CH 1

Qingwu County, Meizhu Mountain.

Su Yang squatted all tangled up on one of the tree’s flourishing branches.

Under the tree, three figures; two black and one white were engaged in combat. Foul winds raged and the stench of blood filled the air. Each maneuver, each strike was targeted to hit the opponent’s vital points.

The two in black were middle-aged wandering vigilantes. The first was skinny and had a foul mouth; the second was a fat man. 

The thin man brandished his curved sword, revealed a cruel smile, then sinisterly sneered, “Martial World’s Young Tiger? Young Righteous Hero? I don’t think so! Do you really think that with your skill you can trample all over other young martial artists?”

While the fat man didn’t speak, his attack was not inferior to the thin man’s. Each sword strike was intimidating and aggressive.

The one in white who confronted these two men looked young, but his moves were already sturdy and bold. He showed no signs of fear even when faced with two opponents.

Because of his youth, his internal energy was still lacking. No matter how sound and skilled he was in martial arts, he couldn’t sustain too long under the siege of the two men; their blades would reach him eventually.

His white clothes were stained with blood, making him appear more tender and fragile. It was painful to look at.

Su Yang continued to observe the battle on the branch, becoming increasingly nervous as new wounds appeared on the youth. He pulled a handful of leaves from the treetop next to him and wanted to shove them into his mouth. 

He had a bad habit of chewing things when he was nervous, but since there wasn’t any chewing gum or popcorn, he could only go for the next nearest thing; grabbing a handful of leaves to chew on.

Behind him, the Devil Sect flower aide suddenly channeled his voice over, “My lord, this leaf has limited toxicity. With your skill, even if you eat up this entire forest, you won’t die from poisoning. Don’t commit suicide anymore. The elders will worry.”

The leaves had just entered into Su Yang’s mouth and he just about somersaulted from the branches of the tree. 

He was a little annoyed, “I’m rather free now. Since I’ve already reached this point, do you think I’m still not thinking straight?”

The flower aide persisted, “Young Saint has made great advancements in your Six Underworlds Inter Flower technique. But when you came out of seclusion, you got yourself blind drunk, threw yourself off a cliff, hung yourself from the rafters, ingested poison and attempted to drown yourself… The elders instructed this subordinate to follow you to Qingwu County and watch over your lordship. Don’t —”

“—that’s enough. Shut up.”

He spit out the bitter leaves and raised his hands to rub his temples.

He’d been doing some stupid things for the past five days.

It wasn’t that he really wanted to die, but anyone who’d experienced what he went through would have become unhinged as well.

His real name was Chen Su Yang. He was originally an online celebrity that had suddenly become popular due to his good looks and classical dance skills. Fortunately, after gaining popularity, he was spotted by a young network drama team to play an important supporting role in the novel adaptation of ‘Arch-Rivals’. 

He had supposedly been given this opportunity because the original author’s wife had personally suggested him and recommended for him to be cast. He was riding the thrill of this for a while.

Su Yang had just completed his final scene five days ago, which happened to coincide with his birthday.

The cast and crew were fairly young and rambunctious: even the director and actors were friendly. That night, they had all gathered for dinner to celebrate with him.

As customary for the guest of honor to be the focus of toasts, Su Yang drank until he was dead to the world.

Who would have thought that the moment opened his eyes, he had become the villain he’d played in that online drama——the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, Su Yang!

To escape this fantastical illusion, he’d drunk himself into a stupor again and as well as attempting suicide through various methods. 

In the end, nothing had changed—except causing confusion and disarray within the Devil Sect. He’d made all the elders scared witless, so much so that they had come together in an effort to persuade and motivate him.

After three days, he’d finally resigned himself to this fate. Inwardly, he surmised that the ‘Transmigration God’ was toying with him; forcing him to perform the script again from the beginning to end in order for him return to the real world.

As luck would have it, this world’s timeline coincided with the beginning of the script. 

According to Jianghu* legend, Lesser Jade House would be opening its gates to select the best martial artists.

(TN:*Jianghu = refers to the community of martial artists in these stories)

Su Yang immediately packed up his things and rushed to Meizhu Mountain for his first scene.

And that’s how he came to be: squatting on a tree branch and observing the happenings below.

It’s just that, this plot was a bit different from the script he was familiar with somehow:

The date of Lesser Jade House’s opening was correct and the primary screening method was for potential candidates to hunt and obtain one of sixty-six jade bells which had been hung all over the forest of Meizhu Mountain. Stealing jade bells from others was not against the rules. Therefore, once Su Yang had entered the mountain, he had quickly located a jade bell in someone else’s possession.

This was when he was supposed to immediately encounter Gu Feidi, the protagonist of the novel and battle him for the jade bell——but this most significant part had gone terribly wrong.

Su Yang squatted on the branch of the tree, looked at the three people who were still fighting below and his eyes fell on the youth in white who was gradually losing his internal strength and receiving injury after injury. 

He sighed sadly and turned to the flower aide behind him: “Say, since Gu Feidi is being bullied like this, should I save him, or not?”

——The young man in white was the protagonist in ‘Arch-Rivals’, Gu Feidi, who had earned the nicknames ‘Martial World’s Young Tiger’ and ‘Young Righteous Hero’.

The flower aide was silent for a moment, then asked: “Young Saint is interested in him?”

Su Yang countered: “I didn’t say that, but he cannot be allowed to die here. We haven’t even arrived at Lesser Jade House part yet.”

