Succeed, or Fall into Depravity as a Witch!

On the eighth day of the fourth month in the Lunar Calendar¹Early Summer, late April to mid May, two major incidents occurred at Joyous Union Sect, which previously had a peacefully uneventful spring.

The first incident was that a new disciple named ‘Li Daoming’ escaped. It was unknown which method he used to force the secret-keeping poison out of his body, and the means by which he absconded on a dark and windy night. 

Elder Yuanling set out immediately once this was made known to her, vowing to retrieve the little bitch who dared to slap her face by fleeing on her watch. 

In the noisy city, Joyous Union Sect cultivators also begun taking bets, gambling on how long it would take for this young junior brother to receive his due punishment, which would surely be particularly sadistic. Most bet on ‘eight hours’, as this was Elder Yuanling’s usual record. 

Though the first incident was just worth a bit of fun post-meal banter, the second incident was far more serious. 

First disciple Song Tianxing, half a step from becoming Nascent Soul in cultivation, ranked seventh on Baiyun Continent’s Prodigies Tier List, known to everyone and unknown to none at Joyous Union Sect, stormed into one of the Six Hells last night and was seriously injured!

At once, all those who were once wronged by him started having malicious thoughts……

Dusk at the ‘Drunken Immortal’ restaurant. 

Basking in sunset, a boasting male disciple spoke to his audience of female cultivators at the same table, telling them all about the ‘inside scoop’ he learned in an exaggerated tone. 

“Senior brother Song is a heavenly genius, with a second grade Golden Core, and his cultivation only one step short of becoming a Nascent Soul. He had already passed the second of the Six Hells Heart Tribulations. How could he be injured by a mere ‘Endless Hell’?”

“Well, I’ve heard……he was tripped up by a calamitous beauty!”

“And it was a male calamity who hasn’t yet Yin-converted (into female) at that!”

The female cultivators expressed shock as they heard this, and one hurriedly asked: “Senior brother, surely you can’t be serious?”

“I am serious! I also heard it was that male calamity who brought the eldest senior brother to the infirmary last night. And he stayed by senior brother’s side out of concern until morning!” The male cultivator declared.

At the same time.

At the corner of the restaurant, Qin Wuyi glanced meaningfully at Jiangming, who was attempting to cover his entire face by lowering the brim of his hat. He said jokingly: “Brother Jiang, weren’t you staying at the infirmary last night? Could it be that they were talking about……”

Jiangming waved his hands about awkwardly, his head lowered and shoving food into his mouth. He responded vaguely: “Cough, it’s a coincidence. Pure coincidence.”

Jiangming thought this topic that made his toes dig grooves out of the floor in embarrassment would end at that, but how could he know? That male cultivator who loved the sound of his own voice, now at the centre of everyone’s attention and excited to perform to their expectations, begun adding colours and sound effects to his retelling of that ‘mysterious backstory’ he heard from the rumour mill.

In this story starred two protagonists, childhood sweethearts who loved each other deeply. More than ten years ago, they promised themselves to each other and arranged to join the Joyous Union Sect together. Once one of them changed genders, they could finally put an end to this period of forbidden love, formerly hidden from sight.

However, the ways of heaven move not to the whims of men, the two were separated in transit, each ended up in different corners of the world. The bright moon and the scenery could not deter them from thinking of the other. After tens of thousands of hardships, they finally reunited, embracing in tears and emotional beyond words……

— Had it not been that one of those mother-loving protagonists was named Jiangming, even he would feel emotional at such a tale!

With no more food to shove into his maw, and yet in the background continued to be falsely portrayed as the main protagonist of this original love story, a certain Jiang fellow clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to the point others could hear.

“Calm down, calm yourself. Brother Jiang, the path of cultivation is monotonous, and so there are those who love gossiping about romance to spend the time. Once properly explained, everything will soon be cleared up.” Qin Wuyi comforted with a smile. 

Thinking of his reputation going in strange directions, the upcoming sect exam, and then thinking about the Li fellow who fled, Jiangming converted from anger to sorrow. He couldn’t help but sigh loudly and complained: “Old Li is really inconsiderate, if he had the means to escape, he should’ve brought me along with him!”

“But you weren’t here last night.”

“I……!”

Jiangming wanted to cry but had no tears.

And at this point, a keen listener to the ongoing tale from the neighbouring table asked with great interest: “Fellow Daoist, this junior has a question. If that calamitous Jiang fellow loved senior brother Song that much, why would he cause him harm?”

The male cultivator who was greatly enjoying his own tales was speechless for a while, thinking. He then slapped his thigh, “Simple! Both you and I are aware, not a single word in the books within the Six Hells can be read, and not even the specks of dust off an artefact within taken with you. Otherwise, the heart tribulations would become deadly, where one can enter but cannot leave.”

