
It made her break out in sweat just from taking one step.
“That’s because your body is weak. I also feel great resistance, but before absolute strength, it’s all just drizzle.”
The dark-skinned burly man nearby showed off his muscles with a laugh. Though he too was experiencing resistance, this little bit of resistance meant nothing to his strong and sturdy body.
It wasn’t even as strenuous as pulling a wooden plow through the fields.
At this moment, nearly half of the young men and women were unable to step onto the stairway, which meant they had completely lost their qualification to become Cultivators.
Their eyes were full of disappointment, and some sensitive girls even shed tears on the spot. But what use was that?
Many people were destined to have no talent and live ordinary lives.
They could only abandon this ethereal dream of immortality and go back to live down-to-earth lives.
The elders floating in mid-air watched this scene without saying much.
Every time there were people unable to cultivate who left full of disappointment, but so what?
Life’s path was still long, and they could still find their own meaning in other positions.
Lin Muyu took a deep look at the young men and women blocked outside. She had seen this situation many times.
Every year, quite a few of her students were rejected by their desired universities.
And she would always tell them:
“Life’s path is long, and the margin for error is high too. You don’t have to dwell on momentary failure, there will always be a path forward.”
Although she understood these were only words of comfort that couldn’t really help at all.
But most people weren’t protagonists, just ordinary people serving as foils to the protagonists. Accepting one’s ordinariness was also an important life philosophy.
Don’t be proud of momentary success, don’t be dejected by momentary failure.
Besides, who wasn’t the protagonist of their own life?
Lin Muyu shook her head, casting aside the distracting thoughts in her mind.
She calmly stepped onto the stairway. As she had expected, she encountered no resistance at all.
Her spirit root had now collapsed into one. With Lin Muyu possessing a supreme-grade Wood Spirit Root, she naturally wouldn’t face too much resistance.
Moreover, her body wasn’t robust, which meant she wouldn’t face excessive trials meant to test perseverance.
If that incident hadn’t happened, she would have been happy to spend her entire life in that small village.
Since she had now decided to embark on this path, she could only walk forward with unwavering determination.
But the only problem troubling her now was: how long could her frail body last under the scorching sun?
If it weren’t for Su Wanqing’s pill, would she have collapsed after just a few steps and been forced to stop here?
“Great, does this count as owing another favor?”
Lin Muyu shook her head again, abandoning the distracting thoughts and focusing on taking each step well.
She looked toward the front of the stairway. Quite a few people had already covered considerable distance, and that girl in luxurious robes had long since disappeared from sight.
She needed to catch up quickly too.
…
“How about it? See any good prospects?”
Above the clouds, two elders were hiding their forms, carefully observing the situation below.
“See that red-haired girl? Exceptional talent!”
An elder with a prominent black mole at the corner of his mouth pointed at the red-haired girl leading the pack.
He stroked his beard with considerable satisfaction, his love for talent stirring.
“I’m more optimistic about that dark-skinned burly man. Despite facing such resistance, he can still walk as if flying.”
Another bald elder with a large sword on his back pointed at the dark-skinned burly man not far behind the red-haired girl, nodding with satisfaction.
His disciple should have such a robust physique.
“What are you two chatting about?”
A seductive female voice with a playful tone came from not far away, immediately startling the two elders.
Parting the clouds, the newcomer was an elegantly poised fairy, walking slowly through the void.
Her eyebrows were like distant mountains touched with ink, and her peach blossom eyes were extremely beautiful. Her pupils were a light blue color, like the calm surface of a lake without ripples.
Sky-blue long hair cascaded down to her waist, concealing the wine gourd hanging at her slender waist. The two mounds on her chest, even though covered by loose Daoist robes, still showed considerable scale.
Her slender, jade-white legs were mostly hidden by the ink-black Daoist robe, leaving only a glimpse.
Looking at this beautiful figure, the two elders didn’t think much and immediately bowed respectfully.
“Greetings to Peak Master Xinlian.”
“Hmm?”
The Black Mole Elder immediately understood.
“Greetings to Fairy Xinlian.”
He had heard that this peak master had a strange temperament and most disliked being called “Peak Master” and such titles, saying they made her seem old.
After speaking, he desperately winked at the Sword Elder beside him.
Unfortunately, the Sword Elder’s head was mounted on a body of pure muscle, and he didn’t understand what it meant, just staring at the Black Mole Elder with confusion.
“Enough, you two don’t need to flatter me anymore.”
“Yes!”
The Black Mole Elder breathed a sigh of relief and glared fiercely at the Sword Elder.
The Sword Elder puzzledly touched his smooth head, still not understanding what it meant.
“May I ask what brings Fairy Xinlian here?”
No longer paying attention to the Sword Elder, the Black Mole Elder asked with some confusion. In his memory, Fairy Xinlian rarely appeared in public, especially during the recruitment of cultivation disciples.
He had heard she was too lazy to recruit disciples, and he didn’t know how such a person had become a peak master.
This resulted in very few disciples at Xinlian Peak, with only Su Wanqing as a disciple.
Their status gap was enormous, so he didn’t dare ask too many questions.
“You’re allowed to drag my disciple here to work, but I’m not allowed to come here to recruit disciples?”