That night, Xiao Bangchui slept soundly. Her skin felt refreshingly clean after being washed with Wash Beans, and her hair, rinsed with egg whites, was smooth and silky. The soft, fragrant bedding was a luxury she had never experienced in her life.
From yesterday to today, in just one short day, her life had undergone earth-shattering changes. Both physically and mentally exhausted to the limit, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
The next morning, she woke up early. Peeking into the courtyard, it seemed no one else was up yet. Xiao Bangchui took another refreshing bath in the pool. When she came out, breakfast had mysteriously appeared on the table—thick rice porridge accompanied by three small dishes: one with scallion pancakes, another with pickled vegetables, and the last with dried tofu.
A paradise on earth! Xiao Bangchui pinched herself hard, moved to tears. Was this real? Could it truly not be a dream?
After breakfast, faint voices began to drift from the courtyard, suggesting the others were waking up. Xiao Bangchui packed her bundle and was about to step out when she suddenly remembered something. She looked down at her clothes—still the same patched-up, ragged outfit from before. Though cleaned yesterday, it remained tattered. Today was the Second Selection, and wearing such rags seemed inappropriate. But she had no other clothes except the skirt her Master had bought for her.
Digging through her bundle, she found the pink gauze skirt neatly folded at the bottom, slightly wrinkled from being pressed for so long. She smoothed out the creases with her hands, hesitated for a moment, then finally took off her ragged clothes.
Her Master hadn’t checked her size when buying the skirt—it was absurdly large. She tugged the hem up from the floor and tied it tightly with a sash. With no mirror in the room, she braided her hair by feel, but before she could finish, a knock sounded at the door.
"Xiao Bangchui, are you up yet?" Baili Gelin’s cheerful voice called from outside. "No sleeping in! Come out, let’s go explore!"
Xiao Bangchui quickly opened the door to find three or four people crowded outside. The moment they saw her, their chatter died instantly, replaced by dead silence.
With a thud , Lei Xiuyuan’s teacup hit the floor. Trembling all over, his face filled with horror, he stammered, "X-Xiao Bangchui... brother ?! What’s wrong with you?!"
What was wrong? Xiao Bangchui looked down at herself. Was something off?
Baili Gelin suddenly shrieked, "Why are you wearing girl’s clothes ?!"
"...I never said I was a boy."
This couldn’t be! The kids were on the verge of fainting. From her speech to her mannerisms—even her appearance—there was nothing feminine about her! Even in a skirt, her sun-darkened face, thick eyebrows, and expressionless, zombie-like demeanor made everything feel wrong .
Baili Gelin’s budding maiden heart was brutally shattered. How could she be a girl? How?! Just yesterday, she’d started admiring her masculine charm, only to be blindsided by this sudden revelation. The one who’d made her heart flutter was a girl !
Was her being female that horrifying? Xiao Bangchui was finally exasperated. The others’ reactions were one thing, but even Ye Ye and Baili Changyue looked stunned. Lei Xiuyuan, that crybaby, had tears welling in his eyes. She truly couldn’t fathom why he was crying.
"Everyone’s wearing new clothes," she decided to change the subject.Ge Lin and Changyue had both changed into clean, simple cotton clothes—a far cry from their beggarly appearance the day before. Ye Ye was also dressed in a slightly newer robe, and even Lei Xiuyuan had neatly combed his hair and changed into clothes with fewer patches. Clearly, everyone took the Second Selection seriously today.
Ye Ye recovered the fastest and immediately smiled. "Yeah, we couldn’t help it during the first round, but we can’t afford to look sloppy for the Second Selection. Xiao Bangchui, that skirt... looks nice."
He struggled for a long time before managing to force out a compliment.
Baili Gelin snorted with laughter. "The skirt is nice, but it doesn’t look good on her." She stuck her tongue out at Xiao Bangchui and added, "You brat, why didn’t you tell us you were a girl earlier?"
Lei Xiuyuan had finally returned to normal—his eyes were no longer red, but his face was, as he murmured sheepishly, "Then... then I shouldn’t call you 'Big Brother Xiao Bangchui' anymore... Sorry, I didn’t know before... Big Sister Xiao Bangchui."
...That sounded even worse.
"Who’s 'Big Sister'?" Xiao Bangchui shook her head and walked ahead. "Just 'Xiao Bangchui' is fine."
