Chapter 1: Reborn for the Hundredth Time

"Those who die often know that it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death," Fu Yunshu said expressionlessly.

Below, Song Wenzhuo, the Qingyuan Sect Master who was always meticulous and self-disciplined, lost his manners for the first time in front of his grandmaster.

Song Wenzhuo looked up in surprise, but quickly lowered his head again the moment he met Fu Yunshu's gaze, concealing the shock in his eyes.

He couldn't understand why his grandmaster, who was as splendid as a jade tree, would suddenly utter such incomprehensible words.

Song Wenzhu bowed and said, "Grandmaster Uncle, have you recently encountered a bottleneck in your cultivation? Cultivation is not something to rush. It just so happens that it's time for the selection of new disciples once every thirty years. If you'd like, you might as well come and watch their entrance examination. It'll be a way to relieve your boredom, and you might even meet a disciple you like."

Even now, as the head of the number one sect in the cultivation world, Song Wenzhuo remains as respectful and humble as ever in front of his elder, Fu Yunshu, with impeccable manners that leave no room for criticism.

Fu Yunshu stared absently at the jade crown on his head, which was particularly conspicuous due to his bowing posture.

Why does this jade crown look so familiar?

He tried hard to recall any memories related to the jade crown, but too many years had passed and he couldn't remember them for the time being.

When Fu Yunshu finally realized what was happening, he was shocked to discover that Song Wenzhuo had been left hanging there for quite a while!

"Ahem—" Fu Yunshu coughed lightly to cover up his embarrassment, "Get up quickly, I will go to the entrance exam."

“Yes—” Song Wenzhuo replied respectfully, his doubts growing even stronger.

My grandmaster was known for living a secluded life, focusing all his energy on cultivation and pursuing the Great Dao in Tingxue Peak. My suggestion was just a casual remark, and I didn't expect my grandmaster to come. I didn't expect him to agree.

Looks like I need to prepare properly this time.

"What brings you here today?" Fu Yunshu asked.

"News just came in that the Yin family in the Northern Territory was brutally wiped out yesterday; all several hundred members of the clan perished." Song Wenzhuo said in a heavy tone.

Fu Yunshu paused, then said, "The Yin family has guarded the sealed land for generations. Now that this has happened, the seal may be in danger of being breached."

"Grandmaster Uncle, rest assured, I have ordered Du Zhun to go to the Northern Territory to investigate the Yin family massacre and reinforce the seal. Other sects have also sent people, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Du Zhun is one of the seven peak masters of Qingyuan Sect. He is skilled in beast taming and not only has a natal demon beast with the strength of the mid-stage of the Integration Realm, but his own cultivation has also reached the Great Perfection of the Void Realm. Fu Yunshu felt relieved.

Neither he nor Song Wenzhuo were the type to gossip, and after finishing the matter, Song Wenzhuo took his leave.

After he left, Fu Yunshu pushed open the door.

Looking into the distance, a hint of blood appeared on the horizon, and the sea of ​​clouds churned.

As the clouds dispersed from the distant mountains, the endless mountain range below was gradually revealed.

Fu Yunshu gazed at the incredibly familiar scenery before him, lost in thought for a moment.

Today, he has been reborn once again; this is his hundredth incarnation.

Fu Yunshu didn't remember how many years ago, but he was just an ordinary person in the modern world. One day, a colleague who was reading a popular cultivation novel told him that the patriarch of the protagonist's sect had the same name as him.

Out of curiosity, Fu Yunshu went home and read the novel.

To his disappointment, the ancestor was merely a plot device, appearing only twice in the entire story. The first time was when the protagonist joined the sect and heard others praising how powerful the ancestor was; the second time was when the protagonist had just emerged from a certain secret realm and heard that the ancestor had failed to ascend and died under the tribulation of lightning, so a group of people hurriedly rushed back to Qingyuan Sect to attend the funeral.

Unexpectedly, things took an unexpected turn. That very night, he transmigrated into the novel he had only skimmed through, becoming Fu Yunshu, the number one cultivator in the cultivation world who only appeared twice.

Fu Yunshu: "..."

In his first life, he transmigrated very early, when the original owner, Fu Yunshu, had just joined the Qingyuan Sect, more than a thousand years before the novel began.

Fu Yunshu had no intention of changing the original owner's life trajectory. He followed the steps of becoming an apprentice, cultivating, and pursuing the Great Dao, with a vague idea in his heart—only ascension could allow him to return to the modern world.

Therefore, Fu Yunshu diligently cultivated, compressing all available time to improve his strength, and became the well-known "Scroll King" in the cultivation world.

