On an early autumn morning, white smoke rose from every chimney in Shengjia Village. From one end of the village to the other, there seemed to be no one around, save for a few children oblivious to the world.
Sheng Yi woke up early, tied her two black braids, washed her face thoroughly, changed her clothes, and vigorously wiped her face until her complexion in the bronze mirror gradually improved. Only then did she step into the kitchen, scoop out the pre-cooked porridge, and with a serious expression, walk to the door of the adjacent room.
After gently knocking on the door three times, she carefully asked, "Immortal Master, are you awake?"
The man's voice rang out from inside the room, gentle as the chime of jade.
Sheng Yi blinked, pushed the door open and entered. The man in the room had his back to the door, but hearing her movement, he turned around. Sheng Yi was caught off guard, unexpectedly meeting his gaze, and her breathing suddenly hitched.
This person, this face – even after being with him for five or six days, she was still repeatedly astonished.
He had level eyebrows, a high, straight nose bridge, and a small mole on his eyebrow that seemed untouched by worldly dust. His long, narrow eyes appeared veiled by mist, and though he looked towards her, his gaze seemed unfocused.
Because of his severe injuries, his complexion was slightly pale, and the corners of his eyes revealed a hint of weakness. Moreover, his pristine white robes, untainted by dust, made him seem even more distant.
Who would have thought that someone so ethereal, like an immortal, would be the male lead of a harem novel?
That's right, this sickly beauty before her was actually a character from a novel.
Five days ago, she was arguing with a colleague, and the next second, she transmigrated into this cultivation novel called "Ascension," becoming the female lead who shared her name – Sheng Yi.
In the novel, the female lead was not only born with a heart condition but also oppressed by her stepmother for many years, only finding a good life after meeting the male lead.
And the time she transmigrated was exactly one year before the male and female leads met.
According to the plot, during this year, she had to wash clothes, cook, endure hunger and scolding. Not only was she harassed by the village bully, but her stepmother almost sold her to an unscrupulous cultivator for a ghost marriage.
When she first transmigrated, Sheng Yi had intended to let nature take its course and wait for the plot to unfold, but after enduring for three days, she couldn't take it anymore.
So, taking advantage of her stepmother visiting her family, she secretly ran away from home alone, wanting to quickly help the male and female leads meet.
But she had overestimated her own body. The male lead was on Fengyuan Sect Mountain, eight thousand li away. She only made it to the foot of Fengyuan Sect Mountain, already half-dead; how could she possibly have the strength to climb the cloud-piercing stone steps?
After half a day of struggling at the foot of the mountain, she could only choose to give up. Who would have thought that just as she was about to turn and leave, a severely injured man, covered in blood, fell at her feet? She recognized the small mole on his eyebrow as belonging to the male lead. At that moment, she immediately brought him home, and it had been almost five or six days until today.
Sheng Yi looked at the mole on the man's eyebrow and offered a gentle smile. "I've already cooked the porridge. Please have some."
"Thank you." The man nodded slightly and sat down with her at the rough table and chairs.
Sheng Yi lifted the bowl. As the man took it, she immediately withdrew her hand, her fingertips brushing lightly against the back of his. The unintentional touch made him pause for a moment, then he lowered his eyes and ate the porridge.
Shengjia Village was considered the poorest village within a ten-li radius, and her family was the poorest in this village. They only had three dilapidated tiled rooms in total, each filled with miscellaneous items.
This man was in Sheng Yi’s bedroom, which was also the smallest, most dilapidated, and most cluttered of the three tiled rooms.
Such an environment could be said to be unsuitable for him, but his expression was neither happy nor sad, as if he had long been accustomed to it, or perhaps simply didn’t care.
…It must be the former, I suppose, since the male lead’s family background might not even be as good as the female lead’s.
At this point in time, the male lead was still in the early stages of his "poor youth, don't underestimate him" phase, a time when he had to endure hardship. This severe injury perfectly aligned with the plot point of him being wounded and fleeing his sect.
In the storyline, he was lured by his senior sister to the sect's forbidden grounds, where he was attacked by a spirit beast. To save his life, he fought with all his might to kill the spirit beast, and was severely injured in the process.
That spirit beast was the sacred beast of Fengyuan Sect. He held on for a moment before escaping.
Her luck was also quite good; she had just arrived at the foot of Fengyuan Sect's mountain when she encountered him. Otherwise, she would have had to wait painstakingly for a whole year.
The man quickly finished the bowl of porridge. Sheng Yi quickly snapped back to attention and asked, "Do you want more?"
"That's enough, thank you." The man looked at her.
Sheng Yi chuckled. "Immortal, I haven't even been here for a quarter-hour, and you've already said 'thank you' twice."
The man paused, seemingly unsure how to respond.
Sheng Yi watched him lower his head, the corners of her lips curling up involuntarily.
