“Senior Brother, the Immortal Sprout Assembly ends today. Master wants you to choose your favorite junior brothers and sisters at the assembly, and show your face while you're at it.”
Outside the bamboo house, the respectful voice of an outer sect disciple reached Wang Xuanyi's ears.
“Zhu Huai, I understand. I will head over later. Go tend to your business first.”
A cold voice, freezing like an iceberg, echoed from within the bamboo house. Zhu Huai bowed respectfully and said, “Senior Brother, Zhu Huai shall take his leave for now.”
Hearing the departing footsteps outside, Wang Xuanyi inside the bamboo house picked his nose. Although it was only a tiny speck, he flicked it away with the highest level of ceremony.
Whoosh!
A tiny flame burned the little speck to ashes.
If one only heard his voice and saw his appearance, Wang Xuanyi did indeed seem to align with descriptors like aloof and cold...
But his actions and personality...
To say they matched would be a complete lie—they were utterly unrelated.
To use a metaphor, it was like a high-end gift box wrapping a completely ordinary item, a massive disappointment.
In truth, you couldn't blame Wang Xuanyi. Who could help it if he was a reincarnator?
I mean, out of hundreds of millions of reincarnators,
which one wasn't a dragon among men?
Wang Xuanyi was no exception.
He was just a bit of a tragedy.
“If I avoid the plotlines I'm supposed to have, can I avoid any connection with them?”
Wang Xuanyi stood up, stretched lazily, and then walked out of the bamboo house. He slumped onto the bench in front of the house, turning into a puddle of some unidentified liquid as he greedily basked in the sunlight.
He planned to head over later.
Just as he had replied to Zhu Huai earlier.
Later meant later... by a bit.
Exactly how much later depended entirely on when the heavens decided to bring nightfall.
It wasn't that Wang Xuanyi didn't want to go, but rather that he didn't dare to. He was terrified of forming a grudge with the protagonist's group.
In the ten or so years since his reincarnation, he had realized he was in a cultivation novel filled with melodramatic plotlines, and it was ridiculously absurd.
It all started with this:
Today was the decennial Immortal Sprout Assembly of the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect, held to select and nurture young boys and girls with superior aptitude and extraordinary talent to inject fresh blood into the sect.
The assembly didn't last long, only about seven days.
The talents who passed the trials could freely choose their master, thereby peering into the mysteries of the path to immortality and the loneliness of the road to longevity.
Of course, only the top three of the Immortal Sprout Assembly had the right to choose their master. Those below them could only be chosen, or join the outer sect, or even the Handyman Hall.
For such a grand event, the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect spared no effort.
Peak Masters of each peak, elders, inner sect disciples... everyone was buzzing with activity, busy organizing this grand ceremony and preparing to welcome the incoming junior brothers and sisters.
But while some were happy, others were worried.
Wang Xuanyi was precisely the one who was worried.
There was no other reason.
He would die!
It would literally cost him his life!
Ever since he learned he had reincarnated into a cultivation novel with an absurd plot called 《Love in the Cultivation World》, he had known his own ending.
“Ahem, let me grandly introduce myself. My name is Wang Xuanyi, an ordinary male antagonist with an insignificant status. What I'm about to face is a plot where, in order to seize my beautiful master, I scheme to frame the male protagonist, only to end up hoisting myself by my own petard and crippling myself...”
“Then, using the emotional card, I deceive my cold and peerless Eldest Senior Sister. Just as the rice is about to be cooked, I'm discovered by the male protagonist and slapped into a state where I can't even take care of myself...”
“Next is framing Second Senior Sister... seducing Junior Sister... kidnapping the youngest Junior Sister...”
“And so on, a whole series of actions where I face everyone with an abnormal train of thought, only to be exposed by the male protagonist one by one, have my cultivation completely destroyed, and end up reduced to a wild dog by the roadside.”
“Oh, you're asking about the male protagonist?”
“He naturally succeeds in his counterattack. With me, the male antagonist, acting as a little seasoning, he not only wins the heart of our beautiful master, but also takes in all the beauties of Tianyun Peak, living an enviable cultivation life.”
“Ugh...”
After finishing his monologue, Wang Xuanyi felt like he was about to melt under the direct glare of the sun.
As for why he didn't participate in this Immortal Sprout Assembly...
That was also because, at this Immortal Sprout Assembly, the male protagonist Long Zitian would leave everyone in the dust, showcasing his peerless cultivation talent, successfully catching the eye of the Peak Master of Tianyun Peak, and moving into the Tianyun Peak that thousands of disciples yearned for.
It was also the beginning of the love-hate entanglement between Long Zitian and Wang Xuanyi.
“Sigh, a melodramatic plot, an absurd life.”
Just like that, Wang Xuanyi moved his bedding from inside the bamboo house to the outside, falling fast asleep under the warm sunshine and having a sweet dream along the way.
In his dream, there was plenty of food and drink, but there was one downside.
He felt like he was moving—from deserts to oases, from oceans to isolated islands, constantly in motion...
“Huh?”
Wang Xuanyi opened his bleary eyes. Drool was still trickling down the corner of his mouth, and his entire expression... screamed utter stupidity.
Before the newly awakened Wang Xuanyi could grasp the situation, Zhu Huai, who was standing beside him, immediately approached and smiled placidly.
“Senior Brother, you're awake. Master ordered that you must arrive before it ends. Otherwise, Master will reward you with a fist of love.”
Just as he finished speaking, the lively atmosphere of the venue drifted over.
“Amazing, truly amazing!”
“So that's the number one.”
“I wonder which peak he will choose.”
The senior disciples cheered, congratulating the top scorer of the Immortal Sprout Assembly while also hoping to build good relations with the top ten of this batch.
After all, no one knew if they would rise to prominence in the future. Building good relationships early on was the key to survival.
At this moment, the surrounding clamor and cheers instantly flooded into Wang Xuanyi's ears, along with Zhu Huai's “thoughtful guidance.”
“...”
Wang Xuanyi looked around and saw the Sect Master, Peak Masters, and elders on the high platforms... most of their gazes were focused on him.
He gave a faint smile, held his forehead, and muttered, “Heh, I'm still dreaming. I'm just scaring myself. Heh...”
Then, under the watchful eyes of the upper echelon, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and chose to escape from the reality of what was happening.
Despite his outward composure, his inner mind was screaming with question marks.
His back drenched in cold sweat, his trembling eyelids as he closed his eyes, his hands with nowhere to rest... these uncontrollable factors betrayed him.
After all, no one wanted to suffer a social death.
How was this any different from not wanting to get up for school, only to have your parents carry your entire bed to the school gates, right in front of all the students, with the school leaders just happening to be standing there?
There was absolutely no difference.
The only choice was to pretend to be asleep, thank his lucky stars it was a dream, and then wake up from it to cheerfully get ready for school.
Yet, reality was...
“Senior Brother, Master is looking at you.”
Zhu Huai's soft, gentle whisper fell into Wang Xuanyi's ears. It was no different from the whisper of a demon—in fact, it was even worse.
“I'm not hungry, thank you.”
“...”
Wang Xuanyi had heard, but replied with pure nonsense.
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