Yun Qingyue picked up the jade slip, her fingertips trembling slightly.
— Xuan Yin Foundation Building Technique
It was a forbidden art from the demonic path, but also the only hope for a mortal to step onto the immortal road.
Images flashed through her mind: Lu Mingchuan's smug face at the Dao Companion Ceremony, the cold stares of her fellow disciples, and her Master's final judgment, "Qingyue, you've already fallen into demonic ways."
She suddenly laughed softly, her knuckles whitening as she clenched the jade slip.
"Fallen into the demonic path? Vicious?"
Her voice rang in the empty room, sharp as winter frost.
"If the whole world insists that I, Yun Qingyue, have embraced the demonic path…"
Her fingertip brushed across the blood-red characters etched into the slip—Xuan Yin Foundation Building. Her lips curved upward.
"…then I'll give them exactly what they want."
Her hand unconsciously caressed the edge of the slip. She suddenly remembered the day her master bestowed her name.
Qingyue—pure moonlight, flawless and bright. Yet now, to walk the immortal road again, she had to rely on this demonic method. What irony.
That forced name had always been a chain, its gentle surface concealing three hundred years of compromises, silent endurance, and brushes with death.
And in the end, what had she received?
Betrayal at her Dao Companion Ceremony.
Her master's cold judgment.
The despair of thunder striking her body.
"From this day forward…"
Cold light surged in her eyes.
"There'll be no more Yun Qingyue, chief disciple of the Hehuan Sect. There'll only be the demon cultivator Xie Zhaolin."
Zhao as bright as the sun and moon, Lin shining upon the nine heavens.
It was her rebirth, her vow to rise again through death.
Xie Zhaolin drew in a deep breath and slid a storage ring onto her finger. Inside were spirit stones, pills, and a good number of low and mid-grade magic tools she'd hidden away long ago.
Her fingers traced the cool engravings, and she secretly thanked her foresight.
The cultivation world was always survival of the fittest. Without these preparations, even with the Xuan Yin Foundation-Building Method in hand, she wouldn't last three days.
"Breaking news! Medicine King Valley and Hehuan Sect have reconciled!"
The storyteller's wooden block slammed, yanking her back to reality. The crowd's chatter filled her ears again.
"Did you hear? Every cultivator who took part in that siege received the Heavenly Dao's blessing…"
"Exactly. Senior Brother Zhou from Medicine King Valley's Enforcement Hall suddenly broke through from mid-Foundation to peak stage just yesterday!"
Amid the whispers, Xie Zhaolin quietly set down tea money and pressed her straw hat lower.
The streets bustled with life. She blended into the crowd, deliberately slowing her pace to look like any ordinary mortal girl.
This was one of Hehuan Sect's affiliated cities. With her current state, there was no way she could travel farther. She'd have to recover here first. But if she ran into Hehuan Sect disciples…
Her brow twitched. Even though her face and body had changed, her Primordial Soul's aura was hard to mask. Yu Xiaotang's methods that day were too strange. To manipulate even the Heavenly Dao itself—who could say if she also had a way to track a Primordial Soul?
Xie Zhaolin kept her head down as she walked along the roadside. Her eyes, however, never stopped scanning the crowd.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted ahead.
"Make way! Everyone move aside!"
Several Hehuan Sect Enforcement Hall disciples strode through, their uniforms crisp, their hands gripping glowing green artifacts as their sharp gazes swept over the pedestrians.
Her chest tightened instantly. She slipped into a fabric shop, pretending to browse.
"Have you heard? Hehuan Sect's hunting some 'remnant' lately…"
"Shh! Don't talk nonsense unless you want trouble!"
The hushed words of the shopkeeper and her assistant drifted to her ears. Xie Zhaolin's fingers stilled for a moment before she continued flipping through the cloth like nothing happened.
Remnant?
She pinched the fabric calmly, but her eyes stayed fixed on the disciples outside. Their glowing tools lit up faintly whenever a cultivator walked past. They were detecting spiritual fluctuations.
Luckily, she was just a mortal now.
But relief turned to ice in her veins almost immediately.
Yu Xiaotang knew she wasn't dead.
Not only that, she was hunting her.
Those disciples wouldn't be in this little city without reason, and certainly not with artifacts designed to sniff out spiritual energy.
