Chapter 1: Reborn After Death, A New Lease on Life

Lin Qingyue died.

And then… he came back to life.

After an untimely death, Lin Qingyue transmigrated into a cultivation novel. He became the “Destined Villain”—a character severely starved of affection who was destined to oppose the protagonist at every turn.

He never imagined such a stroke of luck could exist in this world.

In his past life, he had desperately wanted to live but couldn’t. Now that he had arrived in the cultivation world, surely he had to strive to live as long as an old tortoise—ten thousand years at least.

“Lin Qingyue, do you have anything to say for yourself?”

A stern male voice rang out. Lin Qingyue snapped back to reality, looking up at the Sect Leader and the various Peak Lords and Elders seated on the high platform.

According to the timeline, the novel’s plot had already begun. The disciple selection ceremony of the Wanjian Sect was drawing to a close.

If there was ever a major villain who managed to make everyone hate him right from the start, publicly setting himself against the protagonist from day one, it was definitely Lin Qingyue.

At this specific point in time, the prospective disciples had just completed a grueling three-month trial. Both he and the male lead were about to successfully join the Wanjian Sect.

Just moments ago, as the teary-eyed protagonist, Yun Jinzhou, was preparing to pay his respects to a master, Lin Qingyue—cursed with a loose tongue and a refusal to believe in fate—had recited a line straight from his memory of the plot.

The facts proved it: he had indeed transmigrated into the book.

The man speaking now was Qi Yuan, the future master of the male lead. He had asked them the age-old, cliché question: Why do you cultivate?

Yun Jinzhou had answered that he cultivated for the sake of all living beings in the world. He hoped for a fair world without discrimination, a world filled with beauty, claiming he wanted to love all sentient beings.

Hearing this, Lin Qingyue hadn’t been able to stop himself. Adhering to his principle of opposing the protagonist, he had shouted out that line:

“True ants are the ones struggling in the mire.”

Do you really intend to bend down in those pristine white robes to help them?

He hadn’t shouted the second half of the sentence.

In the original story, Yun Jinzhou’s answer to the implied question was, “Of course.”

But saying it is one thing; doing it is another.

And it was precisely because Yun Jinzhou claimed he “of course” would, and the original host didn’t believe him, that they continued to bicker.

Lin Qingyue’s face had been twisted with disdain, his eyes full of resentment—a look begging for a beating. This left a terrible impression on his future fellow disciples before he had even officially entered the sect.

The most absurd part was that Qi Yuan, that brain-addled old geezer, actually took both him and Yun Jinzhou as direct disciples because of this confrontation.

He even made Yun Jinzhou the Junior Brother. The Senior Brothers above them doted on this little Junior Brother to no end.

If Lin Qingyue didn’t join in on doting on the Junior Brother, or if he didn’t yield to Yun Jinzhou, he wasn’t considered a “good Senior Brother.” He was labeled narrow-minded and jealous.

They even used his family background to attack him, stabbing knives straight into the original host’s heart.

Lin Qingyue could only sneer internally. Heh.

Seeing Lin Qingyue fall silent after his retort, Qi Yuan asked again, “Since you do not agree with his answer, then tell me, why do you cultivate?”

Hearing Qi Yuan’s direct question, Lin Qingyue snapped to attention.

Speaking of why Qi Yuan took the original host as a disciple, there was actually some history regarding his background.

Lin Qingyue had come from a decent family when he was young, but fate played a cruel trick. Someone in the family invited disaster, leading to the clan’s decline. Later, both his parents died, and he was forced to live under someone else’s roof, surviving on the inheritance his parents had left behind.

Even so, there were shameful people in the clan who wanted to seize that pitifully small inheritance.

In the end, Lin Qingyue resolutely cut ties with those people and came alone to the Wanjian Sect for the selection trial.

It turned out that Qi Yuan had once received help from the original host’s parents. Although they were gone, their son remained.

So, Qi Yuan simply decided to take the original host in as a disciple alongside Yun Jinzhou. As for what happened after taking him in, he never bothered to care.

Lin Qingyue had no desire to bow under his door again. He performed a formal greeting to the Sect Leader and Elders on the dais, then raised his head, his voice resonating with conviction as he gave his answer.

“This disciple cultivates for only one reason: Immortality.”

