Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?

Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?

Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 27 - The 'Bing Meilu's Faithful Slaves' Faction

---

The Former 'Red Dragon Faction' all sat in silence, circled around their new 'master'. She sat, silently inspecting all of them. Jiang Hu, the former faction leader knelt before her, bandaged.

"Good day to you all. As you know, I have defeated your faction leader and assumed control over this group. Are there any objections?"

No one spoke up and several shook their heads. While she would lose against all of them, she was stronger than any one of them and had proven that by defeating Jiang Hu. Satisfied her rule was accepted, she continued speaking.

"I am Bing Meilu, a personal disciple of Prime Elder Hai Yu, of the Former Moon Crying Swan Palace. I was selected by her due to my unique talent and potential. However, the Moon Crying Swan Palace has been destroyed so I am temporarily set back. I've entered this section from the same starting position as any ordinary disciple despite my background. As you might guess, with my talent and high-level cultivation method, rising to a much higher level is all but guaranteed."

She could begin to see gears turn in the heads of her subordinates, smiling politely.

"If one person achieves immorality, even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

This famous idiom described how if even one person became successful, all those who had helped them would benefit. If Bing Meilu really was set to do great things, wouldn't being her early followers be a huge boon later on?

"I will be dissolving the Crimson Dragon Faction and forming my own faction. Who amongst you wishes to follow me?" Bing Meilu asked, raising her voice.

"I do!" "I'll follow you, Boss Meilu!" "Count me in!"

The members of the Crimson Dragon Faction cheered and roared, shouting their allegiance to her. Bing Meilu nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well then. I welcome you all to the "Bing Meilu's Faithful Slaves" Faction!"

There was a dead silence. One of the Foundation Establishment Lieutenant spoke up awkwardly.

"...You're not really calling it tha-"

"Are you questioning my authority?"

"Um-"

"Because if you are, I'll make what I did to Jiang Hu look like a pleasant vacation day by comparison."

"I for one think it's an amazing name! It perfectly described how we plan to faithfully serve you!" one of the Qi Condensation disciples suddenly spoke up.

"Good. This one understands. What's your name?" Bing Meilu smiled

"I am Li Ji, Boss, a Private at the seventh stage of Qi Condensation." I'm an accountant for the former Crimson Dragons."

Li Ji's Qi Aura was shoddy and thin for his stage, a 'unique' take on Yin Metal Qi attempted by someone who had no clue what they were doing. A case study of why creating one's own path was usually restricted to only the greatest geniuses.

"Well, Private Li Ji, how would you feel about being the head accountant in my new faction?"

"Oh- I would be honoured, Boss Meilu!"

"Good."

Bing Meilu calmly sipped on a cup of tea as the rest of the crimson dragons swore themselves to her, proudly proclaiming themselves "Bing Meilu's Faithful Slaves" Faction Members.

"Jiang Hu, tell me everything I need to know about the former Crimsons Dragons, as well as the other factions at Snake Port!"

---

Bing Meilu sipped her tea, as she thought. She was seated upon the throne formerly belonging to Jiang Hu in the rented dorm room that served as the home base of the former Crimson Dragon Faction.

The 'Port Snake' they were based at was actually the 70th Port Snake, one of many hundreds of 'Port Snake's that served as the Outer Sect portion of the 'Snake Fleet'. There were Twelve Zodiac Fleets, each in charge of a different portion of the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada's territory.

Snake Fleet was in charge of the western side of the tip of the Bird Talon Continent, especially suppressing the demon beasts from the Deep Star Ravine, a danger zone of high importance.

In Seventieth Port Snake, there were many dozen unimportant factions ranging from containing Foundation Establishment Liutenants to Core Formation Captains.

Only four truly mattered, each backed by a Nascent Soul Commodore. It turned out that the factional infighting was actually a proxy war for the infighting of these four Commodores, the equivalent of an Outer Sect Elder.

