The first thing Yan Kai noticed when consciousness slowly returned was the softness beneath him. It was completely different from the hard stone floor of the cave where he had collapsed. The surface felt like clouds, softer than anything he had ever experienced in his twenty-three years of life. His mind was foggy and confused, like trying to remember a dream after waking up. Slowly, carefully, he opened his eyes.
Above him was an unfamiliar ceiling made of white jade with delicate carvings of clouds and crescent moons. Spiritual energy flowed through the patterns in the jade, creating a gentle light that illuminated the room. This was definitely not the cave, and it was far too luxurious to be anywhere in Green Stone Village where he had lived his whole life.
Yan Kai tried to sit up, but immediately noticed something was wrong. His body felt strange, different in ways he couldn't immediately understand. The weight distribution was all wrong, and when he moved, long strands of something tickled his shoulders and back. He raised his hand to investigate and froze in shock. The hand in front of his face was not his hand. It was smaller, more delicate, with slender fingers and skin as white as fresh snow. His rough, calloused hands from years of martial practice and manual labor were gone.
"What... what happened to me?" The voice that came out was not his voice either. Instead of his normal deep tone, what emerged was a melodious female voice, soft and pleasant like the sound of a gentle stream.
Panic rising in his chest, Yan Kai looked around the room frantically. It was a bedroom, but unlike any he had seen before. The furniture was made of spiritual wood that glowed faintly with inner light. There were silk curtains hanging from the windows, and the floor was covered with a carpet that looked like it was woven from clouds. On one wall, there was a full-length mirror with a frame decorated with images of flying phoenixes.
With trembling legs that felt unfamiliar and unsteady, Yan Kai stood up from the bed and walked toward the mirror. Each step felt wrong because his center of gravity had completely changed. When he finally stood in front of the mirror, what he saw made him stumble backward in shock and disbelief.
The reflection showed a young woman of extraordinary beauty. She had long purple hair that reached down to her waist, flowing like liquid silk. Her eyes were also purple, bright and clear like precious amethysts. Her face was perfectly proportioned with delicate features that would make even celestial fairies jealous. The body was slender but curved in all the places a woman should be curved. She was wearing a white inner disciple robe with blue trim that marked her as a member of some cultivation sect.
"This... this is impossible," Yan Kai whispered, watching the beautiful woman in the mirror move her lips in perfect synchronization with his words. He raised his hand, and the woman in the mirror raised her hand. He touched his face, feeling the smooth skin and delicate features, and the woman in the mirror did the same.
The memories came flooding back suddenly. The Dark Wood Forest, the red cheetah attack, finding the cave, the purple bone. He remembered touching the bone and the purple liquid entering his body before he lost consciousness. Somehow, that purple bone had transformed him from a man into a woman. The realization hit him like a thunderbolt, making his legs weak. He had to grab the wall to keep from falling.
"The purple bone... it changed me completely," he muttered, still staring at his reflection in disbelief. "But why? What kind of treasure would do something like this?"
Before he could think more about it, he heard footsteps approaching from outside the room. Someone was coming. Yan Kai's mind raced quickly. He was in an unfamiliar place, in a completely different body, and he had no idea who had brought him here or what they wanted. His instincts from years of being a cautious cultivator kicked in immediately. He needed to be careful about what information he revealed.
The door opened, and Liu Mei entered the room. She was wearing elegant white robes with silver embroidery that marked her high status. When she saw that Yan Kai was awake and standing, she smiled warmly.
"You're finally awake," Liu Mei said, her voice gentle and caring. "You've been unconscious for three days. I was starting to worry that something might be seriously wrong with you."
Yan Kai's mind worked quickly. This woman had obviously rescued him from the cave and brought him to wherever this place was. She seemed friendly, but in the cultivation world, appearances could be deceiving. He needed to be careful about what he said. If he told her that he used to be a man, she might think he was crazy or possessed by a demon. Worse, she might want to study him to figure out how the transformation happened, turning him into some kind of experiment.
"Where... where am I?" Yan Kai asked, putting a confused and frightened expression on his face. It wasn't hard to act confused because he genuinely was confused about many things.
