She Dominates the Immortal Realm with Her HP Bar

That night after accepting the Canglang Sect's order, Yan Luoyue lit her forge and worked tirelessly, crafting over a hundred small storage pouches in one go.

For a high-level artifact smith, mass-producing identical items was akin to an alchemist refining dozens of pills in a single batch—a skill mastered naturally with experience. These small storage pouches were inherently easier to craft than standard ones, and Yan Luoyue could produce over twenty per batch. By the time dawn approached, she had completed five batches, yielding roughly one hundred and fifty pouches.

Throughout the night, Yan Gan stayed by her side, lending a helping hand. It wasn’t until now that the older brother realized: the large quantity of materials Yan Luoyue had purchased during their trip to Ruyi City were almost entirely for crafting storage pouches. In other words, she had already planned this business venture before they even set foot in the city.

The next morning, Yan Gan shared this revelation with Sang Ji, sighing in admiration.

“No wonder elders always say, ‘The difference between some demon clans can be greater than the difference between a demon and a crocodile’…”

Sang Ji, whose lineage traced back to the Black-Snouted Crocodile demon clan, shot him a deeply complicated look.

Slowly, he replied, “Our clan has a similar saying. Except, in our version, the comparison is made with the Patterned Windflash Leopard.”

Among a turtle’s natural predators, crocodiles ranked high.

And among the Black-Snouted Crocodile’s natural predators, the Patterned Windflash Leopard was a notable threat.

The two brothers exchanged glances, sensing that further discussion might not bode well for their friendship.

“…Ahem, let’s change the subject.”

“…Agreed.”

The first batch of storage pouches was now complete. These delicate pouches were a soft, pale green in color, simple and unadorned, without a single decorative pattern.

This wasn’t because Yan Luoyue had forgotten about branding them—rather, the advertisements weren’t meant to be embedded during crafting. Instead, they would be imprinted through a special process later.

Yan Luoyue was well aware of her own handwriting.

Drawing a chibi-style wolf head? No problem. But using her own calligraphy for the advertisement? That would be outright embarrassing.

So, just like the “Cures All Ailments” banner she had commissioned before, the five-character slogan—“Canglang Sect, Awoo~”—was something she intended to have Jiang Tingbai write for her.

Early in the morning, Yan Luoyue dashed into the faculty lounge and made her request to Jiang Tingbai.

As expected, after learning the purpose of the phrase, Jiang Tingbai generously agreed.

A faint, amused smile tugged at his lips.

He found the advertisement both whimsical and clever—and was certain it would have quite the effect once displayed.

Noticing that Yan Luoyue still wore the grass-woven cricket he had given her as an accessory on her storage pouch, Jiang Tingbai’s expression softened further.

He bent down to pat the little girl’s head, playfully flicking the fluffy ornament in her hair, then untied a second grass-woven sword tassel from his blade.

“What do you think of this new one?”

Yan Luoyue accepted it with both hands.

One glance was all it took for her to wish she could grow eight feet tall on the spot, just so she could grab Jiang Tingbai by the shoulders and shake him in disbelief.

Wait a minute—Jiang-xiansheng, a swordsman’s sword is practically their wife, right?

So, how come you’re treating your wife worse and worse?!

The previous grass-woven cricket, though crudely made, had at least followed traditional methods and resembled an actual cricket.

But this time… what in the world was this thing Jiang Tingbai had created with his unrestrained imagination?

Squinting, Yan Luoyue studied it carefully.

Hmm. First, it had four legs…

Second, one pair of limbs—whether fore or hind, she couldn’t tell—was attached to a rectangular object?

And third, its head bore two very prominent protrusions.

At the sight of those horn-like things, Yan Luoyue instinctively touched the pair of fluffy white pom-poms in her hair.

Hahaha, of course she was overthinking it. What did horns have to do with her hairstyle?

—She wasn’t the female lead from *Detective Conan*, after all.

With a practiced smile, she handed the tassel back to Jiang Tingbai and nodded emphatically, showering him with praise without missing a beat.

