After Transmigrating, I and the Female Lead Both Found It 'Really Fragrant' (GL) - Chapter 10

“What… what’s wrong with these two big brothers?”

Shen Qiqi was stunned and reached out to gently wave her hand in front of one of the guards’ eyes. “Hello? Can you hear me?”

She called out several times, but the two of them remained motionless, standing stiffly in place. “What’s going on…”

Suddenly, one of the guards raised his head, a look of fear in his eyes, his lips trembling, “We were negligent just now, please come in.”

How did they agree so easily?

Shen Qiqi frowned, her eyes scanning the faces of the two, feeling that something was amiss.

Looking at the two of them, their movements were stiff, their pupils were dark and lifeless, and their tone of voice was as mechanical as a robot, as if they had become puppets controlled by others, being manipulated by something.

“Junior sister.” Liu Shuang’s clear and cold voice suddenly sounded in her ear, “Let’s go in.”

“Senior sister…” Shen Qiqi responded, but before she could answer, she suddenly felt a chill on the palm of her left hand, as if she had been gently hooked by a few slender fingers.

Shen Qiqi was startled and felt as if her fingertips had been electrified. She subconsciously pulled back, but couldn’t.

Liu Shuang’s back was slender and her steps were graceful. She walked quietly in front, and although her movements were light, her fingers were so strong that Shen Qiqi couldn’t break free.

Shen Qiqi followed blankly, a few steps behind, and unconsciously was led in, forgetting about the two guards just now.

She was led forward stumblingly, her limbs felt uncontrollable, her mind went blank, and only one thought remained: so cold.

Although it was sunny outside, Liu Shuang’s hands were as cold as if they were in an ice cave, and with a light touch, a wisp of cold air lingered on it, like a hidden snake in the dark, suddenly poking its head out and stinging her, causing her whole body to shiver, as if even her bl00d was about to freeze.

As they entered the library, the heavy door behind them slowly closed until the light outside disappeared completely, and Liu Shuang just let go of her hand and turned to look at Shen Qiqi with a calm expression.

“Junior sister, what’s wrong?”

Shen Qiqi held one hand with the other, rubbing her slender fingers, and the bone-chilling coldness around her gradually dissipated as Liu Shuang left.

She swallowed a mouthful of air and stammered, “Nothing…”

She didn’t know if it was her own illusion, but Liu Shuang was somehow… frightening. Was this the legendary female lead’s halo at work?!

Liu Shuang’s gaze swept over her hand, her eyes deep, “I wonder what books Junior sister wants to see?”

“I…” Shen Qiqi came back to her senses and said hesitantly, “What kind of books are there here?”

Liu Shuang raised her eyebrows slightly and stepped aside, revealing the scene in front of her.

Shen Qiqi’s vision suddenly widened, and she opened her eyes wide in surprise.

From the outside, the library was of a normal size, but who would have thought that there was a whole different world inside, which was simply amazing.

She saw a winding stone staircase spiraling upwards, like a helix, seemingly endless. A beam of white light leaked from the roof at the top, illuminating the entire circular space, and countless scrolls and ancient books were embedded in the curved walls around, who knows how many years of history they had accumulated, and at a glance, it was very spectacular, like a scene from a fantasy movie.

“… There are so many books!” Her eyes lit up, and she murmured, “How can I choose? Is there a classification index or something?”

“Is this your first time here?” Liu Shuang asked softly beside her.

“Yes! It’s my first time here!” Shen Qiqi nodded quickly in agreement.

Liu Shuang seemed thoughtful. “Then follow me.” She led Shen Qiqi slowly up the stone steps and stopped in front of a bookshelf.

“These are all cultivation methods for the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Junior sister can take a look.”

Shen Qiqi looked at the countless and varied cultivation manuals, feeling a little dazzled. “Ah…this…”

She carefully pulled out a few books, brushed away the floating dust in the air, and slowly opened them under the bright light above.

