Pei Yuhang was a transmigrator. For reasons unknown, he had crossed over to this world and begun a new life as a baby.
When he first arrived in this world, Pei Yuhang had no idea it was a world of cultivation. He simply assumed it was a parallel universe with an ancient Eastern setting.
Perhaps due to some unexpected change to his body and soul during the transmigration process, in this life he possessed a perfect appearance, as well as superhuman memory and comprehension.
Even as a child, Pei Yuhang was renowned far and wide as a handsome and talented scholar.
At sixteen years old, after he had passed the imperial examination as the top scholar and was about to travel to the capital for an audience with the emperor, two Fairies found him.
The Fairies displayed their incredible Magical Power before Pei Yuhang. They told him he had an extraordinary constitution and a world-shocking talent for cultivation, and they wanted to take him to their Sect to begin his journey on the path of cultivation.
But at that time, Pei Yuhang was already engaged. His fiancée was his childhood sweetheart, the daughter of his neighbor, a teacher.
Entering a Sect meant bidding farewell to the Mortal World. Pei Yuhang couldn't bear to leave his fiancée.
The Fairies explained that special talents received special treatment. As long as he could reach Foundation Establishment before the age of twenty, he would earn the right to leave the mountain early for worldly training.
Then he could return, impart the cultivation method to his fiancée, and they could walk the path of cultivation together, becoming Dao Companions.
With his fiancée's support and encouragement, Pei Yuhang believed them. He agreed to follow the Fairies and enter the Sect.
"Wait for me. When I return in five years, I'll take you with me to live forever."
Pei Yuhang promised his fiancée.
His fiancée gave Pei Yuhang a ring as a token of their love. After they pledged their eternal love, Pei Yuhang followed the Fairies up the mountain.
Later, Pei Yuhang learned that the Sacred Land of Heaven and Earth Yin Yang Sympathy the Fairies had spoken of was actually formerly called the Joyful Union Sect...
Pei Yuhang had not entered the Sect as a disciple. He was brought in as a consumable resource—a Cauldron Slave, tricked by a female disciple tasked with recruitment.
Cauldron Slaves were not drained dry immediately upon entering the Sect. While still mortal, their bodies were too weak and had not yet been nourished and transformed by Spiritual Qi. To the Witches of the Yin Yang Sympathy Sacred Land, they were useless for cultivation, serving only as "little snacks" to be sampled.
So, for the first five years after entering the Joyful Union Sect, the Cauldron Slaves would be taught cultivation methods. They had to at least reach the Qi Refining Realm before they could be used as Cauldron Slaves.
Well, about the matter of teaching Pei Yuhang cultivation, the "Fairies" hadn't lied.
So, as Pei Yuhang cultivated, he also watched for any opportunity to escape.
His beloved was still waiting for him in the Mortal World. Pei Yuhang swore he would escape this Demon Cave!
What Pei Yuhang didn't expect, however, was that on just the second day of his cultivation, he broke through to the Qi Refining Realm. The breakthrough even triggered a worldly phenomenon.
A thick, crimson pillar formed from Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy shot straight into the clouds, connecting to the blazing sun.
When the female disciples saw the massive red pillar of Spiritual Qi connecting heaven and earth, they all exclaimed, "A pillar of Giant Yang Qi holding up the heavens! How magnificent!"
Having caused such a massive disturbance, he was naturally handed over by the low-ranking Elder in charge of the Cauldron Slaves to the current Sect Leader.
And just like that, Pei Yuhang's escape plan was doomed before he could even begin to plot it.
The look the Sect Leader gave Pei Yuhang was heavy with unspoken meaning. Even now, the memory sends a chill through his entire body.
"Your name is Pei Yuhang, is it?"
"Yes..."
"What a cold name for someone with such a scorching Giant Sun Saint Body~"
"..."
"Blushing already? How cute. It's a pity the gap in our strength is too vast for us to cultivate together... However, the Saintess of our Yin Yang Sympathy Sacred Land has also just embarked upon her path. From now on, you will accompany the current Saintess in her cultivation.
"With a treasure like you as her Cauldron Slave, the current Saintess's Cultivation will surely surpass all previous Saintesses, and she will become the strongest."
Pei Yuhang couldn't resist. Humiliated, he was taken to meet the current Saintess of the Yin Yang Sacred Land—Shang Miaoyan.
"So you're the first Cauldron Slave I'll be using from now on?"
"Why is there a ring on your finger? Don't tell me you're engaged... Haha~!" Shang Miaoyan seemed to have discovered something interesting, her narrow, fox-like eyes glowing with a scarlet light.
"Do you know about the Cauldron Slave's slave contract? It will be branded on your body and soul, making you my exclusive toy for the rest of your life.
