Chapter 33: The Princess of Great Xia! The Ancient Mahayana Cultivator!
After finishing the morning lessons as per sect rules, a young girl dressed in a warm white dress adorned with golden floral patterns quickly stood up and stormed out. Her expressionless, proud face radiated an aura that warned others to keep their distance.
Ever since joining the sect, Duanmu Yao had felt deeply frustrated.
In her opinion, the Qinglian Sect was unworthy of being one of the Twelve Sects of Great Xia.
As a child, she had once accompanied her family to send her elder brother, Crown Prince Duanmu Yan, to enroll in Yuandan Academy, the most prestigious institution. The grandeur and majesty of that place were worlds apart from the Qinglian Sect.
This disparity left her resentful.
As a princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, her talents were no less than those of her brothers. Yet, because she was a woman, she was forced to join a sect of lower rank.
It was utterly unfair.
Although the Qinglian Sect treated ordinary disciples well, it showed no inclination to prioritize her training.
Despite being the most advanced cultivator among the new disciples, she hadn’t received any special treatment.
Before joining, she had assumed she would immediately become a direct disciple. Instead, she was treated as an ordinary one, receiving only the standard resources for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Her brothers, on the other hand, were highly valued in their respective sects. If this continued, she would fall far behind them.
She couldn’t let that happen!
For ten thousand years, the imperial bloodline of the Great Xia Dynasty had carried the legendary Golden Dragon Physique. Only those who awakened this unique constitution could vie for the throne.
Once awakened, the strength of their dragon claws determined their dominance. The first to awaken with more claws naturally suppressed others of the same generation, preventing them from awakening.
In this generation, the Crown Prince was the first to awaken his Golden Dragon Physique, manifesting three and a half claws. While this gave him a suppressive edge, it wasn’t absolute.
Consequently, the eldest prince had also managed to awaken his Golden Dragon Physique, manifesting three claws.
For years, the two had been locked in an intense rivalry, both overt and covert.
Duanmu Yao had no ambition to compete for imperial power as a woman. Yet, she yearned to cultivate and awaken her Golden Dragon Physique as soon as possible.
Throughout history, ancestors who awakened the Golden Dragon Physique had all achieved the Nascent Soul stage at a minimum, barring unforeseen tragedies. Most lived for over a thousand years, retiring only to be enshrined in the ancestral temple.
But Duanmu Yao could feel her cultivation slowing, a result of the suppressive effect of her brothers’ awakened bloodline.
Without awakening her Golden Dragon Physique, her bloodline suppression would prevent her from ever breaking through the Nascent Soul barrier.
Sometimes, she thought this physique was more of a curse than a blessing.
Having one’s path cut off was far crueler than never having a path at all.
But as a member of the royal family, she had no choice.
Her only hope was to awaken her Golden Dragon Physique before her bloodline was fully suppressed—even if it had no claws.
Why should she, who could reach greater heights and enjoy a longer lifespan, be reduced to a casualty of imperial power struggles?
Thinking about the upcoming competition, Duanmu Yao clenched her fists, her eyes glinting with determination.
Thankfully, the competition divided old and new disciples, and she was the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in her group.
She would seize first place!
She would make herself shine!
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She would demand the sect’s attention!
She would secure more resources for cultivation!
She would awaken her Golden Dragon Physique and refuse to let others dictate her fate!
***
Meanwhile, a hundred miles from the Qinglian Sect, outside a small village:
A group of modestly dressed villagers knelt in gratitude before a young girl clad in a light-blue martial outfit, standing atop a wolf’s head. Their faces were full of excitement and appreciation.
This celestial maiden had vanquished the wolf demon that had plagued their village for years!
At last, they could venture into the mountains without fear.
In contrast to her initial disheveled state upon joining the sect, the girl now wore the proper attire of a Qinglian Sect disciple. Her once dry, shoulder-length hair had been restored to health, her cheeks were fuller, and a sword rested on her back. She now exuded a faint, noble elegance befitting an immortal.
Yu Hua accepted the villagers’ worship with an indifferent expression.
However, when the elderly village chief offered dried meat and fruits as tokens of gratitude, she coldly declined.
“Eliminating demons is a cultivator’s duty. No thanks are necessary,” she said curtly before dragging the half-dead wolf demon away, ignoring their pleas for her to stay.
Finding a secluded spot in the forest, Yu Hua tapped her brow and summoned a golden fragment.
She drew her sword and, without hesitation, pierced the wolf demon’s throat.
Her fingers wove intricate seals, and soon, the wolf’s spirit emerged from its lifeless body.
The spirit, as if pulled by an invisible force, was absorbed into the golden fragment.
The fragment glowed brilliantly, and an ancient character engraved upon it gradually became more distinct.
“The soul of a Qi Refinement demon can only manifest a single character. Pathetic.”
“Still, it should suffice to advance this body to the Foundation Establishment stage,” the girl murmured. Her calm, mature tone felt far removed from her youthful appearance.
Indeed, she referred to herself as “this body.”
For Yu Hua was not merely an orphan girl. Her soul belonged to a Mahayana cultivator from ten thousand years ago, known as Yu Hua Immortal Venerable, one of the strongest beings of her era.
In ancient times, when the Heavenly Dao was incomplete, ascension to the heavens was rare.
She had once discovered a fallen immortal’s ruins in the mortal realm, though the journey yielded no treasures.
Unfortunately, news of her discovery leaked, and nearly every Mahayana cultivator of her time hunted her down, hoping to unearth the secret of ascension.
Outnumbered, she fought desperately, killing ten Mahayana cultivators before falling herself.
When she opened her eyes again, she had been reborn into the body of a starving orphan girl, her soul bound to this golden fragment.