Mysterious Booklet

A fantastical river of stars, like a celestial bridge spanning the night sky, connected two worlds.

Suddenly, two celestial bodies plummeted one after another from the stellar river, descending at an incredible velocity into a bustling city on the Tianchen Continent.

This was Qifeng City, within the Jiang Kingdom.

Upon entering Qifeng City, the two stars caused no discernible disturbance; yet, at that very moment, two prominent families within the city witnessed their female members simultaneously going into labor.

Inside a brightly lit pavilion of the Yan family, a young madam, spurred on by the encouragement of the midwife, strained with all her might.

“Seventh Madam, if you’re in pain, cry out! There’s no shame in it. The child is coming any moment now,” the midwife urged, her voice laced with anxiety.

Though the madam’s face was ashen with pain and cold sweat streamed down her brow, she uttered not a single sound.

Outside, a burly man in purple robes paced anxiously before the pavilion.

“Why is there still no sound?”

This man was Yan Long, the patriarch of the Yan family.

Beside him stood several noblewomen and young men and women, his wives, concubines, and children.

“Hah? Su Muyu certainly has a strong will, doesn’t she? To endure the agony of childbirth without a single cry—it almost seems as though she’s trying to contend with you, Lord Patriarch,” the First Madam remarked to Yan Long, her tone dripping with veiled sarcasm.

Yan Long’s brow furrowed as he cast a sharp glance at the First Madam, his eyes conveying a clear warning for her to refrain from stirring up trouble.

Yet, the First Madam paid Yan Long’s admonition no mind whatsoever.

As a woman, she harbored a deep aversion to her husband taking concubines, let alone six of them.

However, born into a prominent family, one often found themselves helpless in certain situations, regardless of gender.

A short while later, the cries of an infant resonated from within the room, a sound that instantly invigorated Yan Long.

The midwife inside immediately presented a wrinkled baby to the young madam.

“Seventh Madam, congratulations! It’s a boy.”

The young madam lying on the bed was Su Muyu, the legitimate daughter of a minor family from the Jiang Kingdom.

A year prior, her family, seeking to curry favor with the Yan family, had married her off to Yan Long as a concubine, a matter over which Su Muyu still harbored deep resentment.

“Take him away, take him away! He’s so ugly; it’s terrifying!” Su Muyu exclaimed, startled by the sight of her newborn son, her face contorted with an expression of utter disdain.

The newborn was indeed rather unappealing, his entire body flushed red and covered in wrinkles.

The midwife offered an awkward smile.

“All newborns look like this; they’ll improve in a few days, Seventh Madam. I’ll take the child to the patriarch to deliver the good news.”

Su Muyu nodded.

The midwife immediately carried the child out of the pavilion.

“Congratulations, Lord Patriarch! A young master has been born!” the midwife announced, congratulating Yan Long.

Yan Long’s heart swelled with joy upon hearing he had a son, but the expressions on the faces of his other wives clearly darkened.

This was especially true for the First and Third Madams, both of whom had borne sons. Another son meant another claimant to the family’s inheritance.

“Excellent! Come, let me see what kind of talent this child possesses,” Yan Long eagerly said, taking the baby from the midwife’s arms.

Once he held the child, Yan Long immediately released his spiritual power, allowing it to permeate the infant’s body.

The Yan family was a cultivation family, and while bloodline was important, cultivation talent held even greater significance.

However, as his power circulated through the child’s body, Yan Long’s previously joyful expression abruptly stiffened.

Seeing Yan Long’s countenance shift from delight to sorrow, the other madams instantly knew the outcome.

All of them simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

“Alas!” Yan Long sighed softly, returning the child to the midwife.

The midwife accepted the child, a puzzled expression on her face, unsure of what had troubled Yan Long.

“Lord Patriarch, is something wrong?” she inquired.

With a gloomy expression, Yan Long uttered a single sentence.

“It’s nothing. This child is merely an ordinary person, devoid of any cultivation talent. Return him to the Seventh Madam and tell her his name shall be Yan Yun.”

Having spoken, Yan Long turned and strode away, his face etched with cold indifference.

His wives and concubines hastily followed suit.

