Fate Comes

Cao Xueyan took a deep breath outside the main hall of the Steward Pavilion.

She had already made up her mind, and so she called out loudly: “Disciple Cao Xueyan requests an audience.”

Suddenly, the doors of the main hall swung open, pushed by an invisible force.

Steward Song, whom she had seen just yesterday, still wore a smiling face.

Yet today, that smile seemed to carry a trace of flattery.

He followed behind an elder with an immortal-like bearing.

The hands that Steward Song usually clasped behind his back before the outer disciples were now respectfully folded in front.

The elder with immortal demeanor narrowed his eyes slightly, as if appraising Cao Xueyan.

His gaze was dark and unreadable, impossible to guess.

To be an elder of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect meant his cultivation was at least at the Golden Core stage, equal to the peak masters of each mountain.

In the cultivation world, Golden Core stage cultivators were also honored as “True Persons.”

At this level, both soul and body had already transcended the mundane.

Their mana was fathomless, capable of lifting a mountain as though it were a toy, or cutting off a raging river with a wave of the hand.

The world said Golden Core True Persons possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas.

This was no exaggeration — they were truly land-bound immortals.

It was Cao Xueyan’s first time seeing such a powerful existence with her own eyes, and the pressure was immense.

She had heard other disciples gossip about Foundation Establishment cultivators, speaking of them with longing and ambition.

But when Golden Core cultivators were mentioned, the tone always became reverent and pious, as though speaking of myths.

Since Nascent Soul cultivators lived in seclusion and rarely appeared, Golden Core True Persons were the very truth of the cultivation world.

Cao Xueyan feared her secret — the simulator, her golden finger — would be discovered.

After all, the divine sense of a Golden Core cultivator was terrifying beyond measure.

With a single glance, wouldn’t she, a mere late-stage Qi Refining disciple, be stripped bare?

Yet, at last, the elder’s sharp gaze softened.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint, nearly imperceptible smile.

His tone was calm: “Not bad. Your foundation is solid, free of falsehood. Diligence is rewarded by the Dao — this too is a merit.”

The elder’s manner was like a cup of bitter tea.

At first sip, harsh and sharp, but moments later, there was a gentle aftertaste.

After all, she was a disciple of the sect.

There was no reason to be overly harsh.

The demonic path was flourishing, and the righteous path waning.

Even great sects found themselves lacking successors.

The Azure Cloud Sword Sect was no exception.

Even now, the sect master had not accepted a single true disciple.

The elder had heard before coming that Cao Xueyan possessed a mixed four-element spiritual root — only slightly better than the five-element root.

With such qualifications, Foundation Establishment was all but hopeless without a great stroke of fortune.

To reach late-stage Qi Refining with this talent, no matter how poor, still showed merit.

“Elder flatters me,” Cao Xueyan quickly replied.

“This disciple only ever buried her head in cultivation. A few days ago, it was merely a sudden flash of insight that broke the bottleneck…”

The elder interrupted: “No need for false modesty. Have you never heard — excessive humility is arrogance? If we cultivators lose our edge, then in duels, or facing demonic cultivators, wouldn’t we already be a step behind?”

“…Yes. Disciple will remember the teaching!” Cao Xueyan’s heart skipped, and she lowered her head in reflection.

She was a reincarnated soul with memories of her past life and a simulator.

Without realizing it, she had followed the path of “lying low,” like the protagonists in her past-life novels.

But in truth, in the cultivation world, one must compete — with people, and with the Dao itself.

If you did not fight, others would!

“It is good you understand,” the elder said, stroking his beard.

“From this day forward, you are an inner sect disciple.”

“But as for the many matters of the inner sect, you must first choose a peak. Your senior brothers and sisters will then instruct you.”

“Well then — among the four peaks — Pill, Formation, Artifact, Talisman — have you decided?”

It had come!

Cao Xueyan’s eyes tightened slightly.

At last, the critical moment had arrived.

She had simulated every outcome of joining each peak.

Though none ended in survival — every path led to death at the hands of demonic assassins — the processes differed.

The Artifact Peak was the worst.

The Formation Peak, the most perilous.

The Pill Peak, steady but lukewarm.

And the Talisman Peak…

“Elder, this disciple thought it over through the night. I have decided to enter the Talisman Peak.” She bowed respectfully.

“Oh?” The elder looked surprised.

Of all the inner sect’s peaks, the most popular was the Pill Peak.

To learn alchemy required only fire and wood roots.

It was easy to begin, easy to practice, and nearly every cultivator in the world, skilled or not, could refine a few pills.

Moreover, pill cultivation was steady and beneficial to overall training.

Thus, Pill Peak had the most disciples.

But talisman-making tested a cultivator’s spiritual sense heavily.

It was difficult to start, and over-practice could even damage the soul.

At best, it hindered cultivation.

At worst, it led to madness and inner demons.

Even now, the Talisman Peak was desolate, its disciples few.

A hundred years ago, it could not even find a Golden Core expert to serve as peak master.

They had to appoint a substitute elder, until that legendary couple — dazzling, envied by all — appeared…

Alas, that was a story best left unspoken.

The elder’s expression turned stern.

“You must be certain. Choosing a peak is no trivial matter. Once chosen, unless the sect master himself approves, you cannot change for life.”

“This disciple has already decided,” Cao Xueyan said firmly.

“There will be no regret.”

Seeing her resolve, the elder no longer pressed the matter.

“Very well. Today I shall take you to meet Peak Master Xiao. She—”

“No need. I am already here.”

Before the person appeared, her voice came first.

It was a woman’s voice, soft as spring rain, carrying a subtle power that soothed the heart.

It made one want to sink into its warmth.

Cao Xueyan froze.

She had never heard this voice before, nor met its owner.

Yet why… why did it sound so familiar?

As though she had heard it thousands upon thousands of times.

Comforting her in sorrow.

Encouraging her in triumph.

At once like a teacher, and like a lover.

When she came back to herself, a beautiful woman in flowing robes stood before her.

Her black hair was bound, her snow-white garments pristine, her eyes like spring water glancing over Cao Xueyan.

What lay in the depths of those bright eyes, none could say.

“Peak Master Xiao,” the elder finally allowed some expression to show.

“What wind brings you here?”

“Rarely does a disciple choose my Talisman Peak,” the woman said with a gentle smile.

“I felt it in my heart, and so I came.”

“Step forward, let me see you.”

Me?

Cao Xueyan’s thoughts spun.

She had wondered if the simulator showed the future exactly as it would occur, or merely possibilities rendered in text.

She clearly remembered that in the simulated line of joining the Talisman Peak, the peak master herself had descended to escort her.

And now—

It was true!

The peak master, a Golden Core cultivator, a land-bound immortal—

Had truly come!

Cao Xueyan was stunned, at a loss.

For her, disbelief and confusion were natural.

For Xiao Menglan, it was nothing unusual.

Most disciples who saw her for the first time reacted this way.

Whether from awe of her position, or the brilliance of her beauty, she had seen it countless times.

Xiao Menglan had been wandering a peach grove within the sect, as she often did.

That place held special meaning: it was where she and her Dao partner had once confessed their hearts.

Now that her beloved was gone, her visits were but a way to dwell in memory.

As a Golden Core cultivator, she sensed movements within several miles.

Feeling something stir in her heart, she had sent a clone to come.

Unexpectedly, she would return with a new junior sister.

Yet little did Xiao Menglan know—

What she brought back was not a junior sister, but a fated adversary.

Their meeting was no accident, but a bond forged through countless simulated lifetimes.