Chapter 3: How a Trash Woman Is Made

What the hell?! Why is there a mana bar?!

Yan Ling’s heart gave a violent lurch, and her gaze darted sideways to the floating System screen. A blue bar was plummeting at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ding~ [System Notification: All spells and martial arts consume MP. MP represents the Host’s current Spiritual Power reserves and grows as your Cultivation Base increases.]

The mechanical voice chimed in right on cue, though it was utterly useless right now.

No kidding! Do I really need you to tell me that?

As a seasoned gamer in her past life, she knew all too well what MP was!

Can I even raise my Cultivation Base in time? I have less than five minutes left! Even a peerless Heavenly Prodigy couldn’t break through out of thin air!

No, I absolutely cannot stay here!

She didn’t even dare imagine what kind of punishment and torment she would suffer once the Charm Technique wore off and Sister Hua came to her senses!

Do I really have to go out on a mission to lie low? But Hua Wanlou said spy missions are all certain death…

Wait, what’s that?

Suddenly, Yan Ling’s eyes locked onto a reddish Jade Slip with a vicious skull symbol carved along its edge—the mark of the highest-difficulty mission.

Her brows, knitted in desperation a moment ago, shot up at once. This mission is practically tailor-made for me, isn’t it?

If I pick this one, I can definitely pull it off easily!

Still, before I leave… hmph! Let me fleece you one last time!

She stepped close immediately, squeezing out a tearful, pitiful expression as she tilted her head up at a forty-five-degree angle, her voice soft and fragile. “Big Sister Hua, I… I’m willing to be your exclusive Cauldron. But I have one last request. If Big Sister agrees to it, I’ll let you do whatever you want with me from now on without a single complaint…”

Seeing the girl look so wronged and irresistibly pitiful, Hua Wanlou felt her heart practically melt under the Charm Technique’s influence. She stroked Yan Ling’s cheek with her fingertips. “Tell me, little cutie~ Whatever you ask for, Big Sister will grant it~”

Yan Ling’s eyes shimmered softly like spring water as she gazed affectionately into the woman’s depths, her voice laced with careful hope. “Big Sister Hua, I only want to ask if you can… keep me as your only Cauldron from now on?”

Hua Wanlou paused slightly, then let out a soft laugh and tapped the tip of Yan Ling’s nose. “Oh? You want Big Sister all to yourself? Little one, you’re quite greedy, aren’t you?”

Yan Ling lowered her eyelids at once, her long lashes trembling faintly as her voice filled with instant disappointment. “So… Big Sister is refusing me?”

“Mm… I’m sorry, little one.” Hua Wanlou looked away with a touch of apology. “As you are right now, you simply can’t provide the Spirit Qi I need for my cultivation, so…”

A Charm Technique wasn’t mind control; it could only boost affection, not completely override someone’s mind. Yan Ling had fully expected the woman to choose her “path of cultivation” over her in the end.

And that reaction was exactly what she wanted!

“In that case…” The girl snapped her gaze back up, every trace of disappointment gone, replaced by ironclad resolve. “If I can’t have Big Sister completely to myself, I’d rather go be a Spy!”

“What?!” Hua Wanlou gasped in shock, her red lips parting as she hurriedly reached out to grab her, her tone full of urgency. “Little sister, you’re joking, right? You know perfectly well that being a Spy is nearly certain death. Just be good and stay by Big Sister’s side…”

“I’m not joking!” Yan Ling cut her off sharply, her tone firmer than ever. Before Hua Wanlou could react, she snatched up the red Jade Slip, enunciating every word clearly. “I’m going to the Primordial Chaos Sect to steal a Heaven-Tier Cultivation Technique!”

Not long after, at the entrance of the Lily Pavilion.

The morning mist had not yet cleared, and pale golden sunlight filtered through the clouds onto the two women, catching the pearl ornaments at Hua Wanlou’s temples.

She held onto Yan Ling’s hand reluctantly, her fingertips tightening slightly. “Little one, I’m asking you one last time: are you truly going to take this grueling mission with a three-year time limit? Once you step out that door, there’s no turning back. I know you’re only doing this to vie for my favor. Big Sister can just dote on you more, alright?”

“Big Sister Hua, I know you still think I’m joking to force you to give in.” Yan Ling curled her fingers lightly at her side, her voice as calm as a deep pool yet carrying an unshakable firmness. “But you’ll soon understand that what truly defines a person is never words, but action.”

With those words spoken, the girl stepped out of the Lily Pavilion’s doors without hesitation, her moon-white skirt slicing a crisp arc across Hua Wanlou’s trembling pupils.

Watching that fearless silhouette walk away, Hua Wanlou unconsciously twisted the corner of her sleeve between her fingers. Longing, curiosity, and a thread of obsession she hadn’t even noticed herself churned in her eyes, painting a deeply complicated expression on her face.

