Chapter 8: Black Dragon Rending the Heavens (Part 3): The Cat Official Wants to Learn Immortal Arts to Defeat You! Part 2

Li Biyuan said, ‘I pinched your heart as punishment. Don’t let it happen again.’

“Heh… Who gave you the right?”

Mu Qian Tan laughed in fury. Spiritual power burst from the hand on her chest—just one more inch deeper, and she could tear this frail body apart.

“Aren’t you afraid of variables? If I self-destruct this body, ruining your chance to use another soul to push the plot, guess if the female protagonist will still head to the modern world as prophesied?”

Li Biyuan: ‘…..’

“Get this straight—we’re partners, not you ordering me around or whipping me. Does the female protagonist destroying the world mean I have to stop her? No, I’d love that.”

Mu Qian Tan started laughing, but her tone suddenly hardened viciously. “If you make me uncomfortable again, we all die together. No one lives.”

The black hand went utterly still, as if dead.

The standoff lasted a long time. Finally, Li Biyuan yielded first. ‘Fine… I get it. I won’t pinch you again, but you can’t hurt her anymore either.’

Mu Qian Tan didn’t reply. As the pain faded, she straightened up, her waist emitting a teeth-gritting grind of bones.

She cursed inwardly about this rusty scrap body, then turned to look. The hall was empty; the female protagonist was gone.

Stepping out of the hall, the gray sky hung oppressively low, sunlight so thin it was nearly gone.

The salty sea breeze made her skin slightly damp. Standing in the cool wind, Mu Qian Tan looked out and spotted a dusty silhouette on the rocks, trying to build a boat from sticks to escape the Narrow Sea.

She was about to go drag her back when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a spirit bird flying over.

Mu Qian Tan looked up. The bird had snow-white feathers, crimson talons, and a colorful crest fluttering on its head. Its sharp beak opened. “Ximeng Immortal sent me to ask why Yao’e Immortal hasn’t come to the Assembly Grand Hall for the meeting yet?”

‘Ximeng Immortal is named Panxiang Yin, the sect master of Tianyu Sect. Deep cultivation, serious and upright personality, meticulous. In the cultivation world where practice extends life, she’s one hundred seventy-nine years old but never married or had children.’

‘She wanders alone between the immortal realms, never backing down from doubts, devoted to her cause like thunder. She single-handedly elevated Tianyu Sect from an obscure little sect to the top immortal power—her abilities speak for themselves. Because she moves about often without smiling, she earned the nickname Iron-Faced Fragrant Immortal. But when you see her, just call her Sect Master.’

Despite the lingering awkwardness from the argument, Li Biyuan still explained promptly, quoting parts of the original book clearly.

Mu Qian Tan’s eyes shifted. She told the spirit bird, “I’ll head there now.” The bird let out a long cry and flew off.

She said she’d go, but she had no idea what this assembly meeting was about.

Without the original host’s memories, the transmigration had caused a plot discontinuity. If she encountered events not in the original book, it was easy to slip up. She had to be careful.

She summoned White Pupil and mounted the crane. Before setting off, she remembered the disciple registration for her new apprentice. The Narrow Sea was vast—a round trip would be inconvenient. Better to handle it on this outing.

Decision made, she ignored whatever Shang Shan was thinking and urged White Pupil into the sky.

Poor Shang Shan was still squatting on the ground bundling firewood when a shadow suddenly fell over the shimmering water. A gale whipped up, and talons seized her waist, yanking her straight off the ground.

Beneath her was a mirror-blue sea rapidly receding. Shang Shan was stunned for a moment, then glanced at her waist. It was the dark red claws of the immortal crane. She immediately shouted, “What are you doing!? Don’t grab me like this!”

Mu Qian Tan ignored her and simply urged the crane forward, flying at extreme speed.

The biting sea wind made it impossible to keep one’s eyes open. The loose robe and wide sleeves Shang Shan wore billowed wildly in the wind. She couldn’t help but flail her arms and legs while shaking her head, her long curly hair flopping every which way like endless slaps to her face.

Thus, she fought both her anger and her hair. By the time they landed on solid ground, that head of curls was a tangled mess like a lion’s ruffled mane, paired with her wrinkled beggar clothes, making people want to toss her a few coins.

Mu Qian Tan put away White Pupil, and the spiritual light dissipated. This was a narrow alley, with shadows cast sharply on the walls and bursts of noisy voices coming from outside the alley.

“Wait here outside the hall while I attend the meeting. Afterward, I’ll take you to register as a disciple.”

