At the very moment the red-clad maiden made her silent vow, a familiar voice echoed down the pitch-dark mountain path ahead:
"Old Shi, tell me—tomorrow, which peak master should this young master choose as his teacher?"
A black-robed youth, delicate and handsome in countenance, was murmuring to the ring on his finger, as if speaking to himself.
"It's Ye Chen!"
"Going by the script's description of his looks, it has to be him!"
Guo Yourong bit down on her lip, her eyes gleaming like sharpened blades, glinting with murderous frost.
"Die."
A steely decision flared to life in her chest. In a breath, she activated her true essence, summoned her natal flying sword, and prepared to strike—
And yet, just before she could unleash the blow, she sensed something!
Barely ten zhang away, hidden within a thick cluster of grass, another presence lurked—
And at that very same moment, the other party sensed her too.
Both had been suppressing their auras until now, neither aware of the other's presence—until, in synchrony, they mobilized spiritual power to act. Their locations were thus exposed in a single heartbeat.
Across the distance, their gazes locked.
The atmosphere turned… awkward.
"Second Senior Sister?"
"Third Junior Sister?"
Once they saw each other's faces clearly, the two immortal fairy sisters of Shenluan Peak widened their beautiful eyes, each visibly stunned.
"Who goes there?!"
Even Ye Chen seemed to have sensed something. He shouted sharply into the darkness, scanning his surroundings.
No good!
Guo Yourong narrowed her eyes. I don't know why Third Junior Sister is here… but in the script, she's obsessed with Ye Chen. Maybe fate guided her to rescue him!
Fine then. Tonight, it's this bastard's lucky break. Once he joins the sect, there will be plenty of chances to kill him.
Making her decision, Guo Yourong withdrew her aura and quietly retreated into the night.
On the other side, Chu Youwei—carrying her Thousand-Feather Qin on her back—had reached the same conclusion.
So even Second Senior Sister appears in this timeline… the script really was true.
As expected… she's Ye Chen's destined protector.
Forget it. I'll let it go for tonight.
But dear Senior Sister, if there's a next time… don't blame poor little Weiwei for letting her music become merciless. After all…
It's all for the sake of our Eldest Senior Brother.
That delicate, angelic face—so harmless and serene—now exuded an eerie, bone-chilling aura beneath the pale moonlight, like a demoness from the abyss.
Once Ye Chen left the area, neither girl acknowledged the other. Instead, they silently turned and vanished into the darkness using lightness techniques.
—
Qinglan Sect, Shenluan Peak – Senior Disciples' Dormitory.
Lin Xiao lay in bed, sleep eluding him.
"It's ruined. Everything's ruined!"
"The characters are completely collapsing!"
"In the original novel, Third Junior Sister was cautious around me but never truly despised me, so her sudden change in behavior was still within reason…"
"But what's going on with Fourth Junior Sister, Lu Yingying?! She was supposed to be the very first heroine Ye Chen met after arriving at Qinglan Sect's main map!"
Recalling the embrace from earlier, Lin Xiao felt a cold sweat break out down his spine.
"Don't tell me… the original author really did outsource the ending and butcher the story—messing up all the characters' personalities?"
"No. Even if that were true, at least during the early- to mid-stage of the plot, my storyline should still be intact!"
The more Lin Xiao thought about it, the more unsettled he became.
White silk is sacred! One must never violate the stockings of one's own Master!
He shook his head.
"Whatever. Best to stick to the script."
"Because I witnessed my beloved Little Junior Sister walking together with Ye Chen, I grow jealous and resentful."
"So now, I'm supposed to go to the Pill Hall and steal a highly toxic 'Sevenfold Despair Pill'—then 'accidentally' get caught red-handed by Second Junior Sister, Guo Yourong."
"That'll set the stage for her to expose me publicly during the apprenticeship ceremony tomorrow."
"Dear Second Junior Sister, the other girls are going off-script. I'm counting on you to carry this narrative! Tomorrow, hit me with everything you've got!"
Muttering under his breath, Lin Xiao rose to his feet.
Just then, a voice rang out from beyond the door—his youngest junior brother, Huai Zhen:
"Reporting to Eldest Senior Brother—Master has emerged from closed-door cultivation. She requests your presence at Tiannü Cliff."
"…What?"
"According to the novel, doesn't our beautiful Master come out of seclusion tomorrow? Why so early?"
"And in the middle of the night, she summons me to Tiannü Cliff? What does she want?"
"Don't tell me… she already discovered the stocking theft incident?"
"But if that's the case, how will Ye Chen expose me tomorrow and earn his double face-slap moment?"
For a second, Lin Xiao was completely dazed.
"This damned plot is becoming more ridiculous by the hour!"
After a moment of consideration, he made a decision:
"I'll go to Tiannü Cliff after visiting the Pill Hall. I need to secure the Sevenfold Severing Pill first, just in case."
"Who knows what that number one immortal beauty of the cultivation world wants with me at this hour?"
"This isn't even in the script!"
