Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?

Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?

Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Xi Fu Interlude 4

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Xi Fu blazed through the air like a javelin. His Heaven Defying Spear Intent shrouded him in hazy white light as he soared. Forests and marshes and mountains passed beneath him as he sped in the direction of Redscale City.

Seventieth Port Snake to Redscale City. It had taken weeks on foot. Now flying under the power of his Embryonic Spear Heart, he had already made it halfway in a mere few hours.

"Hey! Who the hell are you? This is the Great River Cities territory-"

A man in blue robes flew up ahead of Xi Fu trying to block his path. While a cultivator could indeed simply fly through the air, there were social conventions on how to respectfully travel through the territory of other powers.

However, the spear cultivator was a member of the continent's single hegemon, so these rules did not apply to him. And even if he were legally required to slow down to show respect to some sect, he still would not. Xi Fu had no intention of stopping anywhere but Redscale City, where his daughter lived. Let alone a subordinate sect, even if a God or Buddha was in his way, he would disregard them.

"Hey! I said halt!" the blue-robed man screamed as Xi Fu shot forward heedless of his words. The man's face turned red with anger. He conjured a massive barrier of water before the flying man.

Xi Fu shot through it like it was wet paper, carrying on through the skies. A blink of an eye later, he was far gone. The blue-robed man fell from the air, coughing blood from the backlash of his barrier being destroyed.

'We're both in Core Formation- Who was that guy and how is he so strong?'

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Xi Fu shot through the air above Redscale City. He didn't even bother entering through the city gates. He merely flashed his identity token as a Captain of the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada and no one dared to stop him.

After the Ox Fleet Saint had laid down the law during the BMFS faction's trip to the city, the Redscale clan were making sure to be on their best behaviour when it came to members of their Hegemon's sect.

Xi Fu smoothly sailed through the residential district, landing on the street. Then he strode towards the small home of Xue Xiang, his old flame and the mother of his child.

The air flashed, the tall form of the Redscale Clan Core Formation Expert who had arrested him the last time he had been in the area.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the woman's eyes narrowed fiercely.

"Family business," Xi Fu shrugged. "Now get out of my way."

"You think I buy th-"

"I don't. Have to explain myself. To you." Xi Fu's eyes glowed white with Spear Qi.

A terrifying, intangible intent locked onto the guard, whose eyes widened. With a loud bang, she fell to her knees, hands clawing at her throat as she choked. Without lifting a finger, Xi Fu had utterly crushed an expert who technically had a greater cultivation base than him.

'After fighting Ji Longyi, other Core Formation cultivators just don't compare.'

"I know you're probably just trying to do your job," Xi Fu sighed, lessening the pressure of his aura. "But I promise I really do have some private business to attend to. Please just give me a minute...Not that you have a choice."

With the woman restrained by his intangible spear intent, Xi Fu knocked on Xue Xiang's door. It was the same rhythm he would use to signal to her it was him back during their affair.

A minute later, the door opened, as a confused Xue Xiang peeked out. The woman's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wha-Xi...Xi Fu?"

"Miss me?" he gave her a charming grin.

"You-you can't be here! What's going on-"

He stepped towards the entrance, but she stopped him, a hand slapping his chest.

"What the hell are you doing here? It's been nine years! You can't just pop up out of nowhere and visit. I'm a married woman. I can't be seen with strange men entering my house!"

"That didn't stop you before?" Xi Fu winked.

"...You need to leave." Xue Xiang frowned, peeking around his head to see if anyone was nearby. "What if someone reports you?"

"I get it. Now that you've finished slaking your lusts on my poor, innocent body, you're tossing me aside like yesterday's trash... "

"Xi Fu!"

"Sorry, I was just kidding," he sighed.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The truth was that... he was incredibly nervous. Humor had always been his coping method for dealing with things outside his comfort zone. But now was not the time for irreverence. Xi Fu steeled himself.

"You don't need to worry about me being seen. I've... settled my debts with the law, so to speak. I'm a free man now! And...I'm not here for some mid-day sex or anything frivolous. I'm here to see my daughter."

Xue Xiang immediately shook her head.

"No way! She doesn't even know about you!" the concubine hissed. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

Xi Fu looked at the stressed-out woman. Xue Xiang was a lowly concubine. Legally, Ji Ran's property. Beat her, sell her to someone else, or even execute her. Those were all things he could do should he please. And would, if he ever found out she had cucked him and gave birth to someone else's child.

He imagined living with that fact for nine years, constantly worrying that the truth would come out and her life would be over. It must have been unbearable.

Xi Fu gingerly placed a palm on her shoulder.

"Just... look at me for a second."

Xue Xiang paused at his words, looking at the man. His white decorated robes symbolized his membership in the Armada. His glowing identity token revealed him as a Captain, a Core Formation Expert. She blinked in utter disbelief.

"The Xi Fu before you is no longer the Xi Fu of old. That's right. I outrank that bastard Ji Ran. No more skulking around in the dark out of fear of shame. I'm going to meet and claim my daughter. I'm not letting her live her life thinking she's the spawn of that fat pervert. And If old Ji had a problem with it, I'll feed him his teeth."

