Zanxing

Chapter 3 - Domain (1)

The Xiao Yuan pearl darted into her body, vanishing like a wisp of smoke, leaving nothing behind.

Zanxing reached up to touch her chest, feeling a small area around her heart that was warm, like a stove heated by a furnace in winter, but not uncomfortable. This must be the treasure recognizing its master.

In all the cultivation novels, when the protagonist's blood drops onto a treasure, the treasure immediately awakens its spirit and forms an unbreakable bond with the master. Then, it helps the protagonist open the doors to new worlds like the most loyal lover.

This pearl was no different.

However, the most important thing right now is to find out how to leave this place.

In the original storyline, after the male lead obtained the pearl, he practiced at the bottom of the water. After all, it was an old story read several years ago, and since then, Zanxing had read dozens of cultivation novels, forgetting most of the plot details. In any case, the male lead would go on a wild spree, with a "flash of inspiration" and "a sudden thought," rapidly leveling up and seemingly finding the exit. But now... Zanxing looked at her hands; apart from the warm pearl inside her heart, everything seemed the same.

She tried pressing her hand against the wall of the cave, focusing her energy at her dantian. With a shout, she slapped the wall.

Two tiny grains of sand fell from the wall, and Zanxing cried out, staring at her suddenly reddened palm, realizing she had underestimated the situation.

Indeed, novels were all deceptive; this path wouldn't work.

She stood up, remaining quiet for a moment, sensing a faint cool breeze coming from somewhere ahead.

A breeze?

The only source of light in this cave was above her head, surrounded by walls—where could the wind be coming from?

Zan Xing paused, unsure if it was because of the pearl, but the breeze seemed to grow stronger; if she followed it, she might find the source.

She got up and slowly moved toward the direction from which the wind was blowing.

Not knowing how long she walked, just as she thought the darkness had no end, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared ahead. Unlike the distant faint glow above her, this light was accompanied by the sound of water.

Not far away, she saw a crack in the wall, just wide enough for a person to pass through. Zanxing hesitated for a moment, approached cautiously, and peered outside without rushing through.

An endless curtain of water stretched out, and the sound of water cascading down echoed above her. Looking up, she could vaguely see the silhouette of a mountain. Joy surged in her heart; disregarding the unscientific notion that water wouldn't flow through a crack, she understood one thing: outside was a stream, and if she could get out, she could swim to the shore.

As she tentatively stretched out one leg, a shadow suddenly emerged from the previously calm water curtain. This shadow wasn't large or small—about the size of a cow—but formless, just a vague, flat shape. It looked a bit like the static snow on a TV without a signal or a swarm of countless black ants.

Those with a fear of clusters would likely faint on the spot.

Zanxing quickly pulled back her leg, suddenly remembering that in the original story, the male lead still had one last hurdle to overcome before reaching the shore: he had to kill that damned beast.

Hiding in this stream, beneath the calm surface of the water was the "Yu'." (Domain Beast)

The "Yu'," could shoot sand to obscure vision. Those affected would suffer from muscle cramps, headaches, fever, and severe cases could lead to death. The idiom "shooting shadows with sand" originates from this. This creature liked to hide in water, and no one had ever seen its true form. Now that Zanxing saw it, it was like seeing a blurred image—nothing impressive.

So the question was, did this frail girl really have to wrestle barehanded with a shadowy blob underwater? Moreover, this shadow was a ranged mage—this wasn't difficult mode, it was hell mode!

Zanxing plopped down on the ground, suddenly feeling lost about her path ahead.

Staying here posed no danger, but sooner or later, she'd starve; she couldn't just eat dirt. If she went out, there was that shadow watching her hungrily, shooting sand at shadows. This wasn't a cultivation story; this was a survival tale!

"Stay calm, Yang Zanxing." She took a deep breath, forcing herself to recall the plot. The male lead, Mu Chengxiao, was here; after obtaining the pearl, he began his cultivation. His physique was special—although he hadn't broken through the foundation stage before, his energy had been accumulating within him. The pearl helped him break through his physical constraints, and after years of energy flowing into his meridians, he rapidly leveled up, from the initial stage of qi refining to the late foundation stage, just a step away from the Golden Core Stage.

After leveling up, the male lead successfully killed the beast and returned to the shore.

The premise of killing the beast was having sufficient cultivation—did she have to cultivate here as well?

Zanxing remembered that in the original story, the girl with her name had low cultivation. Her existence seemed to merely serve to highlight Liu Yunxin's kindness and tolerance and to help the cannon fodder Wang Shao and the male lead, Mu Chengxiao, stabilize their enmity. Regarding "Miss Yang," the original work described her beauty and arrogance, her malicious heart, and glossed over her cultivation.

But she couldn't have been particularly outstanding.

However, the current "Miss Yang" had now become Yang Zanxing. Coming from modern society, she didn't even know how to cultivate, let alone exercise. The only relevant experience she had was from her high school taiji class.

How did people cultivate in novels... Zanxing racked her brain for a long time and finally straightened up to mimic what she remembered.

Step one, should be sitting in meditation... right?

She sat cross-legged and relaxed her body. What was the second step... no idea, so she decided to do as in yoga lessons, closing her eyes, focusing her mind, clearing her thoughts, and regulating her breathing.

Deep breath, inhale, exhale—

Perhaps after traveling through time, she hadn't stopped for a moment; as soon as Zanxing relaxed, she felt immensely tired. It was as if she were about to fall asleep, yet her mind gradually loosened. She felt as if she were floating in the air, her body becoming exceptionally light. Even in the dry sand cave, it felt as if water was flowing slowly over her body, warm enough to be comfortable. The flow of water also breathed, like fish gills, opening and closing, drawing in and expelling air.

With her eyes closed, Zan Xing didn't see that from her heart, a faint golden light emanated, gradually revealing countless beams of light that flowed like water from outside the water curtain, as if attracted by the pearl, slipping in through the cracks and silently drilling into Zanxing's body.

If a practitioner were present, they would see at a glance that she was refining essence into qi, and qi into spirit. This originally insignificant girl had, in such a short time, broken through the qi refinement stage and was on the verge of entering the foundation stage.