The Family Head of This Generation (Girls' Love) - Chapter 20

As the palace gate closed tightly, a lotus-shaped white pool suddenly appeared in the center of the originally empty palace. A dense cloud of cyan mist gradually emanated from the white pool. The thick cyan mist quickly spread to where everyone was standing. Some knowledgeable cultivators, seeing it as the most terrifying thing, couldn’t help but scream, “Abyssal Tribulation! It’s the Abyssal Tribulation! That cyan mist is the Abyssal Tribulation! How can the Abyssal Tribulation be here? Heavens! We can’t get out! I don’t want to die here, help!” The cultivators frantically and fearfully scattered to hide, their original composure completely gone. They cautiously retreated into the corners, terrified of being touched by the cyan mist.

Zhao Ziyan looked at the older generation of martial artists, whose expressions had drastically changed, with some confusion. The younger generation, however, did not show much fear. Ignorance is bliss. Most of the younger generation did not know how formidable the cyan mist was, so naturally, they were not very afraid.

Suppressing the urge to devour the cyan mist, Zhao Ziyan carefully analyzed its characteristics. The cyan mist contained rich spiritual energy, even higher-grade than the spiritual energy she was currently absorbing. The Devouring All Things technique of the Starfall Sect seemed to have an inexpressible longing for this cyan mist. It seemed that as long as she devoured this cyan mist, Devouring All Things could evolve into a higher-level cultivation method.

Not mentioning Zhao Ziyan’s efforts to restrain her desire to devour, she looked around. These martial artists were deeply wary of the cyan mist. Zhao Ziyan looked with some confusion at the Grand Elder beside her, whose face was also ashen.

“Grand Elder, what is the Abyssal Tribulation? Why are you so afraid?” Zhao Ziyan asked, bewildered.

“Family Head, even if I have to sacrifice this old life, I must send the Family Head out! It’s all my fault. If I had known about the Abyssal Tribulation beforehand, I should have sent the Family Head out immediately,” Zhao Xie said with a mournful expression and a pained voice.

“Grand Elder, this is not your fault. Even if you had known, you know my temperament. I won’t give up until I reach the point of no return. Even if you could stop me, I would have sneaked in…”

Zhao Ziyan comforted the grief-stricken Grand Elder, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She disliked it most when these elders were overly emotional.

“Ziyan, I’m afraid we are all going to die in the Heaven’s Secret Realm. Aunt still has many things unfinished. I’m truly unwilling,” Zhao Wenxiu sounded particularly resentful. She hadn’t confessed her feelings to Shang Luo, nor had she achieved Martial Venerable status, yet she was about to die with Zhao Ziyan in this small place.

“We won’t die, Aunt. Trust me. I have a solution. If I don’t return, please take good care of my mother,” Zhao Ziyan said as calmly as possible, releasing Zhao Wenxiu’s tightly clenched hand.

As things stood, she could only gamble once. If she won, her cultivation would advance smoothly in the future. If she lost, it was just one life, and she had already died once anyway. Although she still didn’t know what the cyan mist was, since the Starfall Sect’s Devouring All Things technique strongly desired it, it must be highly beneficial to her. She was not a saint, but if she were to just watch Zhao Wenxiu and the Zhao family members die here, she would probably feel restless for the rest of her life. Therefore, she could only gamble once.

Before Zhao Wenxiu could react, Zhao Ziyan used an instant step and flashed directly into the white lotus pool. If she absorbed all the cyan mist floating in the palace, perhaps the danger to the people in the palace would be lifted! This was the easiest solution Zhao Ziyan could think of.

As Zhao Ziyan entered the white lotus pool, the cyan mist filling the palace instantly shrank back into the white lotus pool. As the cyan mist diminished, the palace quickly became clear again. The martial artists, having narrowly escaped death, looked at each other with lingering fear, all confused as to why such a scene had occurred.

“Zhao Ziyan!”

