The setting sun descended westward, its afterglow blood-red.

Upon Guiyun Immortal Mountain, broken trees and collapsed peaks littered the landscape, corpses strewn everywhere. Jiang Zhaoxue wore a white brocade wide-sleeved robe embroidered with golden thread depicting the sun, moon, and stars. Her leg bones had been broken by someone, and she was pressed down against the ground.

Her golden crown sat askew, her hair scattered in disarray, yet she stubbornly kept her upper body upright. Facing the young man shrouded in dark gauze within the jade carriage not far away, she struggled to preserve the last shred of dignity belonging to the Lady of Penglai.

“Zhongzhou has fallen. Lingjian Immortal Pavilion is Zhongzhou’s last line of defense. And you, Master’s wife—”

The young man’s clear, cold, jade-like voice transmitted from within the carriage, accompanied by the impatient snorting of the dark qilin. Though his words were mocking, his tone was exceptionally indifferent. “The only person in Zhongzhou with hope of breaking through to the ninth realm of Fate Master—you should have been Zhongzhou’s only chance of victory. What a pity that seventeen years ago, Master extracted your spiritual roots and confined you to the estate.”

As he spoke, the paper immortal servant lifted the silver-gray gauze curtain with a wave of his hand, and the young man stepped out.

Upon his purple-black ornate robe flowed mountains, rivers, sun and moon, with the alternating changes of the four seasons displayed upon his garments. The young man’s voice drew nearer as he recounted a past that the entire cultivation world knew: “For his sake, you committed countless evil deeds—destroyed my root bones, killed my good friends, and ultimately reached this day… After paying so much, he abandoned you and fled for the sake of his junior martial sister. Master’s wife,” the young man stopped before her, raised his hand to grip her throat, and leaned down slightly with apparent curiosity, “do you not regret it?”

Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t speak. She stared fixedly at the young man before her.

Regret?

How could she not regret?

She had loved that man, loved him for a full two hundred and seventeen years, devoted herself for two hundred and seventeen years, yet in the end couldn’t compare to a child who simply called him “Master” with ease.

Shen Yuqing—her husband. For the sake of that female disciple named Mu Jinyue, he crippled her spiritual roots, imprisoned her for life, gave her hope again and again, made her feel loved again and again, only to personally extinguish that hope each time.

And now, this was the final time—

Today at the hour of You, the Nine Nether Realm breached Lingjian Immortal Pavilion. At the final moment of escape, Shen Yuqing chose to leave with Mu Jinyue, abandoning her—six months pregnant—disguising her as Mu Jinyue to be captured alive by the demonic cultivators of the Nine Nether Realm.

This was perhaps her last time loving Shen Yuqing, and also her last time hating Shen Yuqing.

But her love and hate should not be known or used by others. So she merely smiled with blood in her mouth and said hoarsely, “What does it have to do with you?”

Hearing this, the young man’s eyes flickered slightly, as if unwilling to accept it.

However, a moment later, he laughed softly, leaned down slightly, and lowered his voice: “But you are his wife.”

As the young man spoke, his fingers gradually tightened. “Since he’s fled, then the debt he owes me should be repaid by you. Master’s wife,” the young man turned his gaze toward the endlessly extending staircase below, his tone carrying reminiscence, “back then when I climbed the Heavenly Ascension Ladder step by step, it was you who guided me. Today—”

The young man looked back, his black-purple eyes filled with compassion, reflecting her struggling face. Just like when he was young, he spoke respectfully: “I shall send you on your way.”

Having finished speaking, his fingers suddenly exerted force.

Intense pain came from her throat. She clearly heard the sound of bones shattering, her vision slowly darkening.

She felt him release her body as she fell heavily.

In that final moment, she heard the young man step back, the sound of his robes brushing, the sound of kneeling, the sound of kowtowing, and finally Pei Zichen’s respectful loud proclamation:

“Disciple Pei Zichen respectfully sends Master’s wife to ascend to heaven!”

—Excerpt from “My Dao Walks Alone”

“Ah!”

With a startled cry, Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly opened her eyes, awakening from the nightmare.

She breathed rapidly. A green-clothed young maid hurriedly rushed over, helping Jiang Zhaoxue regulate her breathing: “My Lady, what happened? Are you alright?”

Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t speak. She instinctively raised her hand to touch her own throat, recalling the dream just now, her entire body covered in cold sweat.

Seeing she was fine, the maid laughed lightly, raised her hand to pat her back, and comforted her: “My Lady had a nightmare, didn’t you? The fire poison hasn’t even started yet, and My Lady is already scaring herself?”

“He’s coming.”

In a daze, a voice rang out in Jiang Zhaoxue’s mind.

Jiang Zhaoxue’s expression turned stern. She was about to gather her qi to counterattack when she heard the young girl’s voice immediately say: “Don’t get excited! I’m your fate beast. My name is A’Nan.”

