NOVEL FROG Chapter 69: Sima Yazhu's Child
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 69: Sima Yazhu's Child.
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Bing Meilu sat within her throneroom, eyes closed in cultivation. Within each of Seventy-Two Psuedo Dantians, a Dao Platform in the shape of an ice-covered moon rotated. Beneath the fog of misty yin qi that swirled around them, each was covered in six layers of transparent ice, corresponding to the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Completely focused, the girl continually refined Yin Qi into ice upon the Moons.
As she cultivated, the ice grew, and a faint light began to seemingly pour out from the moons. In truth, a moon did not produce its own light. It only reflected the luminescence of the sun and stars. It was in that fact fact the secret to the Crystal Providence Tome's Core Formation lay. To use the Moon and the principle of reversion to call upon distant starlight.
The stars in question were the Yin portion of the One-Hundred-Eight Star of Destiny, the Seventy-Two Fiend-Stars. An ancient, metaphysical structure of the Yin Dao set into the Heavens in an epoch even before the birth of the Crystal Providence whose Absolute Tome Bing Meilu had inherited. She was still far from the point of calling upon their distant light and entering Core Formation, but when she did her power would rise drastically.
As the girl ceaselessly cultivated, a sudden rumble ran through her entire Meridian system. In her original, untouched Dantian, a red formation shattered. It had been programmed to do so once she reached the age of twelve, and now that day had come. The Meridian system and Dantian only finished maturing at twelve, and with certain exceptions, cultivating before then was impossible.
Years ago, not long after Bing Meilu had first transmigrated, she had used the core of a Demon to create a formation allowing her to cultivate before her meridian system had finished maturing. It was a shoddy, makeshift construction due to her limited resources, but it had done the job.
But now, it had served its purpose. The formation dissolved away, and Bing Meilu shuddered, for the first time in her new life, actually feeling Qi slosh around the channels and apertures of her meridians.
'I almost forgot what that felt like...' the girl sighed.
It was like living your entire life covered in cotton, only to finally feel the tactile sensation of gripping an object. But, however much the formation had limited her, it had been worth it. She had gained several valuable years of extra cultivation time.
'In my first life at this age, I was a peasant maid, serving my social betters. In this life, I am already nearing the Third Realm and command a large and growing faction of cultivators. In every curse, there is a blessing. I returned to this time in order to prevent my mistakes, but it was also a chance to perfect my foundation and reach heights I could not even dream of before. This time, when I reach the peak of Celestial, the barrier to the Paragon Realm will not stop me.'
Satisfied with her progress, Bing Meilu returned to her cultivation.
---
Li Ji walked through the halls of the BMFS faction headquarters. He arrived at the door to his master's throneroom and knocked.
"Hey Boss, Sima Yazhu has given birth. I uh, thought you should know."
After a moment, the door to the room opened. A wave of chilly air flooded outwards, causing Li Ji to shiver. The small form of Bing Meilu stepped out of the door. She had grown quite a bit since Li Ji had first met her. Before she had only come up to his thighs, but now she came up to his stomach.
The most startling transformation of all was her aura. The cold, fiendish power radiating from her caused Li Ji to uncontrollably shiver. She felt numerous times more powerful than before.
"Have you...entered Core Formation?" Li Ji asked, eyes wide.
"No," she responded. "At present, I am in the Seventh stage of Foundation Establishment."
Li Ji nodded in response. He was well into Core Formation, but still certain that his boss would demolish him should they fight. He could only imagine just how much stronger she would be when she actually entered the third realm. Then, the accountant frowned. He senses a strange energy hiding within Bing Meilu's aura.
"Boss! I think someone has cursed you!" he said in shock.
Li Ji came from the world of merchants and curses were a common tool in that environment. His own uncle had died from such a hex. As such, he was quite familiar with detecting cursed energy.
"Don't worry about it. It's just the result of a project I'm working on," Bing Meilu waved her hand dismissively.
She clamped down on her aura until the traces of cursed energy disappeared. Then the girl stepped forward, and a snow-laden breeze blew from behind her, propelling her into the air and out of a window. Dancing upon the cold winds, she floated high above her faction's territory and looked gazed down upon it.
It had transformed greatly from being an empty plain. Several large buildings had been constructed, including a dorm, treasury, armoury and more. She could see dozens of new recruits drilling in formation upon a muddy field, led by Jiang Hu. Each of the disciples wore a badge that read 'Faithful Slave' and signified their membership in her faction. In the distance, she could see the massive unfinished form of the Captured Slave Galley, floating in the arm and glowing with golden light.
Lastly, a row of large red houses had also appeared during her seclusion, and it was to there she flew. The buildings housed her female disciples, including Sima Yazhu.
Bing Meilu landed at the base of the leftmost of the houses and stepped inside. Within the house's living room, Sima Yazhu lay on a couch, clutching a small cloth-wrapped baby. Tang Wuhan sat by the new mother's side, holding her hand reassuringly.