After flipping through a few pages in a daze, Shen Qiqi gradually realized her most critical problem.

These were all advanced cultivation methods of the five elements and yin-yang, but she hadn’t even laid a good foundation in the Qi Condensation stage, so she couldn’t understand these Foundation Establishment-level knowledge at all! It was as absurd as teaching someone to run before they could walk.

Shen Qiqi couldn’t help but sigh – now she had the cultivation level of Foundation Establishment but didn’t have the corresponding understanding. She couldn’t understand at all what the book was talking about, such as “Qi circulating in the dantian” and “perceiving the spiritual sea” and other flowery words.

She closed the book, slowly put it back in place, and turned to Liu Shuang beside her.

Liu Shuang was casually flipping through an ancient book in her hand, the milky white light enveloped half of her body, casting a light shadow on her side profile. Her brows were deep, her nose was straight, and her lips were red, just like the description in the book, “beautiful as jade”.

Shen Qiqi blinked and came back to her senses, calling out softly, “Senior sister…”

Liu Shuang didn’t look up, her tone lazy, “Hmm?”

“Actually, I… I don’t quite understand these…” Shen Qiqi looked at her expectantly and said softly, “I might need something more basic and easier to understand.”

Liu Shuang frowned slightly, “These are just the basic cultivation methods for the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and you don’t understand them either?”

Shen Qiqi, like a student who had been publicly executed by the head teacher after getting the lowest score in the class, hung her head in shame, “Yeah…”

Liu Shuang was silent for a moment, then took her to a higher loft.

Shen Qiqi glanced over, and sure enough, there were some of the most basic mental cultivation methods of the Qingli Sect, starting from sitting cross-legged and practicing horse stance, step by step teaching people how to cultivate immortals – from  entering the door, entering the grave.

Seeing that she was looking at it with great interest, Liu Shuang reminded her, “Junior sister, if you really have no foundation, it will probably take you 3 years to fully understand these books.”

Shen Qiqi stiffened, “3 years…” She knew that the promotion competition was only 15 days away.

She looked up at Liu Shuang with hopeful eyes, “Then, is there any kind of quick cultivation manual? Like something like ‘Learn How to Condense Qi in 30 Days’, a shortcut cultivation method would be great!” But her voice gradually lowered under the other party’s increasingly stern gaze.

Liu Shuang put away her expression and said coldly, “There are no shortcuts in cultivation.”

Shen Qiqi’s whole body deflated, and she hung her head in dejection: That’s right, in the book, none of these cannon fodder characters didn’t work hard step by step. She wasn’t the female lead, so she didn’t have such good luck… Moreover, the female lead had also diligently cultivated for so many years before finally taking a shortcut through her own ability.

She never thought that one day she would be personally educated by the character she had written.

She rested her chin on the book, her voice suddenly lowered eight octaves, and she hung her eyebrows, looking like a big dog that had made a mistake, wagging her tail and begging for forgiveness, “Senior sister, don’t be angry… I was wrong, I shouldn’t have been lucky and taken shortcuts, please forgive me!”

It seemed that she was destined to make a fool of herself in the promotion competition.

Liu Shuang looked at her dejected appearance and sighed, “Are you really so clueless?”

“To be honest,” Shen Qiqi looked up, her eyes dark and bright, and her tone sincere, “I went into a devilish state when I was cultivating before…”

Liu Shuang’s gaze scanned her brows, with a hint of scrutiny, “Oh?”

Shen Qiqi made up a story, “Really! I found that I had forgotten almost everything I learned before.”

Liu Shuang said, “Then you’ve regressed a bit too much.”

Shen Qiqi nodded vigorously, “That’s right, that’s why I wanted to ask for a quick cultivation method, so that I wouldn’t look so bad in the promotion competition.”

Seeing her sincerity, Liu Shuang suddenly smiled lightly, “If you’re so worried about the promotion competition, I can help you.”

