A Startling Transformation

Memories like these gradually surfaced in my mind, bit by bit. Before I could recall any more details, a sharp, aged voice slowly drifted from the darkness beside me.

“My foolish disciple, you’ve finally awakened…”

The voice sounded utterly weak, like a lamp about to run out of oil. I froze for a moment, then realized: ‘It’s Master!’

“Master, it’s you, your voice, you… Ah! My, my voice? How could this be, how could this happen!” Mid-sentence, I finally registered that my own voice had undergone a drastic, unprecedented change. What filtered into my ears was a slightly hoarse, yet somewhat delicate and crisp, girl’s voice.

“My powers are depleted, I can no longer maintain my previous appearance or voice, so this is how I am… As for you, my disciple, you, cough, cough, is something amiss?” Compared to before I fainted, Master’s aged words sounded as if they came from across an ocean of time, millennia away.

“Master, what, what exactly is going on? What has happened to me? I seem to have, have, changed, turned into…” My heart was heavy with sorrow and riddled with uncertainty. I stammered, seemingly afraid to voice my own suspicion.

“Hehe… cough, cough… Changed into what?” Master’s aged voice inquired, yet it held a playful undertone.

“Changed into… a girl?” My words carried a hint of a question, while I desperately hoped my guess was wrong.

Hearing this, Master let out a long laugh. However, his laughter no longer contained the earth-shattering pure true qi it once did, and it was cut short by a fit of coughing.

“Cough, cough, my good disciple, you truly guessed it, haha. You might seem a bit careless, but you’re actually quite meticulous… Indeed, indeed, at this very moment, my good disciple, you have transformed from a vigorous young man into a charming, delicate maiden!” He spoke half-seriously, half-jokingly, leaving me utterly bewildered and unsure whether to believe his words.

“But, but, Master, you never told me that after receiving your power, I, I would turn into a girl?” I asked, clinging to a sliver of hope, convinced that Master would reveal at the last moment that he had merely been joking.

“But this Master also never said you *wouldn’t* turn into a maiden.” To my utter surprise, Master suddenly resorted to being evasive.

“You, Master, you, you promised me! How could you deceive me!” His words only solidified my suspicions, and I couldn’t help but grow agitated, then audaciously questioned him.

Master, from his end, let out a long sigh. In the darkness, I could almost see him shaking his head slightly. “What did you say when you agreed to inherit my legacy? What did this Master promise you then?”

“I, I said as long as I didn’t have to castrate myself with a blade, and my family’s lineage wouldn’t die out, it would be fine. Master, you, you agreed, but now…” I recalled, hesitating.

“Has this Master violated either of those two conditions now? When I imparted my power to you, did I ask you to castrate yourself? Although you’ve become a woman, even so, it doesn’t mean your family line will end; it merely means your direct grandson has become a grandson through your daughter, haha.” His words were somewhat specious, yet I was left speechless, unable to refute them.

Seeing my silence, Master sighed deeply once more. “Actually, my disciple, you’re right. This Master did deceive you. Do you now feel that the true qi within your body is completely gone, and you cannot gather inner energy?”

“Precisely! Ma… Master, what exactly is going on? And why did I, did I turn into a girl?” I paused, then gritted my teeth and pressed for an answer.

Master’s faint sighs continued ceaselessly. Amidst them, I heard him slowly explain: “All of this harks back to the significant hidden danger of the Sunflower Manual that this Master spoke of—my chronic, incurable internal injury. Disciple, I once told you that the Sunflower Manual’s Yin-channel inner energy is exceedingly pure, akin to the Innate Extreme Yin Qi. It requires a man’s Innate Primal Yang to counteract it, preventing the true qi from spiraling out of control, did I not?”

“You did say that, Master.” His grave tone, coupled with his voice sounding even more ancient than before, prompted me to suppress my shock and suspicions, and reply with feigned composure.

“Alas, the difficulty of the Sunflower Manual extends beyond just that point. One must understand that Yin and Yang, the two primordial forces, are the most profound and boundless; they not only counteract each other but also give rise to one another.

Therefore, if the Sunflower Manual is cultivated to perfection, reaching its zenith, it will then follow the principle of ‘Old Yin giving birth to Young Yang,’ turning extreme Yin back into Yang. From the Innate Yin-channel true qi of the Sunflower Manual, an Innate Extreme Yang true qi, of the same origin but different type, will emerge.

However, this Innate Yang qi is incompatible with a man’s Innate Primal Yang, clashing like fire and water. This creates a massive hidden danger within the cultivator’s body, which eventually, as cultivation progresses, becomes an incurable internal injury.

Thus, though this Master roamed the world with martial prowess that defied gods, I suffered from this internal injury day in and day out. Furthermore, in my youth, I was once wounded by Innate Extreme Yang true qi, which remained stagnant in my meridians, impossible to remove.

