The Beauty Cultivation Technique

Vol. 1 - Chapter 6 - Bai Yan

Looking at the man in front of her, exuding a wicked aura, Ji Yaoge lifted her foot and kicked him square in the chest. He raised an eyebrow in slight surprise and leaned back, taking half a step back but not letting go as she had hoped. Instead, he grabbed her ankle and lifted it to his shoulder. Ji Yaoge fell from the table, her other foot touching the ground, her legs almost forming a split. Ignoring her disheveled clothes, she bent her waist backward, hands supporting herself on the table, and flipped over.

Her skirt fluttered like mist past the man’s face, leaving him momentarily stunned. Ji Yaoge landed behind the table, her hands turning into palms, attacking him.

"Just a few days have passed and my Senior Sister's skills have improved. Truly impressive!" he said with a long, melodious voice that could make one's heart itch.

Though he spoke, his moves were not lax, sidestepping her palm strike, engaging her in the small cave. Ji Yaoge, trained in orthodox ways, had never missed a day of physical training during her Qi Refinement stage. Even though her cultivation had faded, her agility and fierce moves were far beyond ordinary low-level cultivators. After exchanging dozens of moves, she feigned an attack, moving behind him, one hand gripping his pulse point, the other unhesitatingly locking around his throat.

"Who are you, and why did you intrude into my cave?" she demanded coldly.

The man’s brows furrowed slightly, a gleam flashing in his eyes. "I heard you were attacked and lost your memory. I didn’t believe it, but now you don’t even recognize me... I am your junior, Bai Yan..." As he spoke, a green light flashed from his fingertips, striking her wrist.

Ji Yaoge winced, releasing her grip. Before she could evade, his cold hand was already around her waist. He spun her around, pulling her into his arms, looking closely at her. Initially toying with her, he hadn’t expected her moves to be so fierce, forcing him to use spiritual power and techniques to subdue her.

"Let go!" Ji Yaoge was beyond embarrassed. Wearing only a small undergarment, being held like this was akin to skin-to-skin contact. His cold fingers traced up her spine, like a snake’s tongue, raising goosebumps all over her.

She wanted to kill him.

For two hundred years on Wan Ren Mountain, her senior brothers had been gentlemen, treating her respectfully even if they admired her. The most intimacy was holding hands or patting her head. Never had she experienced such an encounter.

Perhaps her fierce gaze made Bai Yan pause in confusion. "Senior Sister, you lost your memory, but why do you seem like a different person?" Though she had always been indifferent to his teasing, she never resisted like today.

After all, they were in the Mei Sect, and such things were common. What was she insisting on?

"Maybe this is who I’ve always been, and you just never knew," Ji Yaoge said, unwilling to explain. The amnesia was her excuse; otherwise, she couldn’t explain why she didn’t recognize the sect.

"Oh... Are you suggesting Bai Yan should get to know you better?" Bai Yan nodded innocently and sincerely. "Bai Yan understands, I will get to know you deeply."

"...," Ji Yaoge was speechless, then shouted, "Let go!"

The cave door opened again, and a pretty figure stormed in.

"Yaoge, I forgot to remind you earlier. While you were unconscious, no one was managing the Cangling Pavilion..." Jiao Tao's words trailed off as she saw the two entwined. After a fight, Bai Yan’s robe was even more open, and Ji Yaoge was only in an undergarment, her bare back pressed against him. It was easy to misunderstand.

Ji Yaoge forcefully pushed Bai Yan away, grabbed her fallen outer garment, and quickly put it on. "Senior Sister Jiao Tao, what is it?"

"I’ll come back later..." Jiao Tao began but was interrupted.

"No, tell me now."

"While you were unconscious, no one managed the Cangling Pavilion. The disciples’ contributions couldn’t be recorded, so their monthly allowances couldn’t be distributed, and they’re all complaining. Madame Ying Shuang will return in two days, so you should sort it out before she comes back," Jiao Tao said quickly.

