Chapter 7: Immortal Seeker

Yueli’s brilliant golden eyes widened at once, round with shock. Her small mouth parted slightly, as though she had never expected that this newly arrived maid, who looked so meek and submissive, would suddenly blurt out something so outrageously disrespectful.

She stood there in a daze for several breaths before finally seeming to confirm that she had heard correctly. Then, with a mixture of disbelief and anger, she demanded,

“You... what did you just say?”

Qingyun panicked inwardly , but her face forced itself into calm. In fact, she swiftly put on an expression as though nothing at all had happened and answered at once, speaking very quickly,

“I just said that this servant will go clean the courtyard now, Young Miss.”

Before her words had even finished falling, she had already turned around and hurried out of the room, almost as though fleeing in defeat, leaving Yueli no chance to continue questioning her or to flare up on the spot.

By the time Yueli reacted and came chasing to the doorway with her skirts gathered in her hands, all she saw was Qingyun already holding the old broom that had been leaning against the wall. With her back to the room, she had begun earnestly sweeping the fallen leaves and dust beneath the corridor, looking every bit the picture of “this servant is diligently working.”

A breath caught in Yueli’s chest, and her little face reddened slightly.

She glared at Qingyun’s back, and those golden eyes nearly seemed ready to spit fire, yet she did not know how to vent her anger.

In the end, like a little cat whose tail had been stepped on yet had nowhere to lash out, she stamped her foot hard and shouted toward that retreating back in a low, furious voice,

“How hateful! What an awful person! You actually... actually dared to be so rude to me!”

Her childish, sharp voice echoed once through the empty courtyard before quickly fading into the wind.

With her back to the room, Qingyun swept the ground in mechanical motions, yet her ears caught every bit of movement inside with perfect clarity.

She let out a breath of relief in her heart. Fortunately, this little ancestor had not chased after her and refused to let the matter go, nor had she immediately run off to complain to Steward Huang.

It seemed that although her status was awkward and her temperament twisted, she was not entirely unreasonable. Or perhaps she had simply grown so accustomed to being ignored that even venting her anger came to her awkwardly.

Hearing that the room had gradually fallen quiet again, Qingyun finally began to take a proper look at the broom in her hands and at the courtyard before her.

Weeds grew thick everywhere. Fallen leaves lay in heavy layers, and cobwebs clung to the corners.

She sighed in resignation, rolled up her sleeves, and began cleaning in earnest.

This sort of work was nothing to her. She had never done such things in her previous life, but ten years of hardship in this one had already forged a fair bit of strength into her body.

At the same time, she devoted part of her attention inward, sinking carefully into her own mind as she attempted to call upon that sudden mysterious presence.

“System? ‘Immortal Seeker’ System?”

The moment the thought arose, it was as though some hidden switch had been touched. That cold and rigid mechanical female voice did not sound again, yet before her “eyes”—or rather, within the range of her conscious perception—something abruptly changed.

A stream of concise information poured directly into the level of her understanding:

【The Immortal Seeker is a supreme treasure of the immortal path, created to assist those suited to it in stepping onto the road of eternal life. It can gather the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, analyze the source of all methods, and aid the host in seeking opportunities and cultivating the Great Dao. Cultivation methods, medicinal pills, magic treasures, heavenly materials and earthly treasures... all manner of cultivation resources may be obtained through it.】

Immediately afterward, a gentle, hazy radiance spread open within her consciousness. It was not truly a blaze of multicolored light, but rather something more conceptual in nature.

Within that glow appeared a clear image, almost holographic in its vividness. It was her present self: dressed in plain coarse clothing, slight and thin, with delicate features made pale by poor nourishment, and those few freckles beside her nose plainly visible.

Below the image, several simple lines of text emerged, much like the game or software interfaces familiar from her previous life:

【Name: Qingyun (ordinary-looking)】

【Bone Age: 14】

【Cultivation Realm: Mortal (has not yet drawn qi into the body; no spiritual power fluctuations)】

【Spirit Root Aptitude: Mutated dual ice-lightning attribute (exceptional potential; one in ten thousand)】

【Innate Foundation and Comprehension: Outstanding natural talent; soul strength far beyond the ordinary; high resilience.】

【Cultivation Method: None】

【Owned Magic Treasure: None】

As Qingyun “looked” at those lines, her heart began beating faster beyond her control.

Dual ice-lightning spirit roots? One in ten thousand? Outstanding natural talent?

These words stood in violent contrast to everything she had known of herself over the past fourteen years: a girl born into poverty, sold into servitude, and struggling merely to survive.

