Chapter 84
Thank you Moni and an anonymous reader for the Ko-fis!
Editor: SimoB
The girl outside was still crying and begging for mercy. Shi Qing turned a deaf ear and examined the original plotline of this world.
A quick glance was enough to show how dog-blood and tragic this story was. The protagonist was practically the poster boy for the ‘handsome and strong yet miserable’ archetype.
The protagonist, Rong Jue, was the youngest son born to the legitimate wife of the Rong clan in Hedong District. He was doted on by his parents, older brother and sister-in-law until he was five years old. His potential was astonishing, and he was clearly favoured by the heavens since birth.
However, on his fifth birthday, his entire family was ma.s.sacred. He only managed to survive because his older brother hid him underneath his own dying body.
Due to his young age, this traumatic experience was too much for him and he lost all of his memories from before the age of five.
He had only guessed that he was a member of the Rong clan because he crawled out of a veritable sea of their bodies. At the time, all of the clans related to the Rong clan through marriage were also wiped out. It was safe to say that Rong Jue was the only survivor.
Rong Jue was only five then, so he could only wander the streets as a beggar for three years. When he was eight, he accidentally discovered that he could draw energy into his body, meaning that he had the apt.i.tude to cultivate.
That was how an eight-year-old embarked on a lonely path to study at an Immortal sect. After almost being eaten by a tiger and falling off a cliff, Rong Jue finally arrived at the number one immortal sect, Chi Yun Sect.
Chi Yun Sect was well renowned for its sword cultivators. With five elders at the Immortalization stage and countless disciples of lower realms, it was the undisputed number one Immortal sect in the world.
When Rong Jue underwent the spiritual root examination, it was discovered that he actually had the rare Celestial Spiritual Root.
Those with the Celestial Spiritual Root would have an easier time cultivating than their peers. He might be able to reach a realm that others needed centuries to work on in just one month.
Such heaven-defying talent naturally caused many people to fight over him.
If Rong Jue was fortunate enough to be accepted by a good Shizun, he would gradually return to being someone favoured by the heavens.
Alas, he was not so fortunate.
There was one Immortalization realm cultivator who often stayed in closed-door cultivation all year round in Chi Yun Sect. He had only one child, a son. Unfortunately, his son was not talented and relied on pills to advance his cultivation.
This cultivator couldn’t suppress his realm forever, and he was very worried that there would be no one to take care of his son after his immortal ascension. Therefore, he decided to have his son take in many talented disciples, who could look after their Shizun in the future.
Rong Jue was one such unlucky disciple.
Due to this cultivator being at the Immortalization stage, the other sect members could only watch as this peerless talent, Rong Jue, became the disciple of the weaka.s.s daddy’s boy, Supreme Elder Shi Qing.
After letting this disciple settle in, the worrywart father imparted a bunch of his acc.u.mulated resources to his son before ascending to become an immortal.
This wasn’t even the worst part. With Rong Jue’s absurd talent, he would’ve been fine even if his Shizun was simply incompetent.
However, the original host was both untalented and easily jealous. He appeared to be well-mannered on the surface, albeit somewhat aloof. But in actuality, he was a wicked individual who hated when others brought up the fact that his foundation was built up with pills. He had no love for the talented Rong Jue and hated to see his rapid rise in cultivation.
After all, Rong Jue could advance a realm in three days of closed-door cultivation. This success only reminded the original host of how he failed to do the same, even after three years, and had to rely on pills in the end.
He was a wastrel, but his disciple was a genius.
He worked hard everyday with little to no results to show for it, but his disciple casually improved in leaps and bounds after a brief period of seclusion.
While others gossiped and jeered at him behind the scenes, everyone, from the lowliest disciple to the most powerful elders, held his disciple in high esteem.
The original host suffered a complete mental breakdown.
His eldest disciple was like a nail hammered into his eye. When Rong Jue was young, his Shizun only appeared to be a bit too strict and reluctant to teach him methods to advance his cultivation faster. He was also quick to punish Rong Jue for the slightest of mistakes.