Just as he was confidently facing the tribulation of ascension, an unexpected event occurred—at the moment the heavenly lightning struck, he suddenly lost all his spiritual power and was killed by the lightning.

What frustrated Fu Yunshu even more was that he didn't die, but was reborn again, returning to the time when he first transmigrated.

As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome; if one path doesn't work, there's always another. Thus, in this life, Fu Yunshu chose to become an alchemist.

After years of painstaking research, he finally refined the Ascension Pill. Just when Fu Yunshu thought there would be no more mistakes this time, his pill failed.

Fu Yunshu died under the lightning tribulation again, and then he was reborn once more.

...

Fu Yunshu frantically tried to comfort herself: It's okay, it's okay, it's just one more time (gritting her teeth).

In his third life, he chose to refine his body, and after many hardships, he cultivated a body indestructible by heavenly lightning. However, just like the previous two times, it failed when the heavenly lightning struck, and he died from the lightning tribulation once again.

In his fourth life, he chose to forge magical artifacts, exhausting his efforts to create a peerless magical artifact capable of withstanding heavenly lightning. However, unsurprisingly, the artifact failed when the lightning struck, and he died again.

The turning point came in the tenth life. At the moment when the heavenly lightning struck, Fu Yunshu discovered something was wrong with his body for the first time—there was a seal in his body, set by the Heavenly Dao. As long as this seal was in place, he would never be able to ascend.

Fu Yunshu was a very stubborn person. He did not give up, but repeatedly tried to break through the seal and ascend to heaven, wanting to break the shackles of the Heavenly Dao.

As the saying goes, if you fall down somewhere, you fall down there again.

During his recent ninety-ninth ascension tribulation, Fu Yunshu even attempted to defeat immortal techniques with modern science; yes, he used a lightning rod.

Then, unsurprisingly, he died.

Fu Yunshu: I have lost all my strength and means, I hate the way of Heaven.

After failing ninety-nine times, even though he was unwilling to give up, Fu Yunshu felt exhausted and no longer had the energy to pursue ascension. Rather than continuing to waste his energy, he decided to give up and enjoy life in the cultivation world.

As soon as this thought came to mind, Fu Yunshu felt that the gloom that had been lingering in his heart seemed to have dissipated considerably.

He suddenly smiled, his eyes gleaming slightly, and the captivating beauty mark at the corner of his eye swayed gently.

On a solitary peak, a white-robed immortal stood against the wind, surrounded by wisps of celestial mist, seemingly detached from the world. But at this moment, with a smile, crimson clouds emerged, and countless golden rays poured forth, showering upon him.

An immortal descended to the mortal world, and he began to have expectations for this world.

Having decided to live a good life, Fu Yunshu put aside his cultivation and began to think about other things.

For example, the massacre of the Yin family in the Northern Territory that Song Wenzhuo just mentioned, and what time period in the novel we are currently in.

He lay in the rocking chair, staring intently at the straightest bamboo stalk in the grove outside the window, then closed his eyes blankly.

Great, I haven't thought of anything useful yet.

He had a vague recollection of the Yin family in the Northern Territory; it should have appeared in the original book. Of course, that was all he remembered. Fu Yunshu had no idea what exactly happened.

As for the original book, Fu Yunshu only remembered that it was a typical "Dragon Overlord" novel on a certain website. The protagonist, who had a tragic background, joined the Qingyuan Sect, the number one sect in the cultivation world. He then fought his way through the world, killing all who stood in his way, and finally ascended to immortality. He didn't remember much else, not even the protagonist's name.

Fu Yunshu sighed inwardly. It couldn't be entirely blamed on him. After all, he had only skimmed through that novel back then, and in his previous ninety-nine lives, he had been completely absorbed in cultivation and didn't care about anything outside. Song Wenzhuo and the others knew his personality, so they rarely bothered him, which led to the current situation.

"Never mind, whether I remember the original plot or not isn't that important," Fu Yunshu comforted himself.

Throughout the entire story, Immortal Venerable Huaiwei only appeared twice, and even then, he only existed in other people's stories. He never even saw the protagonist's face. So, whether he knew the protagonist's name or the original plot is not that important, since they had no interaction anyway.

After figuring it out, Fu Yunshu stopped dwelling on it and started thinking about something else. The entrance exam was coming up soon, so why not take on one or two disciples to try? He had never raised disciples before.

Yangping Town, located dozens of miles away, is the closest town to Qingyuanzong where one can stay.

Just in time for the Qingyuan Sect's selection of new disciples, Yangping Town welcomed its once-every-thirty-years bustling moment. The town's streets were packed with people; all the restaurants and inns were full of guests.

