Luck is a very wondrous thing. It cannot be seen or touched, yet it constantly influences everyone.

If a person has a run of bad luck, everything goes wrong; even drinking water can get stuck in their teeth, and wherever they go, people keep their distance.

But once a person starts having good luck, not only do all things go smoothly and their wishes come true, but many things that originally seemed very difficult will often resolve themselves when the time comes.

Bai Sui couldn’t say for sure whether she was currently having good luck, but from the moment she awakened her memories, she felt as if everything had become much smoother.

Not only did she have the “attribute panel” cheat, but even the bad luck that had clung to her and made her childhood miserable seemed to have dissipated all at once.

All of this started from the awakening of her memories. There’s a saying: when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, it will first frustrate their heart and will, weary their sinews and bones, starve their flesh and skin, and exhaust their body. Could it be that she was fated to be a protagonist? Or was she Heaven’s own daughter? Were all her previous experiences merely to temper her, and now after utter misfortune comes great fortune?

Heh, she was overthinking. Amused by her own thoughts, she couldn’t help but smile. She looked up at the illumination ball on the ceiling, waved her hand, and extinguished it.

In any case, she hoped everything would get better and better.

The night was deep.

Bai Sui believed she would definitely have a good dream, and indeed it turned out as she thought. After falling asleep, she soon began to have a pleasant dream.

What she wished for most right now was to raise her cultivation as quickly as possible. So in her dream, she dreamed that her cultivation shot up rapidly, quickly surpassing the Qi Refining stage, smoothly entering Foundation Establishment, and then time flew by; when she looked back, she was already a Core Formation cultivator.

As the saying goes, the great roc rises with the wind in one day, soaring straight up ninety thousand li. When she achieved fame and success, becoming a peerless female cultivator of her region and returning to Jade Pool Market, everyone around cast admiring gazes at her. Some shifty-eyed people even wanted to pry the secrets of cultivation from her.

However, at that time she was dressed in white, like a celestial fairy above the clouds, every move of the mortal world unable to escape her discerning eyes. How could she not see through their thoughts? Just as she wore a proud expression, preparing to show off before the crowd, for some unknown reason, the earth suddenly trembled violently.

She showed a stunned expression and wanted to fly into the air, but when she looked up, she realized the sky, which had been azure blue just a moment ago, had turned scarlet and had already split in two.

What was worse, she wanted to fly, but after bouncing on the spot for ages, she couldn’t produce any spiritual power.

What was going on? How had her cultivation disappeared?

Bai Sui instantly panicked.

And just then, the earth cracked open. Unable to take off, she no longer had the slightest bearing of a master. The ground beneath her feet gave way, and she fell straight into the abyss.

It was a dizzying, spinning sensation, and only when her bottom hit the ground hard did she violently awaken.

So it was all a dream!

But how had she fallen off the bed in her sound sleep?

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked toward the window. At that moment, the sky was just beginning to lighten; dawn was about to break.

But right at that moment, a violent tremor struck, and immediately after, she felt a powerful surge of spiritual energy fluctuations.

What was going on?

Bai Sui, still in shock, looked outside the window, but before she could react, the booming sounds of explosions, accompanied by the trembling of the earth, reached her.

For a moment, sand flew and stones rolled, rubble was flung everywhere, as if an earth dragon had been startled awake and rolled over in fury.

Oh no, there was a fight going on outside! And it seemed the battle was at a complete stalemate.

Bai Sui was terrified. She rushed to the door, made sure her main door was still tightly shut and hadn’t been damaged in the earlier explosions, then leaned against the wooden door and slowly let out a breath of relief.

As for whether the courtyard gate outside was still intact, she had no mind to check.

A battle between cultivators—she, a tiny little female cultivator at Qi Refining Second Layer, had better not get involved. Otherwise, she’d just bring trouble upon herself and might even lose her little life.

So, Bai Sui hid in her room, waiting in lingering fear. Fortunately, the fight came as abruptly as it ended. Not long after, calm returned outside, just like before.

But Bai Sui didn’t venture out rashly.

Who knew if the source that had caused this danger was still around?

Thus, she waited in her room for a long time, until the morning sun rose and its rays shone in through the window. She heard the clamor of villagers discussing outside, and only then was she certain everything was safe.

‘Huh, let’s go out and take a look. I wonder what it’s like outside.’

Thinking this, Bai Sui opened the door and trotted to the courtyard entrance. Fortunately, her courtyard hadn’t suffered damage.

The fresh air still carried a faint smell of soil. Bai Sui walked a few steps in the direction of the crowd and found they had gathered over two hundred meters from her home.

This was in the opposite direction from the Tian household, separated from Bai Sui’s courtyard by several other houses, so she rarely came this way normally.

When she got closer, she found over a hundred people gathered, practically all the able-bodied men of Spirit Water Village assembled here. Of course, quite a few children and idle women had also come, but the children were blocked by the adults and kept from getting close, and the women, after hearing descriptions from bystanders, didn’t dare approach.

“Uncle Wu, what exactly happened here?” Bai Sui grabbed hold of an uncle she knew and asked him with a face full of curiosity.

Seeing it was Bai Sui, Uncle Wu didn’t hide anything. He sighed and kept clicking his tongue, “Terrible, this Cao family died a truly horrible death! I heard they were struck dead by someone with a Heavenly Thunder Talisman. Right, it was during that loud boom in the morning—you must have heard it too.”