Consequently, within this Master’s Yang channels, three types of Innate Yang qi have been constantly intermingling and clashing, like a battle among three kingdoms… Such a taste, hehe…” He chuckled at this point.

I was slightly dazed. Only after comprehending the bitter anguish within his laughter did I call out with concern, “Master…”

“You little rascal, you’re just too kind-hearted, just like your mother! Heh, this Master has brought you to such a state, yet you still have the heart to pity me?” He sighed, speaking thus.

“Disciple… But, Master, how does this relate to why I’ve become this way now?” Feeling a little embarrassed by his words, I changed the subject, genuinely eager for an answer.

“Alas, you’ve become this way solely because of the method this Master devised to resolve the hidden danger. Since Innate Primal Yang is incompatible with the Innate Yang qi that emerges from the Sunflower Manual, turning extreme Yin back into Yang, the solution was simply to dissolve the Innate Primal Yang qi.

This Master’s Innate Primal Yang is already complete; dissolving it would surely lead to my death! However, yours, my disciple, has not yet reached full maturity, so this Master used the Sunflower Manual’s Extreme Yin inner energy to completely wear it away, making it cease to exist!” His words suddenly took on a solemn tone.

My bewilderment only deepened. Immediately, disregarding the propriety of our master-disciple relationship, I interrupted him. “But, Master, didn’t you say that the Sunflower Manual’s gentle Yin inner energy requires Innate Primal Yang qi to keep it in check? And if a person’s Innate Qi ceases to exist, wouldn’t they…”

“My foolish child, though your Innate Primal Yang qi was completely eliminated by this Master, does this Master’s body not still contain a strand of Extreme Yang true qi originating from the Sunflower Manual? This qi is even purer than the original gentle Yin inner energy of the Sunflower Manual. Using it as a substitute, the issue was resolved.

Moreover, this Extreme Yang true qi itself originated from the Sunflower Manual, so there will be no risk of incompatibility like fire and water, nor any confusion between host and guest. Is it not a match made in heaven?” As he spoke, a hint of excitement subtly entered his voice.

“But, disciple still doesn’t understand. Why, then, would disciple, would I turn into a girl?” I listened, half-understanding, half-lost in the fog, yet I hadn’t forgotten the matter that troubled me most.

“My foolish disciple, just think carefully. After this Master completely eliminated your Innate Primal Yang, when imparting power to you, although it involved the mutual aid of Yin and Yang and the transmission of both channels, the gentle Yin inner energy of the original Sunflower Manual was still dominant, was it not?

Since the Innate Extreme Yang within your body has been entirely dissolved, and the situation thereafter became one of Yin ascendant and Yang diminished—coupled with the fact that the Sunflower Manual’s Extreme Yin inner energy is virtually identical to Innate Yin breath—the Yin and Yang shifted, thus giving rise to a transformation.

During these past two days, though you remained unconscious, the Yin and Yang qi within your body quietly restructured your physique. When this act of creation neared completion, I presume that was precisely the moment you awoke, wasn’t it?” He took a deep breath, delivering this lengthy explanation without pause.

I listened, my heart filled with dread, yet I couldn’t find any flaws or omissions in his explanation. Left with no other choice, I had to believe it entirely.

“So, you’re saying I, I’ve truly become, a girl now?” I asked, confirming with considerable difficulty.

“Without a doubt, my disciple, you have completely transformed into a maiden.” Even at the brink of death, Master’s words still carried a teasing hint, leaving me utterly dumbfounded and amused.

Of course, what truly left me between laughter and tears was my current predicament. Could this female body ever revert? And what of all the inner energy and true qi throughout my body—would it ever return, or was it simply gone forever?

“Disciple, what are you thinking?” Seeing my silence, Master immediately asked, his voice strained by gasps.

“Hmm, disciple is merely curious about what I look like now.” Feeling that those two questions were perhaps too direct to voice, I chose one of the less important doubts swirling in my mind.

“I see. Come, disciple, approach and extend your hand to this Master. At the same time, close your eyes and focus your mind.” He instructed.

Although I was initially somewhat afraid, I adopted a ‘nothing left to lose’ mentality. I walked over, extended my hand to him, and closed my eyes.

“This is ‘Others’ Thoughts Insight,’ merely a prize won in a wager with those old bald donkeys from Shaolin back then. What you see in your mind is what this Master sees at this very moment.” Master’s voice echoed in my ear, soft and ancient.

‘Your sight is my sight…’

Before I could finish my internal complaint, suddenly, what appeared in my mind was the image of a girl: completely nude, with ear-length short hair, a beautiful face, a petite figure, adorable as jade and snow, extending a pure white arm like a lotus root towards herself.

‘This is… me?’