In the largest restaurant in Yangping Town, the white-haired storyteller slammed his gavel, excitedly proclaiming, "Since yesterday, when I told you that the Immortal Venerable Huaiwei was only a young man in his early twenties, barely having broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, he dared to go alone to the Ten Thousand Demon Cave to kill the Snow Soul Wolf, who had hundreds of years of cultivation and whose claws were stained with countless lives..."

As the number one cultivator in the cultivation world, Immortal Venerable Fu Yunshu's deeds, both big and small, have been spread to every corner of the cultivation world. The story of slaying the Snow Soul Wolf alone has been heard countless times by everyone present since childhood, yet they still listen with great interest, occasionally erupting in cheers.

"Well done—as expected of Immortal Venerable Huaiwei, to have such strength at such a young age." A young man clapped his hands vigorously, his eyes shining brightly with admiration. "I wonder if I have any hope of becoming Immortal Venerable Huaiwei's disciple."

A mocking voice immediately came from the side: "The sun hasn't even set yet, how can someone be dreaming? Immortal Venerable Huaiwei never accepts disciples."

The boy's face immediately turned red: "Do you think I don't know that Immortal Venerable Huaiwei doesn't accept disciples? He was just saying it casually. After all, everyone wants to become Immortal Venerable Huaiwei's disciple. Do you dare to say you don't?"

The two started arguing, and gradually, others joined in, and the noise grew louder.

At the entrance of the inn, a thin, disheveled, and ragged little beggar seemed to have been awakened by the noise. He impatiently twisted his body, then stood up shakily, wanting to move to another place to continue resting.

As the child moved, his full appearance gradually became clear:

Her hair was piled up on her head in a messy, bird's nest-like manner, with a few withered grasses stuck in it; her thin body shivered from the cold under her tattered clothes; her small face was also covered in dirt, only her pair of dark, moist eyes were calm as a deep pool, seemingly hiding endless secrets beneath the mist, making people want to explore them.

The little beggar raised his head and looked at the Qingyuan Sect in the distance, his eyes filled with an unfathomable darkness.

Immortal Venerable Huaiwei...

A note from the author:

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Distant mountains, layer upon layer of clouds dispersed – Liu Yong

Pre-order: What to do if your random teammates overhear your in-game voice chat?

01:

Ruan Yu'an and two friends were playing a ranked match when they were randomly matched with a random player. The random teammate was wearing one of the most expensive skins in the entire server, exuding a strong "whale" vibe.

Friend A: Oh no, whales usually have bad tempers, so let's hope we don't rush into it.

Friend B: I'm afraid that won't work.

Friend A asked in confusion: Why?

Friend B: Because my internet connection is slow!

After saying that, Friend B immediately went offline.

Friend A emitted a sharp, popping sound: "Network card, you're a joke!"

The three of them had no choice but to carry each other on their backs. Midway through, friend A was on the verge of tears: "I give up. I bet number four is going to tear us apart."

Ruan Yu'an sighed, "It's really unlucky for someone at the peak to have teammates like us. They really deserve to be rid of us."

Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Ruan Yu'an heard a deep, magnetic, unfamiliar male voice:

"It's passable, but there are no crickets. Come and take over."

Ruan Yu'an's pupils dilated in shock. Help! How did my random teammates hear me? But I clearly turned on my team mic!

SB Gangyi is constantly bugging (ToT)

02:

Sheng Xun accidentally started a four-player queue instead of a solo queue. One of his teammates went AFK at the start of the game. Although he was angry, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep playing.

Fortunately, the other two teammates were quite reliable, providing a decent three-carry start, so this game wasn't entirely hopeless.

To Sheng Xun's surprise, halfway through the run, he suddenly heard the voices of two other teammates.

One of the male voices was clear and gentle, quite pleasant to listen to, which drew him into their conversation without him even realizing it.

The result startled the boy, and his voice trembled slightly with grievance:

Why can you hear us?

How adorable, Sheng Xun thought.

That night, Sheng Xun, who had been suffering from insomnia for many years, unexpectedly had a good night's sleep.

Upon waking up, he promptly opened the party recap from the previous night and clicked on the friend request.

03:

Sheng Xun, the campus heartthrob of University A, is a universally acknowledged aloof and unapproachable figure. Ruan Yu'an never thought that someone as insignificant as her could possibly have any interaction with him.

Until one day in the cafeteria, when she accidentally bumped into Sheng Xun, his MP3 player fell to the ground, and Ruan Yu'an clearly heard her own voice in it:

"You're so cute, baby."

"You're so cute, baby."

"You're so cute, baby."