Bai Sui nodded. She had heard it, and more than that. Living nearby, she had heard the thunder even louder; it had scared her half to death.

Uncle Wu said, “Come to think of it, this Cao fellow was a cultivator. He used to be so arrogant in our village. Who’d have thought he’d die just like that? But dying wasn’t enough—even after death, he wasn’t left in peace. He was roasted with fire, slashed with blades, all four limbs chopped off, his intestines and organs thrown all over the courtyard!”

Bai Sui’s mouth fell slightly open. What kind of hatred, what kind of grudge could make the killer so vicious?

“Was it revenge?” she asked. Since the deceased was a cultivator and a Heavenly Thunder Talisman had been used, the murderer should also be a cultivator.

Uncle Wu shook his head, “Not too sure. I just arrived too.”

“I see.” Bai Sui realized she couldn’t get any answers out of him.

Just then, she spotted Uncle Tian coming out of the crowd and quickly went up to ask, “Uncle Tian, you’re here too. I just arrived, and Uncle Wu told me this Cao family was murdered?”

Uncle Tian nodded gravely.

“Revenge?”

“Not exactly.”

Uncle Tian hesitated, but seeing Bai Sui was about to press further, he wore a somewhat odd expression and finally said, “Actually, it could be considered a kind of revenge… It’s just, ah, how do I put this to you.”

Bai Sui grew anxious. Uncle Tian, could you stop speaking in riddles?

Finally, Uncle Tian decided not to hide it. He said, “Actually, this cultivator surnamed Cao didn’t die unjustly. Tell me, he stole another man’s woman?”

Bai Sui’s mouth opened wide. Stealing… a woman? Had the affair been exposed?

Her eyes lit up, and the spirit of gossip blazed fiercely within her.

“Whose woman did he steal? Uncle Tian, tell me quickly, what exactly happened?”

Uncle Wu beside her also pricked up his ears.

Uncle Tian said, “This cultivator surnamed Cao, full name Cao Nanzhuo, commonly called Cao Dagen, was usually overbearing and unreasonable, a notorious troublemaker in the village. They say a man should be established at thirty and settle down, but he was well into his thirties and still couldn’t settle his nature. He carried on as usual, acting as if he could never suffer a loss. Living next to him was a young couple who had just moved in two years ago. The husband, surnamed Cui, was also a cultivator, usually quite warm-hearted, always greeting everyone he met. His wife, née Wu, was an embroiderer, a very pretty woman.

Because she wasn’t a cultivator, Cultivator Cui always protected her and she rarely went out. The conflict between the two families has to be traced back to half a year ago. That was when Cao Dagen got into an argument with Cultivator Cui over some trivial matter. It eventually escalated to the point of almost coming to blows. Later, only through Manager Liu’s mediation did both sides back down.”

Bai Sui had some impression of this incident.

At that time, she had also run over to join the excitement. It seemed it was because Cao Dagen had spoken out of turn; while boasting, he had verbally flirted with Cultivator Cui’s wife, saying he wanted to taste her sweet fragrance or something, which sparked the dispute.

This Cao Dagen really lived up to his name, all the mush in his brain concentrated in his “big root.” It was one thing to speak loosely to ordinary folk, but treating a cultivator’s wife like that was brainless—utterly asking for a beating!

Cultivator Cui was at least at the second layer of Qi Refining. Seeing someone make advances toward his wife, even just verbally, he couldn’t let the matter drop lightly. Otherwise, how could he have any face left to mix in cultivator circles?

So the matter blew up, and only when Manager Liu personally stepped in was it finally suppressed.

“Although the matter was resolved at the time, Cao Dagen was publicly humiliated and harbored the grudge in his heart. Manager Liu he dared not provoke, so he sought trouble with Cultivator Cui. The whole thing had started because he verbally teased Cultivator Cui’s wife, so he decided to make the pretense real.

Thus, taking advantage of Cultivator Cui’s absence, he climbed over the wall into the Cui household. This Cao Dagen didn’t have much ability otherwise. In terms of cultivation, he had just barely entered the second layer of Qi Refining. But the man was exceptionally gifted by nature, which could also be seen from his nickname.

Cultivator Cui’s wife, Wu Xue’e, might have initially been forced by Cao Dagen’s martial power. But as things go, once there’s a first time, there’s a second. Cao Dagen snuck in many times when Cultivator Cui wasn’t home. After repeated encounters, somehow Wu Xue’e’s mind changed, and she actually hooked up with Cao Dagen in an illicit affair, the two tangling together.”

Hearing this, Bai Sui was somewhat speechless. It seemed this Cao Dagen was a scoundrel exclusively fond of other men’s wives.

And that Wu Xue’e—Bai Sui had seen her before. She was indeed very pretty, quiet and refined, giving the impression of a gentle, virtuous wife. She really never expected she would do such a thing.

What did Cao Dagen have besides his big root? Was it sweet talk or something else? Wu Xue’e, a good, respectable woman, gave up her virtue and instead learned to have an affair, jumping over the wall. One had to know Cultivator Cui usually protected her quite well.

No wonder a female writer from her past life once said: to conquer a woman, there are only two paths. One is the esophagus, leading to the stomach.

And the other leads straight to the depths of a woman’s soul.

Clearly, this Wu Xue’e had simply been conquered by the latter, willingly abandoning morality.