Chapter 115

Chapter 115: If You Have Not Stepped in Dog Poop, How Would You Know There Are Flowers Ahead

Ye Wan Wan entered the Supreme Sect at five. In the first year she had not formally taken a master yet, so she lived with the outer disciples and did morning lessons with them. They slept in a big dorm.

She was young and well behaved, so the senior brothers and sisters took care of her. Ji Chang Huai often came to see her and brought things. Many people knew she was the default junior sister of Azure Cloud Peak. As soon as Yan Ding the Dao Sovereign came out of seclusion and held the apprenticeship ceremony, he would take her away. For now she was only borrowing a bed.

Even if some people chirped that she was lucky, they did not dare go too far. Besides Ji Chang Huai, another person also came often. He was the Dao Sovereign Yan Ding’s personal disciple.

He was Ye Wan Wan’s former fourth senior brother, the alchemist Chi Yan. An alchemist was a person no one wanted to offend.

Maybe because he refined pills, Chi Yan had a lot of free time. He often came to play with Ye Wan Wan and to vent to this future junior sister. She always listened carefully.

After each talk, Chi Yan would ruffle her hair and joke: “Why am I telling all this to a little one like you. You cannot understand.”

But she could. She had kept some memories from another life. Maybe Granny Meng had poured too much soup. When she was born in this world, she still remembered the other world. Not much, but enough.

She learned early that some things should not be told to others. So there was a lot she did not dare say. That included Chi Yan.

Until one day, Chi Yan found out she was a fire element too. After she flipped through the apothecary notes he left behind, she managed to control a Refining Flame. From then on, when he looked at her, his eyes turned complicated. There was admiration, and envy, but also jealousy and a deep sense of inferiority.

She guessed she had hit a nerve and tried to cover it up. For many years after, she regretted flipping that book. Even in her last life with the Devil Clan, she still regretted it. If she had not looked, would Chi Yan have said a few good words for her when the master drove her out. Would she have avoided ending up with nowhere to go.

When the Seven Swords pierced her heart, she finally understood. No. Even if she had not flipped the book, nothing would have returned to the past.

On the day she bowed to the master, when her Heaven Grade Spiritual Root was revealed before everyone on Azure Cloud Peak and the sect master and elders sighed, saying Azure Cloud Peak finally had a successor, she already knew. There was no going back.

Her Heaven Grade Spiritual Root was the pride of Azure Cloud Peak, but it was also a mountain pressing on the six senior brothers who came before her. When Yan Ding came out, he told her: “For the next three years, I will train with you.”

At those words, all the disciples fell silent. Before, Yan Ding had said he would guide all his disciples for three years after coming out. In the end, he gave all his time to Ye Wan Wan.

The praises from the sect master and elders, plus Yan Ding’s favoritism, planted a seed in their hearts, a seed that said they were not as good as Ye Wan Wan. At first, that seed did not show. And with more than ten years of Ye Wan Wan’s effort to please and give way, it stayed buried. On the surface, they were still a harmonious group of senior brothers and junior sister.

Even Ye Wan Wan lied to herself and told herself that everyone treated her well.

Until Ye Qian arrived and broke the illusion. Ye Wan Wan learned that true love feels different. In their hearts, that seed found partners who thought the same. It drank jealousy, grew fast, and turned into a blade that could no longer be hidden. It stabbed straight at Ye Wan Wan.

It taught her that love won by giving in and wronging yourself is fake. Fake.

When her cultivation stopped advancing, those cold and gloating eyes seemed to say: Look, you have this day too. So the genius is just so so. Even if you were fast early, what can you do. In the end, your true shape shows and you fall behind.

Those cold, scornful, and mocking looks became nightmares that haunted Ye Wan Wan for many years.

In their last life, Li Wan Zhi could not understand. He asked her once: “Are these not enemies. What senior brothers and sisters. Real ones are not like that. If they are enemies, why do you care what they think. Is your head broken.”

Right. Why care.

She took a long, long time to learn that some people are destined not to walk together. Some people are destined to part. That included Chi Yan, the fourth senior brother she once relied on most besides Ji Chang Huai.

So when she saw Chi Yan in the alchemist trial, Ye Wan Wan was not very surprised. Her face was calm, without even a trace of shock. To her right stood Fang He An.

Fang He An was already matching herbs for his formula. Without looking up, he still reminded her: “Junior sister, this first round has a time limit. Do not go over.”

When he got no answer, Fang He An lifted his head to glance at Ye Wan Wan. He noticed another person on her other side staring at her. Seeing the Supreme Sect robe, alarm bells rang.

Chi Yan smiled without smiling and said: “Third senior brother told me you betrayed the sect, gravely hurt the eldest senior brother, and defected to another side. I did not believe it. I did not expect it was true.”

“Ye Wan Wan, you are really something.”

The sneer was like a cold snake. Its tongue flicked at Ye Wan Wan’s weak point. The girl’s face turned ugly.

[Do not care.]

She told herself that, but her body still reacted. Her limbs went cold. She drew a deep breath and lifted her head to meet Chi Yan’s eyes.

“If a sect does not fit me, of course I should leave,” she said. “Otherwise how would I find the one that fits.”

Chi Yan took a big step closer. He was tall and forceful. The way he pressed down pulled her back into old shadows. After Ye Qian’s Golden Core shattered, she cried everywhere that it was not her doing, but no one believed her. When Yan Ding dug out her Golden Core to make it up to Ye Qian, no one lifted a hand to help. In the end came the Seven Swords through her heart and a death drained of blood.

One after another, the shadows closed in.

“Say that again,” Chi Yan said in a cold voice.

Ye Wan Wan’s lips moved. The shadows wrapped around her from all sides, just like before. When she was about to tear her own mouth open, a big hand pulled her free and drew her behind.

Fang He An stepped in front of her and shouted: “So what if she says it again. If a sect does not fit, of course you leave!”

“If you do not step in dog poop, how do you know there are flowers ahead,” he roared.

“Hear that.”

“If you did not hear, I will repeat it,” Fang He An bellowed from his core. “Your Supreme Sect is all idiots. All of you.”

His voice rolled across the stage, then spread to the Elders’ Terrace and the stands, so everyone heard it clearly.

Fang He An released his full presence and collided with Chi Yan’s. His eyes were icy and he did not give a single step. It was the hard resolve that said: If you bully my junior sister, I will end you.