Liao Tingyan saw a scene of Sima Jiao walking along the high tower of Three Sage Mountain. He didn't seem very old at that time, as there was still a hint of youthful innocence on his face. Alone, he circled the tower over and over, descending floor by floor. Upon reaching the bottom, he would ascend again from the opposite staircase, tireless yet solitary. The surroundings were eerily quiet, without even the sound of wind, creating an oppressive sense of suffocation.
She also saw him walking alone amidst the Day-Night Ephemerals. These flowers bloomed only once per plant, never withering naturally, but if plucked, the entire plant would perish. Standing there, he gazed at the flowers before reaching out to pick many, then tossed them aside in boredom, letting them wither away.
These were just fragments of memories. Earlier, Liao Tingyan had entered Sima Jiao's Soul Abode and caught many shards of his Divine Soul. Perhaps because of this, she occasionally glimpsed such memory fragments about Sima Jiao during her rest—fleeting images slipping through the cracks of her sleep.
Sometimes, she could even sense his emotions from those moments. His mood was always unpleasant. Upon waking, she reflected that he probably spent every day in discontent. Of course, she understood—being imprisoned there like a prisoner, who could possibly be happy?
Aside from this lingering effect, there was another benefit after the Soul Communion with the grandmaster ancestor: her cultivation was gradually improving, even without any deliberate practice. This gave her the strange illusion that she had somehow absorbed yang energy to supplement her yin, which made her feel rather embarrassed.
Sima Jiao showed no such embarrassment. Apart from behaving more intimately towards her, he displayed no other abnormalities, which made Liao Tingyan feel quite at ease. She lacked a sense of reality, perhaps because this "Soul Communion vehicle" was too advanced. Having grown up in a scientific, mortal world where the most intimate relationships were defined by physical connections, she found it hard to grasp the concept of the most profound bond in the cultivation world.
As for Sima Jiao, he wasn't the type to change because of any intimate relationship with others. Yet his unchanging demeanor strangely made it easier for Liao Tingyan to accept him. Within days, she was back to lounging naturally by his side as before.
Posing as the young master and lady of Night Wanderer Palace, they were escorted to Chen Academy in Geng City's immortal residence. Half the journey was already behind them.
Liao Tingyan's current identity was the young lady Yong Lingchun, while Sima Jiao played her "elder brother" Yong Shiqiu. Neither of them was skilled at acting, nor particularly fond of it, which inevitably led to discrepancies from the original personalities of the two young nobles they were impersonating. The two Nascent Soul cultivators sent by Night Wanderer Palace to protect them naturally grew suspicious, but finding no concrete anomalies, they could only attribute it to the eccentricities of youth.
The real young nobles had been transformed into two fluffy little pheasants by Sima Jiao and handed to Liao Tingyan for amusement. While she wasn't particularly interested in playing with chicks, the Little Black Snake—shrunk by Sima Jiao to the thickness of a thumb—delighted in chasing the two tiny pheasants around the table, chirping excitedly as it herded them.
When they departed from Luo River Immortal Market, the local influential cultivator, seeking to curry favor, complimented their "pet pheasants" for being exceptionally spirited. He even gifted them a miniature cage crafted from rare metals and adorned with gemstones and pearls—perfectly sized to house the two pocket-sized pheasants.Thus, Liao Tingyan was forced to keep two pets. Fortunately, she didn’t have to feed them—the silly Black Snake would finish its own meal and then carry scraps to feed the two little pheasants, thoroughly enjoying itself in the process.
Liao Tingyan: Alright then, you’re in charge of feeding them.
Though these two ambitious, prideful youths had been reduced to little pheasants, compared to the big shots Sima Jiao had previously killed, their survival was already incredibly lucky.
Sima Jiao tapped the cage, startling the two little pheasants inside into trembling. They were terrified of him—just the sight of him made them shake. When bored, Sima Jiao would amuse himself by teasing them, watching them huddle together in fear.