"You're in the Sky Moon Mansion, one of the three major sects in the Blue Wind Province," Liu Mei explained patiently. "I found you unconscious in a cave in the Dark Wood Forest three days ago. You were alone and had no belongings or identification with you. Can you tell me your name? Do you remember what happened to you?"
This was the crucial moment. Yan Kai made a quick decision. He would pretend to have lost most of his memories, which would explain why he didn't know things that a woman should know about being a woman. As for a name, he needed a female name now. He thought quickly and came up with something.
"My name... my name is Yan Mei," he said, using a feminine version of his original name. "But everything else is... fuzzy. I can't remember clearly. My head hurts when I try to think about it." He put his hand to his head and winced as if in pain.
Liu Mei's expression became sympathetic and concerned. "Memory loss sometimes happens when someone experiences severe trauma or comes in contact with certain powerful treasures. Don't force yourself to remember. These things often return naturally with time." She walked closer and gently placed her hand on Yan Kai's forehead, sending a thread of spiritual energy into his body to check his condition.
What she found made her eyes widen in surprise and excitement. "Incredible! You have the Ice Phoenix Physique! This is one of the rarest special physiques in the entire cultivation world. No wonder your ice spiritual roots are so pure and powerful. With this physique, you have the potential to reach the highest levels of ice cultivation."
Yan Kai, now going by the name Yan Mei, was genuinely surprised by this news. He knew his spiritual roots had changed, he could feel the different flow of energy in his body, but he didn't know about having a special physique. Special physiques were legendary things that only appeared in one person among millions. People with special physiques had advantages in cultivation that normal people could never match.
"Ice Phoenix Physique?" he asked, trying to sound confused and innocent. "What does that mean, Senior?"
Liu Mei smiled brightly, clearly excited by her discovery. "It means you have incredible talent for ice-attribute cultivation techniques. The Ice Phoenix Physique allows you to absorb ice spiritual energy ten times faster than normal cultivators, and your ice techniques will be naturally more powerful. This physique also gives you natural resistance to cold and ice attacks."
She paused for a moment, seeming to come to a decision. "Yan Mei, I would like to take you as my personal disciple. I am Liu Mei, an elder of the Sky Moon Mansion at the Nascent Soul stage. I have never taken a personal disciple before because I never found anyone with sufficient talent, but you are different. Your Ice Phoenix Physique makes you perfect for our sect's techniques. Will you accept me as your master?"
Yan Kai's mind raced. This was an incredible opportunity. A Nascent Soul stage cultivator wanted to take him as a personal disciple. In his previous life as a male cultivator, he could never have dreamed of having such a powerful master. The highest level cultivator in Green Stone Village was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. He immediately knelt down, performing the traditional three kowtows.
"Disciple Yan Mei greets Master!" he said formally, keeping his head bowed respectfully.
Liu Mei helped him stand up, looking very pleased. "Good, good! From today forward, you are my first and only disciple. As my disciple, you will have access to the best resources the Sky Moon Mansion can offer." She took out several items from her storage ring and handed them to Yan Kai.
"This is the Ice Heart Sutra, a Golden Core level cultivation technique that is perfectly suited for your Ice Phoenix Physique. This jade pendant is a defensive treasure that will automatically protect you if your life is in danger. It can block three attacks from a Core Formation stage cultivator. This bottle contains five Ice Lotus Pills that will help you break through to higher levels of the Qi Gathering stage. And this is your identity token as my personal disciple, which gives you access to most areas of the sect."
Yan Kai accepted the items with trembling hands, not from fear but from excitement. These treasures were worth more than everything he had owned in his entire previous life combined. The Golden Core level technique alone was priceless. Most local cultivators could only dream of getting their hands on a Foundation Establishment level technique, let alone Golden Core.
"Thank you, Master," he said, bowing deeply again. "This disciple will work hard to not disappoint you."
