Jian Dan released a thread of her divine sense, letting it sweep smoothly across the crystalline surface of Yue Liang's sword pool. She found that the little one was still being very cautious, merely inching forward bit by bit through the dense spiritual energy. Its small body was wrapped in a protective cluster of sharp sword qi, steadily refining itself within the depths of the pool. She nodded in satisfaction at its progress and stopped paying her attention to it for the moment.
Before entering the sword pool, Liu Chuan had already shown good sense and initiative. He slipped off silently from her wrist, and stayed at the entrance to keep watch. He remained there, coiled and vigilant, guarding against anyone blind enough to disturb Jian Dan during her cultivation.
Only then did Jian Dan remove her outer robe, letting the silk slide to the ground, before she scattered her ink black long hair over her shoulders. She stepped barefoot onto the cold stone and into the sword pool, the water rippling around her ankles. The thick mist curled around her like white silk, and the sword qi within the pool brushed over her skin without leaving even the slightest wound.
She took out the merman scale she had stored separately in her spatial ring. As soon as the artifact met the watery mist, the scale became even more vivid and radiant, pulsing with a hidden life. Five colored halos flickered brilliantly across its surface, as if the ancient piece of armor had suddenly come alive in her hand.
She raised her hand and drew out a single drop of crimson essence blood from her brow, slowly sending it into the waiting scale. As water attribute spiritual energy poured into the object from her palms, the drop of blood was gradually absorbed into the crystalline structure. In the end, the scale flew from her palm and hovered steadily above the swirling mist of the sword pool. When the essence blood was fully absorbed, it burst into a dazzling five colored glow that illuminated the entire cave.
As its master, she immediately felt a profound spiritual connection form between them. With a single thought, the scale flew straight to her navel and pressed itself firmly against her skin. After that, it spread rapidly across her body like a growing frost. In just a short moment, her legs merged and transformed, and she had a shimmering fish tail. She had truly become a mermaid, her new form reflecting the light of the water.
She found the sensation entirely novel. With a casual flick of her powerful tail, she slid from the center of the sword pool all the way to the jagged edge. If the sword pool hadn't been limited in size, that single movement could have sent her much farther into the distance.
Then she dove deeper to the bottom of the pool, where the pressure was greatest. Her breathing felt completely smooth as the water moved through her senses. She didn't need to deliberately switch to internal breathing, nor did she need a water avoiding pearl to maintain her comfort. She could move freely underwater as if she belonged there. Jian Dan also sensed that if she attacked an enemy with her tail while in the water, the power of that strike would be no weaker than one of her full-strength punches.
After tossing around and experimenting for an entire hour, she fully mastered how to move forward, retreat, and attack with her tail, as well as how to spread the scales to cover any part of her body to block incoming attacks. Only then did she will the transformation to end. The tail scale rapidly retracted, turning back into a single, inconspicuous scale that settled once more at her navel.
She was quite satisfied with that position, as it was well protected. It was also convenient for using the tail scale at a moment's notice.
Afterward, Jian Dan completely submerged herself in the pool and began accepting the deep cleansing of the surrounding sword qi. When she closed her eyes to focus on her internal circulation, five days passed in the blink of an eye.
When the sword qi in the water around her finally weakened and settled, she reluctantly climbed out of the pool and changed into her Zhēnzūn daily attire. Even though it was called daily wear, it was more elaborate than ordinary robes. The collar, cuffs, and hem were edged in deep purple and embroidered with intricate golden array patterns that shimmered. A layer of light purple gauze draped over the entire ensemble, making her look ethereal and noble as she moved.
After tidying herself up and smoothing her hair, she swept her divine sense outward and found that Yue Liang was still in the sword pool, locked in a difficult struggle with the sharp sword qi. By now, it had moved from the outer edge closer toward the center. It would still need some time before reaching the core of the pool.
She didn't disturb it. She put away the array plate on her side, checking the spirit stones, and prepared to go out for some fresh air.
"Tian Lu, someone came looking for you while you were inside."
When Liu Chuan saw Jian Dan come out, he naturally returned to her wrist in his bracelet form and reported what had happened while he was guarding the cave abode.
"Who was it?"
"Wei Zhengrong from the Law Enforcement Hall. It didn't look urgent, so I didn't interrupt your session."
Jian Dan lowered her eyes and thought for a moment about the potential reasons for the visit. She sent a transmission talisman to the attendant boy at the foot of Sword Pool Peak to let him know she was leaving. She didn't return the jade key, instead instructing them that after Yue Liang came out, the little one should return the jade key. Then she rode her escape light, a streak of brilliance across the sky, back to Tianyue Peak.