Bing Meilu poked at the newborn with her qi, inspecting the child. Men were mostly of yang, with a seed of yin, while women were mostly of yin with a seed of yang. Though she was originally female, the consequences of having her congenital yin drained by her father's demonic technique had caused her body to possess yin and yang in equal measures. As a result, the child had traits of both males and females, in other words, hermaphroditism. The condition was rare, but not necessarily disabling.
Sima Yazhu's tired eyes looked towards Bing Meilu. It was a law of heaven that the higher one's cultivation, the more difficult reproduction became, lest the world be overrun by the children of immortal beings. Even in the mere realm of Foundation Establishment, childbirth was notably more difficult.
"Her name is Xin Yi. Sima Xin Yi" the woman said quietly.
"Have you made your decision?" Bing Meilu asked.
Sima Yazhu nodded, determination burning even in her tired eyes.
"I have. I'm going to keep her... and be the best mother I can be!"
Where before she had seemed empty, there was now a fire to her words.
"Very well," Bing Meilu nodded. "As you know, your daughter's congenital yin was drained during her development, leading to her current condition. If you wish, her body can be restored to a state more similar to the average woman, using medical herbs and surgery. On the other hand, there are certain cultivation manuals especially suited to her constitution. It may therefore be beneficial to leave her body as is."
"D-do I have to choose now?"
"So long as you decide before she begins cultivation, it doesn't matter."
"Then, I'll wait for my daughter's opinion when she is older."
"I see. On that note, have you decided where you plan to go next in life? In this world, only the strong enjoy peace. Calamites can befall even the innocent. If you wish to protect your child, you should become my disciple and continue your cultivation."
The woman bit her lip hesitantly, thinking over the offer.
"Shen Xinyue became your disciple?" Sima Yazhu asked.
"Indeed."
"Then... I will as well."
Bing Meilu nodded.
"Very well then. Then, henceforth, you are the Third Disciple of the Crystal Providence Heavenly Palace in this world. You'll have to cultivate hard to maintain our reputation."
Bing Meilu thought for a moment about what cultivation manual to give her new disciple. The Crystal Providence Divine Tome that she had given Shen Xinyue did not fit a mother. Chilbrith had altered the nature of her Yin. After a moment of observing the nature of SIma YAzhu's Qi, Bing Meilu waved her hand, creating a stack of ice tablets.
"This is the Queen Mother's Westward March, an Earth Trigram cultivation manual. With it, you can refine earthen Dharma Protectors to fight for you. There should be a section at the bottom about converting your cultivation into it. If you need any further help, you can come see me."
Sima Yazhu gratefully nodded.
With that done, Bing Meilu turned to face Tang Wuhan. the woman had stayed to be with the pregnant SIma Yazhu. Now that her friend had given birth, it would be time for her to leave and seek out her mortal family.
"Will you be leaving now?" the former celestial asked.
Tang Wuhan nodded.
"If you ever decide to continue cultivation, know you'll be welcome almost my sect," Bing Meilu said. "Farewell."
With that, she left.
---
Li Ji stood atop a hill overseeing the vast construction of the Captured Slave Galley. Hundreds of jade chains shot from his body, moving, holding and raising components as they were installed into the ship's frame.
Golden light shimmered and danced across his vision as he chanted the Manyfold Good Fortune Dao-Enshrining Scripture. Karmic wealth swirled and flowed, converging in the massive glowing sun that was the unfinished galley. It was by far the most valuable thing he had ever seen.
So long as he chanted the Dao-Enshrining Scripture he could predict and prevent actions that would reduce the value of the ship. However, even he was not perfect, and lower-level cultivators were not necessarily immune to being crushed by giant falling metal objects. So far at least two workers had been killed during mishaps alongside many lesser injuries.
"Hey Boss, why's the cannon beeping?" one worker called out.
"Fuck! Turn it off before it explodes!" Li Ji shouted. "And group C, why the hell are you putting that harpoon on backwards-No! Don't press that button!"
It hadn't even been a year, but Li Ji felt he had lost a decade of lifespan already managing the suicidal morons he worked with.
'This is what we get for skimping in labour costs and not just hiring a professional, dammit!'
But orders were orders. Bing Meilu wanted to spend every penny possible on outfitting the ship with top-of-the-line formations. Hiring professional builders simply meant fewer cannons in her eyes. As Li Ji worked, Jiang Hu approached from behind, his jagged draconic teeth ripping into a meaty shank of lamb.
"How's much longer till it's ready, brother?" he asked
"We're about eighty percent done. Just installing all the modules into the finished frame. With any luck it will only be a month or two more until I can get the hell out of this awful project! These morons have nearly shot me four times! "
"Ah, you're a big boy." Jiang Hu laughed, roughly slapping Li Ji's back. "I'm sure you can handle it."
"These are Nascent Soul level weapons, Jiang Hu! I'd be dead if I hadn't been paying attention. I can't believe I ever complained about paperwork. Paperwork doesn't have the chance to spontaneously explode and level the nearby mountain range!"
"Danger is like the spice of life! Things would be bland if they were too safe!"
"No wonder I've always hated spicy food!"