Chapter One: Reborn as a Little Maid

“Stupid girl, how many times have I told you to clean the rim of the chamber pot thoroughly? Just look at how spotless Su Yue makes hers.”
In a small courtyard, a woman past her thirties, dressed in homespun clothing, held up a chamber pot to show the surrounding little maids.
“Yes, Aunt Furong,” a maid with twin buns timidly glanced at Aunt Furong’s expression and admitted her mistake in a small voice.
“Hmph, you lazy lot, why do you think the household bought you? Work hard! The dirty chores you’re doing now—people outside are fighting to do them! Your parents went to great lengths to send you here. Don’t ruin your chances and end up cast out by the master.”
With a cold snort, Aunt Furong waddled away.
The little maids in the courtyard dared not make a sound, only bowing their heads and focusing on their tasks.
“A Yue, could you tell me the trick to cleaning chamber pots? I’ll give you my cornbread if you do.” The little girl who’d just been scolded walked over with her half-cleaned chamber pot, pitifully making her plea.
Su Yue noticed that several girls in the yard were now watching her, and felt a wave of weariness and apathy. To be honest, even though Aunt Furong had just praised her for her work, she felt not the slightest bit of pride.
To think that she, a renowned powerhouse in the modern cultivation world, had come to this world only to end up scrubbing chamber pots.
What was even more infuriating was that the body she’d possessed belonged to a servant girl in the Yan household—bought, so the story went, by a steward for thirty coins from a gambling-addicted father.
While the start wasn’t ideal, she was at least fortunate to have talent; just like in her previous life, she was born with the innate Sword Bone. As long as she continued to cultivate diligently, becoming a top swordswoman was only a matter of time!
[Ding! Detected host’s desire to become a master sword cultivator, Main Quest Two activated! …]
Hearing the prompt sound in her mind, Su Yue sighed inwardly—it was happening again—and rolled her eyes.
Ever since arriving in this world, Su Yue had discovered she was bound to a system called “Life’s Pinnacle.” She’d assumed it was the golden finger every transmigrator received, but it turned out to be a mix-up.
The system was supposed to reside in the eldest son of the Yan family, Yan Qitang, but due to a spatial transfer error, it landed in the wrong place. Forbidden to attach to a local, it had no choice but to bind itself to the foreign Su Yue to avoid destruction.
According to the system’s information, the world Su Yue had entered was a world inside a book—a story of a simple country girl who inadvertently became a cultivator and fell into a tormented and passionate relationship with the violent, unruly male protagonist.
The system was originally meant for the world after the second male lead’s rebirth. That second male lead was none other than Yan Qitang, the young master who had bought Su Yue.
In the original story, Yan Qitang sacrificed everything for the heroine, ultimately bringing ruin to his family and dying miserably in the wilderness. After his rebirth, he resolved never to be ensnared by the heroine again and focused on being a responsible family head, determined to avert the previous calamity. The Life’s Pinnacle System was his golden finger.
In the end, this golden finger intended for the second male lead ended up benefitting Su Yue.
At first, Su Yue was reluctant. After all, she had no particular feelings for the Yan household beyond her experience scrubbing chamber pots.
But the system offered a reward she couldn’t refuse: upon completion, she could have any one wish granted. For someone who’d landed here by accident, this was a tremendous temptation. So, Su Yue resolved to complete the system’s tasks and fulfill Yan Qitang’s wishes in his rebirth.