"Zhēnzūn, you're back!"
As soon as the escape light landed on the mountain path, Lü Se hurried over to greet her.
"What is it? Did something happen while I was at the pool?"
Even a bit of peace and quiet wasn't allowed in the sect.
"Yes. While you were away these past few days, Wei Zhengrong and Meng Congjian from the Law Enforcement Hall came looking for you, as well as Sect Master Jian Chong."
"Did they say what it was about? Was there a specific matter?"
Jian Dan sat down casually on a stone bench and asked.
"They only said to see them once you're back and have the time to spare."
"All right. Send a message to the Sect Master first. Tell him I have returned to the peak."
"Yes, Zhēnzūn."
Lü Se immediately went to send the message through the sect's communication network.
Jian Dan muttered under her breath, "Why do I feel like this isn't going to be anything good?"
This time, Liu Chuan stayed silent on her wrist. He also felt that when these people came looking for Jian Dan, it was definitely not for anything pleasant or relaxing.
After only a short while, Jian Chong's escape light landed on the plateau of Tianyue Peak.
"Greetings, Tian Lu Zhēnzūn. Congratulations to Zhēnzūn on nearing the completion of the Great Dao."
Jian Chong bowed deeply, showing his respect. There was a hint of genuine joy on his handsome face as he looked at her.
"I will take your good words. Sit down and talk with me."
Jian Dan didn't have the habit of letting people stand while speaking to her in her own home. She waved her hand for him to sit before asking, "Why are you here in such a hurry?"
"I came to finalize the process for your Mahayana ceremony, to see if there are parts that should be cut or adjusted for the schedule."
As he spoke, he took out a jade slip from his sleeve, preparing to present it for her review.
Jian Dan's hand holding the round fan paused mid-air. She lifted the fan and stopped him from handing over the slip, then asked directly, "What did you just say? My Mahayana ceremony? Who said it was going to be held?"
Faced with her rapid fire questions, Jian Chong froze. What was going on? The very person holding the ceremony didn't even know about it. That joke was a bit too big for him to handle.
"Zhēnzūn has advanced to Mahayana, so of course a ceremony must be held by the sect. This matter was notified by Jian Li Zūnshàng. He told me to draft the framework first, and then discuss the details with you."
"I saw Jian Li a few days ago and told him there was no need to make such a big fuss. Just send out a Purple Radiance Sword Invitation to inform the familiar sects that I advanced. Why is he insisting on making it grand instead?"
"About that specific decision, Jian Chong truly doesn't know."
Jian Dan knew there was no point asking him further about the internal decisions of the elders. She directly sent a transmission talisman to Jian Li, telling him to come to Tianyue Peak to see her at once.
At that moment, Jian Li was listening to Wei Zhengrong's report regarding the sect's borders. A newly discovered secret realm entrance had been found in the wild, but it hadn't fully opened yet. People had already been arranged to guard the site. The other sects had also received the news and sent their own forces to investigate. Everyone was holding position, quietly waiting for the entrance to fully open.
A glowing transmission talisman floated silently before Jian Li. Her familiar voice sounded out, "Jian Li, come to Tianyue Peak to see me."
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Hi, I am back here on the Webnovel side. LOL.
I will be here for about a day, so today and tomorrow I am going to update several novels that I paused for a few months. The reason is simple. AO3's server is down for around fifteen hours, and that blocks what I already planned on my roadmap. Because of that, this is going to be a special exception.
The titles I will be picking up for this exception are Stealing Luck from the Heavenly Dao's Favorite; True Heir of Chaos: From Villainess to Empress; After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor; and Crimson Lotus, Divine Path.
For Crimson Lotus in particular, the author has started updating again just last month after a few months of hiatus, so I decided to continue it as well.
You might notice that my translation style feels a bit different this time. Right now, besides translating, I am also expanding and refining the text more. There are a few differences compared to my usual style, and I hope you enjoy this improvement.
I really recommend joining my Discord server for announcements and updates. Anyway, consider this a small gift from me. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for waiting for my updates.
If you want to support me, the best way is through Ko fi at Ko-fi.com/rikhi or Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/rikhi.
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I am sorry if some terms are different from before. It has been a long time since I last touched this novel, and I may not have written down some terms in my notepad. I also can't realistically reread the novel from the beginning just to cross-check everything, so I only reviewed one or two chapters before this.
My memory isn't that reliable, especially considering how many titles I have worked on and how long it has been since I last returned to this one. I am sorry for this, and I hope you understand.