Shen Qiqi was overjoyed, “Really?!”

••••

Night had fallen, and a bright moon hung high in the sky. The cool night air filled the room, illuminated by a single candle that cast a warm glow on the two figures.

Shen Qiqi sat at the desk, her back straight, holding a brush and intently studying an elementary cultivation manual. She muttered to herself as she read.

Liu Shuang placed a freshly brewed cup of tea on the table and sat down beside her. After watching in silence for a while, she suddenly said, “Why don’t you take a rest if you’re tired?”

Shen Qiqi looked up and smiled, “I’m not tired! The book you gave me is really effective. I’ve been practicing for a while, and I feel warm all over.” She rubbed her stomach and said confidently, “If I keep studying like this, I don’t think I’ll be the last.”

She wasn’t bragging. When she was studying, Shen Qiqi’s grades were pretty good. She used to be addicted to playing games, but every time she crammed before an exam, she could always hover around the top 20 in her grade.

Liu Shuang closed her eyes slightly and smiled meaningfully.

Cultivating as a righteous sect was completely opposite to cultivating as a demon cultivator. Righteous cultivators focused on cultivating their golden core, storing the spiritual energy of the world in their dantian for their own use.

Demon cultivators, on the other hand, absorbed demonic aura, which came from people’s delusions and greed. As long as there were people, demon cultivators would always return with a full load, so their cultivation speed was hundreds of times faster than that of righteous cultivators.

Righteous cultivators looked down on demon cultivators for two reasons: first, they cultivated ascetically and couldn’t stand the unscrupulous methods of demon cultivators; second, once they were tainted with demonic nature, their personalities would change drastically, and their hundred years of cultivation would be ruined.

Because of this, demons and immortals were in opposition to each other. If the two extreme cultivation methods collided…

She glanced at Shen Qiqi and finished the cup of tea in one gulp.

That person’s dantian will contain two different types of aura. The demonic aura and spiritual aura will collide, eventually shattering and damaging the person’s meridians and foundation.

And Shen Qiqi hasn’t realized until now that the book she’s been using is a cultivation method for demonic cultivation. If she continues practicing it, her dantian will probably be completely destroyed.

Could it be that the absurd ‘going into devilish state’ she mentioned is actually true?

She suddenly called out, “Junior sister.” Then she stood up, walked behind Shen Qiqi, and gently bent down, pressing her right hand that was holding the brush.

“You wrote this part wrong.” Liu Shuang said, enclosing her hand in her palm. The two of them held the brush and carefully ground it in an inkstone.

Feeling the soft body pressing against her back, Shen Qiqi was stunned, a thin layer of sweat broke out on her forehead, and she stammered, “Th-thank you, Senior sister…”

Stroke by stroke, new ink marks appeared on the paper, melting and spreading.

Liu Shuang casually lowered her eyes and saw Shen Qiqi’s ears turning red. She was staring blankly at the vigorous new characters on the paper, and her mind had probably wandered elsewhere.

She suddenly sneaked into Shen Qiqi’s mind and heard the girl’s hidden thoughts.

“The female lead is really… beautiful and kind-hearted, and her handwriting is also beautiful! She’s also very kind to me… I will definitely cultivate well in the future and protect Senior sister from being bullied!”

Liu Shuang’s hand trembled, and the originally neat handwriting suddenly turned into a mess.

“What’s wrong, Senior sister?” Shen Qiqi raised her head and looked at her, her eyes clear, filled with bright admiration and trust.

Liu Shuang let go of her hand, her expression complicated, she glanced at her, stood up, and suddenly took the manual on the desk back into her sleeve.

“Senior sister?” Why did she take the book back? Did I write too ugly?

Shen Qiqi looked at her in surprise, not understanding what she had done wrong. She saw Liu Shuang turn her back and said coldly, “There are some problems with this book, you don’t need to practice according to it anymore.”

Thank you everyone (360° bow)