Chapter 3

Shen Qingqiu was nothing if not adaptable.

Since his residency had been permanently transferred into The Proud Immortal Demon’s Way, and the version of him from his original world was already six feet under, he might as well make the best of things here.

He’d landed in a world of cultivation, gifted with a decent set of martial arts and swordsmanship for free, and born into a prestigious orthodox sect. He could show off whenever he wanted, or turtle up in the peace and quiet of Qing Jing Peak on Cang Qiong Mountain, ignoring the world’s troubles. What wasn’t to like?

The only downside was the slight difficulty in finding a girlfriend.

In this kind of wish-fulfillment harem novel, any girl who wasn’t downright ugly was destined to end up in the male lead’s pocket. Everyone knew how it went.

But Shen Qingqiu’s standards weren’t high. Lounging around, eating and waiting for death, living out his years in comfort—that would satisfy him just fine. It wasn’t much different from his previous life anyway.

However, as long as Luo Binghe existed, not only could Shen Qingqiu forget about showing off, but even if he hid in the most secluded paradise on this author-constructed continent, once Luo Binghe came to power, he’d have the means to dig him out and turn him into a human stick.

It’s not that I don’t want to cling to the male lead’s thigh, but who made this damn protagonist the dark, edgy type? The kind who repays grievances a thousandfold!

After his daily internal rant directed at the shameless author, Shen Qingqiu quickly set his goals: First, familiarize himself with the environment. Interact with the System as much as possible. Work diligently to improve his performance, earn those B-points, and unfreeze the OOC function as soon as possible. If the situation looked bad, he’d have to find another way out.

The Twelve Peaks of Cang Qiong Mountain stood like twelve colossal swords forged by heaven and earth—jagged, majestic, piercing the clouds.

Qing Jing Peak, Shen Qingqiu’s base of operations, wasn’t the tallest, but it was the most serene. Lush greenery, elegant shades of green, bamboo groves everywhere. Add to that the fact that every one of Shen Qingqiu’s disciples had to learn a bit of music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, and the place was often filled with the sound of recitation or the melancholy notes of a zither. It was the perfect haunt for an ancient literary youth, impeccably matching the pretentious needs of the original Shen Qingqiu.

Encountering a few disciples who bowed respectfully and greeted him, Shen Qingqiu channeled the aloofness of the original goods. With a slight nod, hands clasped behind his back, he continued on his way, managing to pull it off. He only worried internally about how to match the names from the book to all these passing faces later.

But that wasn’t his most pressing concern. To protect himself, he first needed to reclaim the original’s cultivation and swordsmanship.

If he remembered correctly, before Luo Binghe’s descent into darkness, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect would face several major incidents—demon clan provocations, immortal alliance conferences—all requiring his involvement. If he only wore the shell without the cultivation to back it up, forget following the plot; even without the protagonist’s intervention, some random minor monster could finish him off!

Shen Qingqiu walked alone into the depths of the forest. Confirming no one was around, he drew the sword at his waist. Left hand on the scabbard, right on the hilt, he slowly unsheathed it.

Xiu Ya Sword had been with Shen Qingqiu since his rise to fame in his youth, and it was quite renowned. The blade gleamed snow-white, clear and bright without being harsh—absolutely top-tier. Channeling one’s spiritual energy into the weapon would make the blade glow faintly. As Shen Qingqiu wondered what “channeling spiritual energy” actually entailed, the sword in his hand shimmered with a soft, white light.

So, the original owner’s cultivation and martial skills came bundled with the package. No need for deliberate memorization; they integrated seamlessly. Shen Qingqiu wanted to test its power and gave a casual swing.

That casual swing nearly scared him to death. A dazzling arc of light, like a bolt of lightning released from his palm, flashed so brightly he had to shut his eyes to protect his poor retinas. When he opened them again, he saw the ground, as if struck by thunder, now bore a deep gouge.

Holy crap…!!!

Shen Qingqiu’s face remained impassive, but internally, his satisfaction meter exploded.

Now that’s what I call leaking badass energy! Worthy of a master who commands his own peak. With this level of cultivation, if he trained diligently for another twenty years, perhaps when the day came that he had no choice but to face the cheat-like Luo Binghe, he might at least manage to flee in a panic!

Yes. All he asked for was the ability to flee in panic!

He wanted to practice a bit more, but then he heard a faint sound—the crunch of dry twigs underfoot.

The sound was actually quite distant, but his senses were now so sharp he couldn’t help but notice. Shen Qingqiu glanced at the deep trench on the ground, slid the sword back into its scabbard with a shing, and melted deeper into the cover of the leafy greenery.

The footsteps drew closer. More than one person. Sure enough, moments later, the first to appear was Luo Binghe’s face, which seemed to come with its own soft-focus lighting and highlight reel. But the first sound was a clear, sweet, girlish voice.

“Alo, Alo, look! There’s a huge ditch in the ground here!”

