Jiang Ying looked towards Rong Xiaoman with growing suspicion. "Where did big brother get that story from?" She thought with an absent mind.

Rong Xiaoman shook her head. "How careless of me."

An awkward silence had descended on the two since they continued towards the black orchids, as they walked they came across a bench.

Laying on the bench was an old man, jugs of empty alcohol littered the ground beneath him. His eyes were closed as if he was asleep, wrinkles covered his face and his clothes were those of a beggar. They were dirty, stained with sweat and filled with holes and tears.

Jiang Ying covered her button nose in disgust, she could smell a foul odor coming from the old man.

As the two quickly walked passed the old man, his eyes snapped open as a wide smile covered his face. His teeth were missing with the exception of three which were wobbly and could come out at any time.

"Hey you two, come over here!" The old man said with a croaky voice.

Both Jiang Ying and Rong Xiaoman looked back.

"Yes you two, come over here. I have something good to offer." The old man beckoned with his skinny arm.

Rong Xiaoman looked towards the old man with a frown. "I don't think you have anything that we would like. Come along little Ying." She turned around and Jiang Ying followed.

"Ahh.. looks like I'll have to sell my peerless martial techniques to someone else then." The old man sighed and lamented dramatically.

Jiang Ying's ears twitched as a budding curiosity grew in her mind.

"It really is too bad, they were some really amazing techniques!" The old man continued with a knowing smile on his face.

Jiang Ying stopped and began to hesitate.

Rong Xiaoman looked back and whispered softly. "Don't listen little Ying, he's clearly a swindler."

"Let's just take a look big brother, it couldn't hurt right? Remember I saw the rainbow sparrow, this could be my lucky encounter!" Jiang Ying replied with increasing enthusiasm.

Rong Xiaoman sighed. "Okay then, we'll see what this smelly man has."

Jiang Ying giggled as she skipped towards the old man with Rong Xiaoman in tow.

Stopping just far away not to be bothered by the smell, Jiang Ying fluttered her pretty eyelashes curiously as she asked. "What techniques do you have mister?"

"Why aren't you two a pair." The old man chuckled as he inspected the children before him. He took a deep breath and replied. "I have two amazing, heavenly, godly, peerless, unbeatable, insane, beautiful, sexy-" The old man continued to boast endlessly about his techniques which caused Jiang Ying's eyes to shine brighter and brighter.

"Nonsense." Rong Xiaoman thought inwardly.

"-curvy.. large chest.. willowy waist.. round bottom-" The old man seemed to be in a daze as he drooled with dirty thoughts clouding his mind, his voice had become slow with dirty tone.

"Humph!" Rong Xiaoman snorted as she grabbed Jiang Ying who had long covered her ears in embarrassment. "Let's leave this lecher to his disgusting thoughts.. "

As the two began to leave, the old man snapped out of his dirty fantasy. With a shameless smile, he quickly said. "Wait, for just two imperial coins; you'll receive the two powerful techniques!"

"Imperial coin?" Rong Xiaoman frowned.

Imperial coins were the top currency for mortals, just below the spirit coin in worth which is the main currency for cultivators in the ancestral continent. It was worth a hundred normal gold coins and was quite expensive even for a middle class family which Jiang Ying belonged to.

Jiang Ying bit her lip, her hand hovered around her purse. Inside was a single imperial coin which was her entire allowance for the year.

Rong Xiaoman saw the indecision in little Ying's eyes. She rustled the little girl's hair as she threw two imperial coins towards the old man.

Jiang Ying saw this and she looked towards Rong Xiaoman with a grateful look. "Big brother.. thank you."

"It's nothing." Rong Xiaoman smiled.

The old man caught the coins and laughed as he took out two scrolls from his ragged clothes and handed them to Rong Xiaoman and Jiang Ying. "Off you two go, I need to get some rest." The old man laid back down on the bench and began snoring.

The two children complied and continued walking down the path.

Rong Xiaoman inspected the scroll in her hand which had a rather stinky smell reminiscent of the old man. It was yellowed and worn, there were a tears and crinkles on the paper.

