Chapter 2: Fooled by the Beautiful Matriarch, Now Symbiotic with a Pig

"Who are you? How did you get the supreme treasure of the Xuantian Sect?" The figure of the woman in the fire was ethereal, but the chill in her words was laced with unmistakable murderous intent.

"My name is Qian Jin! I'm fourteen this year, the 360th sect master of the Xuantian Sect. My flesh isn't tasty at all—if you want to eat, eat this instead!" As Qian Jin kowtowed as quickly as pounding garlic, he shoved the small pig beside him toward the woman.

"Nonsense! The Xuantian Sect is one of the top sects in the cultivation world. How could a mere boy at the Qi Refining stage be the sect master? Do you really think you can fool me so easily?" The woman, who had seemed gentle before, couldn't maintain her composure at his words, and angrily berated him without any hint of ladylike restraint.

"Ah? Ghostly sister, you're from the Xuantian Sect too? Then we’re family! Please don’t eat me!" The moment Qian Jin heard she was from his sect, he looked up and pleaded for mercy.

"How beautiful!" As Qian Jin finally saw the woman's face clearly, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration, completely forgetting how cowardly he had been just moments before.

"Don’t try to cozy up to me. Looks like you won’t listen to reason—I’ll just search your soul myself!" The woman, seeing that Qian Jin didn’t seem very bright, curled her lips in a faint smirk, her lovely eyes blinking at him.

"Over twenty thousand years! To think the mighty Xuantian Sect has fallen to such a state..."

"Sigh..."

After gaining Qian Jin’s memories, the woman let out a long, conflicted sigh, her heart weighted with indescribable sorrow.

"That felt so good..." Qian Jin opened his eyes. He had just had a magnificent dream: he was lying on an endless pile of spirit stones, gnawing on pig’s feet—what could be more blissful?

"Pathetic! The sect master of Xuantian Sect, reduced to not having enough to eat. Such a thing would have been unthinkable even for madmen tens of thousands of years ago!" The woman looked at Qian Jin, lost in his dream, and could hardly contain her disappointment.

At her words, Qian Jin snapped to attention, shook his head vigorously, and was about to plead for mercy again.

"Enough with the nonsense! I know everything now." After searching his soul, the woman was utterly familiar with Qian Jin—even the slightest twitch of his mouth gave away his intentions.

She floated over and sat cross-legged on a rock, assuming the air of a reclusive master, and said, "You brat! Hurry over and pay your respects to your ancestral founder!"

Qian Jin didn’t hesitate—he immediately knelt and bowed, crying, "Greetings, Ancestor! Please don’t eat me!" Never mind what she said; he couldn’t fight back anyway, so staying alive was his first priority.

"Alright, enough! Stop that pitiful display." The woman waved him off impatiently and continued, "I am Shangguan Lingxi, the twelfth sect master of Xuantian Sect. I had intended to wait until the Dang Kang was born to reincarnate, but clearly, it’s no longer possible."

"Ancestor Lingxi, what’s a Dang Kang? And how do you reincarnate? Haven’t you been gone for tens of thousands of years? If you’re lacking anything over there, I’ll pawn my very last pair of shorts just to send you whatever you need!" Qian Jin immediately pledged with great sincerity, assuming Shangguan Lingxi was a lingering spirit.

“Whew—”

"I’m not angry..."

"I’m not angry..."

"I can endure..."

Shangguan Lingxi took a deep breath and pressed her hands together, trying to suppress her fury. "But I really can’t endure this!"

With that, she stood up and rained down a flurry of punches and kicks on Qian Jin, venting her pent-up anger and frustration.

"Ancestor, spare me! Ancestor, have mercy!" Qian Jin clutched his head, begging over and over, but the more he pleaded, the more forceful Shangguan Lingxi became. Only when she had nearly exhausted herself did she finally stop.

"My handsome face... it’s been beaten into a pig's head!" Qian Jin moaned, touching his swollen cheeks. He took out a mirror, saw his reflection, and tears silently rolled down his face.