Hearing that address, Shen Qingqiu, hidden in the shadows, almost stumbled.

The System briefed him: [Ning Yingying, Shen Qingqiu’s youngest female disciple.]

Shen Qingqiu: Is this introduction even useful? Everyone knows there’s only one person who calls Luo Binghe that!

The lovely figure of the girl following Luo Binghe came into view. She looked a bit younger than him, jade-like and adorable, with orange ribbons tying her hair into little bundles of braids. Bouncing along, she radiated pure, innocent cheerfulness. The standard adorable junior sister found in every cultivation novel.

And this junior sister gave Shen Qingqiu… complicated feelings.

This was because he had designs on Ning Yingying. Ah, no—the original Shen Qingqiu had designs on Ning Yingying.

Shen Qingqiu’s character was that of a secret hypocrite. Since his surface persona was pure, ascetic, and chaste, his inner self had to be lecherous, shameless, and despicable. A teacher harboring filthy thoughts toward his lively, obedient young disciple. Repeatedly attempting to act on them, nearly succeeding.

Daring to lay a hand on the protagonist’s woman? The result was predictable!

When Shen Qingqiu had read the book, he’d found it a bit strange. Why hadn’t Luo Binghe just castrated him while he was at it? It didn’t fit Ice Brother’s dark, charismatic style at all! So he’d gone to the reader comments section and, following the crowd, helped build a towering thread: “Begging for Shen Qingqiu’s castration! No castration, I drop the novel!” Looking back now, the thought was terrifying. If those pleas had succeeded back then… he’d have to chop off the hand that posted and bumped that thread!

Luo Binghe glanced at the trench and offered a faint, indifferent smile. Ning Yingying, however, wanted to cling to him, making conversation. “Alo, who do you think was practicing sword energy here?”

Luo Binghe, holding an axe upside down, began chopping at a tree. “On Qing Jing Peak, the only one with that level of cultivation is likely Shizun.”

He said only that, ignoring her further, focusing on raising and lowering the axe, diligently chopping wood.

The trees weren’t thin or weak, and the axe was somewhat rusty. Luo Binghe was only fourteen at this time, so the work was strenuous. Soon, sweat beaded on his forehead. Ning Yingying sat on a fallen old tree trunk, chin in her hands, watching him. Bored again shortly after, she whined, “Alo, Alo, come play with me!”

Luo Binghe didn’t even pause to wipe his sweat, continuing to swing the axe. “Can’t. Senior Brother instructed that after today’s firewood is chopped, I still have to fetch water. If I finish quickly, I can save some time for meditation.”

Ning Yingying pouted. “Senior Brothers are so mean! Always ordering you to do this and that. I think they’re deliberately bullying you. Hmph, I’ll tell Shizun later. That’ll make them stop for sure.”

Shen Qingqiu had been watching this scene like an extra on the live-action set of The Proud Immortal Demon’s Way, enjoying the childhood sweethearts’ innocent interaction. Hearing this, he was horrified.

No, no, no, please don’t come tell me! What am I supposed to do? I can’t OOC. Which side am I supposed to reprimand?!

At this stage, the young Luo Binghe had tasted life’s bitterness but still possessed a heart as pure as a white lotus. He shook his head at Ning Yingying. “Please don’t. I don’t want to trouble Shizun with such trivial matters. Senior Brothers mean no harm. They just see I’m young and want to give me more opportunities to train.”

In that instant, Shen Qingqiu seemed to see a radiant halo blazing behind him and couldn’t help taking three steps back—utterly unable to look directly at a male lead whose moral realm and enlightenment were so lofty!

Amid Ning Yingying’s chattering, Luo Binghe chopped enough firewood, set the axe aside, found a relatively clean spot on the ground, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

Shen Qingqiu sighed inwardly.

Truthfully, the protagonist’s cheat-like attributes showed hints even in the early, tragic parts. Ming Fan had given him a fake manual for foundational cultivation. The more he practiced according to it, the more nonsensical it should have become. But relying on his peerless natural talent and the half-demon bloodline latent within him, Luo Binghe stumbled upon his own path through sheer trial and error… It was completely unscientific!

Lost in these rueful thoughts, another set of disorderly footsteps approached.

Shen Qingqiu knew immediately—this was bad. Trouble was coming.

Ming Fan emerged, leading a few junior disciples. Spotting Ning Yingying, his face lit up with delight, and he moved to take her hand. “Junior Sister! Junior Sister, I finally found you. Why did you run off to a place like this without a word? The back mountain is so big. What if a fierce beast or poisonous snake jumped out? Senior Brother has something fun to show you.”

He naturally saw Luo Binghe meditating silently but treated him as air. Luo Binghe, however, was very polite, opening his eyes to greet, “Senior Brother.”

Ning Yingying giggled. “I’m not afraid of snakes or beasts. Besides, I have Alo here with me!”

Ming Fan cast a sidelong glance at Luo Binghe and snorted.