Just as Su Yue was recalling the whole wretched saga of how the system ended up with her, the system was at it again, issuing its second quest.
[Quest Two (Main): In order to survive in this harsh world, you must first gain formidable strength. System has detected your strong desire to become a sword cultivator and thus activates this mission. Quest: Complete the first layer of the Cloud Sea Sword Manual within one month! Reward: Complete five layers of the Cloud Sea Sword Manual. Failure: Host consciousness will be erased.]
“I knew it. There was no way it would just hand over such an advanced sword manual for nothing,” Su Yue inwardly grumbled upon hearing the mission details.
In fact, before this, the system had already given her a task: to receive praise from one of the household stewards. That was why Su Yue had spent a month diligently scrubbing chamber pots, just to earn the approval of Aunt Furong, who managed sanitation in the Yan household.
The moment the task was completed, the reward had appeared in her hands. She’d found a quiet spot and opened the book hailed as the Yan family’s foundational technique: the Cloud Sea Sword Manual.
Indeed, the system didn’t give rewards lightly; it only provided advanced techniques accessible to many within the Yan household.
As the top cultivation family in Upper Yun Prefecture, the Yan family had its own unique techniques.
The saying went: The Yan family has three wonders—Azure Willow, Verdant Spring, and Cloud Sea Goose Returns.
The Azure Willow referred to the immortal sword left by the first family head, Yan Shuo. Legend said the sword was sentient and would choose its own master; only those with fate could draw it. In a thousand years, only Yan Shuo and, in this generation, Yan Qitang had succeeded.
Verdant Spring actually referred to the Verdant Heart Method and the Spring Renewal Technique. The Verdant Heart Method was the paired cultivation art for wielding the Azure Willow, tied to the wood element and only suitable for Yan family members with single wood spirit roots.
The Spring Renewal Technique, despite its name, was not a healing art but a body-refining one. “Spring renewal” meant the body was as vibrant as spring, able to quickly recover from all injuries. It too required a wood spirit root to practice.
Lastly, Cloud Sea Goose Returns: the Cloud Sea referred to the Cloud Sea Sword Manual, and Goose Returns to the most difficult move within it. Rumor had it that this manual was an accidental acquisition of Yan Shuo’s, containing five layers, and even he had never mastered the fifth. Although there were no innate requirements, the manual was said to be extremely demanding.
Flipping through the first layer of this famed manual, Su Yue, with her past cultivation experience, realized that, while it required no special spirit root, it demanded much in terms of physical strength and understanding of the sword.
“No wonder it only gives me a month. They must have known I was a sword cultivator in my previous life. For a novice, this would be tough, but with my innate Sword Bone and past experience, breaking through should be quick.”
Su Yue was mentally calculating how long it would take her to master the first layer when a voice startled her.
“A Yue? Why are you so lost in thought? I’ve called you so many times.”
Standing behind her was a little maid, frowning as she scolded.
“What is it?” Su Yue thought to herself that her alertness had grown dull since coming here. Clearly, lack of combat made one soft.
“Aunt Furong is looking for you. She wants you to go to her room at once.” Without waiting for Su Yue’s response, the little maid grabbed her and started running, nagging as they went.
“We’re already pressed for time and have delayed too long. We need to hurry or we’ll be punished.”
Honestly, Su Yue had already forgotten the names of most of the maids she scrubbed pots with, but she remembered this one: she was the daughter of Aunt Furong’s distant relative. Upon entering the Yan household, she had been assigned to work with spices—a sign that Aunt Furong valued her.

Sending someone she trusted to fetch Su Yue could only mean something important.

Sure enough, as soon as they entered Aunt Furong’s room, they saw her sitting upright on the bed, a square table in the center of the room bearing a spherical magical instrument. Su Yue recognized it at once—it was a spirit root tester.

“I’ve called you two here today for a reason. The young master is getting older, and the two maids who’ve served him since childhood, Moqi and Leqin, have grown up as well. The higher-ups have ordered each division to select girls around fourteen years old. After screening, they’ll be sent to serve the eldest young master. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Aunt Furong’s words were laden with meaning as she looked at the two girls standing in the hall.

The maid who had pulled Su Yue along didn’t catch the unspoken implication, thinking only that the treatment would improve. But Su Yue, a child only in appearance, immediately understood the subtext, cursing inwardly at Aunt Furong’s shamelessness.

From her first words about the young master’s age, it was clear that sending girls to his quarters now was just an attempt to find him a few confidantes. Fourteen-year-old maids, with a year or two of training, would be of age. With so much contact with the young master, they might rise to become mistresses—a true leap to the top.

“Lingzhi has been with me since childhood—she’s steady and considerate. As for you, Su Yue, after observing you these days, I see that only you in the cleaning house work efficiently and carefully. After much thought, you two are the only ones worth recommending. Starting today, Lingzhi will be transferred to the cleaning house as well. Steward He in the farm division has her own plans, so we needn’t ask her.”

Su Yue could see the obvious favoritism. Lingzhi had originally tended spices in the farm division, but perhaps He the steward’s quota was already reserved, so Aunt Furong brought Lingzhi over. The stewards were all entangled in their own networks of power, and promoting one’s own confidantes was nothing new.

“I understand, Aunt. You’re doing this for my sake,” Lingzhi replied, oblivious to the machinations behind the scenes, thinking only that serving the young master would help Aunt Furong rise.

“Thank you for your guidance, Aunt Furong. I, Su Yue, will not forget your kindness.” Seeing Lingzhi’s declaration, Su Yue quickly followed suit.

Su Yue was eager to seize this unexpected opportunity. Being close to the second male lead might just help her complete her mission more smoothly.

“Don’t thank me yet. There’s a threshold for selection. According to the latest instructions, anyone serving as the young master’s maid must have at least three spirit roots. I’ve already tested Lingzhi—she has earth and wood dual roots. Today is mainly to test you.”

Aunt Furong gestured for Su Yue to approach. Placing her hand on the spherical instrument, Su Yue watched as a gentle wind rose, fluttering her sleeve, followed by a spray of water, and finally a small sapling sprouted forth.

“Wind, water, and wood—a triple spirit root. You barely qualify.”

Aunt Furong looked at Su Yue with satisfaction.

Su Yue breathed a sigh of relief. In her past life she’d had four spirit roots; she never expected that even in this world, a mere maid needed three. When she’d heard the requirement, she’d thought her chances were dashed, only to find her body did qualify. Even more surprising, Lingzhi, who had dragged her here, was a dual root once hailed as a genius.

Truly, in this world, talent is as common as dogs; cultivators crowd the very ground.

“Tomorrow, the two of you will report to the discipline house. Here are your tokens.” With that, Aunt Furong handed them each a chain strung with red agate beads.