"Peerless technique? Hah! I don't believe it." She unraveled the scroll and what she saw made her eyes pop out!

"H-how could this be!?" Rong Xiaoman muttered in disbelief as she stopped in her tracks.

The scroll detailed an unfathomable technique called Rising Dragon that was 5 steps below her own cultivation technique Star Blossom! It was a technique suited to this male incarnation she inhabited since her own Star Blossom was only suited for females.

"How lucky.. " Rong Xiaoman looked back and gasped, the old man and the bench had disappeared as if it had never existed. "A strange old man....could he be from the upper realms? Heh, he must be one of those weird hobos who go visit the lower realms handing out techniques to everyone and their grandma."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She caught up with Jiang Ying and quickly gestured with her hand. "Little Ying, let me have a look at your technique."

Jiang Ying was gleefully looking at her new technique when she heard Rong Xiaoman. Nodding her head, she handed over the scroll. "Okay big brother, be careful with it."

Rong Xiaoman inspected the scroll and just as she thought, it too was another peerless technique called Moon Fairy. Handing the scroll back towards Jiang Ying, she thought with a baffled expression. "Rainbow sparrow huh?"

Jiang Ying noticed Rong Xiaoman's baffled expression, a smug smile rose on her pout lips as she giggled. "I told you so big brother! I knew that old man was my lucky encounter."

"Yes, yes. I shouldn't have doubted you little Ying." Rong Xiaoman laughed with a smile.

...

The two had finally come upon the resting spot where the black orchids were located.

There were several large pavilions built on the edge of a cliff and down in the valley below were thousands of blooming black orchids. There were already quite a few people observing the orchids with wonder, many of them were middle aged or older. Clearly this was a popular spot for the more wizened of folk.

Jiang Ying rushed up excitedly to the edge of a nearby empty pavilion, leaning on the wooden guard she laughed melodiously as her robes fluttered in the breeze. "Look big brother! Aren't they pretty?"

Rong Xiaoman followed and stood beside her, she gave the valley below a glance before nodding. "They certainly are."

She never had time to stop and appreciate the vast beautiful areas that populated the myriad worlds. Cultivation, treasure seeking, techniques and sect/kingdom management were her usual priorities in her life before her death.

"Say big brother, did you know that my mama and your mama set up a marriage between us?" Jiang Ying murmured in a trance as she gazed at the valley of flowers below that resembled black stars in a green sky.

"I heard whispers and rumors from the servants, so it's true.. " Rong Xiaoman remarked a she looked at Jiang Ying. "To think me of all people, the mighty Empress Rong Xioman, would be getting married.. to a girl no less."

"Mama has been teaching me how to be a wife lately, like manners, cooking and embroidery. It's okay but I'd rather go out, play and have fun." Jiang Ying mumbled.

"Oh? You don't want to be a wife?" Rong Xiaoman asked as she cupped her chin in thought. "She's certainly a bit too young to be thinking of these things."

"It's not that, just that it gets really boring!" Jiang Ying sighed with a little frustration.

Rong Xiaoman nodded her head in agreement. "My younger self would have thought the same, I was quite the tomboy."

"I-I don't mind being your wife though big brother." Jiang Ying said as her tiny ears turned a shade of red.

Rong Xiaoman chuckled as she replied. "I feel the same."

"Really big brother?" Jiang Ying asked.

Rong Xiaoman replied with certainty in her voice. "Yes. Don't worry little Ying, I'll look after you."

"You promise?" Jiang looked back and stared into Rong Xiaoman's golden eyes. They shone brightly in the light and would leave one in a trance if they were stared into too long.

"Promise." Rong Xioman smiled as she brushed away few loose hairs covering Jiang Ying's face. "Even though we're both girls, I'll marry you and keep you safe little Ying." She thought affectionately.

Although Rong Xiaoman was inhabiting a male incarnation, she still thought herself as a peerlessly beautiful woman.

Jiang Ying smiled widely showing her pearly white teeth. "Hehe!"

"Tsk!"

Rong Xiaoman heard someone clicking their tongue behind her, a frown appeared on her face. When she turned around she saw nothing but an empty pavilion. The nearest people were over 20 meters away in another pavilion.