“Xiansheng must have woven an ox pulling a plow, right? Your craftsmanship is truly exceptional! As expected of you, Jiang-xiansheng—even with your cultivation achievements, you still care deeply for the common folk’s hardships.”

Jiang Tingbai: “……”

Jiang Tingbai smiled gently, like a spring breeze.

He stopped her from returning the tassel and, with lightning speed, looped it around her neck instead.

Yan Luoyue: “Huh?”

Patting her head affectionately, Jiang Tingbai praised her kindly:

“What eloquent words. Let’s not hear them again. Hurry along to class now.”

“But the tassel—”

“Keep it.”

Yan Luoyue: “……”

On her way back to the classroom, Yan Luoyue pondered one question relentlessly.

Had she misidentified the tassel’s subject?

Maybe Jiang Tingbai hadn’t been trying to weave an ox pulling a plow—perhaps it was an ox pulling a cart instead?

Arriving at the classroom, Yan Luoyue habitually vaulted onto her chair with a single hand.

Glancing toward Yan Gan and Sang Ji’s usual spots, she found two unfamiliar faces instead.

Other classmates, noticing her confusion, chimed in with explanations.

“Brother Ji and Yan Gan got promoted.”

“Xiansheng said you should go to the Li Class now too.”

“Luoyue, do you know where the Li Class is? Hehe, want me to take you there?”

From their chatter, Yan Luoyue pieced together the full picture.

The academy was divided into four tiers of classes, from highest to lowest: Yuan, Heng, Li, and Zhen. Each year, the instructors reassigned students based on their cultivation progress, moving those with higher advancements to the next tier.

Generally, Zhen Class students were at the early Qi Refining stage, Li Class at mid-stage, Heng Class at late-stage.

As for Yuan Class students, they had already stepped into Foundation Establishment and were eligible for recommendation letters from the instructors, allowing them to join any major sect near Yunning Great Marsh as elite inner disciples.

Sang Ji and Yan Gan had been at mid-Qi Refining for a while. They’d only been placed in Zhen Class temporarily when they transferred mid-winter to acclimate. Now that spring had arrived and classes were being reorganized, they naturally advanced to Li Class.

Once Yan Luoyue had absorbed all the new information, Yan Gan—now settled in his new class—hurried back to fetch her.

He dismissed all offers of assistance from classmates, then laid his palm flat on her desk, silently inviting her to shrink into her tiny turtle form.

The light-green turtleette tapped her little claws against the desk with a *pit-a-pat* rhythm, then clambered up his arm with great effort, finally nestling onto his shoulder.

*Sniffle*… Even as she left, the Zhen Class’s most adorable little sister was still this heart-meltingly cute.

Yan Gan puffed out his chest with an air of swagger, basking in the envious gazes of his peers as he adjusted the crocheted lily-of-the-valley flower on his turtle shell.

"Alright, let's get going then."

"Ugh, how annoying—I was hoping to give Little Luoyue one last pat."

"I wish I could tug on that yarn flower too."

"Come visit us during lunch break, little sister!"

Amidst the earnest pleas and well-wishes of her classmates, Yan Luoyue's seat shifted from the front row of the Zhen Class to the front row of the Li Class.

After the first class ended, Yan Luoyue followed her usual habit and transformed into her turtle form, carefully sensing the flow of spiritual energy through her meridians.

Just as the instructors of the Li Class had taught, assuming her demonic beast form allowed her to attune more closely with the ambient spiritual energy, enhancing her cultivation progress.

The energy wrapped around her like warm water, soothing her skin in gentle waves.

Just as the little turtle was nodding off, her tiny head bobbing and the lily-of-the-valley on her shell trembling slightly, a hand suddenly shot out and scooped her up.

"Holy shell, the rumors are true—you guys really brought your little sister to class!"

"Pfft—hahaha! This turtle’s so tiny, it’s hilarious!"

