For the first time, the system panel divided a character’s life into two parts. The first was his previous life, when his scumbag former fiancé and the younger half brother he had cherished since childhood conspired to kill him. The second was his current life, in which he exposed their affair, broke off the engagement himself, and joined the foremost immortal sect, becoming its universally adored darling. Two lives, worlds apart, all because he had been reborn.
Jiang Qingchuan, the main shou of After My Engagement Was Broken Off, I Became the Immortal Sect’s Darling, came with an irresistible charm halo. From an Immortal Venerable who cared for all living beings and cultivated the Supreme Dao of Detachment to a powerful city lord in the mortal world, everyone remained hopelessly devoted to him. Of all the main shou Song Liang had encountered across these worlds, this one arguably had the most outrageous advantages.
The youth in black, Song Liang, studied the main shou’s harem on the system screen. His husband’s name stood at the very top. He smiled, looking through the interface at the person opposite him.
In his previous life, Jiang Qingchuan had been too foolish to notice anything wrong with the two people closest to him, despite seeing them every day. Yet in this life he was clever enough to win over Song Liang’s husband. Quite impressive.
3085: 【What can you do? He has a cheat.】
“What a coincidence. So do I,” Song Liang said. “And mine’s better.”
3085 was delighted and flattered. 【Do you mean me?】
Song Liang brushed off his robes and continued uphill. “I mean myself.”
3085: 【…】
A few steps brought Song Liang alongside Jiang Qingchuan. He kept staring at his profile until Jiang Qingchuan stopped and turned to him.
“Do you know me, my friend?”
“No,” Song Liang replied.
“Then why do you keep staring at me?”
“You look a little like the homewrecker who wants to steal my wife.”
“…”
Jiang Qingchuan stared at the youth in black, momentarily at a loss. “You must have mistaken me for someone else. I’ve never done anything of the sort, and I don’t know you.”
“Really? Good.” Song Liang stepped forward and offered his hand. “Still, I suppose that makes this a fated meeting. Let’s get acquainted. I’m Song Liang, from the Eastern Region of Central Province.”
“…”
Jiang Qingchuan had no idea how resembling a homewrecker who wanted to steal this man’s wife counted as fate, but he politely shook his hand.
“I’m Jiang Qingchuan, from the Southern Region of Central Province.”
He glanced at their joined hands in puzzlement. “Is this how people greet each other in the Eastern Region?”
“No, it’s just a habit of mine.” Song Liang smiled and withdrew his hand, then looked at the man behind Jiang Qingchuan, who had been glaring at him darkly for some time. “Why are you looking at me like that, my friend? Do I look like the homewrecker who stole your wife too?”
Jiang Qingchuan: “…”
What a vicious tongue.
Gao Zi’ang was already displeased by the way this stranger had been staring lustfully at Jiang Qingchuan. That remark only made him angrier. He stepped forward and demanded, “What did you say? Say that again if you dare!”
The line was so familiar that Song Liang didn’t even need to ask. This man had to be cannon fodder.
3085: 【Clever. He’s an unaffiliated cultivator the main shou happened to rescue on his way to the Yaoshang Sect. Later, when his love goes unrequited, he plots against the main shou.】
3085: 【Naturally, he fails. He even ends up helping the main shou grow closer to the other male leads.】
Song Liang recalled the plot. After being reborn, Jiang Qingchuan’s first move had been to expose the affair between his scumbag fiancé and his younger half brother, using it to break off the engagement. When his parents sided with his brother, he left home in anger and headed for the Yaoshang Sect to seek a master and begin cultivating. He did seem to have rescued someone afterward. Presumably, this was the man.
“And you are?”
“Gao Zi’ang, an unaffiliated cultivator from the Southern Region of Central Province.”
“Never heard of you, but I’ll remember the name.”
“You…” Gao Zi’ang clenched his fists. Jiang Qingchuan hurried forward to smooth things over.
“Brother Gao, we’re at the Yaoshang Sect. We shouldn’t cause trouble here.”
“Exactly. For all we know, the seniors of the Yaoshang Sect are secretly watching us right now.” Song Liang gave him a meaningful look. “You know how much those seniors love putting on mysterious little acts to test our character in secret.”
Both men’s hearts skipped a beat. Jiang Qingchuan immediately recalled the stories he had heard from teahouse storytellers as a child, tales of immortals descending to the mortal world disguised as beggars to test people’s hearts. Looking at the youth in black, he found him more mysterious than ever.
He ventured, “Are you here to seek a master and pursue immortality too, Brother Song?”
Song Liang smiled inscrutably. “Of course not.”
Jiang Qingchuan’s heart jolted.
Gao Zi’ang panicked too. Could this man really have been sent by the Yaoshang Sect to test their character? Did that mean he had just failed?
As the two fell silent, a mocking voice sounded behind them.
“Well, if it isn’t Jiang Qingchuan. Born with a useless spiritual root, yet you still have the nerve to come seek a master at the Yaoshang Sect?”
Jiang Qingchuan’s expression shifted slightly at the voice. He was about to turn and leave when he heard a wistful murmur beside him.
“How enviable. You even have someone coming to pick a fight.”
Jiang Qingchuan: “…”
For a moment, he thought he had misheard. He looked at the youth in black, who turned to him with a friendly smile.