Baili Gelin chased after her and grabbed her arm. Still young at heart, she had already forgotten the blow to her romantic notions and whispered affectionately, "Xiao Bangchui, your skin is dark, so don’t wear pink next time—it makes you look even darker."
Really?
"What color should I wear then?"
"Hmm, blue? Your braid is crooked—later, I’ll find a place to redo it for you."
Though the revelation that Xiao Bangchui was a girl had shocked everyone, children’s hearts are naturally open, and they quickly moved on. The group chatted and laughed as they went to see the pear blossoms. Baili Gelin spent the whole morning teaching Xiao Bangchui the secrets of hairstyling and dressing, while Ye Ye and Lei Xiuyuan huddled together, whispering about something. Baili Changyue, however, was nowhere to be seen. The girl was quiet and did things her own way—the sisters’ personalities were polar opposites.
"I wonder what the Second Selection will be like," Baili Gelin said, growing nervous at the mention of it.
"The first round tested the Eight Extraordinary Meridians to assess aptitude. Those with excellent Spirit Roots passed. I suppose the Second Selection will be a stricter screening," Ye Ye sighed. "After all, talent is the most important thing in cultivation."
Aptitude... Xiao Bangchui recalled Dongyang Zhenren saying her aptitude was average. And she still couldn’t master the Arcane arts—most likely, "average" was just a polite way of saying "terrible." She also remembered the hoarse voice that had reminded her to hold her breath during the first round. Though she didn’t understand how it happened, she was certain she had passed only because she had held her breath. The black-veiled woman had even asked if she had practiced secret techniques.
Without that voice, she probably wouldn’t have passed the first round at all. Why did holding her breath make her pass? She had countless questions but no one to ask, so she could only bury them in her heart.
A melodious bell rang through the courtyard, and suddenly, a door materialized beneath the pear blossoms. A female Demon covered in blue scales appeared out of nowhere and announced clearly, "We have arrived at Bountiful Snow Pavilion. Please disembark through this door."
The children erupted into chatter—they had arrived. Bountiful Snow Pavilion. The Second Selection was about to begin. A few boys immediately blocked the door, shoving aside anyone who tried to exit first.
"Move! You lowly peasants, who dares to step out first?"As they were talking, two people strolled leisurely from behind—it was the white-clad boy who had been beaten yesterday and that phoenix-like little beauty. The boys guarding the door quickly stepped aside. The white-clad boy's face was still slightly swollen, though much better than the day before. Today, he had deliberately dressed in new clothes—jet-black hair, snow-white robes—and even at his young age, he already carried an air of elegance and grace.
"Putting on airs," Baili Gelin muttered disdainfully, rolling her eyes.
The white-clad boy took a step back and gestured politely. "Guests from afar should go first. Please, Princess, after you."
So the little beauty was a princess? The children erupted in murmurs before quickly quieting down. No wonder she was so beautiful and noble.
The princess smiled faintly. "Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Thank you."
She was the first to step through the door, her resplendent figure vanishing instantly behind it, followed closely by the white-clad boy.
"Looks like the person Xiao Bangchui beat up yesterday was either a young prince or a royal heir," Ye Ye suddenly chuckled. "If this were outside, Xiao Bangchui would’ve committed a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations."
"How do you know?" Baili Gelin asked.
"That girl is a princess, yet he walked ahead of her. His status must be higher than hers."
Xiao Bangchui was surprised. "Royalty also cultivate?"
"Precisely because they’re royalty, they must cultivate even more. To ensure their dynasty lasts forever, their clan must have Celestials overseeing it. Lu Gongzhen is within Yue Kingdom’s borders, so that white-clad boy must be from Yue’s royal family. The nearest vassal state is Zhao Yang, so the princess is likely from there. That’s why he said 'guests from afar.'"
Xiao Bangchui gave Ye Ye a rare look of admiration. "...You know a lot."
Ye Ye smiled dismissively. "You learn a thing or two when you’ve seen enough of the outside world."
It was clearly an evasion, but since he wasn’t willing to elaborate, she wouldn’t press him.
Soon, everyone had passed through the door. The moment Xiao Bangchui jumped off the carriage, she was hit by a bone-chilling cold and couldn’t help shivering. All around her was a vast expanse of white—they were standing atop a snow-covered peak. Thick snowflakes fell densely, and within moments, the children’s heads were dusted white.