“In this incident, that Jiang calamity only joined the sect recently, and was not aware of much. He secretly peeked at one such manual within the heart tribulation, which resulted into eldest senior brother Song getting hurt.”

— As these words enter Jiangming’s ears, his head lowered even further. Not only due to guilt, but also regret.

If only I knew! Then I wouldn't have looked at that nonsensical evil arte! Nothing but harm came from it!

If he was forced to read regardless, then [Nine Secrets of Sword Palace] would’ve been better. At least then he would be able to teach it to the pervert senior brother, returning the favour of saving him.

Instead of turning out like this, leading everyone including the pervert senior brother to think Jiangming took a godly arte out of Endless Hell for his own benefit — yet he could not refute those claims even if he had a hundred mouths.

“Gold-be-damned, how could there be such a diabolical arte in this world……” He muttered softly.

Bottling up so many worries within his stomach left no more room for further delicacies. Jiangming finished eating this shameful meal, found an excuse to say farewell to Qin Wuyi and went their separate ways.

Jiangming had said that he wanted to buy something, but instead he sneaked off to the infirmary to visit the injured Song Tianxing.

“Eldest senior brother!”

The backyard of the infirmary complex was filled with the thick aroma of medicine. Jiangming called out loudly as he entered, leading many patients to open their windows and peek with rather ambiguous expressions on their faces.

Jiangming was stunned by the sight of so many curious onlookers, before recalling the circulating ‘rumours’ earlier. His face darkened, with a vicious ‘Pfft’, wordlessly walked towards the third cabin from the left.

Song Tianxing was meditating with his eyes closed within.

Hearing someone approach, his eyes opened suddenly. Seeing clearly that it was Jiangming, those bright starry eyes widened further, seemingly in surprise.

“You……came?” Song Tianxing asked, astonished.

“What’s strange about me coming here, surely I don’t look like one of those ungrateful people?” Jiangming replied, in a prickly mood.

“I know.” Song Tianxing found it funny, then his voice became softer: “Someone told me……you stayed with me the whole night yesterday.”

Jiangming gave him a side eye, gazing at him in suspicion, icily replying in a rough tone: “A manly man knows to return a favour!”

“Hahahaha, good, what a cute manly man.” Song Tianxing was amused again.

After brewing the medicinal soup and spoon-feeding healing pills, Jiangming tided the bed as well while he was at it. As he finished taking care of the patient, Jiangming suddenly remembered what senior brother said while inside ‘Endless Hell’.

“Senior brother……” He hesitated for a few seconds before he continued to ask, “I remember you said that my accidental encounter with a heart tribulation is related to my special physique. May I dare ask senior brother, what special physique is that? And how could I avoid wandering into another heart tribulation from now on?”

Song Tianxing pondered for a while, then stared at Jiangming as he spoke seriously: “Originally, my plan was to wait to tell you after you have transformed……but since you’ve already encountered a tribulation, telling you now is also good.”

“……”

“Junior brother, your physique is called ‘Cloud Seeding Fairy Spirit Body’, which is only apparent in the bodies of women, and is most suitable for our sect’s [Incomplete Yin Psalm] artes. Its characteristics are limpid meridians, a strangely fragrant body scent, cultivation progressing remarkably fast, extremely pure spiritual power free of any sediments. Therefore, they are especially suitable for human cauldrons and dual cultivation……”

Jiangming listened wide-eyed and mouth agape, and he hastily denied: “Stop! Are you sure you’re not mistaken? I’ve never smelled ‘strangely fragrant’! You also said I’m too untalented! Even after three days I still can’t sense any spiritual energy!”

Song Tianxing was unperturbed, and he pointed out:

“The heavens have their joy and anger just like the hexagrams have their yin and yang. No matter how good something may be, only in its proper place can it be considered a treasure. The world is filled with potential heroes buried due to being ‘misplaced’, such as an ice soul body born in the blazing sun realm, a pure yang body reincarnated as a woman, a desire demon body from the jade lake holy lands……”

“You have a woman’s special physique, and yet you are a man. Your meridians from the Lower Dantian²Located near the navel down to the genitals are a mess, how could you be anything but mediocre?”

Jiangming was devastated.

He mournfully thought: Doesn’t that mean I must become a woman before I could properly cultivate and have a chance to pass the sect exam?

If he already became a woman, would it matter whether he passed the sect exam or not?

Wait……!

Jiangming felt a shudder pass through his whole body, as he remembered that despicable arte he learned within Endless Hell.

Three Yin Methods! Turn Yin! Change into a woman to cultivate! And then change back!

No wonder! No wonder that female ghost said — this is the thing he ‘desired’!