Aimless Ascension

"The ritual is a bit inappropriate for an outsider like me to stay," leaving those words, the foreigner left.

Wang Li watched him go, and her sight glued to the door, hoping for it to be opened again with her husband coming to encourage her.

But it was her turn to be disappointed. Nobody came till she finished the drink. The chilliness lessened from her system as Wang Li focused on the task at hand. She wouldn't take failure for an answer here, even if there was no one to encourage her.

"It's time," Grandma told her after a while as Wang Li stood up. "You got this. Don't think too much. Listen to what your heart desires."

Wang Li braced herself as Xiaolin helped her strip off the robe. It didn't take long for her to go completely naked. The scarf was barely enough to wrap on her chest, and it hardly changed anything.

Thankfully, there was no stranger here to see her like this. Only two of the closest people. She would've liked Rong'er here too, but it's way past his bedtime.

Exchanging nods with her grandmother and Xiaolin, Wang Li crept into the pool in the middle of the night. The only light source there was a full and a half moon.

Auoana's Scarf seemed to glitter in the dim light, detecting someone triggered the fusion ritual. Warm feverish energy flowed from the scarf as Wang Li submerged herself in the water.

She didn't wait a moment to transfer her Qi into the scarf,scarf, as it was already unbearable. She fed with as much Qi as she could, and it fed her with all the warmth of the world.

The process continued as her figure, particularly the upper body, glittered in gold light. An impaling stab of pain struck her in the head, but Wang Li held onto her conviction. She continued, as the warmth was almost too much for her. It was burning her body, boiling the water.

She continued transferring Qi. However, a moment later a thought struck her. She wouldn't be able to make it. She would run out of Qi before the fusion process completes.

All the doubts struck her all at once. Wang Li felt short of breath. Her mind was a chaotic mess with the stabbing pain.

A vision surfaced in her mind. It was her parents cutting short her resources. They called her useless. That vision changed to her husband, who she couldn't understand anymore.

"Wasn't worth it," her husband told her.

Wang Li held on through the burning, her mind barely maintaining against the crushing force.

The vision changed to her grandmother. The elderly figure said, "Perhaps your parents were right all along."

Wang Li cried as everything forced her to give up. She was a failure from the beginning. What's there to prove? It won't change anything.

The vision changed. It was Xiaolin this time, who gave her a totally detestable look. "At least I have an excuse for my uselessness. What do you have, elder sister?"

Wang Li gritted her teeth. She couldn't bear it anymore. She doesn't deserve all this. All she ever wanted was a loving family. The martial way wasn't for someone like her.

The vision changed again, and the figure twisted into something that largely resembled her, though vastly beautiful.

"I told you one day you'd understand," Wang Qi told her. "I hope you understand now why they did it. . ."

Wang Li broke as madness took over her. She wanted to give up. She wanted nothing of this. But she couldn't. This was her last stand. If she gave up now, there wouldn't be anything left for her.

The loving family she ever wanted would be broken, and she would be left with nothing. Grandma wouldn't want her. Xiaolin would detest her. As for her parents and sister, they hardly acknowledged her existence.

Then there was her husband. What would he say if she failed?

What about her son? What about Rong'er?

She had to succeed, if not for herself, then for Rong'er. It was within her power to give him everything her parents couldn't.

'I'll succeed.'

Wang Li continued on as she hovered between the unbearable burning and agonising stabbing pain in her mind.

She'll last till the end. Nobody would tell her she didn't try hard enough. 'I'll succeed."

Then her mana ran out.

She lasted more than she had hoped, but in the end, she failed. In the end, she was only fated to go this far. She was an absolute failure. . . an absolute . . .

The burning decreased right after she ran out of Qi. Within a moment, it turned normal as Auoana's Scarf evaporated into nothingness. Wang Li felt a warm energy spread in her chest as she rose from the steaming water.

"You have succeeded," Grandma told her and helped her get out. Her body was painstakingly sluggish and exhausted.

"I. . . I felt like I will die," Wang managed to say.

Grandma nodded as Linlin helped her wear the robes. Well, it took the two of them to clothe her. Grandma held her straight as Linlin wrapped her in the robe. Wang Li had nothing left to care about. She was still panting, her chest rising up and down, and the stabbing pain was still there in her head.

"Isn't this supposed to be easy?"

"The first time is supposed to be like this," her grandmother told her. She kissed her on the cheek and forehead. "I'm proud of you."

Xiaolin helped her sit on the porch as Gale came back to congratulate her shortly after. The foreigner avoided looking at her for most of the conversation. Xiaolin hadn't managed to clothe her properly and with nothing under, she wasn't appropriate to look at as the robe was stuck to her wet body.

Honestly, Wang Li was too exhausted to care about anything.

She succeeded. Oh heaven, she succeeded.

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