Most of the time, however, he ignored the little creatures. He preferred to cling to Liao Tingyan and sleep.
This "sleeping" wasn’t an ordinary affair. Since his Divine Soul hadn’t fully recovered, he liked to rest inside her Soul Abode.
What kind of operation was this? To make an analogy—his own home was too harsh an environment for proper rest, but Liao Tingyan’s place was pleasantly comfortable, perfect for sleeping. So, he went to her place to sleep. His Divine Soul entered her Soul Abode, and as long as he didn’t deliberately entangle with her own soul, there wouldn’t be any strange sensations.
Even though Sima Jiao’s Divine Soul simply existing quietly in her Soul Abode was already overwhelmingly present—so much so that Liao Tingyan lost sleep for a couple of nights—her adaptability was strong. Once she confirmed he wasn’t doing anything else, she let him stay as he pleased and went back to sleeping normally.
For Sima Jiao, however, sleeping became a novel experience.
He had never understood Liao Tingyan’s love for sleep—until now. With his Divine Soul resting in her Soul Abode, there was no scent of blood, no suffocating pressure, no scorched earth or flames. Only the fragrance of flowers and a soothing breeze, lulling him into drowsiness… Sima Jiao experienced the first truly peaceful sleep of his life.
After that, it became an unstoppable habit. Whenever Liao Tingyan sprawled out to rest, a Sima Jiao would sprout up beside her. If she was sleeping, he’d sleep too—not only stealing half her bed but also occupying her Soul Abode.
Perhaps because he’d been getting ample rest lately, Liao Tingyan noticed Sima Jiao’s temper had improved somewhat. They had traveled for half a month, and he hadn’t killed a single person.
She had thought that after changing identities and returning, he’d resume his killing spree.
Instead, he behaved with surprising restraint, acting in accordance with his current role as they arrived at the Mu family in the outer sect of Gengchen Immortal Mansion. The Mu family of the outer sect had close ties to the Mu family of the inner sect, and the inner sect’s Mu family had intermarried with the Shi Shi clan—the sect leader’s lineage—for generations. Thus, the Mu family held considerable influence even in the outer sect. Yong Lingchun and Yong Shiqiu’s maternal grandfather was an elder of the Mu family. Since their mother was relatively favored among his children, the elder personally received them.
If this had been early in her transmigration, Liao Tingyan would’ve found this layered, checkpoint-like process of meeting the family elder unbearable. But now, it was like replaying the game with a max-level account—she had already slept with Sima Jiao, the apex predator of Gengchen Immortal Mansion’s hierarchy. What did she have to fear from anyone else? No matter how strict the Mu family’s rules were or how many people were around, she could calmly follow Sima Jiao to observe the spectacle.
Having a big shot carry you through leveling was just this satisfying.The elder "grandfather" appeared quite young, looking about the same age as their parents, but his imposing aura made it clear he was someone accustomed to high status. Even though he held some fondness for the two juniors, his speech still carried a tone of condescension.
In Elder Mu's eyes, his grandson and granddaughter obediently greeted him with respect. But in reality, from the moment they entered, Liao Tingyan had been led by Sima Jiao to sit on a chair to the side, watching Elder Mu perform his act to empty air.
Illusion magic—impressive!
Liao Tingyan had once asked Sima Jiao how to learn various skills, only for the bigshot to respond in surprise: "You need to learn this? Doesn't it come naturally?"
Liao Tingyan: "Goodbye."
This was probably the difference between innate talent and the rest.
After meeting Elder Mu, the two were escorted by the Mu family's steward to Chen Academy to register. Like other disciples from external clans, they would reside at Chen Academy until they either graduated with outstanding results and were admitted to the inner academy for further training or failed to achieve much and had to return home to seek other paths.
