Why Hasn’t the Grandmaster Ascended Yet?

Yunhe Daoist Venerable had been stuck at the Great Ascension stage for a hundred years. Her fellow cultivators had either ascended to the immortal realm long ago or died in their tribulations. She alone remained unhurried, refusing to undergo her tribulation. A curious young disciple from the sect asked Yunhe Daoist Venerable, "Grandmaster, why haven't you ascended yet?" Yunhe smiled without answering, then asked in return, "You silly boy, do you know what happens to a carp that leaps through the Dragon Gate?" The young disciple replied innocently, "It transforms into a dragon!" Yunhe shook her head with a smile. "No. A carp that leaps through the Dragon Gate becomes dinner on an Immortal Lord's plate." The young disciple was stunned. "Grandmaster, that's not what the books say." Yunhe tapped him on the head with her folding fan. "Those books are all lies meant to fool you blockheads." After sending off the inquisitive young disciple, Yunhe lay back in her rocking chair, crossed her legs, and kept snacking on seeds. Ascend? She had no intention of ascending. She'd finally managed to wait until her cold, boring Dao companion ascended to the upper realm. Now she could stop studying and training under his stern gaze. Was she really tired of the good life already? * The upper realm. Immortal Lord Yuheng went to the Ascension Pool every day, but the person who should have ascended long ago never arrived. After much deliberation, Immortal Lord Yuheng decided to descend and undergo a tribulation. He thought of how, before his ascension, Yunhe had sworn with tears in her eyes that she would train hard and ascend to reunite with him as soon as possible. Immortal Lord Yuheng gave a soft sneer. "Little liar!" Coming soon: Has Little Junior Sister Blown Up the Pill Furnace Today? [The blurb is in first person, the novel itself is in third person] My name is Song Yaoyao, and I'm the newest junior sister of the Danding Sect. On the day I joined, the Grand Elder finished refining an eighty-one-day Bodhi Golden Pill, producing a rarely seen superior-grade pill. The Second Elder summoned the Nine Heavens Pill Lightning for the first time, tempering an Earth-grade pill into a Heaven-grade one. The Third Elder achieved unity between man and pill and wrote a treatise on pills that would be passed down through the ages... From then on, I became the darling of the Danding Sect. The elders unanimously believed I was a pill-refining prodigy favored by the Heavenly Dao, destined to become a pillar of the sect. That is, until my first pill-refining class, when I blew up the furnace under the expectant gazes of all the elders and fellow disciples. Everyone said the Heavenly Dao was fair: it had opened one door for me, but closed another. I was a lucky charm who helped other people refine pills, yet couldn't make even one ordinary Foundation Establishment Pill myself. I refused to give up and became more determined with every failure. Gradually, everyone in the Danding Sect got used to the sound of pill furnaces exploding from time to time. Luckily, the sect was generous and didn't mind the countless furnaces I blew up. As long as I stood next to the elders for fifteen minutes while they refined pills, they reimbursed me for the cost of a new furnace. Later, when my fellow disciples went on training trips outside the sect, I went along as their lucky charm. When we were unexpectedly attacked by a beast tide, I blew up another furnace. The beast tide turned into an all-you-can-eat barbecue. I actually became the Danding Sect's strongest fighter. Whenever my fellow disciples went out to train, they did everything they could to bring me along. But I really don't want to fight. I just want to refine pills in peace. Why is that so hard? Theme: Respect every way of life.