Chapter 10: Black Dragon Rending the Heavens (Part 5): Sacrifice or Plunder, Either Way Part 2

A woven grass cushion sat in the center of the floor, the only place to sit and rest. Mu Qian Tan glanced around and naturally sat cross-legged on it, arranging the flowing skirt on the floor.

Shang Shan wandered around the room, then whipped her head back. “Where do I sit?”

Mu Qian Tan didn’t lift her eyelids. “Wherever.”

“Hmph.” Shang Shan first went out to the courtyard and tossed the nearly suffocating live fish into the jar. Though its round belly made it hard to maneuver in the jar, at least it revived. Only then did she return to the room and sit on the floor. “You just love bullying me.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “If you’re not convinced, we can have a fight.”

“That wouldn’t be fair. You have Magical Power; I don’t.” Shang Shan’s gaze lingered on the woman’s slender wrists. “If you didn’t use those immortal arts, and we fought hand-to-hand, who knows who would win?”

Mu Qian Tan agreed with that statement. This body was too frail—likely malnourished in childhood, with a tall stature that made it seem even more delicate and unhealthy. In a real fight, she would surely lose.

But why would she fight hand-to-hand?

Mu Qian Tan turned her head slightly, a glint of cold light in her eyes. “Fairness be damned. If I can win with height, I’ll use height. Fairness be damned. If I can win with Magical Power, I’ll use Magical Power. You shouldn’t blame the enemy for dirty tricks; you should hate your own weakness, bide your time, and gather strength for the moment to strike.”

Her voice was icy cold, as if emanating chill, making even the room’s incense seem to settle heavily.

She continued unhurriedly, “As long as you win, the means don’t matter. What you should care about most is gain and loss. Understand?”

Though she rarely spoke from the heart, these words were utterly sincere, as they reflected her own thoughts. Even with the Black Hand overseeing her heart, if she got the chance, she would try to seize the fate line that originally belonged to the Female Protagonist.

Standing on the mountaintop earlier had made her realize one thing. What use was returning to that Modern World where she was at others’ mercy?

Morality was scarce, scum rampant. Even if she struggled out of the quagmire, she would just be an utterly ordinary person. No security, not knowing when she might lose everything again.

Only in this cultivation world, where strength ruled and laws were negligible, could she truly reach the top.

Sacrifice or plunder, either way—the shortest path was right beside her.

Withdrawing her gaze, Mu Qian Tan finally said, “I’m your master at least. This is my first lesson to you. Got it? Dwarf Winter Melon.”

Shang Shan said angrily, “I’ll eat more now, and I’ll definitely grow taller than you later!”

Mu Qian Tan: “…”

So she hadn’t listened to a word before.

And did she even eat little?

Mu Qian Tan stopped paying her any mind.

The incense wafted past her nose—a faint scent of rain-soaked earth blooming flower petals. Following the smell, she looked up and saw the screen. Plain white background, extremely elegant, with a crane totem painted only at the central fold.

All cultivation clans nowadays had totems, a concretized symbol of faith. For example, Tianyu Sect valued immortal cranes, symbolizing longevity, virtue, spirituality, safety, and more.

As for that young clan head Fu Li she had seen in the hall, her family took the white serpent as their totem, symbolizing mystery, reclusion, luck, nobility, and so on. It varied.

Totems were generally drawn on disciple uniforms, common weapons, sect buildings, and everywhere else, and used as shorthand—like Crane House or White Serpent Clan.

‘Hiss…’ Li Biyuan said, ‘Seeing this, there’s something I can’t figure out. Since Tianyu Sect takes the immortal crane as its totem, proving they value and respect it enough, why did Yao’e have to hide her identity? She is an immortal crane herself.’

A half-demon could choose to fully refine the demon blood within into a true demon, but Yao’e had chosen the more painful and difficult path of stripping away flesh and bone, giving her little sister White Pupil new life, even independent of her main body.

‘Respect?’ Mu Qian Tan sneered. ‘Treating them as mounts—what kind of respect is that? Being gentle to pets makes you see them as people? Who would willingly stay beneath others when they could stand?’

Li Biyuan: ‘True.’

The topic had reached its end, yet there were still no signs of anyone coming to the door. It was unknown how much longer the Assembly Council would take to adjourn.

Thinking of the plan from earlier, Mu Qian Tan began to take stock of the resources she had on hand.

The Narrow Sea and Azure Palace could only be considered shelters—and inconvenient ones at that. If Yao’e had no other storages elsewhere, then everything in the Storage Pouch was all the assets.