“Don’t you think it’s fun when people come looking for trouble like this?”
Jiang Qingchuan: “…What’s fun about it?”
“You get to kick them down one by one with a perfectly good excuse.”
“…”
Jiang Qingchuan couldn’t see the appeal. “He’s a relative from my clan. We’ve never gotten along. I apologize for the embarrassing display, Senior.”
“Not at all.” Noticing the change in how Jiang Qingchuan addressed him, Song Liang’s smile deepened. “Enjoy yourself, then. I’ll go on ahead.”
Jiang Qingchuan blinked. He had expected this senior to intervene, not simply walk away.
As though sensing his surprise, Song Liang smiled. “I’d love to stay and watch the show, but I’m in a hurry to meet someone up on the mountain. I won’t linger.”
“Senior Song.” Gao Zi’ang stepped forward to greet him, then asked, “What does the second trial involve?”
“It’s very simple.” Song Liang pointed to the side with a smile. “Just walk up.”
Relieved, the two turned to look. Their expressions promptly froze.
“Senior… Song.” Gao Zi’ang stared at the white stone steps stretching almost to the Ninth Heaven. “Do these stairs lead into the sky?”
“No idea. Try them and find out,” Song Liang replied cheerfully.
Behind him, the Yaoshang Sect disciple was announcing the rules to the crowd. They were just as Song Liang had said: step onto the heavenly staircase and keep walking. Reach the end, and you would pass the second trial. Anyone unable to finish could call to the sky for help, which would count as withdrawing.
Places would be awarded in order of arrival. The first person to reach the end would rank first, and so on. Only the first seven would be accepted.
The moment that final rule was announced, everyone rushed toward the steps. Jiang Qingchuan and Gao Zi’ang hurried after them, not daring to fall behind.
In the blink of an eye, only Song Liang and the Yaoshang Sect disciple handling registration and directions remained on the mountain path.
The disciple gave him a puzzled look. “Aren’t you going, Brother Song?”
“My health isn’t very good. That climb used up all my strength. I need to rest before I can continue.” Song Liang sat down beside him. “Come on. Let’s pick up where we left off.”
The disciple’s expression stiffened. “No… that’s all right, Brother Song. I’m not particularly keen to hear more about Immortal Venerable Suyu…”
Song Liang raised an eyebrow. “Then I’ll tell you about Immortal Venerable Shuanghua.”
The disciple’s interest stirred despite himself. “You know things about Immortal Venerable Shuanghua too?”
“Of course.”
“…”
Silence filled the Yaoshang Sect’s great hall. Everyone watched the two figures in the water mirror huddle together and whisper again.
After a moment, Xu Moxing’s angry voice broke the quiet.
“Whose disciple is that? Does he have no sense of caution? Must he blab about everything?!”
“Ahem. He’s my granddisciple,” said the master of Qiansui Peak. “He’s young and curious. It’s hardly surprising he was taken in. Once he returns, I’ll make sure he spends some time in seclusion reflecting on his conduct.”
He had chosen a pointed phrase, “taken in,” but no one objected. The youth might look like an ordinary boy who hadn’t even opened his dantian, yet they had personally watched him win over two Yaoshang Sect disciples with just a few words.
“We cannot admit this person,” Xu Moxing said again.
The master of Qiansui Peak chuckled. “He may not even pass the second trial. Haven’t you noticed he still hasn’t moved? The others are halfway up already. Perhaps he’s given up.”
The others said nothing.
Still smiling, the peak master watched the youth in the water mirror and added leisurely, “If he does pass, I’d like to take him as my disciple.”
He had barely finished speaking when the youth in black stood up in the mirror and stretched.
“It’s about time. I should get going.”
The Yaoshang Sect disciple hadn’t had his fill of gossip yet. “You won’t catch up if you leave now. They’re already halfway there.”
“Don’t worry. I’m quick on my feet. I’ll catch up.”
Song Liang strolled toward the stairs that seemed to stretch to the Ninth Heaven, then asked, “What’s at the end?”
“Heart Pool. The third trial.”
“All right.”
Song Liang stepped onto the staircase. Then he closed his eyes and took a second step, followed by a third. Damp mist brushed his nose, carrying a faint, indescribably delicate scent.
The corners of his lips lifted. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked down at the sight before him. An enormous lake, so clear it was almost transparent, reflected his face. Beneath his feet lay the summit of Mount Zhaoyao.
A biting mountain wind whipped through his hair and robes. Wuxiang Peak, which had seemed so distant and unreal, now stood close before him.
Behind him, the Yaoshang Sect disciple who had been happily listening to his gossip just moments earlier stared at him in shock.
“How did you know…?”
“It wasn’t that hard to work out.”
Song Liang glanced back at the people standing motionless on the very first step, as though trapped in nightmares, and smiled.
“I told you. I’m quick on my feet.”
It was only an illusion. Breaking illusions was what he did best.
At the other end of the water mirror, in the Yaoshang Sect’s great hall, the master of Qiansui Peak watched with a deep gleam of amusement in his eyes.
“I want him as a direct disciple of Qiansui Peak,” he declared at once.
A genius who could sway people’s hearts so easily and see through an illusion at a glance belonged on his Qiansui Peak.
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