Liu Mei nodded approvingly. "Rest for today and familiarize yourself with your new home. Tomorrow, I will introduce you to the sect and arrange for you to move into the inner disciple mountain peak. Your memory loss is unfortunate, but don't let it trouble you too much. Focus on cultivation and moving forward. The past is less important than the future you will build."
After Liu Mei left, Yan Kai sat on the bed, his mind spinning with everything that had happened. He had gone from being a struggling male cultivator at the third level of Qi Gathering to being a beautiful woman with the Ice Phoenix Physique and a Nascent Soul stage master. It was like a dream, but the weight of the treasures in his hands told him it was real.
Three days passed quickly. Yan Kai spent the time adjusting to his new body and studying the Ice Heart Sutra. The technique was incredibly profound, far superior to the basic cultivation method he had used before. With his new ice spiritual roots and Ice Phoenix Physique, he could feel the ice spiritual energy in the air responding to him eagerly, flowing into his body like water into a dry sponge.
On the third day, he went to the Scripture Pavilion, a massive tower where the sect stored its books and jade slips containing various techniques and knowledge. As Liu Mei's personal disciple, he had access to the first five floors, which contained an incredible wealth of information.
He found a quiet corner on the third floor and began searching through books about spiritual beasts and special physiques. He wanted to understand more about what had happened to him. After several hours of searching, he finally found what he was looking for in a book called "Records of Ancient Spiritual Beasts."
The book described something called the Amethyst Ice Phoenix, an incredibly rare variant of the ice phoenix bloodline. According to the text, the Amethyst Ice Phoenix was the emperor among ice phoenixes, possessing purple ice that was far more powerful than normal ice. The book explained that there were three types of ice in the cultivation world: normal ice which was white or clear, dark ice which was black and yin-natured, and purple ice which was the rarest and most powerful.
"The Amethyst Ice Phoenix appears only once every ten thousand years," the book stated. "Its bones contain the essence of purple ice and can grant the Ice Phoenix Physique to those who absorb them. However, the process is incredibly dangerous and will completely remake the person's body and spiritual roots."
Yan Kai's eyes widened as he read this. So the purple bone had come from an Amethyst Ice Phoenix. No wonder it had transformed him so completely. The book didn't mention anything about gender change, which made him wonder if that was a side effect or if the Ice Phoenix Physique was naturally female-oriented.
He continued reading, learning that those with the Ice Phoenix Physique had several advantages: they could cultivate any ice-attribute technique at ten times the normal speed, their ice techniques would automatically contain a trace of purple ice that made them more powerful, they were immune to most cold-based attacks, and at higher cultivation levels, they could even manifest phoenix wings made of ice.
"This is incredible," Yan Kai whispered to himself, his excitement growing. "With this physique, I actually have a chance to become truly powerful, not just another nobody struggling at the bottom of the cultivation world."
During these three days, news of Liu Mei taking a personal disciple had spread throughout the entire Sky Moon Mansion. The sect had over ten thousand female disciples, but Liu Mei had never taken a personal disciple in her three hundred years of life. The fact that she had finally chosen someone meant this disciple must be extraordinary.
What made the news even more sensational was the information that leaked out about the new disciple. She was supposedly a young woman of heavenly beauty with purple hair and purple eyes, possessing both perfect ice spiritual roots and the legendary Ice Phoenix Physique. Many disciples had caught glimpses of her when she went to the Scripture Pavilion, and rumors about her beauty spread like wildfire.
"They say she's more beautiful than even the sect master's daughter!"
"I heard Elder Liu gave her a Golden Core level technique and several precious treasures immediately!"
"Someone saw her in the Scripture Pavilion, and they said her purple hair glows like amethyst in the sunlight!"
"With the Ice Phoenix Physique, she'll definitely become a core disciple within a year!"
These rumors and discussions happened everywhere in the sect. In the dining halls, in the training grounds, in the disciples' quarters, everyone was talking about Liu Mei's mysterious new disciple.
The reactions among the female disciples varied greatly. Some were envious of the attention and resources the new disciple was receiving. The Sky Moon Mansion, being an all-female sect, had its own internal politics and competition. Resources were limited, and having Elder Liu's favor meant access to the best cultivation materials and techniques.