Without cultivation talent, the child would be unable to contend for family power, making him less valuable than even a daughter with cultivation talent.

Thus, they no longer had anything to worry about.

Hearing the name ‘Yan Yun,’ the midwife couldn’t help but mutter to herself.

“That’s far too casual. Why does it sound like a girl’s name?”

****

At that very same moment, deafening cheers suddenly erupted from the neighboring Jiang family residence.

“Congratulations, Lord Patriarch! A lady with a pure Ice Spirit Root has been born to the Third Madam! Heaven blesses our Jiang family!”

The sound was exceptionally loud in the dark of night.

The Jiang and Yan families were neighbors, so the joyous shouts from the Jiang residence naturally reached Yan Long’s ears.

Upon hearing the sounds, Yan Long’s face was filled with incredulity.

“A pure Ice Spirit Root? How could that be?” Yan Long wondered, convinced he must have misheard.

The Yan and Jiang families were old acquaintances, and their concubines had given birth almost simultaneously. Yet, the other family’s daughter was a genius, while his own son was merely an ordinary person.

This stark psychological disparity left Yan Long feeling deeply uncomfortable.

The Jiang family’s child was named Jiang Yao; she and Yan Yun were born in the same hour. One was the Third Young Lady of the Jiang family, the other the Third Young Master of the Yan family.

Alas, born at the same time, yet destined for vastly different fates.

Of course, Yan Long didn’t entirely disdain this son; a boy could at least carry on the family line.

However, he paid little attention to this son thereafter, leaving his upbringing entirely to Su Muyu.

Su Muyu, for her part, showered her son with immense affection and care.

And so, under his mother’s devoted care, Yan Yun gradually grew older.

Curiously, Yan Yun displayed remarkable intelligence from a young age; he rarely cried or fussed, could read and write by two, and by five, behaved like a miniature adult, fond of reading and spending an hour or two almost every day in the family’s Library Pavilion.

Five years later, inside the Yan family’s Library Pavilion, a fair-skinned, delicate boy stood on a chair, his bright eyes keenly perusing the books on the shelves.

A considerable number of Yan family disciples, entering and exiting, cast annoyed glances his way.

“It’s Yan Yun again. Why can’t he just give up? It’s fate that he can’t cultivate. Does he think reading books will somehow conjure talent?”

“Right, he comes to the Library Pavilion every single day; it’s annoying just seeing him,” some Yan family disciples conversed.

This young boy was none other than the Yan family’s Third Young Master, Yan Yun.

He appeared as though he hadn’t heard the whispers about him, continuing to search through the books, though his internal thoughts were quite different.

‘Alas! There’s a good saying from my previous life: ‘Never bully a youth for being poor; within books, you’ll find houses of gold.’ Today you scorn me, but one day I’ll make you look up to me in awe. I refuse to believe that Heaven would play such a cruel trick on me,’ Yan Yun mused inwardly, listening to the murmurs surrounding him.

Though he was considered an ordinary person, incapable of cultivation, he possessed a unique talent that others lacked.

He had been born with memories of his previous life, meaning he was a transmigrator.

In his past life, he had met with an accident just as he was about to walk down the aisle with his girlfriend.

When he next awoke, he found himself an infant.

As he slowly grew, gaining an increasing understanding of this world, he gradually realized he couldn’t simply resign himself to fate, or his future prospects would be grim.

Consequently, he sought every possible method to alter his destiny.

His chosen method was reading; only within books of cultivation techniques could a way to defy fate and change his destiny possibly be hidden.

Regrettably, he had nearly scoured the entire Library Pavilion, yet found absolutely nothing.

‘Alas! Another day without any discovery.’

Yan Yun sighed, preparing to return home.

However, the moment he turned, he bumped into someone.

“Ouch!”

Yan Yun’s head collided with a hard chest, and he inwardly cursed whoever was so oblivious.

Before he could even look up, a voice that deeply irritated Yan Yun rang out.

“Why are you in the Library Pavilion again? Is this a place you should even be?”

Yan Yun immediately looked up, only to see a tall youth gazing down at him with a condescending air.