"It's...it's only been nine years. You were barely a cultivator when we last met."

Xi Fu winked.

"Turns out I'm actually pretty talented...Although some of the credit goes to my terrifying boss."

Xue Xiang seemed to barely parse his words, her eyes wide.

"Look, I know you hate him as much as I do. You should be ecstatic."

"I...I'm not a little girl anymore. I've made peace with my place in life. For all intents and purposes, Ji Ran is Xiyi's father. You'd be upending her whole life. Do you really want everyone to think that she's actually a bastard?"

"If anyone insults my daughter, I'll gently explain to them why that's a mistake, while I hang them with a noose made of their own entrails." Xi Fu said. "I understand why you have hang-ups, but I've made up my mind. I won't back down. I'm her real father. She deserves to know who I am."

"You think it's okay to just waltz back into her life out of nowhere. Can you even imagine how stressful something like this would be for a child? She'd think her whole life was a lie-"

"Her whole life is a lie," Xi Fu interjected. "And that ends today."

"You-you can't just show up after almost a decade and replace the man she thinks is her father! You just abandoned us! You could have brought us with you when you ran- I didn't even know you were gone until I saw the damn wanted posters!" Xue Xiang began to rant. "What gives you the right-"

Xi Fu closed his eyes, letting her words wash over him. He wouldn't dispute them. He probably deserved an even harsher tongue-lashing than the gentle mother was capable of.

"I'm not going to say you're wrong. That was probably my biggest mistake, and I imagine I'll spend the rest of my life trying to pay it off. All I ask is this. Tell me that Ji Ran has been a good father, who visits and showers my daughter with the affection she deserves. Look me in the eyes and truthfully say that. If you can, I'll leave this moment and never come back."

Xue Xiang hesitated, looking away.

Xi Fu gave her a knowing look, before stepping past the doorway and into her house. She sighed, placing her head in her hands.

The insides of her home had changed radically in his absence. Luxurious jade vases and hand-carved, gold-embossed furniture had replaced the somewhat modest interior that had once stood. Beautiful paintings adorned the wall and the eye could barely move a few centimetres before spying an object covered in gold leaf. He supposed that was because she had given birth to a child and thus increased her social standing.

As the spearman looked around the familiar yet strange building, Xue Xiang began to brew a drink in a pink teapot, standing silently.

"You know, I heard my daughter is called Hong Long Xiyi," Xi Fu asked. "Why's that? Even if Ji Ran formally took her in as his child, shouldn't she be called Ji Xiyi?"

Only the core, pureblooded members of the Redscale clan took the last name Hong Long. The mystery of why his daughter was called that had been bugging him since he had first learned of it.

Xue Xiang sighed.

"Xiyi has... a strong bloodline. I haven't been told much, but it's apparently strong enough that she's included as a member of the Inner Clan."

"I see," Xi Fu frowned. "Where is she anyways?"

"In the backyard, playing. Just-just wait a moment."

Xi Fu nodded, taking a seat on a plush couch. The silence was thick enough to cut. Soon, the sound of steam and boiling water rang out. The young mother poured the boiling water into a mug.

Carrying the mug of tea, Xue Xiang walked away. Xi Fu followed her, through the well-furnished halls, until he arrived at a sliding door. She pulled it open, revealing a large, grassy field surrounded by tall fences. It was the same field where the man had first seen his child those months ago.

And standing there in the middle of the grassy field, was his daughter.

She had pale ivory skin and raven black hair. Patches of red scales ran across her cheeks. Two tiny horn nubs had sprouted from her head since he had last seen her.

Hong Long Xiyi held a training spear, a cute look of concentration on her face as she stabbed and twirled and thrust the spear. A smile split Xi Fu's face- He recognized the spearmanship at hand. It seemed she had taken to his style like a fish to water.

'Good thing I left my notes to her!'

Silently, he approached her as she practiced her thrusts. It seemed the perfect time to give some words of advice from one spearman to the next.

"You need to adjust your form," Xi Fu said.

Xiyi spun around, meeting his eyes. She frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hands on her hips. "My form is perfect."

"Only in theory. The technique you’re using is designed for someone much taller than you."

Xi Fu summoned his spear from his spatial ring and gave a demonstrative thrust.

"But you're much shorter, with a different center of mass. You need to adjust the technique to fit you, rather than simply doing what the book says. Forge your own path."

"But if I'm not following the book, how will I know if I'm doing it correctly?"

"There's no such thing as a perfect or correct way to fight. Only what suits you. Mess around and experiment until you find what fits you."

The girl looked in contemplation, before suddenly pausing and looking back up.

"Wait a second, who are you?"

Before he could answer, Xue Xiang approached, still carrying a steaming mug.

"Xiyi. I brought you some chrysanthemum tea. Come, drink it while it's hot."

The girl eagerly nodded, dropping her spear, running over to her mom and grabbing the mug.

Xue Xiang inhaled deeply, lost eyes flashing over to Xi Fu for guidance. She obviously had no idea how to broach such a difficult subject.

'Time to rip the bandage off,' the man shrugged.

"It's nice to meet you, Xiyi. My name is Xi Fu. And I'm your blood father."