Shang Shan touched her face and widened her eyes. “You just tried to kill me a moment ago. Is that just going to slide?”

Mu Qian Tan lowered her gaze to her. “When did I try to kill you?”

Shang Shan stomped her foot. “Just now!”

Mu Qian Tan said, “I don’t remember.”

“You!”

“Let’s go.”

Shang Shan swallowed her words and glared at the woman’s back, rapidly thinking of ways to escape.

As they stepped out of the alley, sunlight blazed down warmly. Amid the verdant mountains dotted with white walls and dark tiles, people flowed through, dressed in complex and colorful attire. They all looked young, traveling in groups of twos and threes, their faces full of excitement and vigor.

Mu Qian Tan thought to herself: Is this cultivation? It looks more like tourists here on vacation.

After walking a few steps, two youths stood with their backs to her, chatting. “Tianyu Sect is truly magnificent. To cultivate here would surely be a blessing.”

The other youth had a blade of grass in his mouth and seemed disinterested. “I think after seeing it, one can only say it’s nothing special.”

The first one said, “Among the Five Great Clans today, not mentioning the White Serpent Clan, Tianyu Sect is the most vast and grand, even called the orthodox paradise of cultivation in the Cultivation World. And that’s nothing special?”

The youth spat out the grass. “Of course. In my heart, only… can claim to be the true orthodox. You know who I mean without me saying.”

The two exchanged a glance, nodding in mutual understanding, then said together, “It’s a pity it fell long ago.”

After sighing, one checked the sky and asked, “When does the Assembly Council meeting end?”

The other said, “No idea.”

He asked again, “The Dragon Clan vanished without a trace centuries ago. Why have they suddenly appeared? Do you believe that prophecy?”

“What does it matter if I believe it? Whether it’s true or false has nothing to do with us. The seniors will handle it anyway.”

Hearing this, Mu Qian Tan vaguely understood what this assembly was discussing.

She also figured out why there were so many people here—likely brought by the sect elders attending the meeting to “broaden their horizons.”

Continuing forward, the youths and girls who recognized her jumped in fright at first, then bowed respectfully. While lowering their heads, they sneaked peeks at her, wanting to see what this rumored wicked Female Immortal looked like.

After getting a clear look, they quietly averted their eyes, their ears turning red.

Mu Qian Tan paid no mind to those gazes. She led her bargain disciple through the crowd with an expressionless face and approached a Tianyu Sect child responsible for answering newcomers’ questions. “Do you know where the sect master is? Take me there.”

At this time, the sect master was surely in the Assembly Grand Hall, but she didn’t know where it was. As the “Yao’e Immortal” who had lived here for so long, she couldn’t directly ask for directions, so she took a roundabout way.

The child obeyed and led her there.

The higher they went, the fewer people there were, until it returned to the quiet of the forest.

After passing through several swaying tree shadows, a grand ring-shaped Golden Hall came into view. The child said, “It’s right here.”

Mu Qian Tan nodded to her in acknowledgment. After the child hurried away, she took out a rope, preparing to tie up Shang Shan. The girl dodged low and angrily said, “I won’t!”

Mu Qian Tan stood there holding the rope, considering that pushing her too hard wouldn’t be good, so she put it away. “Stay right here obediently and don’t go anywhere.”

Shang Shan deliberately ignored her, turning sideways and parting the messy hair in front of her eyes to comb it neatly.

Mu Qian Tan glanced at her a few more times, then turned and walked toward the Golden Hall.

When she reached the base of the wall, she looked up and nearly got blinded by the expanse of gold. The Cultivation World had many such platinum buildings, gleaming brightly from afar, like the ninth heaven even in the mortal world.

Entering the hall, it was also ring-shaped inside, with an open space in the center radiating out to seats on both sides. The highest-status major immortal sects and families sat closest to the center, while the outer rings were for the obscure ones.

Logically, such a grand gathering should have many important characters from the book present. Recognizing them in advance would be good. But Mu Qian Tan got dizzy in crowds and had no interest in identifying people, so she just wanted to quickly find her seat and sit down.

Someone had already noticed her, their faces full of displeasure. They deliberately whispered to those beside them without lowering their voices.

Listening for a moment, it was nothing more than her putting on airs, lacking manners, not adhering to the agreed assembly time, making others wait, and so on.

Mu Qian Tan thought: This can’t be blamed on me. These are all events beyond the original book’s content. How could I foresee the future?

At that moment, the woman standing at the very center looked over and called out, “Yao’e.”

Her voice was steady and solemn, full of authority. The whispers instantly ceased.