Although the male lead had fortunately survived for now, having been betrayed by the person he trusted most, both his body and heart were severely wounded, leading to a period of severe depression for the next half year.
This period in the plot was not considered short, but in the novel, it was only described in three lines.
Given the male lead's personality, Sheng Yi, bringing him back here, had prepared herself for him to be drunk, angry, and erratic. But she hadn't expected him to be like this—naturally quite civilized and polite. This was a pleasant surprise.
Sheng Yi's thoughts drifted. She decided to project an image of gentleness and propriety.
The room was quiet, with only the occasional clinking of bowls and chopsticks.
The man ate his porridge in silence, eyes downcast. His pale cheeks were slightly sunken, like a frail willow branch swaying in the wind.
Sheng Yi took advantage of his focus on eating the porridge, openly appraising him without any reservations. Her gaze was quickly drawn to the wound beneath his sleeve.
The wound was crusted with blood, and his pale skin barely concealed the blue veins beneath, giving off a sense of abused beauty.
Sheng Yi moved closer. She waited until he finished his porridge before speaking, "Don't your wounds need medicine?"
After a few days of interaction, she had come to understand him somewhat. Besides the visible wounds, he had also sustained severe internal injuries.
That's why he couldn't use his spiritual power; otherwise, it would be like adding frost to snow. It was also for this reason that he needed to eat three meals a day to replenish his physical strength.
"No need," the man said slowly. "Mortal medicine is useless to me."
He couldn't heal himself, and he couldn't use mortal medicine, so how could he endure it? Sheng Yi frowned, suddenly remembering something. "That's right! A wandering medical cultivator once came to our village and gave me a bottle of healing medicine, but mortals can't use it. I've kept it safe. Why don't you see if you can use it?"
After speaking, without waiting for the man's reply, she ran to her wooden chest of clothes, bent down, and began rummaging. Before long, she found a porcelain bottle. "This is it!"
"That's Golden Wound Medicine from Medicine God Valley," the man said, glancing at it neither quickly nor slowly.
“So, this is helpful to you, right?” Thịnh Ý paid more attention to this.
Thịnh Ý suddenly smiled: “Then, please take off your clothes, so I can apply the medicine for you.”
The man froze upon hearing this: “I can apply it myself.”
“You can’t use your spiritual energy, and there are some spots you can’t reach. Just let me do it.” With an opportunity for contact like this, how could she let it slip? Thịnh Ý wasn’t one to give up so easily.
She said it again, and finally, the man took off his clothes, revealing his bare back before her.
The man’s skin was as white as porcelain, with several reddish wounds on it. Every inch exuded a beauty born of suffering. Sunlight streamed through the window, gilding his skin with a faint golden hue, as if he himself were melting into the light.
Thịnh Ý looked at the firm muscles on his back, thinking to herself, the male lead truly was the male lead. His looks and physique were indeed extraordinary. No wonder the women in the story were so desperate for him.
She liked handsome men too, but handsomeness was useless…! Even the good times the male lead shared with the female lead didn't catch her eye. As long as she had her own two hands and feet, good days would come.
The reason she went to find the male lead, enduring countless hardships to bring him here, the most important reason was that the male lead possessed a unique and peerless *cauldron physique*.
As long as she dual cultivated with him, not only could it cure her heart disease and break the prophecy that she could only live for twenty years, but it could also help her useless spiritual root physique ascend even without effort.
Ascending without effort—this was a fortuitous opportunity that countless cultivators lacked!
One must know that in the original work, this world would collapse twenty years later. Only the male lead and his harem successfully ascended, fortunately escaping the world-ending catastrophe. Everyone else turned to dust along with the world.
If there was a chance to live, Thịnh Ý couldn't give it up. At worst, she could just divorce the male lead after ascending.
Anyway, according to the plot's premise, one would live longer after ascending. Enduring for twenty years and then enjoying a lifetime of happiness – no matter how she calculated it, it was a profit.
Thịnh Ý's gaze was firm, her voice gentle: “It might hurt a little.”
“Thank you, Miss Thịnh.” The man's tone was calm, as if the one currently disheveled wasn't him.
Hearing the man's reply, Thịnh Ý immediately used her index finger to scoop out some ointment and gently applied it to his wounds.
In an instant, her warm finger swept the ointment onto a wound, and the man's back instinctively tensed, causing several other wounds to bleed.
“Immortal, you must relax,” Thịnh Ý said gently, her breath inadvertently brushing against his wound, making the spot even more sensitive.
The man let out a soft breath, and his tightly shut eyes slowly relaxed.
As time passed, the sunlight grew more intense, and the golden light gilding his body deepened.
Thịnh Ý carefully applied ointment to each wound on his back, then moved to the front, using her blood-stained finger to scoop out another layer of ointment, and gently applied it to his chest.
The man's previously gentle breathing suddenly became ragged; he abruptly opened his eyes and seized her wrist, then immediately met her astonished gaze.