Xiao Bangchui trembled uncontrollably from the cold. She hadn’t brought any winter clothes—what a miscalculation. Glancing around, she saw Ye Ye and the Baili Sisters sitting cross-legged in the snow. Though their faces were blue from the cold, their expressions had eased considerably. Nearby, Lei Xiuyuan stood facing the wind and snow, seemingly unaffected despite his patched, thin clothes. Some children were meditating, while others had pulled out winter coats to wrap around themselves. Only Xiao Bangchui was hopping around like a frozen monkey.
"Big Sis Xiao Bangchui, are you that cold?" Lei Xiuyuan asked, surprised. "Just circulate your inner breath and spiritual energy to ward off the chill."
"W-what inner breath and spiritual energy...?" Xiao Bangchui’s tongue was too numb to speak properly.
"It’s hard to explain, but anyone with a Spirit Root knows how to do it instinctively. Don’t panic—calm down and focus on your breathing. You’ll warm up soon."
Seeing her lips turning purple, Lei Xiuyuan quickly took her hands and rubbed them gently. They were as cold as ice.
Xiao Bangchui felt like she was being torn apart by the wind and snow, sharp as spears and knives. Inner breath and spiritual energy? She had no idea what that was! Why was Lei Xiuyuan, that crybaby, completely fine? Why was even that arrogant white-clad boy unaffected? Out of over fifty people, she was the only one in such a miserable state.Just as despair was setting in, that hoarse voice suddenly rang in her ears again: "Hold your breath."
Was that old man still here? Xiao Bangchui stiffly rolled her eyes. Where was he? Why couldn’t she ever see him?
"Hold your breath, you fool!" The hoarse voice grew impatient.
Xiao Bangchui held her breath. Gradually, whether it was because she had grown accustomed to the cold or because holding her breath was truly that miraculous, her body slowly stopped trembling.
"Exhale three times, inhale once. From now on, breathe like this."
Was this the breathing method for cultivating inner breath? Why was it completely opposite to what Master had taught? Wouldn’t exhaling so much suffocate her?
"If you keep learning from these fools, you’ll never succeed even if you die." After saying this, the hoarse voice abruptly ceased, and there was no further sound.
Xiao Bangchui followed his instructions, exhaling three times and inhaling once. At first, her chest felt tight and stifled, but for some reason, she quickly adapted. The bone-chilling cold no longer affected her, and the wind and snow blowing against her face now felt like a gentle spring breeze.
Lei Xiuyuan noticed her hands gradually warming up and was so overjoyed his eyes reddened again: "Big Sis Xiao Bangchui, you’re okay? You scared me to death earlier!"
Xiao Bangchui wasn’t yet used to speaking with the new breathing method. After a pause, she finally said, "I told you not to call me that. It’s awkward."
"Then... then just Big Sis." Lei Xiuyuan rubbed his eyes, looking at her with admiration. He couldn’t forget how Xiao Bangchui had saved him—her heroic act. He wanted to become someone as amazing as Big Sis one day.
Xiao Bangchui glanced around. The mountaintop was now crowded with people, and groups of Rainbow Deer Carriages floated in midair, with more people continuously stepping out of them. At a glance, there was a sea of dark heads.
Were these all the people from the Central Land who had passed the initial selection? Ye Ye had been right—there were at least thousands here. With so many, how many would ultimately pass the Second Selection?
Suddenly, Xiao Bangchui felt something stirring in her bag. A letter shot out like an arrow, hovering right in front of her. It was an apricot-colored envelope with a few fingernail marks—the one given to her by the black-veiled woman when she passed the initial selection.
As if gripped by an invisible hand, the envelope was torn open, and the letter inside swiftly unfolded. Xiao Bangchui skimmed it: her name and age were written at the top, and below, three characters slowly appeared in the blank space: "Two-Seven-Six."
Immediately after, the letter and envelope turned to ashes in an instant. A red light struck her wrist, and ancient, cinnabar-bright characters emerged on her skin—the same "Two-Seven-Six."
The raging snowstorm before her eyes rippled like water. Suddenly, a small thatched hut appeared on the mountaintop. With a creak, the hut’s door swung open in full view of everyone. Inside the empty hut, there was nothing but a brazier silently burning with charcoal.
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