From the time her family fell into ruin and she was forced into the Supreme Pleasure Sect, to building this unconventional Lily Pavilion with her own hands, she had seen far too much false affection over the years. She had toyed with the bodies and hearts of countless beauties, long treating “feelings” as mere playthings in her palm, never taking them seriously.

Yet someone willing to gamble her own life just to have her all to herself? That seemed to be a first.

In that moment, an intense impulse actually welled up in Hua Wanlou’s chest: I almost want to throw away all these Righteous and Devil conflicts and mortal ties, leave with her right now, and wander the ends of the earth together as a devoted pair…

Just then, a cold System prompt rang inside Yan Ling’s mind.

Ding. [System Notification: MP depleted. The effect of Charm Technique: Heart-Melting Grace has expired…]

Almost at the exact same instant, Hua Wanlou’s eyes snapped wide open. The reluctance and tenderness drained from her face, her expression cycling violently from shock to sudden realization, and finally to a flare of anger at having been played.

As the Charm Technique lifted completely, it finally dawned on her. After hunting hawks my whole life, I actually got pecked in the eye by one—a green little girl turned the Supreme Pleasure Sect’s own Secret Art of charm against me?

Yet puzzlement quickly followed. This is an unshared, exclusive Secret Art of my Supreme Pleasure Sect. How on earth did that little minx learn it?

Could it be… she secretly learned it from a single glance when we walked past those cultivation rooms earlier?

This girl really does learn everything at a single glance, just like the rumors say. Truly unbelievable…

Strangely, however, even after being thoroughly toyed with and teased by a junior, what dominated Hua Wanlou’s eyes beyond her irritation was obsession and an uncompromising desire to possess.

After all, watching a peerless Heavenly Prodigy who had once stood lofty and arrogant above everyone else fall completely beneath her… just imagining it made her shiver with excitement.

Gazing at Yan Ling’s receding figure, she murmured in a voice as light as a feather, yet wrapped in unmistakable obsession:

“You can’t escape, little one. One day, I’ll make you fall completely and become my Cauldron~ So whatever you do, don’t you dare die on this mission~”

Meanwhile, feeling the increasingly scorching gaze boring into her back, Yan Ling felt a chill run down her spine and hurriedly picked up her pace…

Still, no matter what.

“Phew~”

She let out a long breath.

At least her chastity was safe for now.

Besides, with her Card-Drawing System, she didn’t need to risk sneaking into any Scripture Pavilion to steal secret manuals. All she had to do was find some Iceberg Immortal Fairy who had already mastered a Heaven-Tier Cultivation Technique and tease her relentlessly, right?

Just like this—

Yan Ling turned her hand over, and an exquisite Talisman Card shimmering with lustrous purple light and intricate runes materialized out of thin air, spinning smoothly at her fingertips.

It was the epic-grade prize she had just fleeced when [Charm Technique: Heart-Melting Grace] wore off and the System precisely captured Hua Wanlou’s tangled mix of shock, anger, curiosity, and obsession: [Charm Technique: Desire Amplification Card] (Unlimited)!

And that was her greatest trump card for daring to accept this mission. Compared to physical items like weapons or Elixir Pills, using her Card-Drawing System to steal Cultivation Techniques was practically a match made in heaven.

Still, this broken System’s mechanics seem more complicated than I thought. I’d better study it carefully so I don’t get screwed over again!

Taking advantage of finally having a moment to herself, Yan Ling hastily examined the Emotion Card-Drawing System and quickly uncovered several key rules:

1. Emotions generated by the Card Drawing target must be directed toward the Host herself.

2. Physical contact must occur between both parties in order to absorb emotional energy for Card Drawing.

Damn it, why does it force skinship?! That’s asking way too much!

[System Notification: The Host’s outward-projected Spirit Qi and Divine Sense are considered extensions of the body. Anything within reach of your Spirit Qi or Divine Sense fulfills the “contact” condition to activate this System.]

Finally, a useful tip. Which means…

Yan Ling pondered for a moment. The top priority really is raising my own Cultivation Base, isn’t it? That won’t just boost my personal strength—it’ll make this Card-Drawing Golden Finger easier to use and even stronger.

Thinking of that, she looked toward the direction of her mission target. Don’t disappoint me, number-one sect under heaven.

The Primordial Chaos Sect.

It was the oldest and largest sect in the modern cultivation world.

They did not rely on Divine Weapons or Magic Treasures, nor did they abuse Elixir Pills and tonics.

They were an Orthodox Xuanmen Sect devoted purely to cultivating Internal Cultivation Methods.

Accumulated over countless ages, their deep heritage meant they possessed the widest variety of profound, supreme divine techniques and secret manuals in the entire Immortal Cultivation World.

Among so many wondrous and diverse Cultivation Techniques, there might very well be one that could resolve the conflict caused by the Water Spirit Root forcibly implanted into Yan Ling’s Fire Spirit Root, allowing her to fully recover her strength—and even grow stronger!

Hmph, just you wait, you wicked woman. Once I finish this mission and return in triumph, we’ll see who becomes whose Cauldron!