"Xitong?"
That single word Yu Xiaotang had spoken thundered in her ears again, stabbing deep into her mind.
What was that?
She didn't have time to dwell. The Enforcement disciples were already at the fabric shop's entrance. One artifact pulsed faintly with light.
Her heartbeat faltered, but her face stayed calm. She even picked up a bolt of cloth and asked softly, "This one… can you make it cheaper?"
The shopkeeper, nervous and distracted, waved her off. "Girl, that's already the lowest price…"
She pretended to hesitate, flipping through more fabric, though her gaze remained fixed on the door.
Don't panic. If she bolted now, she'd only look guilty.
The last traces of spiritual power her soul had carried were long gone. She was sure the artifact wouldn't detect anything. Still, her tightly pressed lips betrayed her unease.
The disciples stepped inside. The artifact glowed faintly, bright against the dim shop.
"You!" The leader's voice cut like a blade. "Remove your veil. Raise your head."
Her hand pressed against the brim of her hat, her fingertip trembling slightly.
"M-my appearance is plain, unworthy of troubling Senior Immortal…" Her voice was barely above a whisper, trembling with just the right amount of awe and fear.
The disciple sneered and yanked the hat away.
A gaunt, sallow face appeared, not ugly, but hollowed from long neglect.
Panic painted across her features, her cheeks flushed unnaturally, like a maiden suddenly overcome with shyness before her beloved.
The disciple's brow furrowed in disgust. "Filthy."
"Senior Immortal, please forgive me!" She dropped to her knees, voice breaking into sobs. "I… I only… I never dreamed I could see Immortal bearing so close…"
He tossed the hat aside with disdain. The artifact hovered near her face, showing no reaction. His tone grew colder. "Then why did you dart into this shop the moment you saw us?"
Her heart skipped, but her expression didn't falter. Her trembling fingers pulled a ragged handkerchief from her chest. Sloppy stitches formed a crooked Hehuan Sect pattern. "I… I saw Senior Immortals patrolling the other day and wanted to embroider this…"
Her voice sank to a whisper, thick with shame. "…but it came out ugly. I was afraid it would sully your eyes."
The crude embroidery was pitiful—thick threads, clumsy lines, obvious inexperience.
She raised her face, eyes shining with pitiful devotion. "I never thought I'd get so close today…"
The disciple's lip curled. He stepped back half a pace, clearly disgusted. He'd seen plenty of mortal women obsessed with Immortals.
"Senior Brother! Urgent news from the eastern gate!"
===
云清月 (Yún Qīngyuè)
云 (Yún): Cloud. This surname evokes a sense of elegance, loftiness, and untouchable beauty. It's fluid and dreamlike.
清 (Qīng): Clear, Pure, Serene. This is a very common and positive character in female names, suggesting purity of heart, clarity, and a tranquil nature.
月 (Yuè): Moon. A classic feminine symbol representing beauty, coolness, tranquility, and reflection. It is often paired with "cloud" to create a natural, poetic image.
Overall Meaning of 云清月: "Clouds, Clear and Moon." or more poetically, "The Moon in a Clear Sky." It paints a picture of a serene, flawless, and beautiful immortal, living a life of purity and grace. This perfectly aligns with the description of "flawless and bright" moonlight.
谢昭临 (Xiè Zhāolín)
谢 (Xiè): To Thank; To Apologize; A Surname. As a surname, it can also carry a deeper meaning of "to fade" or "to wither" (凋谢, diāoxiè). This is incredibly fitting. She is thanking her past life and the lessons learned, apologizing to no one, and allowing her old self, Yun Qingyue, to fade away and die.
昭 (Zhāo): Bright, Manifest, To Show Clearly. This is the core of her new identity. It means to shine brightly and to make something known to all. It is a character of light, clarity, and undeniable presence, often associated with the sun.
临 (Lín): To Approach, To Face, To Overlook, To Descend Upon. This character implies authority, presence, and power. It's the feeling of a ruler overlooking their domain or a deity descending from the heavens.
Overall Impression: Xie Zhaolin is the name of an active protagonist. It screams, "I am here. I will shine a light on the darkness, confront my enemies, and my presence will be felt", "To manifest brightness that overlooks all" or as the description beautifully states, "As bright as the sun and moon, shining upon the nine heavens."