Damn, I’m a Stand-in

The elegant woman before her told her to step forward.

Naturally, Cao Xueyan obeyed, walking up with obedient care, though she dared not get too close.

This was a Golden Core cultivator, a living “True Person” of the Golden Core!

Compared to such cultivation, she was no more than an ant.

A single breath from this person could reduce her to ashes.

Seeing Cao Xueyan’s nervousness and fear, Xiao Menglan, who had experienced much herself, lifted a finger and flicked a stream of spiritual light into Cao Xueyan’s body.

At once, Cao Xueyan’s emotions stilled, as calm as the surface of water without a ripple.

“Better now?” Xiao Menglan asked, her voice as hazy and elusive as smoke, tickling at one’s heart.

Cao Xueyan’s heart was utterly still, unnaturally calm.

She replied, “Much better. Thank you, Peak Master Xiao.”

“You are interesting. Your soul is more resilient than the average Qi Refining cultivator’s. You are a good seedling for talisman-making.”

Really? Why did I not know that?

Cao Xueyan was only a small fry in Qi Refining, with no qualifications to even hear about matters of the soul.

She had no idea what her aptitude was.

But since a Golden Core True Person said so, she supposed it must be true.

The elder coughed lightly and said, “From Peak Master Xiao’s words, do you mean to take this disciple as your apprentice?”

Xiao Menglan shook her head.

“It is too early to speak of taking a disciple. But my Talisman Peak lacks outstanding students. If I let others guide this new junior, I fear they would mislead her.

So, it is better if I take charge myself.”

Her gaze softened as she looked at Cao Xueyan.

“Besides, your brows and bearing resemble someone I once knew.

As for apprenticeship, it depends on your talent and effort. It is not impossible. Only, the time of fate has not yet come.”

“And if fate does come?” Cao Xueyan asked without thinking.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt uneasy.

She glanced nervously at Xiao Menglan’s face but saw no displeasure or anger.

“If fate comes,” Xiao Menglan said, “I will accept you as my disciple. You will be my personal student, and one day, the pillar of the sect.”

“This disciple will never fail such expectations,” Cao Xueyan said.

“Heh, you are quick to seize advantage.”

Xiao Menglan flicked her sleeve, and a wave of weightlessness swept over Cao Xueyan.

After a brief panic, she found herself standing on a flying sword of remarkable quality.

A flying sword!

Cao Xueyan’s heart raced with excitement.

It was the most iconic image of immortal cultivation novels.

Perhaps not the strongest, but always the most romantic weapon in the hearts of cultivators.

Normally, only Foundation Establishment cultivators, who had trained their souls, could ride swords.

Yet today, she stood upon one, drifting gently through the air.

“Since she has chosen my Talisman Peak, I will take her away now,” Xiao Menglan said.

Then a sword appeared beneath her own feet, and she drifted into the sky with Cao Xueyan.

Inside the Steward Pavilion, the elder felt Xiao Menglan and Cao Xueyan had already flown dozens of miles away.

He sighed.

“Ah… such a fine person, how unfortunate to have met such fate…”

Then he turned to Steward Song, who was sweating profusely though still forcing a smile.

In a hard tone, the elder said, “Today’s matter — you must never speak of it to outsiders.

If you do, not only I, but Peak Master Xiao herself will not spare you.”

Steward Song bobbed his head like a pecking chicken, nearly kneeling on the spot to show his sincerity.

After giving his warning, the elder took a single step forward.

His body dissolved like mist, disappearing without a trace.

Meanwhile, Cao Xueyan soared on her sword through the sea of clouds.

Strange sights passed by her one after another.

Floating islands suspended in the sky.

Mountains turned upside down.

Waterfalls cascading from nowhere in the heavens.

And streaks of light so fast the eye could not follow — cultivators of Foundation Establishment riding their swords.

A single Foundation Establishment cultivator could dominate the mortal world, ruling cities or entire markets.

Yet in the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, such figures were everywhere.

Xiao Menglan smiled.

“In less than thirty years, you too will ride a sword with your own mana and soul.

There is nothing to envy.”

Thirty years… that was not short at all.

It was all the simulator’s fault.

Her heart now aimed so much higher than before.

Once, she never even dreamed of Foundation Establishment.

Now, thirty years felt slow.

Truly, the world had changed, and people’s hearts with it.

After flying who knew how far, a mist-shrouded peak appeared before her eyes.

This must be the Talisman Peak.

Here she would spend nearly her entire life.

Xiao Menglan led her straight to the summit, where the peak master’s residence stood.

It was a palace.

Not resplendent like the halls of mortal emperors, but like the immortal halls of myth, veiled in clouds.

Countless runes shimmered around it, guarding it like loyal soldiers.

“Moon-Inviting Palace…” Cao Xueyan whispered the name aloud.

She had never heard of it before.

But those three words were inscribed on the plaque above the gates.

Xiao Menglan brought her down onto a training ground near the palace.

Several maidservants in white dresses moved about, sweeping and cleaning.

Each was strikingly beautiful, but their faces were blank, like lifeless dolls.

“They are puppets, formed from Puppet Talismans, not real people,” Xiao Menglan explained as she put away her sword.

“I love quiet. I dislike being disturbed. Few may enter this Moon-Inviting Palace. You are one of them.”

“This disciple is unworthy,” Cao Xueyan said quickly, bowing her head.

Puppet Talismans? She had never heard of such a thing.

Did it mean sticking talismans on living people, turning them into mindless slaves?

No, no — Peak Master had just said they were not real people.

So perhaps… they were like robots?

Cultivation truly was wondrous.

“Do you know,” Xiao Menglan suddenly said, staring directly at her face, “your appearance is very much like someone I once knew.”

Her brows softened, but the gentleness was almost frightening.

“Originally, it was just a passing thought.

But when I look at your face, those old memories keep circling in my mind… turning and turning…”

A hand smooth and warm as jade brushed against Cao Xueyan’s cheek.

She could even feel the hot breath against her skin.

At that moment, there was no one else around.

Whatever Xiao Menglan said or did to Cao Xueyan, no outsider would ever know.

“Who are you, truly?

Why do you feel so familiar to me?

Is your name really Cao Xueyan… or is it Wen Ruyu?”

Wen Ruyu? Who is Wen Ruyu?

Cao Xueyan screamed inwardly.

She had never heard the name.

Not in this life, not in her past one.

She had no way of knowing — Wen Ruyu was Xiao Menglan’s former Dao partner.

A woman as gentle as her name.

She and Xiao Menglan had once been the unmatched pair of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, admired by all.

But fate was cruel.

Wen Ruyu perished on an expedition, leaving Xiao Menglan to grieve alone in this world.

Centuries passed.

Recently, Xiao Menglan realized, to her horror, that she could no longer remember her lover’s face.

Only a blurred outline remained.

So she often visited that peach grove, trying to recall even the faintest trace of their love.

Until she saw Cao Xueyan.

And for one instant, she lost herself.

Could two people truly resemble each other so much?

And in that instant, Cao Xueyan understood.

Why, in the simulation, the peak master had treated her with such extraordinary kindness.

Why she had been favored so deeply, beyond reason.

It was because Xiao Menglan mistook her for someone else.

Because she was being treated as a substitute.

Disaster — Cao Xueyan had become the heroine of a substitute romance!