"Why does she get to be Elder Liu's disciple when she just arrived?" complained Chen Xiaoli, an inner disciple who had been in the sect for five years. "We've been working hard for years, and Elder Liu never even looked at us twice!"
Her friend, Wang Yuyan, tried to be more reasonable. "But she has the Ice Phoenix Physique. That's something you're born with, not something you can earn through hard work. Besides, Elder Liu found her and saved her life. It's natural that she would take responsibility."
Other disciples were more curious than jealous. They wanted to know more about this mysterious girl who had appeared from nowhere with such incredible talent.
"I heard she lost her memory," whispered Li Qingxue to her cultivation sisters during their evening meal. "She doesn't remember anything except her name. How tragic to have such talent but not know where you came from."
"Maybe that's why Elder Liu took pity on her," suggested another disciple. "A young woman alone with no memories and no family, but blessed with incredible talent. Elder Liu probably felt it was her duty to protect and guide her."
Some of the senior sisters who had been in the sect longer were more pragmatic about the situation. They understood that someone with the Ice Phoenix Physique would naturally receive special treatment because such talent could elevate the entire sect's status in the future.
"The Ice Phoenix Physique hasn't appeared in our Blue Wind Province for over five hundred years," explained Senior Sister Zhao to a group of junior disciples. "If Yan Mei grows strong enough, she could help our Sky Moon Mansion compete with the other major sects in neighboring provinces. This benefits all of us in the long run."
Meanwhile, the sect's leadership was also discussing the new disciple. In a private meeting room high in the main peak, several elders had gathered to talk with the sect master about Liu Mei's new disciple.
The sect master, a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her forties but was actually over five hundred years old, sat at the head of the table. Her name was Yun Caixia, and she had reached the Soul Formation stage, making her one of the most powerful cultivators in the entire Blue Wind Province.
"Liu Mei, tell us more about this disciple you've taken," Sect Master Yun said calmly. "The Ice Phoenix Physique is indeed rare, but her origins are mysterious. Are you certain she poses no threat to our sect?"
Liu Mei stood and bowed respectfully to the sect master. "I have examined her thoroughly, Sect Master. She has no hidden cultivation techniques or secret methods that would indicate she's a spy from another sect. Her cultivation is genuinely at the third level of Qi Gathering, though with her physique, she should advance quickly. As for her memory loss, I believe it's genuine. There are no signs of deception in her spiritual fluctuations."
"What about her background?" asked Elder Chen, an older woman with grey-streaked hair. "Even with memory loss, there should be some clues about where she came from."
Liu Mei shook her head. "I found her in a cave in the Dark Wood Forest. There were signs of blood, but it was old and didn't match her current condition. She had no possessions, no identity tokens, nothing that would indicate her origins. It's as if she appeared from thin air."
"Or as if she was deliberately placed there for you to find," Elder Wang suggested suspiciously. She was known for being paranoid about sect security.
"I considered that possibility," Liu Mei admitted. "But who would abandon someone with the Ice Phoenix Physique? Any sect or clan would guard such a person jealously. And if someone wanted to plant a spy in our sect, why would they choose someone so conspicuous? Her purple hair and eyes make her impossible to miss."
Sect Master Yun raised her hand for silence. "I have personally examined the girl while she was in the Scripture Pavilion. Her physique is genuine, and I sense no malice or deception from her. She seems more confused and cautious than anything else. Liu Mei, you have my permission to train her as you see fit. But keep a close watch on her. If her memories return or if anything suspicious happens, report to me immediately."
"Yes, Sect Master," Liu Mei bowed again, pleased that her decision was supported.
Back in the Scripture Pavilion, Yan Kai had no idea about these high-level discussions. He was focused on learning everything he could about his new situation. He had found another book, this one about the Sky Moon Mansion itself, and was reading about the sect's structure and rules.