Soul strength far beyond the ordinary...

That perhaps explained why she had been reincarnated with memories of her previous life. But “high resilience”...

Thinking of the brutality of that final car accident in her last life, she could not help giving a bitter smile.

This system seemed to be far more than a simple notifier. It was more like... an auxiliary panel bound to her very state?

It claimed it could assist in immortal cultivation and obtain resources, but what exactly was this “means of obtaining” them? And how was it supposed to “gather the spiritual essence of heaven and earth”?

She tried using her consciousness to touch the lines of text and explore whether there were other functions.

Very quickly, she sensed that the panel seemed to possess a deeper structure, but most of it was still shrouded in fog. Only a few points of faint light could be seen, and one of them seemed to be connected to “cultivation methods” or “initial guidance.”

Time slipped by unnoticed as Qingyun mechanically cleaned the courtyard while devoting nearly all of her concentration to exploring the strange and mysterious “system” within her mind.

She pulled out the weeds from several sections and swept away the leaves and accumulated dust along the main paths, until the desolate courtyard at last looked somewhat tidier.

And as she continued to “touch” and “sense” the Immortal Seeker System, her understanding of it gradually became clearer.

This system was not the sort that engaged in intelligent conversation. It was more like a “magic treasure” or “tool” embedded within her soul, designed for a specific purpose.

At present it was only in its initial activation state. Most of its higher functions needed particular conditions to be fulfilled before they could gradually be unlocked.

For now, the core functions open to her seemed to be that status panel, and... a one-time “beginner’s guidance” or “initial gift.”

When she focused her consciousness on the line reading 【Cultivation Method: None】 and continuously projected a strong desire to obtain a basic cultivation method—

The panel’s faint light began to flow, and immediately afterward, a stream of complex information passed into her understanding. It was not a voice, but knowledge transmitted directly into her consciousness.

At the same time, she felt the hand hanging at her side—the one gripping the broom—grow slightly heavier.

Qingyun lowered her head and looked. In her empty left hand, a thin thread-bound booklet of ancient appearance had appeared at some unknown moment.

It was neither paper nor silk. Its texture was warm and smooth, yet touched with a faint coolness. On the cover, written in a vigorous hand, were three large characters—

《Longevity Art》

This, then, was the system’s so-called “one and only gifted item.”

According to the information she had instantly understood, 《Longevity Art》 was one of the most basic, yet also most balanced and moderate qi-guiding and essence-gathering cultivation methods in the world of immortal cultivation.

It was impartial and steady, suitable for laying a foundation for beginners of most spirit root attributes. Later, if one wished to switch to another cultivation method, the obstacles would be comparatively few.

Holding this suddenly appeared cultivation manual, Qingyun felt a surge of excitement and hope that was difficult to describe.

Immortal cultivation! Eternal life!

These were things that had existed only in fantasy in her previous life. Though the system looked rather stingy, giving her only the most basic goods, it had nevertheless pushed open a door to an entirely new world for her.

Yet even amid her excitement, a tremendous question soon surfaced.

She had been reincarnated into this world for more than a decade already. Whether in the rural villages, or during the brief glimpses she had after being sold into the city, or even from the fragments of conversation she had heard after entering the Bai Residence today, she had never once heard words such as “spiritual qi” or “immortal cultivation.”

The mainstream power system of this world seemed instead to be a kind of energy known as gang qi, cultivated and wielded by martial artists.

It was said that profound martial artists could also split steles and crack stone, run along rooftops and walls, and that in legend there were even martial grandmasters who could face a thousand alone, cleave mountains apart, and sever rivers.

What was the difference between spiritual qi and gang qi? Between immortal cultivators and martial artists, which was stronger? Did immortal cultivators truly exist in this world at all? Or were this “Immortal Seeker System” and 《Longevity Art》 things that belonged to her alone—alien objects entirely out of step with this world?

Just as Qingyun stood holding 《Longevity Art》 and looking at the courtyard, now somewhat tidier yet still desolate, her thoughts drifting into imaginings and doubts about the road ahead—

A hesitant shout suddenly came from outside the moon gate to the courtyard:

“Is... is anyone there? I have brought the evening meal.”

Qingyun abruptly came back to herself. She swiftly tucked 《Longevity Art》 into her robes, patted the dust from her clothes, and walked toward the gate.

Standing outside was a sturdy, dark-skinned boy of about fifteen or sixteen. He wore the gray short outfit of a low-ranking servant of the Bai Residence, and his appearance looked honest and simple.

In his hands he carried two heavy food boxes, while peering somewhat awkwardly into the courtyard.