"Cangling Pavilion... what is it?"

Hearing her question, Jiao Tao and Bai Yan exchanged glances. "You forgot that too?" Jiao Tao sighed, "You were already slow, now you’re hopeless."

"Senior Sister Jiao Tao, why not let me take Senior Sister to the Cangling Pavilion and show her around? Maybe it will jog her memory," Bai Yan suggested politely.

"Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, Bai Yan. Even if she’s lost her memory, she’s not someone you can toy with. Get rid of your bad intentions," Jiao Tao warned.

"You misunderstand me, Senior Sister Jiao Tao..." Bai Yan began.

Ji Yaoge, impatient, interrupted, "Tell me where the Cangling Pavilion is, and I’ll go myself."

Jiao Tao reluctantly agreed, "Fine, let Bai Yan take you. I’m busy now." She pulled Ji Yaoge aside, whispering, "He’s a sly fox. Don’t let him trick you. Even if you choose him, get Madame’s approval first."

"Choose him for what?" Ji Yaoge asked, confused.

"To dual cultivate!" Jiao Tao spat, exasperated.

"...," Are all Mei Sect disciples this direct? Ji Yaoge was about to deny it, but Jiao Tao was already at the door.

"I have things to do. Bai Yan, take her to the Cangling Pavilion."

With that, Jiao Tao disappeared.

"Let’s go, Senior Sister," Bai Yan said, holding the door open.

Ji Yaoge signaled for him to lead the way. As he stepped out, she kicked him in the rear, sending him tumbling outside. When he turned around, the door shut in his face, nearly hitting his nose.

"Wait outside! Intrude again and I’ll cut off your hand," Ji Yaoge’s voice came through the door.

Bai Yan chuckled, rubbing his chin. When the door reopened, Ji Yaoge had changed into a diagonal-collar dress, tightly buttoned, leaving no trace of skin.

————

Wearing clothes that clashed with Mei Sect’s style, Ji Yaoge attracted many glances as she walked through Chi Xiu Palace but she ignored them, walking with a straight back. Bai Yan explained the palace’s details, his speculative gaze occasionally sweeping over her.

It was Ji Yaoge's first time seeing Chi Xiu Palace. It occupied the largest mountain in Shuangxia Valley, with clear springs, vines, and flowers, the scenery serene and unique. The cave residences were meticulously built, exuding a wild yet celestial charm. However, to Ji Yaoge, they seemed overly crafted, lacking the natural grandeur she was used to. But the men and women she passed caught her attention.

They were all disciples of Chi Xiu Palace, each one attractive. If looks could be a sect’s strength, Chi Xiu Palace surpassed Wan Ren Mountain in this regard. But what intrigued Ji Yaoge was not their appearance, but their brazen behavior.

"This is the Cangling Pavilion, one of our sect's important places, divided into an outer and inner pavilion. The outer pavilion stores ordinary resources, while the inner pavilion holds valuable treasures. Senior Sister is the only one responsible for the Cangling Pavilion, appointed by Madame Ying Shuang," Bai Yan explained, stopping before a three-story stone pavilion, pointing to the characters ‘Cangling’ carved on the stone wall.

"Every month, disciples contribute materials like herbs, ores, pelts, and beast cores. These are stored in the outer pavilion, recorded by you, and their monthly spirit jade allowances are based on these records. Since you were sick for half a month, no one managed the outer pavilion, so they couldn’t get their allowances, hence their complaints."

Bai Yan, though usually frivolous, explained everything in detail.

Cultivators don’t value mundane wealth; spirit jade is the currency of the Wan Hua cultivation world, made from ten-thousand-year-old jade, capable of storing spiritual energy, divided into three grades. Besides being used as currency, it can aid in cultivation, making it indispensable for ordinary cultivators.

