This body of Ning Shengsheng’s was incapable of normal cultivation.

The system giving her the Beast Transformation Art was basically telling her she could cultivate “unorthodox methods.”

After her bath, she lay in bed, flipping through the manual. After a quick read-through, she noticed something was wrong.

“System, the Beast Transformation Art you gave me isn’t complete, is it?”

The system’s core went cold. This little girl was too perceptive. It had only given her the first half; the second half was called the Spirit Transformation Art, and that was the true essence of the entire manual.

But it had no intention of telling this girl.

【It is the Beast Transformation Art.】

The system answered, bracing itself. The Beast Transformation Art was complete, technically! It was telling a partial truth.

Ning Shengsheng smiled slyly. “Re—al—ly—?”

【Beep—】

The system manually went offline. It had been programmed not to deceive the host. If she kept asking, its cover would be blown. Faking its death was the only way out.

Seeing the system’s reaction, Ning Shengsheng was now certain that she didn’t have the complete manual. Furthermore, the rewards given by the system were of a higher grade than the treasures in the Great Ning imperial palace, which meant the system came from a higher-dimensional world.

Like—the God Realm where cultivators ascend?

If it was from the God Realm, why did the system choose her for the mission? Was it entrusted by someone, or was she just an experiment?

If it wasn’t for her, could it be for Xue Chen’s sake?

The offline system shivered. If she kept guessing, its identity would be exposed!

…

She had a good night’s sleep. After studying the Beast Transformation Art for two hours the previous night, she had slept late and woken up late. Unfortunately, she still hadn’t figured it out. She tried the incantation a few times, but nothing happened.

Should she try again? What if it worked?

“Purr purr purr, shake my fur, tail held high to the sky, pat my paws and a little cat am I!” Ning Shengsheng formed a hand seal. Her movements were slow, but her posture was perfect.

With a “poof”, the girl on the bed transformed into a fluffy little cat.

“!!!”

Ning Shengsheng stretched out her hand, palm up. A fluffy paw with a pink pad appeared in her field of vision.

Oh… my… god!

She had really turned into a cat?

She did a little roll on the spot. This feeling wasn’t so bad.

The system in her mind admired its host’s mental fortitude. Her ability to accept things was too strong!

Ning Shengsheng looked around the room, then leaped gracefully onto the dressing table and approached the bronze mirror.

In the mirror was a completely white cat. Its fur was a little longer than a normal cat’s, and its ice-blue eyes were exceptionally bright.

She raised her left paw. The cat in the mirror raised its left paw.

The system seemed to want to say something. Just as it was about to remind its host of some precautions, it saw the beautiful, fairy-like cat in the mirror cup its cheeks with both paws, gazing at itself with rapt fascination.

Then it heard its host say, “I’m so good-looking even as a little cat, hehe~”

System: …

Could it please be given a physical form? It really wanted to make a sarcastic comment right to her face!

Ning Shengsheng was completely captivated, unable to tear herself away. Then she heard the system’s reminder: 【Host, remember not to speak after transforming, and don’t let your emotions fluctuate too much. At your current level, you can only speak human words, not beast language yet, and your transformation is also unstable.】

“Okay, thanks for the reminder!”

Just then, Songgao came in with a basin for washing up.

The human and the cat locked eyes.

Songgao: What did I just hear?

Ning Shengsheng: …

System: …

In the midst of the standoff, suddenly, the cat shot out the window with a whoosh.

Songgao stood dumbfounded for a few seconds, then ran to the bed. “Prin-Princess? There was a talking cat in our room! Your Highness?”

“Oh no, the princess is gone!”

Songgao immediately panicked and ran out to look for her.

On the other side, Ning Shengsheng jumped out and ran behind the house. She formed a hand seal and changed back to her original form, letting out a sigh of relief.

“What bad luck! Just what I was afraid of!”

The system quipped: 【Host, your luck is really terrible.】

She couldn’t argue with that. She had never had good luck.

The next thing she encountered was even better proof of Ning Shengsheng’s unlucky constitution. She had wanted to quietly return to her room, but on the way, she ran into that troublesome Ning Jin.

“Ning An! You, you, you, how could you come out in your nightclothes? It’s a disgrace to your reputation! So improper! I’m going to tell Qi Momo when I get back!”

Qi Momo? The formidable character who had raised the emperor. In the original book, Ning An and Ning Xuan, who feared nothing, were only afraid of Qi Momo.

Ning Shengsheng wasn’t afraid, but she was more annoyed by Ning Jin’s fussing, which would attract the others in the courtyard.

“Then go ahead and tattle your heart out. I’m going back now, so I won’t be keeping you company!”

She slipped away after speaking. Ning Jin tried to grab her, but Ning Shengsheng was as slippery as an eel, and she couldn’t catch her at all.

“Ahhhh, I’m so angry! Ning An, I’ll never be on good terms with you!” Frustrated by her repeated failures, Ning Jin let out a wail and swore at Ning Shengsheng’s retreating back, “When I get back to the palace, I’ll definitely tell Qi Momo. I’ll have her teach you a good lesson, hmph!”

No one noticed what had happened in the corner. After everyone had left, a pure white kitten emerged from the bushes. It was the spirit beast that accompanied Xue Chen, Snowball.

Snowball narrowed its eyes and licked its paws, its ears twitching. Its entire body transformed into a streak of white light and shot back to the west room at lightning speed.

“Princess, you scared this servant to death. When I saw you weren’t in bed, I thought something had happened.”

Songgao wrung her sleeves in worry. Young Master Jiang had just passed away yesterday, and the culprit had not yet been caught. She was afraid something might happen to the princess.

“It’s nothing. Ning Jin just called me out.” Ning Shengsheng sat down at the dressing table, lying with a completely straight face.

“The Third Princess is so annoying, always causing trouble for our princess!” Zaoni grumbled, bending down to make the bed. She then came over to do Ning Shengsheng’s makeup.

Songgao gave her a nudge, telling her to speak less and signaling that the princess was in a bad mood.

“You may leave. I want to be alone for a while.”

“As you command, Your Highness.”

Ning Shengsheng was actually in a good mood. She was mentally reviewing the entire transformation process. The manual stated that spiritual power was the most important thing for cultivation advancement, but in fact, a thousand years ago, most cultivators relied on spiritual energy to ascend. A small number of people relied on the soul energy within their bodies, a secret art of cultivating soul power. Because so few cultivators could cultivate this way, it gradually became a lost art, along with the related manuals and techniques.

And she! She had thought she was a good-for-nothing, but she had actually been able to stimulate the soul power in her body during her first cultivation attempt last night. She was a genius!

The more Ning Shengsheng thought about it, the more excited she became. She couldn’t help but ask the system: System, I want to learn soul power-based combat techniques!

The system smiled faintly: 【Then you’d better work hard on your missions, my dear Host.】

“…Oh.”

She thought for a moment, and her face lit up with pleasure. “In your world, is my cultivation speed considered genius-level?”

【Hah, just average, I suppose.】

【…Wait! You’re tricking me!】

The system, realizing its mistake, said angrily: 【You humans are truly terrifying.】

【Ding, system has gone offline.】