"Let me think, where should I brand you?"
The Saintess—no, the Witch, rather—scanned Pei Yuhang's body from top to bottom. Her gaze was brazen, and finally, it locked onto a certain spot.
He was hard. His fists, that is.
Pei Yuhang clenched his fists in humiliation as the slave brand belonging to Shang Miaoyan was carved onto him.
It was a complex, demonic pattern of purplish-red, causing a deep sense of shame in Pei Yuhang, a man who, in his past life, had never even liked tattoos on women.
... ...
Fortunately, in order not to affect Pei Yuhang's cultivation potential, the wicked women of the "Sacred Land" did not brainwash his Divine Sense, allowing him to always remember his goal of escaping.
After being toyed with for nearly thirty years, Pei Yuhang finally seized an opportunity. He escaped from the Demon Cave during an attack on the Main Base of the Yin Yang Sympathy Sacred Land by the Righteous Sects.
While evading the pursuit teams sent by the Saintess, an old Daoist from the Xuanyuan Dao Sect with the air of an immortal saw his potential. He took him in as a disciple, sealed the slave mark that could control his body, and gave him his freedom.
"Master, I want to go back to Lishui Village to see..."
"Disciple, your ties to the mortal world are not yet severed. Go, but know that all things are subject to fate. You must be prepared."
Pei Yuhang nodded. He knew what his master meant.
A mortal could have grown old and feeble in these past few decades, or simply turned to a pile of dust.
But no matter what, he had to go back and see for himself.
Pei Yuhang lowered his gaze, touching his now-bare finger. Because of Shang Miaoyan's jealousy, the ring had been destroyed.
In its place was a scar from a bite mark. Shang Miaoyan had done it. He didn't know what kind of vicious technique the witch had used, but the wound could never be fully healed, leaving behind a permanent, circular scar of teeth marks.
"This is the ring I'm giving you. You have to wear it for the rest of your life~!"
Shang Miaoyan had said this on the day she destroyed the ring Pei Yuhang had kept in memory of his fiancée.
Pei Yuhang shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. Under the old Daoist's watchful gaze, he headed for Lishui Village.
The old Daoist himself simply sat where he was and waited for him.
Three days later, the old Daoist saw Pei Yuhang again. The handsome young Cultivator's expression was grim; he looked far more mature than he had just three days before.
"Master... Lishui Village was destroyed by war twenty years ago. Shang Miaoyan lied to me. She let me believe Qianqian was still alive, just that she had long since remarried..."
"Master, take me up the mountain!"
"From now on, I will use my sword to slay demons and defend the righteous path! To bring justice to the world!"
... ...
A hundred years passed as he cultivated in the Xuanyuan Dao Sect. Freed from the exploitation of the Yin Yang Sacred Land's Saintess and the Dharma Seal that had suppressed his Cultivation, Pei Yuhang's talent was finally unleashed. He rose through the ranks at astonishing speed, becoming a Divinity Transformation Great Power.
During this time, he once again felt the warmth of camaraderie among fellow Daoists in the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, and he met the partner of his life, his Junior Sister Ye Liyuan.
With Junior Sister Ye's help, Pei Yuhang gradually forgot the pain of his past in the Yin Yang Sacred Land, and even the humiliating status of his former life as a Cauldron Slave.
Junior Sister Ye was like a beam of light, illuminating Pei Yuhang, who had thought he was destined for a life of solitude.
As expected, they happily tied the knot, becoming the most envied pair of Dao Companions in the entire Xuanyuan Dao Sect.
If the story had ended there, it might have been the kind of sweet, happy ending that turns tragedy into joy for countless fans of pure romance.
Unfortunately... his story was only just beginning.
... ...
Pei Yuhang subconsciously put his hands under him, gripping the fabric on his thighs.
Just now, Lu Ruoxi's greedy gaze had made him recall the long-buried past of being a Cauldron Slave.
Back then, every female disciple of the Yin Yang Sacred Land had looked at him with that same greed, as if they wanted to devour him alive on the spot.
In a way, Shang Miaoyan had actually been his savior. After all, no matter how strong his Giant Sun Saint Body was, his Cultivation was limited at the time. He wouldn't have been able to withstand being "plucked" by so many female disciples.
If not for Shang Miaoyan's perverse possessiveness—which made her guard him from everyone, even the Sect Leader and the Great Elder—he would have long ago been drained into a withered husk, tossed into the White Bone Forest at the foot of the Yin Yang Sacred Land's mountain to join his Cauldron Slave predecessors in the Netherworld...
The thought made Pei Yuhang feel like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow. He didn't dare linger in Dan Yun Pavilion a moment longer and quickly rushed out the door.