The small village where Mu Xue lived was ten miles away from Yunxi city. For travel between them, there were wooden ox carts available for people to ride. The price was not expensive, only three coins per person.
In the past, Da Zhu used to work in the city and was used to walking every day, so naturally he was reluctant to spend the money. But thinking that it was his little sister’s first time going out and she had never ridden in a cart before, his resolve weakened. He took out three coins and gave them to the cart driver. He put Mu Xue on the back of the cart and let her sit with the other children going to the city, with him following behind.
The cart was a simple wooden board cart, but it certainly wasn’t an ordinary mode of transportation, due to the wooden ox that could move by itself. With its wooden body, iron hooves, and a coarse magic array carved on its haunch, this was a simple magical tool that was almost irrelevant to cultivators.
But for ordinary people, the significance was quite different. The wooden ox did not need to eat grass or rest. As long as it was operated proficiently, it could walk with its mechanical steps, making creaking sounds. Although it wasn’t fast, it was superior in its ability to carry a lot of weight, was stable and durable. It could greatly improve the lives of many people.
In Mu Xue’s past life, she was obsessed with the art of refining demonic beasts, and specialized in this field. Later, with her genius, she became the most prestigious master of refining tools in the city of Fuwang.
This was her first time seeing a tool made by cultivators in this life and even though it was such a simple low-level tool, she couldn’t help but feel excited. She sat at the front of the cart, eagerly examining the wooden ox, scrutinizing every detail of the rivets, seams, and iron hooves.
Finally, unable to resist, she reached out with her small hand and lightly touched the simple magic array carved on its haunch. Spiritual energy circulated around the magic array, giving her fingers a familiar, slightly uncomfortable feeling.
This tool seemed simple, but the technology clearly had gone through the test of time, multiple improvements, to become so simple yet ingenious, to the point where ordinary people could easily use it.
It seems that the level of refinement here is not lower than that of our demon realm, Mu Xue nodded to herself in her heart.
The demon realm where the demonic cultivators were and the immortal realm where the righteous cultivators were located were two independent worlds, with only a few high-level teleportation magic arrays capable of connecting the two in a short time.
In the past, Mu Xue’s understanding of the righteous realm came mainly from the whimsical speculation and some unreliable written records passed down among demonic cultivators. Now, she was finally going to actually come into contact with the legendary world of righteous cultivators, and she couldn’t help but feel excited.
As Mu Xue was feeling happy, she looked up to see that Chunhua sitting across from her had a somewhat indescribable look on her face.
“Wha…what are you doing touching the ox’s butt all the time?” Chunhua whispered, trying to lower her voice. “Quit touching it, it’s embarrassing, what if others see you? Haven’t you ever ridden a wooden ox before?”
“It’s not like that,” Mu Xue earnestly pulled back her hand. “I heard from someone that if you touch the pattern on the ox’s butt before receiving a fateful encounter, you can absorb the immortal energy and be easily selected.”
“Is there such a saying? Is it…is it true?”
Chunhua hesitated for a long time, feeling awkward in front of all the other kids in the cart, and didn’t dare to touch the swaying wooden ox’s butt.
At this moment, Mu Xue probably didn’t realize that because of her joke, the habit of touching the ox’s butt before receiving a fateful encounter quickly became popular and gradually developed into a local custom in the later generations. Even the wooden ox in front of her was later adorned with red flowers and placed at the gate of Biyun city so that people could touch it and absorb the immortal energy when entering and leaving the city.
When they arrived at Yunxi city and got off the cart, they saw that the buildings on both sides of the road were embellished with carved beams and painted rafters, with lofty phoenix pavilions and dragon towers made of exquisite gold and jade.
Looking up, the evening sky seemed small amidst the grandeur of the architecture.
Between the towering watchtowers, there were arched bridge-like continuous platforms floating up and down, transporting crowds of people. Colorful glazed lanterns were hung around the quaint signs, creating a dreamlike and bustling scene. Simplified magical tools and techniques permeated in every corner of the city, making life here appear particularly prosperous and exquisite.
Dazhu pulled Mu Xue’s hand and followed the bustling crowd.
In the middle of the wide road was a parade of lanterns. The sound of drums and music filled the air as gold flowers fluttered about. The huge parade was led by a lively golden dragon, with a wooden head with round, unblinking eyes that emitted two concentrated yellow lights, shining ahead. The dragon’s mouth slowly opened and closed, occasionally uttering a distant and awe-inspiring roar.
After the dragon dance, they followed a group of tall wooden puppets, dressed in colorful clothes with fluttering flags. These disproportionately large-headed puppets looked happy as they swayed and moved.
“Look, little sister, they’re wooden people,” Dazhu pointed out to Mu Xue.
We call them puppets where I come from, Mu Xue thought to herself.
In the past, she was a skilled maker of mechanical puppets. Those she made could not only chat and talk like real people, but also became a great help to their master in battle.
Mu Xue looked up and saw the fluttering colored paper in the night sky, the green trees and silver terraces, and vibrant neon lights floating in the air.
This place is really different from the demonic realm.
In the demonic realm, the city walls were high and sturdy, filled with defense arrays and menacing stone carvings. Residences were mostly strong and low to the ground, with most of them sunk underground. This was to prevent attacks from demon beasts and monsters on human cities at any time. Such exquisite luxury with no defenses like this town could never exist.