"Hey, Yan Gan, Sang Ji, you two greenhorns don’t know who runs the Li Class, do you? Bow to Brother Tang, serve him tea, and we’ll let your sister go. Otherwise… heh, Brother Tang will make you regret it."

Yan Luoyue, now held captive in someone’s grip: "…"

This time, she wasn’t worried.

After all, by now, as a master artificer, she was far from being as unprepared as she had been when she first entered the Zhen Class.

Still, this one-sided declaration of victory struck her as utterly…

Yan Gan turned his head slightly toward Sang Ji, watching as their sister was dangled by the yarn flower on her shell, swaying rhythmically in the air.

"Bro, doesn’t this scene feel familiar? Like, *extremely* familiar?"

Sang Ji pressed a hand to his forehead and muttered, "Stop. My conscience is already aching."

The scene, the dialogue—

*Damn it all, this was a carbon copy of Yan Luoyue’s first smuggling-into-class incident!*

Right now, Sang Ji’s toes were curling so hard they could dig trenches.

Only after witnessing this reenactment did he realize how ridiculously stupid he must have looked back then.

With a sudden kick, Sang Ji struck his opponent’s shin.

The boy yowled in pain, instinctively bending over and loosening his grip. Seizing the moment, Sang Ji moved like lightning, performing a flashy underhand catch to snag Yan Luoyue midair.

"Hey there, little sis." He grinned mischievously and winked at her. "This time, it’s not your bro’s fault if you go flying—I’m just reacting!"

The little turtle’s expression flattened, her naturally smiling mouth pulling into a straight line as she tapped a front claw against Sang Ji’s palm in protest.

Seeing his lackey humiliated, "Brother Tang" slammed a hand on the table.

Instantly, the rowdy onlookers around them straightened up like a field of spears.

"Newbies, you’ve got some nerve."

Sang Ji’s gaze swept the room, noting how most of the assessing stares lingered on Yan Luoyue. He lightly poked the little turtle in his palm.

"Change back, sis."

She had already planned to—if a fight broke out, her turtle form would be impractical.

But Yan Luoyue never expected that the moment she shifted back, Sang Ji would grab her under the arms and thrust her right into Brother Tang’s face!

Yan Luoyue: "?"

Holding her up like a shield, Sang Ji smirked at the fuming Brother Tang.

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you—take one more step, and this kid will collapse at your feet, pale as a ghost, gasping for breath, half-transparent.

"Then me and Yan Gan will drop to our knees, wailing over her. Congrats, pal—you just messed with the wrong people."

In all his years dominating the Li Class, Brother Tang had never encountered such shameless tactics.

Brother Tang: "…"

*Are you kidding me? They’re even giving a live tutorial on how to fake an injury? This crocodile brat is* ***vile!***

Yan Luoyue: "…"

She had to admit, Sang Ji’s dramatic reenactment was eerily accurate.

*And airing my embarrassing past in public? Sang Ji, you absolute* ***menace!***

Lackey A slithered to Brother Tang’s side, whispering (poorly) under his breath: "Boss, word is the teachers *adore* this kid…"

Brother Tang’s face twisted in outrage.

"Are you even *male* demon beasts, hiding behind a little girl? Put her down, and let’s settle this fair and square—no involving her!"

In an instant, Sang Ji’s smirk vanished, replaced by icy calm.

"Oh? No involving her, huh—*you all heard him.* If anyone so much as *touches* my sister again, they’re spineless oath-breakers."

Plunking Yan Luoyue onto a bench, he flashed the crocodile clan’s signature 270-degree villainous grin. "Let’s take this outside."

Brother Tang: "…"

Sure, this was the fight he’d wanted.

So why did it feel like he’d been outmaneuvered?

And why did he suddenly feel *intellectually inadequate*…

As the group stormed out, half the Li Class emptied.

Yan Luoyue climbed onto the windowsill, watching the scuffle in the training field.

Three minutes later, she shook her head, bored, and returned to her seat like a retired hero, reverting to her turtle form.