When Rong Jue gradually grew up, acc.u.mulating prestige in the sect and becoming more powerful by the day, the original host couldn’t take it anymore.
He found all sorts of reasons to whip Rong Jue, sending him to dangerous locations and withheld the resources a.s.signed to him by the sect.
It was suppression in every sense of the word.
Because he was Rong Jue’s Shizun, no one had the authority to admonish or stop him.
However, the original host could only watch as, regardless of his efforts, Rong Jue was about to break through to the Void Refining stage. Out of jealousy, he secretly arranged for Rong Jue to be killed during an inter-sect compet.i.tion, disguising it as him succ.u.mbing to fatal injuries from his opponent.
After the compet.i.tion, Rong Jue seemed to sense that something was off. Worried that his scheme would be exposed, the original host immediately stopped his disciple from seeking medical attention, using the excuse, “Rong Jue embarra.s.sed me by failing to win the compet.i.tion” as a reason to withhold treatment.
Rong Jue’s injuries eventually caused him excruciating pain and even ruined his ability to cultivate.
In a single night, Rong Jue turned from a genius loved by heaven to a wastrel. The original host allowed the other cannon fodders in the sect to humiliate Rong Jue before expelling him from the sect, making sure he could not make a comeback.
That was when Rong Jue completely blackened. He left the sect and struggled to cultivate on his own. In the midst of his suffering, he discovered the reason the Rong clan was exterminated was because his mother was a princess of demonic origin. When the demon lord at the time was a.s.sa.s.sinated, his killers came to the human realm to finish the job.
The demon blood in Rong Jue’s body let him start on another path, one that was even more suitable for him than immortal cultivation. The blackened Rong Jue became a true mastermind, using various methods to raise his cultivation and take over the Demon Realm.
Afterwards, he led his armies to invade Chi Yun Sect, capturing the original host and torturing him in the dungeons for 81 days before letting him die.
Alas, as the world gained a mind of its own, this cla.s.sic plotline was ruined. The protagonist died of shock due to the pain of the injuries the original host inflicted on him and the lack of treatment.
After going through this long, long, long series of events, Shi Qing understood why Rong Jue’s animosity value was 300.
Actually, he was surprised it wasn’t over 3000. After all, since childhood, Rong Jue had been tormented and oppressed by the person who was supposed to cherish and guide him.
The System was left a trembling mess after reviewing the plotline with its Host. [Host, i-isn’t this world’s difficulty a little too h-high? Wuwuwu…]
The original host had pretty much done everything that shouldn’t have been done, and Rong Jue had already been suppressed by him for his entire childhood. Even his current injuries were because of the original host!
So what if Shi Qing went to treat him right now? The current blackened Rong Jue would have to be insane to believe his Shizun had good intentions.
Shi Qing still appeared as carefree as ever: [It’s fine, I already know what to do.]
The System was relieved. It knew that someone as powerful as its Host would be about to salvage the situation.
After understanding the plotline, Shi Qing waved his hand and dispelled the restriction. He walked out and looked condescendingly at his youngest disciple who was kneeling there begging him.
The teenaged girl in green robes sobbed without end. When she saw her Shizun come out, she quickly adjusted her posture and kowtowed heavily.
“Shizun, please save Da-shxiong! His injuries really are going to kill him… Please!”
System: [Host, are you going to sweep in and save the day, then turn over a new leaf and treat the protagonist with kindness?!]
Then it could only look on as the white-robed Shi Qing, who looked like a distant immortal, spoke in a slightly cold, indifferent tone.
“He lost the fight and utterly disgraced my Qing Jian Peak. What nerve he has, asking me for help now. I refuse. None of you should even entertain the thought of going behind my back to give him even a single elixir, either.”
“If anyone dares to violate the rules, they shall be expelled from the sect.”
Author’s Corner
Shi Qing: Didn’t expect that, did you?