Chapter 152: My Destiny Luck Was Stolen
Sincerity?
To be honest, Long Tao’s mind was still somewhat muddled.
The Hehuan Sect’s Saintess was actually a transmigrator—this news was so shocking that he hardly even cared whether the other party had been male or female before transmigrating.
In any case, it was unlikely that the two of them would ever develop any kind of intimate relationship.
But now, this Saintess clearly wanted to pull him into her circle and search together for a way home.
In the past, he would have agreed without the slightest hesitation. To befriend someone of her caliber was already a rare fortuitous opportunity for a minor cultivator like him.
Not to mention that she was a fellow transmigrator—there was simply no reason to refuse.
Yet now, he had to consider the existence of the System. If this affected future System Tasks and ended up getting him killed, that would truly be more loss than gain.
“I understand you must have concerns, and it’s hard to accept the existence of another transmigrator all at once.” Yaxi seemed to see through his hesitation, her fingertips lightly tapping against the stone table. “So I’m not asking you to promise anything immediately. Let’s just stay in contact first, be ordinary friends, exchange some trivial information, and slowly get to know each other. How about that?”
This proposal was indeed prudent and within the bounds Long Tao could accept.
He nodded cautiously, but still could not help asking an extra question.
“You didn’t… use some kind of Charm Technique on me, did you?”
“Listen to you.” She burst into laughter, her eyes rippling with natural allure. “If I had truly used a technique on you, you would have crawled in on your knees the moment you entered, too nervous to speak, and directly acknowledged me as your master.”
She withdrew her smile and spoke seriously. “That’s no exaggeration. Some of those who once opposed me are still willingly serving as my subordinates to this day. The Hehuan Sect’s Charm Technique combined with my conditions—its effects exceed your imagination. In fact, in order for you to remain calm enough to converse, I’ve already exerted my full strength to suppress the charm leaking from my body.”
“All right, I believe that.” Long Tao rubbed his nose. “But allow me one more question: since you’re a soul transmigrator, what happened to the original Yaxi?”
The girl’s expression suddenly turned solemn, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through her eyes.
“When I transmigrated here, I inherited almost all of her memories. But her consciousness… completely vanished.” She turned to gaze at the lake’s surface. “She hadn’t encountered any accident before that. She was simply replaced by me out of thin air. So over these years, besides searching for fellow transmigrators, I’ve also been investigating the whereabouts of this body’s original soul.” She gave a bitter smile. “It’s not that I’m especially kind. It’s just… a living person disappearing like that is unsettling.”
“That does sound terrifying.” Long Tao frowned. “Logically speaking, shouldn’t possession only happen after the original owner just died, allowing a new soul to seize the opportunity? How could someone replace a living person out of nowhere? This world is far too unsafe.”
“That’s exactly what worries me.” Yaxi sighed softly. “Over the years I’ve consulted all sorts of ancient texts, but I’ve never found any similar records. A divine soul shouldn’t be so easily annihilated…” She lifted her head, her gaze earnest. “If you ever come across any related clues, you must tell me. I’ll pay you for the information.”
Long Tao nodded solemnly.
Matters concerning the divine soul were already an area he needed to pay close attention to.
“But how should I contact you?”
“As for that, I prepared long ago.” She blinked playfully and took out a round mirror about the size of a palm.
The frame was wooden and painted peach-pink, with a pink gemstone embedded at its center. It looked exactly like a small dressing mirror used by a young girl.
Seeing Long Tao’s subtle expression, she quickly explained,
“Don’t mind the color! My image before outsiders is that of a pink-themed beautiful girl, so my belongings naturally have to match.” As she spoke, she took out another similar mirror. “Come on, try the effect.”
The pink crystal on the mirror in Long Tao’s hand gradually lit up, and Yaxi’s smiling face appeared within it.
“Hi… can you see me?”
Her sweet voice came from the mirror. Even knowing she had once been a man, seeing that face paired with that greeting still made Long Tao’s heart skip a beat.
“This… isn’t this basically a video call? So convenient.”
“Oh please, we’re in the Cultivation World—don’t use mundane names from your previous life.” She pouted coquettishly. “This mirror is called ‘Mirror of Joyful Reunion.’ As for its function… yes, it’s a video call, but don’t underestimate it.” She proudly waved the mirror in her hand. “It doesn’t require any signal and can connect anywhere.”
“So powerful? Then… what about other worlds?”
“If you mean those small worlds, most of them work.” She tilted her head in thought. “But some that are sealed by special barrier formations might not.”
“You’ve personally tested it?”
“Of course.” Yaxi tidied the loose strands of hair by her temples. “The Hehuan Sect governs several small worlds. As Saintess, I’ve inspected them all and conveniently ran some tests.”
“You’ve had quite the experience.” Long Tao could not help asking curiously, “This year you… um, how old is this body?”
“Thirty-six.” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “In my previous life, that would already count as an old woman.”
“That’s indeed old enough—same age as my mother.”
“Hey!” She puffed out her cheeks and made a motion to hit him. “Men remain boys until they die, understand? Besides, I’m still single. Even with a difference of over ten years, we’re considered the same generation. Don’t you dare treat me like an aunt!” She suddenly grew serious, lightly tapping the mirror’s surface. “Also, as Saintess, I often cannot be alone. If the gemstone on the mirror dims, it means I can’t be contacted for the time being. Remember that.”
Long Tao looked at the currently glowing gemstone and nodded, committing it to memory before asking again,
“This time you came to see Nan Yuchen?”
“On the surface, yes. I wanted to see whether this genius might be a fellow transmigrator. After testing him yesterday, I was rather disappointed…” She paused and lowered her voice. “But there’s actually a more important reason. However, this matter is on a higher level and has nothing to do with you, a Qi Refining cultivator. So don’t ask.”
“Don’t,” Long Tao protested. “We just agreed to exchange information.”
“Honestly…” She pressed her forehead helplessly. “You might not believe this. My Destiny Luck was stolen by some bastard.”
Destiny Luck? Stolen?
The moment he heard those two words, Long Tao immediately thought of Ye Jingchen. But… could it really be such a coincidence?
“Destiny Luck can be stolen?” Despite knowing some inside details, Long Tao still feigned shock as he asked.
“At first I didn’t believe it either, but it’s true.” She irritably tugged at her sleeve. “As Saintess, I’m already considered one of the Daughters of Destiny in this world. Losing a bit of Destiny Luck would have been tolerable. But that bastard used some special method to exploit that stolen Destiny Luck and even siphoned away the charm power of this body.”
The more she spoke, the angrier she became, her voice rising unconsciously. “Fine, that alone wouldn’t matter much—I don’t lack that bit of charm. But the most hateful part is that he transferred all the karmic consequences of charming others onto me!”
“That means…?”
Seeing her aggrieved yet furious expression, Long Tao instinctively felt anger rising with her.
“He took all the benefits, while the related fate backlash and karmic punishment were borne by me!” She slammed the table fiercely. “Honestly, I could endure that bit of punishment. But he went too far! Stealing is one thing, but he even wanted to dump the mess on me! If I could tolerate that, would I still be a man?!”
“So you tracked him here?”
“Why would I need to track him deliberately?” Yaxi sneered. “He stole my Destiny Luck and thus formed karma with me. After asking the elders of my sect to cast a secret technique, I followed the karmic thread all the way here and discovered he had stopped in the Nine-Xia Realm.”
Her tone softened slightly, and a faint smile curved her lips. “So I conveniently used this Grand Competition as an excuse to visit and handle the matter. I didn’t expect the greatest gain would be finding you, a fellow transmigrator. A blessing in disguise, indeed.”