The moonlight was bright and pure, scattering over the flames below.
In the midst of the fire, a young girl lay unconscious on a pile of rubble, her body covered in injuries. The glow of the fire flickered against her cheeks as if trying to wake her up.
"So hot..."
Sweating profusely, the girl suddenly opened her eyes, only to be met with a wall of flames.
"Hot."
Bai Yao bore the severe pain throughout her body and stood up. She frowned at the sight of her scorched skin, then turned to look at the surrounding fire. She quickly realized that she was standing on a pile of rubble, the flames had not yet reached her, so she had just about survived.
"Damn Lu Shengwan, you dare to ruin my tribulation, wait for me!" Bai Yao grinded her teeth in anger. This woman had interfered with her attempts to concoct pills and pass her tribulation, which caused her to blow up the furnace and waste the herbs she had painstakingly accumulated for three years. This was simply infuriating!
Looking at the surrounding firelight, Bai Yao quickly found the direction where it was weakest and fled as fast as she could. But the moment she escaped from the ring of fire, she noticed something was wrong with the spiritual power within her body. Her spiritual power was as thin as paper, nothing like the thickness she had before.
"You're still alive, you waste!" A shrill voice echoed through the air. Before Bai Yao could think, she turned her head and saw a haughty young girl in a pink dress.
Bai Yao stared at the girl coldly. Her hair was messy, her face bloody and savage, like a demon from hell. The reflection of the flames on her blood-covered face was chilling.
This was... Bai Lian, the fourth young lady of Bai mansion? Why did this name pop into her head? But before she could think further, several fireballs were already flying towards her.
Bai Yao quickly dodged, the fireballs narrowly missing her.
"You dare dodge, huh! You should've accepted your death when you destroyed my Heart Ruyi!" said Bai Lian contemptuously, waving her wand and releasing several fireballs. However, she didn't manage to hit Bai Yao.
Bai Yao's brows furrowed, and she gradually approached Bai Lian while dodging the attacks. Her spiritual power was running low, only enough for one strike. And this strike could not miss!
"Stop dodging, you waste!" Bai Lian stampeded angrily. While she was distracted, Bai Yao made her move!
Bai Yao lunged from the left, her five fingers standing erect, aimed directly toward Bai Lian's throat!
"You! Ah—" Bai Lian's eyes widened in disbelief, clutching her neck and repeatedly backpedaling. Her face paled instantaneously as the feeling of suffocation and desperation spread throughout her body. Before long, she lost consciousness and collapsed.
Simultaneously, Bai Yao, too, fell to the ground, breathing heavily. The vital forcefulness she had exerted in her "Golden Finger Strike" left her utterly spent. Her attack was aimed precisely at Bai Lian's throat — a weak spot. A little more force, and Bai Lian would have been done for good.
Not that she didn't want to apply more force, her strength just failed her. In that short span of time, she came to a realisation: she had somehow crossed over into another reality.
There were none of the modern amenities she had been accustomed to in her world, nor had that pestilent Lu Shengwen. She found herself transported to an entirely alternate universe!
In her past life, she was the first in line to inherit a five-thousand-year lineage of an alchemy family. She had devoted herself to studying the path of alchemy since childhood, recognised as a once-in-a-century prodigy, and was fortunate enough to cultivate herself to the 'Primordial Infant' stage. However, to her surprise, she was usurped at the crucial moment of enduring the Thunder Tribulation by her adopted sister, Lu Shengwen. Struck dead by the heavenly thunder, her soul was transferred to a young girl's body.
Bai Yao realised this wasn't exactly a stroke of good luck. Her new body was weak and her spiritual energy thin. Countless fissures in her spiritual core made it impossible for her to cultivate, rendering her somewhat of a 'useless' being.
If it were her past life, she would have had countless pills to aid her recovery, but now, she had absolutely nothing.
No, she comforted herself, knowledge is wealth. In that regard, she was still quite rich.
Having recovered somewhat, Bai Yao stood up. Looking at the unconscious young girl lying next to her. The girl was Bai Lian, the fourth young mistress of the Bai Household, whereas she herself was the third young mistress. The original Bai Yao had been beaten to death by Bai Lian for accidentally breaking her newly purchased jade pendant and had nearly left her body for dead in a heap of firewood.
Little did Bai Lian know that the Bai Yao of now was no longer the Bai Yao of before. What resided inside her now was a powerful soul!
Bai Yao stepped over Bai Lian's unconscious body, and left without a backward glance.
Along the way, Bai Yao was busy sifting through the original Bai Yao's memories and observing her surroundings. This was clearly a remote courtyard within the Bai Household. The Bai Family was a prestigious Refinement Household within the Ruiyue Empire, her father, Bai Dongqi, was the Empire's Royal Chief Refiner. Her ancestors had even created the unparalleled Divine Light Shield, which was still in the Emperor's palace.
On this alternate continent, both the position of a Refinement Master and an Alchemy Master were highly sought after and rare as a phoenix feather, exceptionally few and far between. Along with those who specialise in spiritual cultivation as Spirit Masters and Magicians, and those who couldn't cultivate - the common folk. The division of these four professions ranged from the first to ninth order, where every order had five levels.
A streak of bloodthirsty glare flashed through Bai Yao’s dull eyes. "Worthless, huh?" she thought, "If fate wants to play games with her, she would play until the very end!"