If Gu Feidi didn’t reach Lesser Jade House, he won’t acquire the ‘Restoration Scripture: Return to the Nest’ volume, how would the plot continue in the future? How was Su Yang to subsequently die under his sword and return to his reality?

But if he rescued Gu Feidi now, wouldn’t he just be messing up an already-muddled script?

The Devil Sect’s Young Saint saves the Young Righteous Hero?

That’s not logical at all!

Su Yang was still struggling with this thought when he heard the flower aide reply behind him: “If Young Saint wishes to save him, go ahead. However, this Gu Feidi is the only son of the Martial Alliance Leader, Gu Ruohai. You can’t take him captive back to the Sect, otherwise we will become the target of the entire Martial Arts community.”

Su Yang was confused: “…why would I take him back?”

The flower aide did not speak, but his eyes shot Su Yang a look which clearly meant: My lord, you are clearly a hopeless rake.

Su Yang didn’t pick up on the look from the flower aide. He didn’t hear him reply and he didn’t care. He turned back around and continued to observe the three who were still battling below.

The situation had begun to worsen after their short conversation. 

Gu Feidi’s internal energy was at its limit against the two foes. The fat man in black seized the opportunity and swung his heavy sword down heavily.

Gu Feidi raised his sword up and managed to stop the hit. Although he’d blocked the edge, he had no internal energy left to sustain his blade against the heavy downward force. His body trembled and he retreated a few steps. He slammed against a tree trunk and coughed up some blood. 

Seeing this, the thin man smiled harshly, pointed his blade at Gu Feidi’s nose and narrowed his eyes: “Even if you are a Young Tiger Hero, you are nothing but a suckling cub in this senior’s hands! Hand over the jade bell in exchange for your miserable life!”

Gu Feidi raised his hand and wiped the blood on his lips. He failed to wipe it off, instead, the action stained his lower jaw completely red.

His face was a little pale because of his injuries and dwindling internal strength, but there was still determination between his eyebrows. His eyes were blazing like stars and he didn’t cower at all. Though his jaw was smeared with blood, not only did it not impair his tough looks, but it added a touch of unyielding cruelty to him.

Su Yang looked this Gu Feidi and praised him internally: The threatening expression in the youth’s eyes are like a wolf cub baring its teeth and brandishing its claws. He suits the role more than that ‘pretty boy’ who had been cast as the male lead——fine, that type could be found everywhere.

Seeing that Gu Feidi wasn’t paying attention, the thin man signalled the fat man next to him. The two struck at the same time; four swords swinging in all directions forming an impenetrable force. Gu Feidi leaned against the tree trunk and seemed to have lost all manner of resistance.

Seeing this scene, Su Yang gripped the branches anxiously and made a motion to get up.

Suddenly, Gu Feidi curled up a leg, pushed off the tree trunk behind him and launched himself forward. He flipped over like a bird in the forest and mounted a surprise attack at the two men. His body was spinning in the air and at the same time he lunged out the long sword in his grasp —the long sword reflected the dappled sunlight streaming down through the canopy of the dense forest like a shower of stars from the Milky Way.

The sword’s edge churned out blow after blow, heavily striking the back of the thin man and sending flesh and blood flying in every direction.

The thin man threw himself to the ground with a scream and turned around to look at Gu Feidi in panic. 

The fat man, who had not uttered a single word, immediately turned wary and his stance became alert. He frowned, narrowing his eyes and spoke in a deep voice, “You actually perfected the True Hawk Sword technique.”

Gu Feidi said nothing. He raised his long sword to attack again; his movements mimicking a bird of prey swooping down from the sky without hesitation. 

The thin man was shocked when he saw this move.

Before he could make a sound, the fat man grabbed him and quickly pulled him out of the way, narrowly avoiding Gu Feidi’s deadly blow.

“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”

Only then did the thin man regain his senses and anxiously yelled out, “You witnessed the True Hawk Sword technique and you’re still not fleeing?! The jade bell is not worth losing our lives for!”

After those words had fallen, the two had already fled more than a dozen steps away.

The thin man abruptly felt that running away after being defeated was losing too much face, so he hurled a parting shot from a distance, “We can’t win your True Hawk Sword technique, but it doesn’t mean others won’t be able to kill you! The Devil Sect’s Young Saint, Su Yang is also on this mountain. If you run into him, let’s see if you’re still as lucky then——” 

As the two left, the forest became silent. There were endless noisy insects and birds in the area, but a strange void had been created that made it seem exceedingly quiet.

Gu Feidi observed their departure for a long while. Suddenly, he staggered two steps back and leaned on the trunk.

His face was pale, his breathing was disorderly and his long sword hung to the ground. His hand was quivering and it made the sword clatter noisily in his grasp. 

All things considered, Gu Feidi was still in his early years. The two men were not nobodies but skilled warriors of the Jianghu. In fact, he was already quite spent having fought against them. In the end, it was thanks to his quick-wit and resourcefulness that by only displaying that stance, he could fool them into thinking he had surplus energy to pull off the True Hawk Sword technique which had scared them away.

The True Hawk Sword technique was difficult to learn and tricky to execute. In the absence of sufficient internal energy to support the technique, he could only rely on his body to imitate the turbulent twisting action, which had further aggravated his injuries.

Gu Feidi dropped his head to control his breathing then slowly looked up. He glanced directly at Su Yang’s hiding spot, his eyes glinting like stars and hoarsely called out:

“The senior who’s been observing the battle, could you perhaps reveal yourself?”