Enveloped in a shroud of cloud,

The air is fresh, and the sky is clear.

A cool breeze blows,

Chilling the heart to its core~

...

Staring at the practically endless mountain trail, Xie Sisi's eyes fill with tears, on the verge of cursing out her frustrations, "o

╥﹏╥

o"

Given another chance, she'd definitely seal her mouth shut with 502 adhesive, swearing off any further critique of the author!

Four years in college, three years of online courses, it wasn't easy to graduate and find a job, only to start work three days later.

Three days of break time. With nothing better to do, she turned to a webnovel to fill the time. A cliché Mary Sue story titled "All Men in the World Love Me".

The plot revolved around how the protagonist, Yan Rusnow, rose from being a lowly servant's daughter to a dazzling beauty, causing a multitude of outstanding male cultivators to become hopelessly infatuated with her, fighting and fretting over her, even willing to crash into walls for her love. Pure, undiluted soap opera nonsense.

And wouldn't you know it...

The unfortunate thing was, the first insignificant side character in the book shared her name, 'Xie Sisi', with not even a single character difference!

Xie Sisi was the young mistress whom the protagonist, Yan Rusnow, served in her mortal life.

Coming from a wealthy family, when the Xie family learned of their daughter's spiritual roots, they expended great effort to secure her a place within a cultivation sect. Concerned that their young daughter would not take good care of herself, they acquiesced to Yan Rusnow's plea of "I can't bear to part with Miss" and "I'll certainly take excellent care of Miss". They spent a fortune to buy a spot for Yan Rusnow too, hoping she would look after their daughter.

Having supported each other through the difficult path of ascension, their spiritual roots were finally tested. Yan Rusnow ended up with the extraordinary "Mono Wood Spirit Root" and was personally taken under the wing of the Dan Peak Master. The original mistress, Xie Sisi, however, due to her mixed spirit roots, was assigned to the outer sect.

Four years later, the Danfeng's Sect Leader unexpectedly accepted the original host as an inner-door disciple, assigning her to serve under Yan Ruxue.

After inquiring, the original host learned that it was Yan Ruxue who had pleaded for her, leading the Sect Leader of Danfeng to make an exception for her.

Happy and grateful, she didn't expect that Yan Ruxue asked for her only to use her as a test subject for medicine.

Initially, the original host was bewildered and tried to resist, but everyone scolded her as ungrateful, wicked-hearted, shameless, and no one supported her.

Eventually, the original host was moved by the genuine goodness of the heroine, and cheerfully met her tragic end in the medicine trials.

After the original host died, Yan Ruxue wept bitterly, drawing sympathy from the male cultivators around her, which led to another round of criticism on the original host.

The author justified it by stating that the heroine employed the original host as a test subject in a bid to advance the cultivation of elixirs. Albeit regrettable, the sacrifice of the original host was for a greater cause. Didn't the original host appear to "enjoy" the process as well?

…

After finishing reading, she vented her qualms in the comment section, "Why wouldn't you test the medicine on yourself? Why use someone else to accomplish your supposed 'greater good'?"

Having vented, she went to sleep.

However, when she opened her eyes, she found herself in the shoes of the cannon fodder supporting female lead.

Now, she was at the foot of the mountain, about to undergo the entrance examination.

As the wind howled through the mountains and woods, to Xie Sisi's ears, it sounded like the wailing of a reaping ghost.

So, should she continue her ascent?

Xie Sisi was a bit conflicted.

Heading up the mountain, she might follow the plot two years from now, becoming a medicine person as beautiful as snow, only to die tragically. Heading down the mountain, she wouldn't be the original host, unprepared to face the host’s parents.

Moreover, she always felt that being beautiful as snow and murdering the original host was an attempt to erase the past blemishes, not wanting anyone to know she had been the original host's maid. The righteousness written in the book was nothing more than glorifying the heroine.

If she withdrew, beautiful as snow would definitely not. Given her narrow-mindedness, she might even harm her once she gained power in the future, and at that time, she wouldn't have the ability to resist at all.

Staying here, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

Anyway, there were still a few years left until the original host was killed. There was no hurry. Worst case, she could run away beforehand.

"Miss, are you tired? Should I help you walk?"

A sweet voice interrupted Xie Sisi's thoughts. Looking up, she saw the lovely and charming face of the girl as beautiful as snow. Although only ten years old, she already had a touch of charm.

