If things had continued that way, there would have been no problem. The complication came in the form of Gu Miao’er, a new disciple of the Yunshui Sect. The Yunshui Sect was also a first-rate sect, but unlike the sword fanatics of the Sword Sect, it focused primarily on spells.
Gu Miao’er was born with a water spiritual root. As soon as she entered the sect, the sect leader took her as a direct disciple, and the sect’s resources were channeled toward her. She was kind and enjoyed an excellent reputation within the sect.
After joining the sect, Gu Miao’er also cultivated diligently. She reached Foundation Establishment at seventeen and quickly rose to fame, becoming even better known than Feng Qiwu. The path of a sword cultivator was difficult, especially for a woman.
Although Feng Qiwu was an exceptional talent, Gu Miao’er was more popular among male cultivators. Feng Qiwu paid no attention to such things. She simply continued cultivating her swordsmanship step by step and tempering her sword heart.
Feng Qiwu had a fiancé, and their engagement had been arranged in childhood. Her fiancé was Tang Yubai, the eldest disciple of the Yunshui Sect’s leader. Tang Yubai was exceptionally gifted and cultivated quickly. In both cultivation and family background, he and Feng Qiwu were evenly matched.
If Gu Miao’er had never appeared, perhaps Tang Yubai and Feng Qiwu would have continued on together in that quiet, uneventful way. But Gu Miao’er did appear. She was optimistic, clever, and understanding. Compared with Feng Qiwu, who was obsessed with cultivation, she was much more attentive and considerate.
Tang Yubai wavered, and he and Gu Miao’er became a couple. But the Yunshui Sect kept the news so well hidden that the Sword Sect knew nothing about it.
If Feng Qiwu had not happened to encounter people from the Yunshui Sect in a secret realm, she would never have known that her fiancé was cheating on her.
Feng Qiwu was a proud person. After returning from the secret realm trial, she decisively broke off her engagement to Tang Yubai. That should have been the end of it, but how could the female lead’s halo be so easy to avoid?
Gu Miao’er was this world’s female lead and possessed tremendous fortune. Anyone who got close to her would suffer misfortune to some degree.
She encountered one incredible opportunity after another. An iron ring she bought could turn out to be a storage bracelet, and a simple fall could lead her straight to the legacy of an ancient mighty cultivator.
After obtaining that ancient cultivator’s legacy, she learned that spirit beasts known as Treasure-Hunting Mice existed in this world. When she happened to discover that Xiao Jin, the little creature following Feng Qiwu, actually carried a Treasure-Hunting Mouse bloodline, she tried every means to claim it for herself. Tang Yubai, who was already her Dao companion by then, naturally spared no effort in helping her achieve this.
Of course, Feng Qiwu refused. The path of immortal cultivation was long and uncertain. Through those days upon days of cultivation, Xiao Jin had long since become more than a beast pet. It was a companion who understood her heart.
Besides, Xiao Jin had helped her a great deal. In addition to finding all kinds of rare medicinal herbs, it had found many rare ores she could use to forge her life-bound sword. How could Feng Qiwu bear to give Xiao Jin to someone else?
Especially when there was already bad blood between her and Gu Miao’er. That made it even more impossible. Naturally, Gu Miao’er refused to give up. What good end could come from opposing the female lead?
When her attempts to seize the Treasure-Hunting Mouse failed, Gu Miao’er spread word that Feng Qiwu of the Sword Sect had a Treasure-Hunting Mouse at her side. Wealth stirred greed, and Feng Qiwu found herself relentlessly hunted by people who were after Xiao Jin.
Later, during a secret realm trial, Feng Qiwu was ambushed and killed, her path of cultivation cut short. At the time, she was only at the late Golden Core stage, one step away from forming her Nascent Soul. When Feng Qiwu died, Xiao Jin’s soul scattered completely.
Xiao Jin had three wishes. The first was to save Feng Qiwu’s life. The second was to take revenge on Gu Miao’er. The third was to awaken its ancestral bloodline and become a true Treasure-Hunting Mouse.
Divine beasts such as Treasure-Hunting Mice possessed inherited memories. But Xiao Jin’s bloodline was too thin. Only later, after Feng Qiwu used many natural treasures to raise its cultivation, did Xiao Jin unlock a small portion of those memories.
By the time Jiang Chan had fully received Xiao Jin’s memories, the moon had risen high in the sky. She poked her little head out of the nest, twitching her ears and darting her large eyes around. Only after finding no sign of movement did she emerge completely, exposing her little black body beneath the full moon.
From Xiao Jin’s inherited memories, she learned that moonlight essence was an excellent thing. Hadn’t she heard of the rhinoceros gazing at the moon?
With all four paws on the ground, Jiang Chan silently circulated the cultivation method from the inherited memories, absorbing the moonlight essence that flowed like water. Before she knew it, she had entered a state of perfect mental clarity.
As the moon gradually sank toward the west, Jiang Chan woke from that state. Feeling the abundant energy throughout her body, she paused, then turned and crawled back into the nest.
According to Xiao Jin’s memories, it had already lived in the forest of magical beasts for two years at this point. Feng Qiwu was only ten, and their meeting was still six years away.
Jiang Chan needed to raise her cultivation as quickly as possible during those six years. She knew from Xiao Jin’s memories that Feng Qiwu was an upright person, but she had no desire to sign a contract with her as Xiao Jin had.
Besides, if she really cultivated into a true Treasure-Hunting Mouse, Jiang Chan did not believe that such a proud creature would willingly enter into a master-servant contract with a human.
The best approach, then, was to raise her cultivation. Once she was strong enough, she could secretly follow Feng Qiwu.
Jiang Chan had already learned from Xiao Jin’s memories that although this was an immortal cultivation world, it was not the one Qingyuan had lived in. Evidently, this was another of the three thousand small worlds.
What Qingyuan had given her was common knowledge from a cultivation world, and it was much the same here. Cultivators progressed through Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Division, Body Integration, and Tribulation Transcendence.
Spirit beasts were divided into similar stages corresponding to those of cultivators. Even at the end, Xiao Jin had only been a Treasure-Hunting Mouse at the Golden Core stage. If it had fully evolved into a true Treasure-Hunting Mouse, it would have become a divine beast, a level above even cultivators at the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
At that thought, Jiang Chan’s vision darkened. More powerful than the Tribulation Transcendence stage? How many years would she have to spend in this world? She had known Qingyuan was a swindler. In the previous world, she had turned her into a teenage boy. In this one, she was a mouse. What a despair-inducing life as a mouse!
Fortunately, she had come on this mission after the grade-skipping exam. If she had come before it, she would probably have forgotten everything she had learned by the time she returned.
Jiang Chan tried to find some amusement in her misery. Since she was here, she would do her best to complete the mission as soon as possible, then complain to Qingyuan when she got back. Wasn’t this just raising a Treasure-Hunting Mouse? Except that she was raising herself.
Seeing that the sun was about to rise, Jiang Chan took one last look at the sky and retreated into the nest. Xiao Jin was a very particular Treasure-Hunting Mouse. It kept its nest extremely clean, with flowers and green grass around it. Jiang Chan was adjusting quite well.
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