He glanced at Qi Yuan and Yun Jinzhou. Seeing Peak Lord Qi frown slightly, he continued, “If cultivation isn’t for the sake of eternal life, then what is the point of cultivating at all?”

When these words came out, the Sect Leader didn’t say anything; he remained as steady as Mount Tai, his expression unchanged.

The other Peak Lords and Elders of Wanjian Sect didn’t react much either. This answer was, in fact, the goal and original intention of many cultivators; some just didn’t say it out loud in public.

Only Qi Yuan furrowed his brows deeply. Without a doubt, what Qi Yuan disliked most were disciples who cultivated solely for immortality. He believed that for such people to practice the sword was simply an insult to the sword itself.

Lin Qingyue, of course, knew exactly what the man hated. But immortality was his answer. Being able to cultivate and live longer—such a wonderful thing—was something he had fantasized about countless times during his ten-plus years in the hospital.

Yun Jinzhou looked at Lin Qingyue, who stood beside him, somewhat surprised that Lin Qingyue hadn’t targeted him publicly this time. This was different from what he had expected.

Sensing the male lead’s gaze, Lin Qingyue didn’t even spare him a glance.

Instead, he shifted his gaze to the stern-faced man beside the Sect Leader and the icy disciple standing next to him.

That was Wanjian Sect’s universally acknowledged Eldest Senior Brother, Ye Jingxian—iron-faced, selfless, and impartial.

In the novel, he was the only one who felt absolutely nothing toward the male lead Yun Jinzhou’s tears.

Of course, he didn’t care about Lin Qingyue either.

Others might suck up to the powerful and trample on the weak, prioritize profit, or blindly protect their own people.

Ye Jingxian was different. He looked at everyone with the same cold, indifferent gaze. He didn’t put anyone in his eyes.

To the male lead: Get lost!

To everyone else: Also get lost!

After giving his answer, and before Qi Yuan could speak, Lin Qingyue dropped to his knees squarely in the direction of Ye Zhanxiu, the Lord of Guizang Peak.

“This disciple wishes to take Peak Lord Ye as his Master.”

You want to morally kidnap me? Come on then! If you have the guts, join Guizang Peak with me. I’ll scare you to death.

Lin Qingyue thought about the possibility of Yun Jinzhou entering Guizang Peak—where the sword techniques were the hardest to learn. He imagined Yun Jinzhou crying every day because he couldn’t master them, and Ye Jingxian looking at him with disgust, coldly dropping the word “trash.”

Thinking of this, he felt a surge of secret joy in his heart, though his face only showed hopeful expectation.

Peak Lord Ye, being stared at like this, kept his face stern, but inside he was weeping with joy. Finally, someone understands the goodness of our Guizang Peak!

The gathered disciples, hearing his words, gasped in unison, completely astonished.

“Is Lin Qingyue crazy?”

“With his aptitude, how does he dare aim for Guizang Peak?”

“Exactly, such shameless boasting. Is Guizang Peak a place you can just enter?”

Yun Jinzhou turned his head to look at Lin Qingyue. Shouldn’t he be joining the same peak as me? Why does he want to go to Guizang Peak? He looked up at Peak Lord Ye on the dais, secretly hoping he would reject Lin Qingyue.

“Why do you wish to join my Guizang Peak?”

Ye Zhanxiu asked, maintaining his wooden, stern expression.

Hearing this question, Lin Qingyue knew there was a chance. He hurriedly replied, “Shizun, this disciple seeks immortality. Guizang Peak is very suitable for me; the vast array of sword techniques here offers many choices, it is a great path to longevity.”

His expression was solemn and earnest, his tone sincere. “Shizun, this disciple truly wishes to enter Guizang Peak, even if only as an ordinary disciple.”

The other party hadn’t even fully agreed yet, but he had already called him “Shizun.”

As Lin Qingyue would say: The brave enjoy the world first. Being thick-skinned when asking for a teacher isn’t shameful.

Ye Zhanxiu stared at him with a burning gaze for a long moment. Everyone else was guessing whether he would accept him or not.

Lin Qingyue was waiting too. The first step to getting away from Yun Jinzhou, who cried at the drop of a hat, was not to share a master or a peak with him.

The original host despised Yun Jinzhou, and he found him distasteful too.

Just ask yourself: Who wouldn’t be disgusted by getting close to shit?