The original body was only six years old. Being naive, she thought that the girl as beautiful as snow genuinely wanted to take care of her and trusted her wholeheartedly. However, Xie Sisi could see the girl's concealed impatience.

Sure enough, from the very beginning when she proposed to take care of the original host, her purpose wasn't pure.

Scrunching her delicate eyebrows, Xie Sisi mimicked the original host's tone, petulant: "But climbing the mountain is so tiring, it's endless. My feet hurt so much. Maybe we should go back instead. My parents are still waiting for me at the bottom of the mountain."

As she said this, she reached out her chubby hand to pull at the arm of the beautiful-as-snow girl.

The girl, as beautiful as snow, reflexively retracted her arm, matching Xie Sisi's questioning gaze with a forced smile: "How could that be? Your father and mother spent so much money and begged everyone to get you the opportunity to enter the mountain. If you give up because of a little difficulty, how heartbroken they would be."

"If you're really tired, Miss, sit here and rest for a while. Let me go up first, and then I'll find someone to come down and get you."

After saying that, fearing that Xie Sisi would continue to pull her, she hastily climbed upwards, soon leaving Xie Sisi far behind.

Xie Sisi: "... " She knew that the girl as beautiful as snow wouldn’t withdraw, but it's not like she had to avoid her just like she was some kind of beast. She didn't even bother to hide it anymore.

Rolling her eyes, she looked around; the mountain path was filled with people plodding their way upwards.

As the top sect of the cultivation world, the Tian Yi Sect only took in disciples every ten years, and each time, it was a grand occasion. People looking to join would crowd the market at the foot of the mountain.

Not everybody was considered eligible to enter the sect, they first had to pass an initial screening. After the initial selection, a batch was dismissed, and only the remaining ones were allowed to step onto the mountain path and face the trials.

Everyone knew this opportunity for evaluation didn't come easy, hence, they toiled their way upwards, with no one willing to give up lightly.

In just a while, several people had already surpassed her.

Glancing back, she sheepishly realized she was now in the first place, but in reverse o

╯□╰

o

Rubbing her short legs, Xie Sisi had a face full of determination as she grit her teeth and rushed upward—this body was only six years old. Since birth, she had barely walked a few steps, always being carried around by servants, and coddled to the point of resembling a doughy white bun.

The previous owner of the body in the book managed to climb due to the halo of the female lead.

Now, the female lead had run ahead leaving her behind, she must rely on herself.

...

Climbing a mountain was so tiring!

She had never felt climbing a mountain to be this exhausting.

Her feet were so sore, she was sure blisters had formed.

She felt like crying

灬ꈍꈍ灬

And then, she really started crying, weeping and howling, her chubby hand wiping her face regularly, flower-like sobs covering her face...

—— Studies show that crying can relieve tense, anxious, and sorrowful emotions, enhancing people’s endurance to pain

Verified on Baidu

.

Since she's just a child now, let her cry if she wants to.

But she can't always cry, as prolonged crying may cause oxygen deprivation in the brain, leading to physical fatigue.

So, after a good few sobs, she dried her tears and kept on climbing.

One can’t afford to stop. If you continue climbing, it is nothing; but once you stop, trying to start climbing again becomes extremely challenging.

And so, this peculiar sight appeared on the serpentine mountain trail: a dainty girl with chubby and fair cheeks, pigtail braids adorning her head, crawling upwards like a snail, wriggling her butt as she crawled, throwing bouts of hysterical crying as a display of protest.

When everyone thought she’d cave and give up, she miraculously surpassed one child after another, climbing slowly but surely closer to the mountain's peak...

This willpower is indeed exceptional.

In front of the water mirror, the head of the Jianfeng sect stroked his beard with one hand, and pointed, “This little girl is quite to my liking!”

...

About the power level setting in the text: Qi-refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Spirit Infant, Soul Transformation, Virtual Refinement, Integration, Mahayana, Cross Calamity.

As the author's memory isn't great, and a complicated setting may get confused as time goes on, the appellations for cultivators are crudely split into two kinds.

Golden Core, Spirit Infant, Soul Transformation are referred to as True People; after enlightening and becoming the Virtual Refinement, Virtual Refinement, Integration, Mahayana, and Cross Calamity are referred to as Dao Lords

After Spiritual Transformation and enlightening as Virtual Refinement, from then on it is known as Dao Lord

.

The terms here are not quite the same as in other texts, in this book, my dear readers, let's go with this setting.

Hoping every sweet reader is happy reading! ^_^