"What a disaster! How did the Xuantian Sect end up with such a cowardly disciple? And your master—what rotten judgment!" Shangguan Lingxi sighed resentfully, cursing not only Qian Jin but also his recently buried teacher.

Still, there was nothing more she could do. She glanced at the small pig nearby, beckoned it over with a wave, and it trembled in her hands.

"Do you know why the very first rule in the Xuantian Sect’s ancestral teachings is to feed the Dang Kang at all costs?"

"I don't know,” Qian Jin replied, shaking his now twice-as-large head.

"Back then, our sect sacrificed nearly all its strongest cultivators just to obtain the Dang Kang’s egg. That’s because the Dang Kang is connected to the secret of ascension. Only with it do we have a chance to become immortals and bring glory to the sect." Shangguan Lingxi's eyes shone with fervor, longing for immortality.

"So now that we have it, you can become immortal, right? Does that mean I can have some of the meat too?" Qian Jin immediately caught the key point, licking his lips.

"Eat, my foot! To make use of the Dang Kang, you have to feed it until it reaches the Great Ascension stage. Right now, it’s not even at the Qi Refining stage—how could it help anyone ascend? Without resources, I can’t even form a physical body!" Shangguan Lingxi ground her teeth; she had never imagined that when her soul awakened, the Xuantian Sect would be so destitute they could barely survive, let alone provide the resources needed to restore her body.

"So what do we do? Should we just eat it to nourish ourselves?" Qian Jin eyed the plump little pig, licking his lips; it had been ages since he’d tasted meat.

"Sure! Dang Kang meat is tender and fatty—it’s best eaten raw! One bite and your mouth will be dripping with grease, and it’ll even boost your cultivation." Surprisingly, Shangguan Lingxi didn’t object but smiled sweetly as she handed the pig to Qian Jin.

"Really?"

"Ancestor is so beautiful, she couldn’t possibly lie."

"Ancestor, you’re too good to me, truly..." Moved to tears by her sincerity, Qian Jin opened his mouth wide and bit down hard on the little pig.

“Crack—”

“Ah—!”

Qian Jin clutched his mouth, rolling on the ground in pain. When he touched his teeth, he realized he’d broken two of his front teeth.

"Ha ha ha—" Shangguan Lingxi was doubled over with laughter. She’d never seen a disciple so foolish.

"Ancestor, you tricked me,” Qian Jin sobbed, complaining with his gap-toothed mouth.

Shangguan Lingxi paid him no mind and stretched lazily. "Remember the first lesson from your ancestor: The prettier a woman is, the better she is at lying!"

Then she tapped her fair finger to Qian Jin’s forehead. "Dang Kang is an ancient divine beast. Use this technique to break its protective armor, then skin it and eat the meat—it’ll be easy." A sly smirk played about her lips.

"You can’t trick me again! If you do, I swear I’ll never take a disciple in my life and let the Xuantian Sect’s lineage end with me," Qian Jin said, clutching his bloody mouth, uttering the fiercest words with the most cowardly tone.

"Is that a threat, or are you just flattering yourself? You, take on disciples? Even pigs wouldn’t follow you," Shangguan Lingxi retorted. And, as if to confirm it, the little pig in Qian Jin’s hands nodded its head in agreement.

"Even you look down on me? Just wait, I’ll skin you alive, pull out your tendons, and cook you into a stew!" Qian Jin grabbed the pig, and with his bloodied fingers, drew a complicated rune on its back.

"Condense!"

Following the technique his ancestor had taught him, Qian Jin traced the rune, which then sank into the pig’s body. Instantly, he felt his spiritual power pouring out uncontrollably.

"Ah! My cultivation is dropping! No, I spent seven or eight years to become a third-stage Qi Refiner—how can it be gone?!" Qian Jin panicked, running in circles, desperate to stop the loss.

"I told you, the prettier a woman is, the better she is at lying. And yet you forgot already," Shangguan Lingxi said with a wicked smile, her gaze fixed intently on the pig, as if waiting for something.

"The cultivation is rising—looks like the symbiotic contract succeeded! This boy really is lucky," she murmured, satisfied, as she saw spiritual light begin to flicker around the little pig.