Seventieth Port Snake existed for the 3rd Division of the Pirate Subduing Strike Force. A Division was headed by a Transcending Impurity Division Commander, the equivalent of an Inner Sect Elder. The third Division had four Squadron, each one headed by a Nascent Soul Commodore

Blackheart Squadron headed by Commodore Daoist Black-Heartflame, Liyang Squadron headed by Commodore Liyang, Rampage Squadron headed by Commodore Rampage-Sword, and Tang Squadron, headed by Commodore Tang.

It turned out that the Division Commander was close to breaking through to the Saint Realm and would soon have to start grooming one of the four Commodores to be his successor, so the competition between each of the Squadrons was high, as they each attempted to gain the upper hand in authority to increase their chance of a promotion.

The various dozens of factions were almost all aligned with one of these four blocks, though in a loose sense. The Crimson Dragon Faction, for example, had been allied with the Rampage Squadron Faction. Though they mostly did their own thing, when the annual Faction Competition was held, they were expected to join in on the Rampage Faction's Side.

"So long as you have two or more people, politics comes into play," Bing Meilu complained. "I'll have to navigate things a bit more carefully since the situation is so tense. "

Would she continue to be allied with the Rampage Faction, as the successor to the Crimson Dragon Faction? Or perhaps hitch her cart to a better faction?

Well, all could be decided later. For now, she would focus on turning this ragtag group of failures into a force strong enough to be worth a damn.

All was going to plan.

---

Xia Xuefeng shook in fear as she was dangled over a deep black hole by two guards.

"Have fun in the Shadow Pit, filthy Demonic Cultivator!" one of them chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be quite popular."

Their grip released and she fell, screaming. She slammed into the bottom of a near completely lightless pit. Hundreds of feet above, a metal hatch was sealed with a hiss.

'You've got to be fucking kidding me! Why me?!'

Xia Xuefeng fearfully looked around, finding it hard to see even with her Qi-enhanced eyes. Moss and fungus choked the granite walls of a cave. Slugs lapped at the tiny slime moulds sitting atop rotting vines. Dozens of bones and human skulls adorned the floor.

'Heavens-'

She heard a chittering laugh in the distance, slowly heading toward her.

"Well, well well. Fresh Meat."

---

"No, you moron. When you cycle Qi through the seventh to the twentieth meridian, you have to keep it blocked off from the nineteenth. Why? Why else even have a circuit if you're just going to leak it back into your entire meridian channel!"

"Is that really your spear intent? My four-year-old brother has a more threatening will. Stab harder!"

"Did someone blackmail you into cultivating a manual this crappy or are you just stupid, Private Ji!? Cripple your own cultivation base and recultivate entirely!"

"You four! Why in the name of all that is holy would you use a Five Phases Elemental Formation with only four members? You couldn't find a wood cultivator? Either find a wood cultivator or you'll find my sword seven feet up your ass!"

Bing Meilu strode through the eighteen members of the 'Bing Meilu's Faithful Slaves' Factions, correcting them as they trained.

Some had a good foundation and simply needed to be pushed harder, such as the Spear Cultivator Private Xi Fu.

Some were close to success and needed slight alterations, like the 'Elemental Quad'.

Some were abject failures who needed to abandon their entire fighting style and start from scratch, like Private Ji, who somehow thought cultivating a method intended for Spirit Dogs would work on a human.

"Li Ji, how much in the way of resources do we have?" Bing Meilu asked her accountant.

"Ahh- we--aaah, have -uuh- seven- ahh- hundred-ahh spirit- aaaaaaah! Stones!" Li Lu gasped, body covered in sweat, as flames licked at his skin. "Can I- ahh take a break?"

"Not yet. We need to warm up your Metal Qi so it's malleable enough to be rerouted through your meridians. Unless you want to be stuck in Qi Condensation for the rest of a meagre and pathetic life, you'll put up with the flame."

"It huuuurts!"

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body... Except for when it isn't."