The Sky Moon Mansion was founded eight hundred years ago by a female cultivator who had reached the Void Refinement stage. She established it as an all-female sect because she believed that women faced unique challenges in the cultivation world and needed a place where they could train without the complications that came from mixing with male cultivators. The sect specialized in ice and moon techniques, taking advantage of the natural yin energy that was stronger in female cultivators.
"An all-female sect," Yan Kai muttered to himself, feeling both relieved and worried. On one hand, it meant he wouldn't have to deal with male cultivators trying to pursue him romantically. On the other hand, living surrounded entirely by women when he still thought like a man would present its own challenges.
The book explained that the sect had four main peaks: the Main Peak where the sect master and core disciples lived, the Ice Peak where ice technique cultivation was practiced, the Moon Peak where illusion and spiritual techniques were taught, and the Medicine Peak where alchemy and healing arts were studied. As an inner disciple, he would live on one of the secondary peaks surrounding these main peaks.
There were four levels of disciples in the sect: outer disciples who had just joined and were still being evaluated, inner disciples who had proven their talent and loyalty, core disciples who were the sect's main hope for the future, and direct disciples who studied under specific elders. As Liu Mei's direct disciple, he actually had a status higher than most inner disciples but not quite at the level of core disciples.
"The sect competition happens every year," he read. "The top ten inner disciples can challenge core disciples for their positions. Direct disciples can also participate if they choose." He made a mental note of this. Competitions meant exposure and attention, which he wanted to avoid until he was stronger. But they also meant opportunities to gain resources and status.
As the sun began to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple, Yan Kai closed the book and prepared to leave the Scripture Pavilion. He had learned a lot today, but there was still so much he didn't know. How long would it take to get used to this female body? How would he handle the social situations that came with being a beautiful woman in a cultivation sect? What would happen if someone discovered his true identity?
Walking through the sect grounds back to his temporary quarters, he noticed the many eyes following him. Female disciples stopped their conversations to stare as he passed. Some looked at him with curiosity, others with envy, and a few with admiration. His purple hair seemed to glow in the light of the setting sun, making him look almost ethereal.
"Is that her? Liu Mei's disciple?"
"Look at that purple hair! I've never seen anything like it!"
"She's even more beautiful than the rumors said!"
"I heard she's already memorized three techniques from the Scripture Pavilion in just one afternoon!"
Yan Kai kept his head down and walked faster, uncomfortable with all the attention. In his previous life, he had perfected the art of being overlooked and ignored. Now, that was impossible. Everything about his new appearance drew attention like honey drew bees.
When he finally reached his room and closed the door behind him, he let out a long sigh of relief. He walked to the mirror again and stared at his reflection. The beautiful woman looking back at him still felt like a stranger, even though he could feel every sensation of this body.
"I need to adapt quickly," he told his reflection. "This is my life now, whether I like it or not. The Ice Phoenix Physique gives me an opportunity I never had before. I can't waste it because I'm uncomfortable with the changes."
He sat down on the bed and began to circulate the Ice Heart Sutra technique. Immediately, ice spiritual energy from the environment began flowing into his body, much faster than anything he had experienced with his previous cultivation method. The energy was cool and refreshing, like drinking cold water on a hot day. He could feel his cultivation base solidifying and slowly growing stronger.
"At this rate, I should be able to break through to the fourth level of Qi Gathering within a week," he calculated. "With the Ice Lotus Pills master gave me, maybe even faster."
As night fell over the Sky Moon Mansion, Yan Kai continued to cultivate, pushing aside his worries about his transformation and focusing on growing stronger. He had learned long ago that in the cultivation world, strength was the only thing that truly mattered. Everything else, including his gender, was secondary to the pursuit of power and immortality.
Outside his window, the moon rose full and bright, casting silver light over the sect. Unknown to him, his transformation was just the beginning of a journey that would shake the very foundations of the cultivation world. The Amethyst Ice Phoenix bone had chosen him for reasons that went beyond simple chance, and forces both ancient and powerful were already beginning to take notice of the new player on the board.
But for now, Yan Kai simply cultivated, taking his first steps on a path that would lead him to heights he had never imagined possible, all while wearing the face and body of a beautiful woman named Yan Mei.
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