Danger.
That was Evelyn Hart’s first thought as her senses flickered back to life.
She was lying on a freezing cold surface, her entire body wracked with unbearable pain. It felt as if her flesh, bones, and sinews had been torn apart and mashed back together.
She was submerged in some sticky liquid, the metallic tang of blood overpowering her senses, while a bone-chilling atmosphere pressed heavily around her.
Her strength was draining fast.
But Evelyn knew better than to act impulsively without understanding the situation. She remained still, kept her breathing shallow, and feigned unconsciousness with her eyes tightly shut.
“Miranda, how are you feeling?” A man’s voice came from somewhere to her right—a middle-aged tone laced with deep concern.
“F-Father…” came a frail reply from a woman, her voice barely audible, as though those two words had used up every bit of energy she had.
There was a rustling sound—the father checking on his daughter’s condition.
Evelyn pieced it all together. She wasn’t who she used to be. She was now Evelyn Hart, and she had inherited the memories of this body’s previous owner.
This Evelyn had been brought to Shending Sect three years ago by her master, Adrien Lawrence, who had treated her like precious porcelain—until now.She used to think she'd lucked out, finding such a perfect mentor. Turns out, he was only after her fire spirit root.
Everything that once seemed "good" now felt like cruel irony.
Adrien Lawrence, her so-called master, someone she’d once seen as a father figure, had never cared for her. His kindness was just an act, hiding his real aim—to steal her unparalleled fire spirit root for his daughter, Miranda Lawrence.
Three years of preparation had led up to this moment. Adrien activated the intricate spirit root transfer array, positioning Evelyn Hart and Miranda Lawrence at the formation's opposing poles.
As the array surged to life, her essence was ripped from her—her supreme single fire spirit root forcefully taken, transferred to Miranda. On the other side, a worthless five-element spirit root was shoved into Evelyn, binding her to failure.
When Evelyn arrived, the ritual was already finished. The original Evelyn Hart must have succumbed to the excruciating pain and died—allowing Evelyn’s spirit from another world to inhabit the broken shell left behind.
Evelyn clenched her fists, her gaze cold. Another chance at life. If she had inherited this body, then she’d inherit its hatred too.
"If I survive today, I swear... this betrayal will be repaid in full!" Adrien Lawrence checked on Miranda Lawrence's condition and couldn't help but grin widely. "Miranda, rest assured, everything went perfectly. From now on, you’re destined to be one of the top alchemists in the cultivation world!"
The forbidden ritual had worked flawlessly, and Miranda could feel the change. Though her body was still frail, a simple circulation of her cultivation technique drew in an overwhelming flood of spiritual energy. It felt like heaven compared to the sluggish progress of her old useless five-element spiritual roots.
A single fire root—top-tier, unmatched!
Especially within the God Cauldron Sect, where alchemy was revered above all, this supreme fire root seemed tailor-made for her. Miranda couldn’t help but savor the surge of delight filling her chest.
Sacrificing Evelyn Hart, risking forbidden magic, braving danger—it all seemed laughably insignificant now that the results were so perfect.
“Father,” Miranda's voice trembled softly, carrying a fragile sweetness that masked the venom beneath it, “about my… sister.”
The topic spun to Evelyn Hart.
By now, Evelyn had already activated Turtle Breath Technique, forcing her body into a death-like state with no visible breath or heartbeat, indistinguishable from a corpse.
“She isn’t your sister,” Adrien scoffed, his tone sharp, devoid of pity. “Bringing her here was merely for her spiritual root and physique—they were ideal for you. Her name wasn’t even listed as a disciple of our sect. She was just your root container, nothing more.”Adrien Lawrence extended his spiritual sense slightly, confirming that Evelyn Hart’s life force was completely gone. Her body had already grown cold. He let out a faint scoff and said, “No use keeping her any longer. Three years wasn’t wasted—she served her purpose.”
Miranda Lawrence remained silent, her mind calm. She had always been aware of Evelyn’s role in the sect; every time she looked at Evelyn, all she saw was a walking fire root. Now that the root was hers, she couldn’t suppress the thrill building within her. All that mattered now was her triumph and satisfaction—Evelyn’s existence had long ceased to occupy her thoughts. Dead was better anyway, less trouble.