With so many character arcs already falling apart, Lin Xiao was determined not to let tomorrow's events go awry.—
Qinglan Sect, Shenluan Peak – Pill Refining Hall.
"Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother!"
"Salutations!"
"We humbly await your wise instruction, Senior Brother!"
As soon as Lin Xiao landed on his flying sword at the alchemy tower, several inner sect disciples on furnace duty rushed up to greet him with deference.
"Raise your spirits, all of you! The sea of knowledge is boundless, and the Dao of Pills has no end! We must search high and low, above and below, if we wish to glimpse the mysteries of heaven and man. Understand?"
Lin Xiao stood with hands behind his back, nostrils slightly flared—projecting the full aura of a pompous villain.
"Yes, Eldest Senior Brother!" they shouted in unison.
Ding!
"You have successfully restored your character setting! Random critical reward triggered: Pill Dao +99!
[Your Pill Refining Skill Grade has advanced to: Fifth Tier!]
Just as he stepped into the first floor of the pill tower, the system's cold voice echoed in his mind.
"What the hell?! Even this counts?"
Lin Xiao's eye twitched.
Before, when he received constitution and comprehension boosts, he had remained unfazed.
But this reward? This was insane!
A Fifth-Tier Alchemist?!
According to the original story, although Qinglan Sect was one of the premier Daoist sects in the Eastern Domain of the Vast Continent, it was known more for swordsmanship than pill refinement.
Their alchemy techniques barely scraped average by cultivator standards.
Across the entire mountain, there were probably fewer than five alchemists above the sixth tier!
That's why Ye Chen's alchemy skills, taught by the mysterious old grandmaster inside his ring, had shocked the entire sect. Even his frosty, aloof Master began to treat him differently because of it.
And yet—
Even that cheat-code protagonist, after sweeping the entire Qinglan Sect arc, had just barely reached Fifth-Tier Alchemist level.
And now?
Lin Xiao, a villain simply putting on airs, had jumped straight into Fifth Tier without even trying.
"Please, I'm begging you—no more rewards!"
"At this rate, I, the so-called scumbag villain, might as well overthrow Ye Chen and take over as the main character!"
"…Hmm. That doesn't sound half bad, actually?"
The insane thought flashed through his mind.
"Bah!"
"I swear I just want to finish the plot and return to the real world—to reunite with my family!"
Forcefully shaking away those temptations, Lin Xiao made his way deeper into the tower.
As per the script, Shenluan Peak's sole Pill Elder had gone to the mid-mountain spirit herb garden to collect medicinal ingredients.
Thus, Lin Xiao—as the senior-most disciple—could enter the second floor and retrieve the deadly Sevenfold Severing Pill without resistance.
But before that…
"One step. Two steps. Three…"
"…Ten steps."
Just as described in the novel, Lin Xiao took exactly ten paces and stopped at the corner of the first floor.
He was waiting for her.
The woman who, tomorrow, would help Ye Chen expose his crime.
The only eyewitness.
"Senior Brother~~"
A soft voice called from behind.
"She's here! She actually showed up!"
Lin Xiao turned with excitement—only to freeze.
Before him stood a tall, voluptuous woman clad in red, exuding the mature allure of a regal beauty.
It was his Second Junior Sister—Guo Yourong.
But… something felt off.
That look in her eyes—it held warmth.
Affection.
"Wait, no! That's not right!"
In the original story, she should've been full of suspicion, guarding against him stealing aphrodisiacs to torment their Little Junior Sister!"
A twitch tugged at Lin Xiao's eyelid.
Still, as a man of great villainous discipline, he forced out a greasy smile and let his gaze wander up and down her figure:
"Yourong…"
"Every time I see you, I'm reminded of a classic saying~~"
"Oh?" Guo Yourong stepped closer, her long legs elegant and swaying. "And what's that?"
"The sea holds all rivers—true greatness lies in how much one can… contain."
Lin Xiao delivered the original line from the script with a flourish.
[TL: Lin Xiao is making a suggestive quip, equating her physical ahem "ample figure" with her name as in capacity, under the guise of quoting a famous saying.]
"Ah…"
Guo Yourong blinked. Then, blushing faintly, she lowered her gaze.
"Senior Brother… do you truly think so?" she asked shyly.
"Then between me and the other two junior sisters… who do you think is better?"
A beat of silence passed.
Her voice was soft, almost bashful.
This isn't right! This reaction is completely wrong!!
Lin Xiao's heart skipped a beat, his spine stiffening.
In the novel, after saying that line, Guo Yourong had exploded in anger, and from then on viewed him with even greater disgust.
That had laid the groundwork for her later testimony against him.
But now? She was acting like a lovesick maiden—soft and tender?
"Senior Brother… is the question too hard to answer?"
"Or did that recording stone you secretly installed not capture things clearly enough?"
Guo Yourong's head dipped even lower, her cold, aloof demeanor replaced with the coy pouting of a bashful girl.
It's over. It's all over. The whole damn cast has collapsed!!
Lin Xiao clenched his jaw in utter despair.