"So... Ancestor, you brought me here for basic studies...?" Liao Tingyan stared at this fantasy-world version of a university, feeling uneasy. She suspected it was because she had shown some enthusiasm for learning that she ended up here and immediately regretted it. Truthfully, she wasn't that eager to study—skills were either mastered or not, and she wasn't particularly insistent on it.
In her original world, she had already spent nearly two decades studying, consuming most of her life. Finally getting a chance to transmigrate, she had hoped for a vacation—only to end up studying again? She might as well die.
Sima Jiao: "Study what? I'm here to kill people."
Liao Tingyan: "Oh, that's a relief—wait, who else are you planning to kill?"
Sima Jiao's expression darkened. "The Shi clan and the families closely associated with them."
Liao Tingyan's first thought was, at least the ancestor wasn't planning to slaughter everyone in Gengchen Immortal Mansion—otherwise, with so many people, how could he possibly finish?
Sima Jiao glanced at her and suddenly said, "I've already spared the others out of consideration for you. But the Shi clan—I will exterminate them all. Don't even think about interfering."
Liao Tingyan: "???"
What did I do? Spared others for my sake? Since when was my influence this big? Wait, why would he spare them for me? Did I ever tell him not to kill indiscriminately? Liao Tingyan thought to herself. Why was Sima Jiao acting as if she had whispered sweet nothings in his ear? Was this ancestor overthinking things?
Sima Jiao smirked and tapped her forehead with a finger. "Did you not know? During Soul Communion, I can catch glimpses of your thoughts."
So even though she hadn't voiced it, her resistance to killing was glaringly obvious. He was willing to indulge her a little—even though he had never imagined he would ever indulge anyone before.
Well, mystery solved.
At this moment, Liao Tingyan couldn't help but think—next time they engaged in Soul Communion, she absolutely must not let her thoughts wander. Wait, why am I even considering a next time? No, don't think about it—thinking about it leads to kidney deficiency.
They were assigned to the elite class at Chen Academy and given a high-tier student villa—a large, standalone courtyard that could accommodate the two of them along with a whole entourage of servants and bodyguards. Most of the privileged students studying here had similar arrangements, with some eccentric ones nearly bringing their parents along.Apart from privileged young masters and misses like them, the Gengchen Immortal Mansion also accepted talented disciples from humble backgrounds. Due to its vast territory and large population, the mansion could recruit enough disciples from nearby cities each year, unlike smaller sects that had to search everywhere for promising cultivation seedlings.
On the first day of classes, when the distant school bell rang for the first time, Liao Tingyan abruptly sat up in bed. Normally, she would eat and sleep like clockwork, and once asleep, it was hard to wake her. But today, she woke unusually early and sat on the bed, unable to fall back asleep.
Sima Jiao opened his eyes. "What?"
Liao Tingyan's expression was troubled. Back in her school days, she had been an ordinary student—and ordinariness often meant following rules. She had been a good student, never late or skipping class. Even after transmigrating to this world and becoming like this, the sound of a school bell still triggered a compulsive urge to attend lectures. Otherwise, her conscience would bother her, making sleep impossible. Modern education had poisoned her mind—it was practically like training a dog.
She glanced at the ancestor beside her, whom she had infected with her love of sleeping in, and dragged him up.
Sima Jiao: "Hmm?"
Liao Tingyan pulled him along to class.
"Class?" Sima Jiao looked at her with an expression that said, 'Have you lost your mind?'
He maintained that look all the way to the classroom door. The lesson had already begun, with a Nascent Soul cultivator lecturing at the front about the different spiritual power circulations of the five-element Spells and their effects on the Spirit Root.
Liao Tingyan tugged at Sima Jiao's sleeve. "Ancestor, cast an Illusion so we can sneak in quietly."
Sima Jiao: "..."
A moment later, Liao Tingyan pulled the disgruntled ancestor into the classroom right under the teacher's nose and found a corner seat.
After sitting down, Liao Tingyan glanced at her classmates, yawned lazily, and said, "Alright, now we can go back to sleep."
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