Zhao Wenxiu quickly crawled to the edge of the now-closed white lotus pool, her eyes red, shouting loudly. From the moment Zhao Ziyan released her hand, Zhao Wenxiu had a bad premonition, but before she could stop her, Zhao Ziyan had jumped into the white lotus pool.

“Family Head, I’m coming to save you! Don’t worry, Family Head!”

Zhao Xie anxiously circled the white lotus pool, muttering words that others couldn’t hear. After circling several times, he still couldn’t find an entrance to the white lotus pool. Finally, gritting his teeth, he unleashed his strongest killing move and fiercely attacked the white lotus pool. However, his usually incredibly powerful killing move didn’t even make the white lotus pool budge, instead, the pool directly bounced the sword from Zhao Xie’s hand away. As the Zhao family continued their attack, some other martial artists also joined the attack, but the white lotus pool’s defense was too strong. Despite the continuous attacks from so many people, they still couldn’t do anything to it.

After a tremor that shook the ground, the people trapped in the palace were all bound by an invisible force. After a moment of dizziness, when the people in the palace regained consciousness, they realized they had been transported out of the Heaven’s Secret Realm and back to the main space. Some of the older generation of martial artists circulated the True Essence in their bodies and discovered that not only had their suppressed cultivation recovered, but the True Essence in their bodies had been purified by a full thirty percent. The older generation wept with joy. The purer the True Essence, the easier it was to advance to the next stage. At their level, even a tiny bit of progress was extremely difficult, but now they had taken a huge step forward. Even reaching Martial God, which they previously dared not even think about, was now within reach. The younger generation also advanced by one stage, and some naturally gifted individuals even advanced by two stages. Everyone who survived had gained greatly.

“Axiu, where is Ziyan?”

Shang Luo rushed to the Zhao family’s base after hearing that those who entered the Heaven’s Secret Realm had returned, only to see Zhao Wenxiu’s pale face and red eyes. Shang Luo quickly grabbed Zhao Wenxiu and asked, feeling increasingly uneasy at the absence of Zhao Ziyan.

“I’m sorry,” Zhao Wenxiu said in a dazed manner, pushing Shang Luo away and flashing out, disappearing from the Zhao family’s base.

“Madam! Madam! Madam has fainted! Quickly call a doctor!” With Shang Luo’s collapse, the Zhao family was in chaos. Shang Luo had always managed the Zhao family, and with her unconscious, the Zhao family lacked its backbone.

Three days later, Shang Luo woke up from her coma. She then made a trip to the ancestral land. After returning from the ancestral land, Shang Luo regained her usual composure and calmness. She restored the chaos in the Zhao family’s order and then continued to handle the Zhao family’s affairs with a peaceful mind.

“Ding—ding——ding——”

Hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock, Zhao Ziyan groggily looked at the time, then her eyes widened: 7:30 a.m. “Ah! I’m going to be late! If that iceberg catches me, I’m dead!”

Zhao Ziyan quickly threw off the blanket and agilely sat up, but then flopped back down onto the bed with a thud. “Didn’t I transmigrate? Why am I back on Earth? Was it just a dream, or was it real? Ah! My head hurts so much! Never mind that, I need to go to work first!”

Scene Recall—

Zhao Ziyan successfully entered the white lotus pool. As she expected, the cyan mist was completely harmless to her. In fact, as the cyan mist drilled into her body, a layer of greasy black substance gradually seeped out of her body. Zhao Ziyan was slightly delighted. Having expelled these harmful black substances, her path of cultivation would become much wider. Zhao Ziyan carefully examined the white lotus space. The cyan mist permeated everywhere in the white lotus space. In the center of the mist was a small pond with a pool of cyan spring water. A millstone-sized cyan lotus bloomed in the spring water. Zhao Ziyan tapped her toes and flew onto the cyan lotus. Sensing that the cyan mist was emanating from the cyan lotus, Zhao Ziyan did not hesitate. She immediately sat cross-legged on the lotus platform and began to devour the omnipresent cyan spiritual energy. As her devouring power increased, Zhao Ziyan entered a profound and mysterious state. In a daze, her soul seemed to traverse countless spaces, step by step, sublimating. When she woke up again, she found herself lying on her dorm bed.