Adrien scooped his daughter into his arms and turned toward the door with a single command: “Aber, take care of it.”
“Yes.”
Aber Reed stepped inside as Adrien walked off into the rainy night. He grabbed Evelyn’s lifeless form and dragged her through the narrow passageway, the dim torchlight flickering against the damp stone walls. After what seemed like the time for a single incense stick to burn, he emerged from the hidden chamber.
The rain outside fell quietly, its faint chill licking Aber’s face as he hauled Evelyn toward the secluded terrain behind the sect. The back mountain was deserted, a place where novice beasts roamed, and disciples often risked their lives for training. Without hesitation, Aber Reed flung Evelyn Hart’s limp body off the rocky edge as though discarding garbage.
No one would question her fate here. If she were found dead deep in the wilderness, it would simply be marked down as an unlucky accident during training. Nothing more, nothing less.The path of cultivation is fraught with peril. Every year, countless cultivators perish during their journeys, their deaths barely raising a ripple, especially if their sects choose not to intervene. Leaving Evelyn Hart here was the perfect choice. Her demise wouldn’t rouse anyone’s attention.
The mountains were steep, sparsely dotted with scraggly vegetation. Evelyn, bloodied and frail after losing her fire spirit root and cultivation, tumbled down the slope, desperate to grab on to branches to slow her fall. But her body, drained and weak, couldn’t fight back—she crashed against trees and rocks, rolling further and further until consciousness slipped away.
Time passed, unmeasured, before Evelyn stirred. Darkness enveloped her, broken only by the faint drip-drip of water nearby. It took her a long moment of laying prone on the cold ground before her vision adjusted enough to make out her surroundings.
“Fall down hard, lie down harder...” the thought crossed her hazy mind. She lacked the strength to stand. With difficulty, she rolled onto her back, her eyes scanning the area.
She seemed to be inside a cave. Above her, stalactites reached down like gnarled fingers, droplets of water forming at their tips and falling predictably into small pools below, creating the steady rhythm she’d heard.
Other than that? Silence. Deafening silence.
There was no sign of the storm that had drenched her on the mountainside. No wind slipped through here, as though the space was wholly cut off from the outside world. This wasn’t just secluded—it was isolated.Evelyn Hart scanned her surroundings. No sign of danger. It seemed safe for now.
Being abandoned had left Evelyn in a sorry state. Adrien Lawrence, her so-called mentor, had spared no effort to ensure the flawless transfer of her supreme fire affinity to his daughter, Miranda Lawrence. Evelyn was left with the infamous "waste-tier" five-elemental roots, trembling weakly within her. Her body outright rejected the unstable spiritual roots, leaving her in constant pain, sometimes feeling as though parts of herself were being stripped away.
Evelyn wasn’t one to brood over her situation—it’d solve nothing. Still, the incompatibility gnawed at her. What’s worse, this world lacked pure spiritual energy. The abundance of impurities made cultivating with five-elemental roots tedious and frustrating at best.
But frustration didn’t mean impossibility.
Evelyn had once stumbled across a cultivation manual in her previous life, "All Things Thrive.” This unique method allowed practitioners to harness any energy available—whether it be pure spiritual energy, elemental forces, or even sinister aura. A rare gem of a technique, its requirements were as sharp as its benefits.
To master it, one needed exceptional comprehension and complete elemental affinity: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—all accounted for. Mutated affinities? A luxury, but not a necessity.
Her past self had failed at it. Four roots weren’t enough.After years of effort, she had tried everything to make sense of the incomplete version of that technique. Eventually, she had to give up on cultivating it.
But now, reborn with a body that carried five wasteful spirit roots instead of a top-tier fire root, things were different. The 《Wanwu Sheng》 technique, ingrained in her memory, was finally useful. For Evelyn Hart, it was her bitter fortune turned blessing.
Lying on the ground, she shut her eyes and began to recite the technique silently, attempting to draw spiritual energy into her depleted body.
Anyone who stumbled upon this sight would scoff at the absurdity of someone trying to cultivate while sprawled across the dirt. Yet, for Evelyn, survival dictated her every move — and appearances were the last thing on her mind.
The harsh truth was clear: if she didn’t regain even a fraction of her strength, she wouldn’t stand a chance of walking out of these beast-haunted mountains alive.