As it turned out, worrying about Yan Gan and Sang Ji was unnecessary.

She watched, wide-eyed, as the two idiots seamlessly cast spells—one digging pits, the other filling them—burying the delinquents up to their chests in perfect rows.

"…"

Truly, Yan Gan and Sang Ji were poster boys for *applied education.*

The technique they used? The very earth-manipulation art Mr. Jiang had taught them while punishing them with tree-planting.

Now, the troublemakers stood like neatly planted saplings, only their heads visible aboveground.

From a distance, the colorful lineup of students resembled a strangely satisfying crop field.

Brother Tang, having terrorized the Li Class for years, had never faced such *creative* humiliation. He cursed up a storm.

Sang Ji mockingly reached for his belt. "Hmm, maybe these saplings need… fertilizer."

Brother Tang instantly clammed up, eyes wide: "…"

***You are a demon. Stay back!***

Under Brother Tang’s horrified gaze, Yan Gan descended like a savior, dragging his buddy back to class:

"Cut it out, man. The girls are watching from inside."

By the second period, half the students in the Li Class were absent.

During this time, a minor yet memorable incident occurred: the old hen demon who did odd jobs around the school dragged out a hose to water the trees as usual.

Mistaking the delinquent boys for newly planted shrubs, she doused them with a high-pressure stream of icy water, splashing it straight into their faces.

The delinquents: "…"

The bitterness of life—they had tasted it all in one morning.

In the end, these students had to be personally released by the teachers.

When they emerged, their usual cocky, proud expressions had vanished, replaced by sheepish, lowered heads.

One of them even covered his face with both hands, lamenting the day’s misfortunes—like pushing a millstone bare-bottomed, spinning in circles of humiliation.

Moreover, thanks to Sang Ji’s show-stealing performance during the brawl—Brother Tang thought he was shameless, Yan Luoyue thought he was shameless, and Sang Ji himself had remained as steady as an old dog throughout…

With these three layers of "dogness" upon him, Sang Ji earned a new nickname from the crowd: Sang Biao.

It wasn’t just Brother Tang who gritted his teeth while uttering those two syllables.

Later, even the subdued delinquents of the Li Class would occasionally slip up and mutter, "Our Biao-ge…"

…………

To say the least, this brawl had caused quite a stir.

The notoriously strict and rigid Mr. Dong arrived upon hearing the news, wielding a disciplinary whip that whistled sharply through the air, determined to teach all involved a lesson.

Yan Luoyue took a close look at that whip: three strands of black vines twisted with silver threads, the seams still stained with dark purple streaks of old blood.

A single lash from such a heavy whip would likely leave one’s back split open.

"…Yikes."

After confirming the whip’s lethality, Yan Luoyue hesitated not a single second before performing an instant vanishing act.

As someone already on Mr. Dong’s blacklist, Sang Ji was yanked to the front row and subjected to a torrent of scolding.

Things like how he’d been stirring trouble back in the Zhen Class, and now in the Li Class, it was still him causing chaos, and so on.

Sang Ji tried to clarify: "Hold on, sir. This time, they were the ones who picked a fight with me and Yan Gan."

"Silence!" Mr. Dong brandished the whip again. "You could have reported it to your teachers, challenged them in martial arts class, or at the very least fought them in the training grounds. But burying them in a square formation? That was pure mischief, and you know it!"

Sang Ji rubbed his nose, unable to deny his own mischievous tendencies.

Still…

He sighed. "You don’t get it. In these situations, you have to beat them into submission in one go… Never mind. Just tell me how you’re punishing me."

Mr. Dong’s temper flared at his unrepentant attitude.

"To show no remorse at all—today, you’ll take twenty lashes as an example to the rest—"

Before he could finish, a voice as serene as a gentle breeze swept through the room.

"Junior Brother Dong."

Mr. Dong immediately composed himself and bowed respectfully. "Senior Brother Jiang."

"I’ve already heard the details of the incident."

Jiang Tingbai smiled faintly at Mr. Dong before turning his gaze to Sang Ji and Yan Gan.