"Who was that?" Rong Xiaoman thought suspiciously.

"Big brother?" Jiang Ying looked at Rong Xiaoman curiously. "What is big brother looking at?"

As she was turning back to face Jiang Ying, an immense blast of wind past beside her causing the robes she was wearing to ripple violently.

The wind was so great that it caused the ground to shake but strangely, apart from her clothes, Rong Xiaoman wasn't effected at all.

"Gyah!" The gust of wind blew against Jiang Ying strongly pushing her against the edge of the railing.

"Big brother!" Fear flashed in her squinting eyes as she cried out.

Right before Jiang Ying was about to be pushed past the rail and off the cliff, a hand grabbed her arm and held on tightly. The hand pulled forward and she suddenly found herself in a warm embrace, her small head resting against something warm and sturdy.

Closing her eyes as the wind whistled past her, she heard a steady thumping sound that seemed to drown everything out; it was calming and rhythmic.

After a minute, the wind died down. Jiang Ying opened her eyes and found herself in the arms of Rong Xiaoman, her shivering hands gripping her robe tightly.

Tears began to leak from Jiang Ying's big black eyes. "Wuu Wuu, big brother that was so scary!"

Rong Xiaoman held the shivering little girl tightly while looking around vigilantly with narrowed eyes. "That was no normal wind.. " Seeing nothing in her immediate vicinity, she sighed. "Mistress's incarnation isn't strong enough, when I get back home I'll devote myself to cultivation."

Rong Xiaoman looked at Jiang Ying who was crying into her chest, snot and tears were left sticking to it. She gently stroked the little girl's head calming her down. "Which coward would want to hurt little Ying?." Her expression showed a brewing anger.

"Whoever it is, they'll never succeed!" She thought with a firm determination in her golden eyes.

"I'll walk you home little Ying." Rong Xiaoman used her sleeve to wipe away Jiang Ying's tears.

"Mmn." Jiang Ying sniffled as she nodded her head.

"Stupid dumb wind.. Humph! You smelled like farts." She grumbled hatefully.

*Clack* The sound of something falling came from somewhere nearby.

...

Back at the manor, Rong Xiaoman was sitting cross legged in her courtyard; her eyes closed and her expression focused.

She was currently cultivating the resonance realm or as some others call it, meridian awakening.

"It's been so many thousands of years since I was at this realm. To use Qi to find the dormant meridians twelve in total and resonate with them, thus slowly, one by one awakening them. It's a tedious process from what I remember." Rong Xiaoman effortlessly used the Qi residing in her Qi sea to find the first set of three meridians.

She soaked the three meridians in Qi and with a little manipulation, the Qi began to vibrate. Instantly, the three closed meridians opened like three blooming flowers which completely baffled her!

"Eeeh!" Rong Xiaoman cried out loudly in shock.

"It took me nearly a year to open the first three meridians and the mighty talents in the heaven realm took at least a month! Just how blessed is this body? Not even those with the spiritual physique could compete with this cultivation speed.. " She thought in amazement.

While she continued she became absolutely stunned. Within a few minutes, she had fully completed the resonance realm and awakened the 12 meridians, it would take others years to accomplish what she had just done!

"Compared to my previous difficulties and efforts, this body feels like a complete cheat!" Rong Xiaoman thought at how ridiculous everything was.

"Well.. I'm not complaining." She muttered with a smile.

"Now that I've completed this resonance realm, I can finally begin the foundation realm. This is where I can start cultivating that Rising Dragon technique."

"Rising what-now?" A voice sounded in her head.

"Ah Mistress! It's the new cultivation technique I obtained, with it we'll be able soar like a dragon through the endless sky. It'll take a lot of effort and heaven and earth treasures to get it to the maximum level but I think it's worth it!" Rong Xiaoman explained enthusiastically.

"That's sounds like a bother, let's just do it the easy way." She heard Ariel's apathetic reply.

"Huh? What do you mean Mistress?" Rong Xiaoman asked curiously.

"Raw power! Heat! Magnetism and gravity! Gahahaha!" She heard Ariel's cackle in her head which filled her with a faint fear.