Chapter 71 – The Early-Death White Moonlight in a Cultivation Novel (Part 2)

The story was still in its early stages—there were five years to go before the life-saving plotline kicked in. So, Zhou Yanxi needed to raise her strength as quickly as possible. After all, in cultivation, strength was everything.

In this cultivation world, might makes right. The original Zhou Yanxi had lost her mother early and had been doted on by True Lord Chongyuan, her father, all her life. As a result, her personality was excessively naïve—so much so that she had never left the sect even once.

Within the sect, the disciples didn't dare speak ill of her openly, given her father's Nascent Soul-level power, but in private, they often mocked her for being lazy and wasting resources.

Truthfully, the resentment wasn't surprising—envy of privilege exists everywhere, even in cultivation sects. For example, opportunities to enter secret realms were limited. Yet as the peak master's daughter, Zhou Yanxi didn't need to compete in the sect's qualifying tournaments—she was granted access outright, which naturally bred resentment among ordinary disciples.

Worse yet, Zhou Yanxi was already forty years old and only at early Foundation Establishment. Compared to other inner disciples of the same age—most of whom had reached mid-stage Foundation or higher—her cultivation level didn't justify the resources she received.

But her father was powerful and had every right to protect his daughter. Other "cultivation second-gens" enjoyed similar privileges. The real problem was Zhou Yanxi's overly gentle personality—it made her easy to trample on.

From the original's memories, it was clear she hadn't been idle—she had devoted herself to alchemy, but her innate talent was limited, and she had only reached Second-Rank Alchemist.

Elsewhere, that might've been impressive. But in the competitive Haomiao Sect, that barely placed her third among the younger generation.

And no one cares about third place—people only remember number one. Zhou Yanxi's presence was faint, barely noticed.

Right now, survival was the top priority. She couldn't waste more time on alchemy—she needed to get stronger, fast. Alchemy could wait.

Zhou Yanxi promptly packed up the Recovery Pills she'd just refined and exited her private alchemy room.

Her father had specially built that room for her, not wanting her to have to compete with other disciples for use of the communal furnaces. Normally, only Fifth-Rank Alchemists in the sect qualified for personal alchemy rooms—so clearly, Zhou Yanxi's family background was flawless.

Just as she stepped outside, she ran into her father's chief disciple—her senior martial brother, Yuan Hen. From the look on his face, she could tell he had something to say.

In truth, Yuan Hen had sensed with his divine sense that his junior sister had exited seclusion—so he'd come to find her.

Zhou Yanxi normally spent all her time in the alchemy room, either refining pills or cultivating, so if anyone wanted to see her, they had to actively track her movements.

Seeing her confused look, Yuan Hen got straight to the point:

"Junior Sister, Master wanted me to tell you—he's had a premonition lately and plans to go into seclusion for a year or so. During that time, I'll be overseeing your cultivation progress."

This plot point existed in the original timeline as well—but the original Zhou Yanxi had been so obsessed with alchemy that she neglected her cultivation. And since Yuan Hen treated her like his real sister, he'd always indulged her.

Sigh. Yuan Hen didn't fare well either. Two years from now, during the sect tournament, he'd be sabotaged by a fellow disciple who had actually been targeting Li Haochen.

Yuan Hen was accidentally injured, his cultivation stagnated, and even the famed Dustless True Lord of the Medicine King Valley was unable to help.

In the end, Yuan Hen could only go on a long journey in search of a miracle cure.

Another poor soul who suffered collateral damage for the sake of the male lead.

Now that she remembered all this, Zhou Yanxi had a sudden idea—Yuan Hen was a sword cultivator, right? Why not take this chance to learn swordsmanship from him?

Without delay, she told Yuan Hen her plan. His eyes widened in surprise:

"Didn't you say before that sword training was too tiring and not suitable for an alchemist like you?"

Ah. That was the original body's fault. But now that Zhou Yanxi was in control, there was no room for laziness. Sword cultivators were powerful—she had to give it a shot.

Seeing her resolute expression, Yuan Hen relented. But in his heart, he was bewildered: when had his junior sister become interested in swordsmanship? Girls' thoughts were so hard to understand.

When they actually began training, Zhou Yanxi found herself struggling—especially with transitions between sword forms. Her movements were often awkward and full of flaws. Despite Yuan Hen's many corrections, nothing worked.

This discovery made Zhou Yanxi feel a chill in her heart. Was she really that hopeless at swordsmanship?

Yuan Hen noticed as well. He mentally replayed the scene and realized Zhou Yanxi's wrist strength was lacking, which made her sword moves stiff and full of weaknesses.

So… what if she tried a different weapon?

Yuan Hen pulled out a series of weapons from his storage pouch—axes, sabers, halberds…

After many trials, they finally discovered that Zhou Yanxi was most compatible with a saber.

This discovery left Yuan Hen emotionally conflicted—he simply couldn't imagine his delicate, soft-spoken junior sister wielding a giant saber.

But Zhou Yanxi was very satisfied. She didn't care about appearances—survival came first.

So Yuan Hen switched gears and helped her pick out a basic saber technique. It wasn't that they didn't want something better—he just wasn't a saber cultivator himself, so all he could offer was the fundamentals.

Every day, Zhou Yanxi would swing her saber 5,000 times, practice the basic forms for four hours, and spend the rest of her time cultivating in meditation. Thankfully, meditation was equivalent to sleep in the cultivation world—otherwise, with how recklessly she trained, she would've collapsed already.

Seeing how hardworking she was, Yuan Hen didn't slack off either. The two of them immersed themselves fully in training.

Meanwhile, in the mundane mortal world, Li Haochen was living the high life as a wealthy young master. Lately, however, he kept dreaming about becoming immortal.

After having the same dream repeatedly, Li Haochen became convinced that he was extraordinarily gifted—he was sure that in the upcoming sect recruitment held by the Four Great Sects, he would be chosen without fail.