Ji Yaoge was silent for a moment. In the Wu Xiang Sword Sect, she was highly esteemed, with all her resources provided by the sect, never lacking. She couldn’t fully understand the struggles of ordinary cultivators who had to work for their resources. Even in Wan Ren Mountain, ordinary and outer disciples had to complete tasks to earn resources. While elite disciples of major sects enjoyed better treatment, the conditions for smaller sects were much harsher, with the worst being rogue cultivators. People admired immortals for their longevity and freedom, unaware of the strict hierarchies within immortal sects, where strength rules, much like the mortal world.

This was a truth Ji Yaoge had understood long ago.

"And the inner pavilion?" she asked after a brief pause.

"The inner pavilion holds treasures like magical artifacts, weapons, spiritual medicines, and secret manuals that Madame has collected but doesn’t use. There are also gifts from other sects and items found by our disciples. You are responsible for cleaning and inventorying it."

"I can enter the inner pavilion?" Ji Yaoge was surprised. How could someone with her low cultivation be allowed into such an important place?

"Madame trusts you deeply, and because of your unique traits, she assigned you this duty so you could have a place in the sect."

Bai Yan’s words were polite, but Ji Yaoge understood. Her poor aptitude meant she couldn’t use the treasures inside, nor could she train like the others, so she was given these mundane tasks. In Wu Xiang Sword Sect, someone like her would have been left to fend for herself on Wan Ren Mountain, not wasting sect resources. In this sense, Chi Xiu Palace, though small, was more humane.

This was perhaps the only advantage Ji Yaoge could think of for Chi Xiu Palace. However, in the cultivation world, being humane wasn’t necessarily a compliment.

"Your cultivation is higher than mine, so why do you call me Senior Sister?" she asked, stepping up the stone steps toward the Cangling Pavilion.

In the Wan Hua cultivation world, seniority is based on cultivation, not the time of entry. The one with higher cultivation is the senior. Yet Bai Yan always called himself her junior.

Bai Yan’s eyes sparkled with warmth. "Senior Sister forgot? When I first entered Chi Xiu Palace, you gave me three drops of clear dew. I remember it well." He tapped his head, "I forgot about your amnesia. No matter, regardless of the rules here or my future cultivation, I’ll always respect you as my senior."

His sincere words made Ji Yaoge think of someone who had called her Senior Sister for two hundred years.

Eternal respect?

What had she given back then, far more than three drops of clear dew?

She didn’t respond to his feelings, heading straight to the door. "How do you open this door?"

Bai Yan didn’t mind her coldness and pulled her hand before she could withdraw, pressing it against the door’s restriction. The door rumbled open. "Once the door is open, everyone will come to submit their materials. You have ten days of work piled up. I’ll stay in the outer pavilion to help you. I can’t enter the inner pavilion, so you’ll be on your own."

"Thank you." Ji Yaoge, still unfamiliar with her surroundings, didn’t refuse. After thanking him, she was about to enter when her primordial spirit tingled, an eerie energy creeping in like a snake in the dark.

She trembled, gripping Bai Yan’s arm, unable to move. The eerie energy was familiar, identical to the residual energy she felt when her spirit first entered this body.

The person who helped her had mentioned that this body’s original owner was turned into a living corpse by "Yin Cultivation." Could the one who performed the dark arts be a fellow sect member?

Thinking this, she scanned the area, seeing a group approaching.

The woman leading them was different from other female cultivators in Chi Xiu Palace. She wore a green robe under a dark red serpentine armor, with twin scimitars at her waist, a low-collared short dress exposing a deep cleavage and long, straight legs, her beauty fierce and striking.

"Why is she here?" Bai Yan frowned slightly.

"Who is she?" Ji Yaoge asked.

"Senior Sister Ye Long, Madame’s personal disciple," Bai Yan said, a smirk forming. "Besides Madame, her cultivation is the highest in the sect. She practices the Nanming Hehuan Technique, not picky about male or female partners."

Ji Yaoge was stunned, still processing, when she heard Ye Long’s voice.

"Little short-lived ghost, still not dead yet?"