Zhao Ziyan sat on the bed, cross-legged, circulating the True Essence in her body. Zhao Ziyan, who originally thought it was just a dream, found that the True Essence in her body was still circulating automatically, just as it had in the Cang Kui Continent. Upon internal examination, the Dantian, which was previously full of True Essence, now contained a cyan lotus, supporting a round, golden bead. Zhao Ziyan was ecstatic. Wasn’t this the Golden Core she had longed for! She hadn’t expected that absorbing the cyan mist would make her advance two levels, skipping the Heart Refining Stage from the Foundation Establishment Stage and directly advancing to the Golden Core Stage she had dreamed of. If she frequently absorbed the cyan mist in the future, wouldn’t her cultivation soar like a rocket?

After washing up, standing in front of the mirror and looking at the familiar delicate face in the reflection, Zhao Ziyan let out a breath. Whether on the Cang Kui Continent or Earth, life had to continue. There was still half an hour until work started. Keep going! I absolutely won’t bow down to the evil forces!

“Secretary Zhao, good morning.”

“Morning.”

“Secretary Zhao, good morning.”

“Mhm.”

…

Listening to the greetings, Zhao Ziyan calmly returned them. As the CEO’s secretary, her position was not officially high, but she could directly meet with the ‘Emperor’, so her status was quite elevated. Even some high-level executives had to give the CEO’s secretary some face. If they offended her and she put in a bad word with the CEO, their future days would be difficult. To put it plainly, a secretary was a minor character who relied on the CEO’s power, like the nice-sounding name for Eunuch in ancient times.

“Pah, pretentious.” “Showing off, she’s probably sleeping with the CEO anyway.” “The CEO will dump that pretentious woman sooner or later.”

Zhao Ziyan heard the remarks behind her and smiled indifferently, her footsteps steady as she walked toward the elevator, as if the protagonist of the discussion was not her. Zhao Ziyan’s smile was enigmatic. It seemed that National Day was approaching, which meant a new round of scheduled time off! I’m looking forward to seeing those few women just now! Let’s keep them here to work overtime with me! Holiday pay is triple. Don’t thank me too much.

As the Chief Eunuch (secretary), Zhao Ziyan had a small office. After entering the office, Zhao Ziyan skillfully ground, brewed, and poured the coffee. The whole process was smooth and seamless, as if she had practiced it countless times.

As a qualified Chief Eunuch, Zhao Ziyan was perfectly familiar with the CEO’s preferences. Speaking of being pretentious, the CEO she served was the master of pretense. Take, for example, the popular trope that all CEOs love to drink coffee. In Zhao Ziyan’s eyes, it was purely for showing off. For example, the CEO wouldn’t drink instant coffee, wouldn’t drink coffee with milk, wouldn’t drink it if it was too sweet, wouldn’t drink it if it was too bitter, wouldn’t drink it if it was too hot, and wouldn’t drink it if it was too cold. When she first started, Zhao Ziyan was often intentionally made things difficult by the CEO because of the coffee. Later, she finally figured out the CEO’s coffee habits. To put it simply: freshly ground, eight-tenths hot, half a spoon of sugar. A small cup of coffee was already so troublesome, let alone the rest of the miscellaneous tasks. Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, Zhao Ziyan was the glamorous Chief Eunuch, but in front of the CEO, she was the pitiful punching bag. Yet, she couldn’t resign. When she was in her senior year of high school, she was broke and sleeping on the streets. If the CEO’s mistress hadn’t picked her up, she might have starved to death on the street long ago. That’s why Zhao Ziyan had endured being deliberately put through difficulties all this time.