The messy talismans and artifacts inside the pouch were still unknown in how to use, so she ignored them for now. She only looked at the two weapons she carried on her back. Mu Qian Tan took them off; one was the King’s Bow and the other a longsword. She laid them flat across her knees and examined them carefully.

From the book’s description, the King’s Bow was what Yao’e mainly used on a daily basis. Following the slender body of the bow, which was like brittle ice, upward, she found two small characters: Solitary Goose.

She weighed the bow in her palm; it appeared light, but its weight was not to be underestimated—it took both hands to hold it properly. When her fingertips hooked the snow-white bowstring and she pulled with force until her arms trembled, she could only draw it into a large arc. Using it to kill someone would be rather difficult.

Li Biyuan said, “Don’t worry, Yao’e is well aware of her innate deficiencies, so she’s very good at patching them up. Take a look at your own wrist.”

Mu Qian Tan lowered her gaze and lifted her palm; her sleeve naturally slid down, revealing a section of pale arm with clearly visible veins.

Just below the wrist bone was a ring of rune-like gold. It clung tightly to her skin, flowing with faint light. The color was not deep and was almost unnoticeable.

Li Biyuan said, “This is the Power Gathering Gold Ring. As long as you inject spiritual power into it, it can increase your strength for a short time, making it much easier to use the Solitary Goose. However, there is a side effect of weakness, so don’t use it casually outside of battle.”

Before her words had finished, Mu Qian Tan had already injected spiritual power to test it. The ring’s golden light surged greatly, and correspondingly, vigorous power also flooded into her body.

However, she did not attempt to draw the bow. By the time Li Biyuan’s final warning came out, she had swiftly withdrawn the spiritual power. Perhaps because her actions were fast enough, she did not feel any side effects.

Shang Shan was bored waiting, and the room was too quiet with nothing to play with, so she could only observe the woman beside her to pass the time. Seeing her fiddling with the weapons nonstop, her crooked sitting posture slowly straightened.

But she had not sat for long before she felt tired again, so she simply lay down on the floor in a spread-eagle position and fell fast asleep.

Mu Qian Tan slung the Solitary Goose back onto her back and picked up the other weapon. This sword seemed to have never been used by the original host; its blade was covered in rust, not only making its name unreadable but also leaving the edge so blunt that pressing her finger against it with force would not cause injury. It was basically scrap metal.

This thing was no lighter than the Solitary Goose. Since it could not be used, why carry it around?

From over there came the sound of flipping pages through a book. Li Biyuan said, “I couldn’t find any information on the sword, and I don’t know if it’s even hers. After all, she’s a ranged spellcaster. With a weak body, melee combat wouldn’t work, right? Wielding a sword tests more than just arm strength…”

Hearing several unfamiliar terms, Mu Qian Tan said, “Hm?”

Li Biyuan took a sip of water. “I mean, uh… do you play games? In games…”

“I don’t.” Mu Qian Tan cut her off. “No need to explain. Talk about something else.”

“Alright.” Li Biyuan set down her water cup. “Besides the Power Gathering Gold Ring, you have other weapons on you. For example, that Crane-Gazing Orchid Step-Shake on your head—it’s a poisoned hidden weapon. And for instance, your teeth…”

Even though she had not yet said the latter part, Mu Qian Tan already felt a toothache. “What?”

Li Biyuan’s voice became muffled, probably as she probed the position of her own teeth with her fingers. “The second-to-last tooth on the left side of your mouth has a sharp needle hidden inside, sealed on the outside with a spell so it doesn’t affect daily use. But if you’re kidnapped, you can pull the tooth for an emergency.”

She held back for a moment but still couldn’t hold it in and let out that snark. “She’s armed to the teeth, huh.”

Mu Qian Tan closed her eyes. “Stop.”

Yao’e Immortal had an innate half-demon constitution, so her body was very weak. To preserve her life, she had used all her savings to prepare artifacts, which she kept close to her body. This was understandable. But that initial question now stood out even more.

Since she was so afraid of death, why had she not prepared any healing medicines?

How had such a cautious and careful person managed to cultivate all the way to qi deviation, causing her heart to rupture?

Why keep a unusable rusty sword by her side?

And back then, why had she traveled such a great distance to the village where the Female Protagonist was, just to exorcise a ghost that had no real significance?

Mu Qian Tan opened her eyes again and said slowly, “This master has quite a few mysteries on her too.”

Li Biyuan said, “There’s plenty of time anyway. If you’re interested later, you can try probing your own fate—as long as it doesn’t affect the task.”

Mu Qian Tan fell silent for a moment, then turned her head to look at the girl sleeping on the floor and murmured, “This isn’t my fate…”

Before truly becoming the Female Protagonist, this absolutely was not her destiny.