The newcomer was Yan Yun’s second elder brother, Yan Kun, the notorious profligate young master of the Yan family.

“What are you staring at? Don’t you know to greet your elder brother?” Yan Kun snapped, glaring at Yan Yun.

Yan Yun, however, completely ignored him.

Infuriated, Yan Kun casually pushed Yan Yun aside with a flick of his hand.

“Get out of the way; don’t be a nuisance.”

Yan Yun gently bumped against a nearby bookshelf. Although indignation simmered within him, he dared not utter another word in person.

‘What did I do to provoke you? We share the same father, yet every time, you act like you can’t stand me. Is there really a need for such disdain?’

Yan Yun shook his head, steadying himself on the bookshelf as he prepared to stand.

Just then, his finger seemed to brush against some mechanism.

Immediately afterward, a secret compartment suddenly sprang open from a section of the bookshelf.

Upon hearing the sound, Yan Yun instantly looked towards that spot on the bookshelf.

“Eh? What’s this?”

Inside the secret compartment lay a metal booklet, heavily tarnished with verdigris.

He first glanced around, and once certain no one had noticed, he quickly retrieved the booklet and closed the compartment.

For this booklet to be hidden so discreetly, it was surely no ordinary item.

He carried the booklet to an unoccupied corner, intending to examine its contents.

“Hiss!”

The moment he opened the booklet, a sharp pain shot through his fingertip; it seemed he had been cut by the verdigris.

He immediately put his finger to his mouth, sucking on it until the bleeding ceased.

Strangely, after his blood touched the booklet, the verdigris on its surface began to recede at a visibly rapid pace.

“Eh? Is this a treasure?” Yan Yun froze in astonishment.

With a gaze filled with wonder, he opened the unknown metal booklet.

Yet, after merely a single glance, his eyes widened in shock. He instantly closed the booklet, tucked it into his clothes, and hastily departed from the Library Pavilion.

For he had stumbled upon a treasure.

The metal booklet contained a mysterious poison cultivation technique, one that explicitly stated it could be practiced even without a spirit root.

He intended to take it back and study it thoroughly.

However, just as he exited the Library Pavilion, a clamor of voices reached him from within the Yan family compound.

“Hey! Hurry to the Jiang family! Fairy Yunshuang, the Sect Leader of the Yunhua Sect, has personally arrived at the Jiang residence to take Jiang Yao, the Jiang family’s proud daughter of Heaven, as her personal disciple!” someone shouted.

As these words spread, the Yan family disciples immediately dropped whatever they were doing and rushed outside the compound.

Fairy Yunshuang was not only the leader of the Yunhua Sect, the foremost sect in the Jiang Kingdom, but also the cultivation world’s most beautiful woman in the Jiang Kingdom; everyone yearned for a glimpse of her beauty.

‘Jiang Yao? The Third Young Lady of the Jiang family, born at the same hour as me? She’s been favored by the Yunhua Sect?’

After a moment of contemplation, Yan Yun couldn’t resist joining the others to see for himself.

The two families weren’t far apart; a right turn out the door and a mere dozen meters led to the Jiang residence.

However, just as Yan Yun arrived at the Jiang family’s entrance, he saw a white-robed fairy leading a four or five-year-old girl out of the Jiang manor.

For some inexplicable reason, Yan Yun felt a strange pull, his gaze drawn involuntarily to the little girl.

The little girl, too, seemed to sense something, and inexplicably looked into the distance; her eyes met Yan Yun’s precisely.

“Eh?” The girl’s expression became somewhat peculiar upon meeting Yan Yun’s gaze.

In that fleeting moment their eyes met, Yan Yun felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.

However, just as Yan Yun pondered the origin of this familiarity, the white-robed fairy swept the girl up, ascended into the sky, and vanished into the horizon.

The little girl who had just been taken away was Jiang Yao of the Jiang family.

‘Alas! A proud daughter of Heaven certainly receives different treatment, but it seems my own opportunity has also arrived.’

Yan Yun patted the metal booklet hidden in his chest, his heart thrumming with excitement as he returned to his abode.

His persistence had finally yielded its reward, for this poison scripture was precisely what he needed.