There were no traditional sects there. If one really needed a disciple to help out, most demon cultivators would choose to go to the slave market. The purchased disciples would have a contract attached with the words: life and death are subject to fate, and the purchaser has complete authority to handle all personal affairs.
The noise of the crowd interrupted Mu Xue’s memory.
In the parade, a large multi-story high float slowly moved towards them. The suona played beautifully on it, with lilting singing, performing a great drama of exercising demons and monsters. A character with well-defined eyebrows, dressed in flowy robes, held a golden sword, portraying an immortal who battled these creatures. Another character wore a ghost mask and horns, dressed in eerie black robes and played the role of a gloomy and terrifying demonic cultivator.
The immortal slashed with the shining magical weapon and the demonic cultivator yelled, “I’m dying!” and fell to the ground.
The onlookers cheered in unison.
The white-robed immortal playfully flipped his robe and held up a head wearing a ghost mask.
The crowd became even more excited and cheered nonstop.
Dazhu hugged Mu Xue excitedly, “Little sister, look, that wicked demonic cultivator was killed by the immortal.”
Mu Xue, “…”
That was just a play. Big brother, you don’t know yet, but the one you’re holding is a pure demonic cultivator.
Mu Xue looked at the ghost-masked head held up high on the float, reminding herself once again to be careful and cautious, to never reveal the secret of who she really is.
In her past life, she had practiced diligently for many years, but only reached the stage of Golden Core before dying a miserable death. After being reborn, Mu Xue had thought carefully and couldn’t come up with a better way to practice. So, she decided to abstain from practicing the demonic way for a while in this life, and try to infiltrate a righteous sect to learn about the art of alchemy and see if there were any breakthroughs.
For this goal, she had not cultivated for the six years since her birth, enduring it all. She was afraid of being discovered by others after entering the sect.
As the grand parade float approached its end, the crowd ahead churned like a tide.
Mu Xue looked up and saw a young man on the city tower. He wore simple clothes with his hair in a basic black bun and his attire looked even simpler than the immortal on the stage.
“Wow, so many people,” the young cultivator in his twenties scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed as he looked at the crowded street below.
“Let’s get started then, haha.”
As he spoke, he took out a small brocade pouch, untied the knot, and held it in his palm. A golden light crept out of the edge of the pouch, which gradually turned into a golden butterfly. The butterfly stretched its wings in the man’s palm and gracefully flew away.
The drumbeats ceased, and the noise gradually faded away. Even the noisy children closed their mouths and stared at the golden glow in the night sky.
The butterflies flew out one by one, and the gold shone brighter and brighter until the thousands of golden butterflies dispersed from the city tower and landed in the hands of each child.
Some children curiously reached out to grab them, but the golden butterflies immediately collapsed and burst into tiny bits of glittering gold, trickling out from their fingers and disappearing into the night sky.
The young children didn’t know what had happened and laughed at the beautiful scene. However, their accompanying family members couldn’t help but sigh with disappointment.
Not being able to catch one meant they weren’t chosen. Their children were unfortunate.
A small golden butterfly landed gracefully in front of Mu Xue. She used two fingers to gently hold the butterfly’s wing.
The golden butterfly’s wings were made of gold foil, shining with scales and a colorful glittering antennae.
Mu Xue opened her eyes wider.
This was the Xumu butterfly, a rare species in the demon realm.
Mu Xue had spent a lot of effort to obtain one before. She couldn’t have imagined that there were so many of these butterflies in this world that they could be used in large numbers to select disciples.
The butterfly between Mu Xue’s fingers calmly wiggled its legs, and the colorful antennae glowed with unusual colors.
Oops, she let her guard down.
Mu Xue realized she had forgotten the most basic ability of the Xumu butterfly. She tried to release it, but it seemed to be too late.
The surrounding world became extremely quiet at some point. Her brother disappeared, and the parade float was gone. Everything was pitch black.
She could only see her small fingers and the thin wings of the butterfly between them.
Mu Xue felt like she had seen this kind of scene before. Whose hand had held the Xumu butterfly like this and appeared before her eyes?
Slowly, the world became bright again from the darkness. People were noisy and the ground was filthy, with all kinds of unpleasant smells mixed in the air.
Mu Xue stood still in this bright world, feeling a bit dazed. She seemed to have forgotten who she was, where she came from, and where she was going.
At this moment, a golden butterfly flew gracefully past her.
That’s right, I am Mu Xue, a demonic cultivator who has reached the Golden Core stage. This is the city of Fuo Wang.
Her chaotic mind gradually became clear.
A few days ago, as an alchemist, Mu Xue had learned of the news about the Xumu butterfly. After many obstacles, she finally obtained the hard-to-get butterfly. However, she was so excited that she accidentally let it fly away from its container.
What’s wrong with me? Why am I still stuck here? I need to catch up quickly.
Mu Xue knocked her head and activated her magical tool to chase after the small speck of golden light.
Majestic Feathers- Not how I originally imagined the suona to look like but here ya go!
“A suona is a traditional Chinese wind instrument, also known by names such as laba, haidi, or jinban. It is a type of oboe that produces a loud and bright sound with a distinctive buzzing quality. It has a curved, brass body and a flared bell, and it is often used in Chinese folk music, particularly during festive occasions such as weddings and religious ceremonies.”