Oddly enough, though Jiang Tingbai was neither stern nor angry, the moment his calm eyes swept over them, everyone instinctively straightened their clothes and stood properly, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.

Jiang Tingbai pointed at the two troublemakers and said lightly,

"Last time, I punished you by planting trees, and you learned how to bury people instead. So this time, I’ll have you practice calligraphy."

Mr. Dong stepped forward. "Senior Brother, mere calligraphy practice won’t teach these ruffians—"

Jiang Tingbai replied with a gentle smile, "Why not? Once they’ve mastered calligraphy, they might learn how to carve tombstones next time."

"……"

Though Jiang Tingbai’s tone was perfectly amiable, everyone—Mr. Dong, Sang Ji, Yan Gan, and even Brother Tang’s gang—felt inexplicably targeted.

They all hunched their shoulders, not daring to say another word.

After assigning a mountain of handwriting homework to Sang Ji and Yan Gan, Jiang Tingbai turned to leave.

Mr. Dong couldn’t help but call out, "Wait, Senior Brother, what about these miscreants—?"

"Oh, them?" Jiang Tingbai seemed to remember only then. "They’ll be left to your judgment, Junior Brother."

With that, Jiang Tingbai departed without another glance.

Only after rounding the corridor did he loosen his sleeve, allowing the small turtle hidden inside to slide out.

A tiny white pom-pom flower wobbled atop the turtle’s shell as it moved.

The moment the turtle touched the ground, it transformed into a delicate-looking little girl—none other than Yan Luoyue, who had swiftly summoned reinforcements.

She looked up at Jiang Tingbai with a grateful smile, only to notice a faint pensiveness in his expression.

"…Sir, are you angry?"

Yan Luoyue tried to put herself in his shoes, mentally drafting a self-criticism while subtly shifting 80% of the blame onto the delinquents:

"Um, sorry, sir. Next time something like this happens, I’ll run straight to the teachers. It’s just… there were so many of them, and they blocked the doors. I was so stunned I forgot to escape!"

Jiang Tingbai snapped out of his thoughts and chuckled softly.

"I’m not angry. I’ve long heard about the situation in the Li Class… Sometimes, children must resolve things their own way. This time, your brothers weren’t entirely wrong."

"As for you…"

He curled his fingers slightly, his lips quirking as if recalling Yan Luoyue’s adorably tiny turtle form.

"Right now, your priority should always be protecting yourself."

Retrieving a neatly folded sheet of paper from his storage pouch, Jiang Tingbai bent down to hand it to Yan Luoyue.

"Here—the calligraphy you asked for this morning. Take a look."

Yan Luoyue stretched on her tiptoes to accept it, beaming. "Thank you, sir!"

Mr. Jiang was truly the best—gentle, dependable, and understanding. A man without flaws.

Once she finished settling payments with the Canglang Sect, she absolutely had to share a portion of her earnings with him… At least 10% of the profits!

Jiang Tingbai had been about to return her smile, but as Yan Luoyue bounced on her toes, the grass-woven sword tassel hanging from her chest swayed slightly.

"……"

A shadow of something unreadable crossed his face. Almost unconsciously, his fingers brushed the new tassel tied to his own sword, flicking it back and forth.

Yan Luoyue’s gaze instinctively followed the motion.

She widened her eyes and studied it carefully: Hmm, still a creature with four legs, but this time the protagonist looked round and plump, with one foot propped on a ball...

A sudden spark of realization flashed through Yan Luoyue’s mind, and she immediately understood.

“Mr. Dong, this time you’ve made a wild boar playing soccer, haven’t you?”

“…”

For a long, long while, Yan Luoyue heard no response from Jiang Tingbai.

Just as she couldn’t resist the urge to look up, a firm hand pressed down on her head, stopping her from raising it.

After another long pause, a sigh so deep it seemed to carry the weight of a broken heart drifted down from directly above her.

“This sword tassel… you can have it to play with too.”