I have a high-risk profession in the cultivation world.

Yan Jian'an witnessed the whole thing, and the emotions hidden deep in his heart suddenly surged. His gaze at Chu Chenmu's back was extremely complicated. He took a deep breath and suppressed those emotions. Yan Jian'an frowned.

Is this person... an idiot?

He clicked his tongue in disdain. If he remembered correctly, Chu Chenmu was already a Nascent Soul cultivator, right?

He didn't notice that the seemingly thin and pale child was actually quite agile. Even when he bumped into someone much taller than him and seemed to stumble, his stance was actually very stable.

Moreover, he was able to easily steal the small pouch hanging at Chu Chenmu's waist.

How could someone in the Nascent Soul stage be so easily fooled by a child?

Thinking about what the Chaos Mirror said about the high probability of him killing me... I was really stupid.

Let it go. If he doesn't commit evil intentions, we won't kill him.

Who knows, one day he might just make himself stupid enough to die.

……

After resting in Lanling City for a few days, Chu Chenmu spent a long time mentally preparing himself, suppressing his bad luck, and calling upon the system in his mind.

He had cursed it before, and he didn't know if the system had a grudge-holding function.

[Xiaoyuan, are you there?]

[Host, I'm here. What can I do for you?]

Xiao Yuan replied instantly, her tone normal. Chu Chenmu breathed a sigh of relief, as long as she wouldn't make things difficult for him.

[I'd like to ask what the next mission point is?]

[Back to host, the next plot point is that Chu Chenmu discovers the demonic vein within Luo Suichen's body and, in a fit of rage, injures Luo Suichen's heart meridian.]

"...I've discovered that your system is anything but intelligent."

[Why does the host say this?]

The plot has already deviated from the original story, yet you insist on following the original narrative. Don't you know how to adapt it to the facts?

[Why does the host say this?]

[Right now, Luo Suichen shows absolutely no intention of cultivating demonic arts, so why should I injure him?]

[Warning to the host: Following the plot is the top priority.]

【…】

[After striking the heart meridian, tell me what comes next, and I'll do it all at once. The sooner we die, the sooner we're reborn.]

[Replying to the host: After Luo Suichen's heart meridian was damaged, he went out alone to find a way to cure it. He encountered Mo Qiluo and completely betrayed the Wuji Sect. The subsequent plot is irrelevant to you. Your next plot point is—Luo Suichen becomes the leader of the Demon Sect, attacks the Wuji Sect, and kidnaps you.]

[So, after this plot point, my death is imminent... Ugh, I can't say that! Does that mean I can just wait to fake my death and go home?]

That's right.

Does this task have a time limit?

[Xiaoyuan will issue a task to you when the time is right. Please wait patiently.]

Okay... I'm fine now.

Ignoring the system, Chu Chenmu went on to recount the plot on the bed.

The system was referring to the original plot, but the story has already deviated from its original direction, and nobody knows if it will continue down that path.

Putting everything else aside, the original book's death scene of "kidnapping Chu Chenmu and only giving him a quick death in the finale" is definitely not going to happen again!

Luo Suichen can't keep torturing himself like this... right?

Chu Chenmu became uncertain again when he thought about how he might damage Chu Chenmu's heart meridian one day.

What bad luck.

In the book, from the time Luo Suichen imprisoned Chu Chenmu to the time he killed him, a hundred years passed! To be tortured for a hundred years, unable to live or die, just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

However, the system said that tasks would only be issued when the time was right, meaning that he was still free when there were no tasks.

Why not take this time to increase your favorability so that Luo Suichen might remember your past relationship when facing life and death?

Also, shouldn't he look for a method to replenish the heart meridian? Maybe he can make amends for his past mistakes.

Chu Chenmu pondered for a while and suddenly remembered a minor plot point from the original book.

According to the timeline, the spiritual gathering will take place in a little over a year.

The Spiritual Cultivation Alliance sounds prestigious, but it's actually just a gathering of various sects in the cultivation world once every ten years. It's a chance to showcase the wealth of their sects and let the younger generation compete to determine the top four.

Since the Demonic Sect's defeat a thousand years ago and its retreat to the desolate lands of Jizhou, the righteous cultivators, free from internal and external troubles, eventually felt lonely guarding their own little corner of the world. If a once-in-a-lifetime genius emerged within their sect, no one would know. So they began to think about organizing team-building activities.

Gradually, an unwritten agreement was reached among the people—a gathering of spiritual practitioners would be held every ten years, with the four major sects taking turns as hosts. The gathering would be a friendly competition where each sect could exchange techniques, learn from each other's strengths, and make progress together.

However, where there are rankings, there is competition. As the Spiritual Cultivation Alliance has evolved into what it is today, it has basically become a martial arts tournament. Everyone is only competing for the number of people from their own sect on the list and their ranking. There are sparring matches, but little real communication.

In the original owner's memory, he had also participated in this spiritual cultivation conference twice. Once was during the Foundation Establishment stage, where he barely made it into the top 100. The second time was thirty years ago, when the original owner's Lingtian Sword Technique was superb, and he swept through the competition, eventually reaching fourth place on the Golden Core stage ranking, thus becoming famous for a time.

Chu Chenmu felt somewhat ashamed. He had been in the book for nearly ten years, and the original owner, a person of extraordinary talent, had not made any progress in cultivation when he took control of this body.

That shouldn't be the case. He has been cultivating and meditating diligently. Even if he occasionally slacks off, going out for a treat or reading a storybook, he shouldn't feel any progress in his cultivation.

Is his soul really that worthless? What bad luck.

Or is it that he is ultimately a soul from another world, and cannot perfectly fit into this body?

Shaking his head, he ignored all that. How could he have gone astray? The key point was that in the original story, before going to participate in the Spiritual Cultivation Conference, the original owner had taken Tian Yige to the Hidden Sword Pavilion to search for weapons in order to enhance his strength.

It's time for him to take a few people back to the mountain gate and help them choose a suitable weapon in the Hidden Sword Pavilion. Even if Luo Suichen really hates him to the extreme, he'll have to hesitate when he sees the natal sword that his master chose for him.

The next day, when the four of them were having dinner together, Chu Chenmu brought up the matter, and then led his little disciples on their journey back to Wuji Sect.

……

Wujimen.

Chu Chenmu returned to his small courtyard, cast a few dust-removing spells, and then leisurely lay down on the couch to stretch. Ah, there's no place like home, and that saying is absolutely true.

Then, with a plate of snacks beside him, he was about to take out the storybook with great interest.

After spending so many days in the Xuanling Secret Realm, his spiritual world had become extremely barren!

Before he could decide which book to read first, the barrier near the courtyard was activated.