Jiang Zhaoxue’s movement paused. She looked around in her sea of consciousness, listening to the young girl’s voice: “When a Fate Master enters the seventh realm of Unity, they will have a fate beast that can divine fortune and misfortune and peer into the Heavenly Dao. Today you stepped into the seventh realm. I peered into the Heavenly Dao for you, removed this world’s restrictions on you, allowed you to see the truth, and moreover, you will never again be controlled by the author!”

“Truth? Author?” Jiang Zhaoxue murmured.

The young girl responded: “That’s right. As you saw in your dream, the truth of this world is—you’ve transmigrated into a book!”

Hearing this, without need for explanation, Jiang Zhaoxue immediately understood what had happened to her based on her extensive web novel reading experience.

She had transmigrated.

Not just transmigration—transmigration into a book, and she’d become cannon fodder at that!

Jiang Zhaoxue had originally been a corporate slave in the twenty-first century. After dying suddenly from staying up too late reading novels, she woke to find herself transmigrated into this cultivation world.

In this small world, there were three realms: the True Immortal Realm, the Mortal Realm, and the Nine Nether Realm. The True Immortal Realm was where spiritual power served as the main source of cultivation strength, divided into two regions—Zhongzhou and Penglai. Zhongzhou was where human cultivators gathered, while Penglai was where demon cultivators resided.

Although Jiang Zhaoxue was human, she was reincarnated as a demon. She had transmigrated from birth into the body of the youngest daughter of Penglai Island’s Island Master. She possessed exceptional natural talent and was one of the rare Fate Masters in the cultivation world.

Fate Masters were the most special cultivators in this small world.

According to legend, when Haocang Shenjun created the world, he took a piece of his heart and created the Book of Heavenly Fate, writing down the destinies of everyone in the world.

Ordinary cultivators were controlled by the Book of Heavenly Fate.

Only Fate Masters were not governed by the Book of Heavenly Fate. They had a mysterious connection with the Heavenly Dao born from the world’s rules. They could explore the world’s patterns, read the stars and divine through divination, peer into the contents of the Book of Heavenly Fate, and most importantly, could borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao through making wagers with it to change everything.

But their fatal weakness was that their casting time was too long. Therefore, every Fate Master would have a life-and-death companion called a Fate Attendant to protect them. As long as they received protection, Fate Masters were the most powerful existence in the entire cultivation world.

Such powerful yet controllable existences were the talents every sect dreamed of obtaining. Unfortunately, over these past several thousand years, not only were Fate Masters already few in number, but most either lacked aptitude or had short lifespans. Only Jiang Zhaoxue possessed exceptional natural talent and managed to grow to adulthood alive and well, becoming the only candidate in the entire True Immortal Realm in several thousand years who had a chance of breaking through to become a ninth-realm Fate Master.

It could be said that her birth ensured her glory and wealth in the first half of her life, while her talent secured her glory and wealth in the second half of her life.

If she hadn’t met Shen Yuqing, she should have lived an idle life on Penglai Island, enjoying blessings for ten thousand years.

But a romance-addled brain had no cure. Fate was truly wondrous.

From the first time she saw Shen Yuqing, she began her affliction.

Shen Zeyu, courtesy name Yuqing.

At age twenty, she first met Shen Yuqing at the Sword Trial Assembly. She fell for this heaven’s favored son at first sight and openly declared her love.

That very day when she returned, her elder brother confined her. When she came to her senses about what she’d done, she thought she was finished.

She’d developed a romance-addled brain.

After that, she became unstoppable, finding opportunities whenever possible to see Shen Yuqing.

At first, Shen Yuqing ignored her, and she didn’t have many opportunities, so she felt relatively at peace.

It was just that after losing face each time, she would return home to slap herself, wishing she could bury herself under a pillow and suffocate.

Unexpectedly, two hundred years ago, when the Cangming Sea’s barrier broke, Shen Yuqing was severely injured while repairing the barrier. In her afflicted state, she single-handedly pulled him from the sea. To save him, she even formed a one-sided Sympathetic Heart Contract with him!

The Sympathetic Heart Contract was a secret technique of Penglai, only ever performed between dao companions. From then on, whenever Shen Yuqing was injured, she had to bear half of it. If he suffered a fatal injury, she would bear it entirely.

Because of this Sympathetic Heart Contract, she lost her status as Penglai Island’s heir. Her father personally brought people to Lingjian Immortal Pavilion and negotiated with Shen Yuqing’s master, Gujun Daoren, for three days. Shen Yuqing knelt at the mountain gate for three days. Ultimately, unable to resist the “debt of gratitude” and the sect’s pressure, he formed a contract and married her, promising to become her protecting “Fate Attendant” and vowing to protect her for life.

The night this news arrived, Jiang Zhaoxue cried bitterly all night, knowing she was finished.

Giving up her inheritance rights for a scumbag man, and even having to marry far away to Zhongzhou—she couldn’t understand it.

But she had a romance-addled brain. She couldn’t control herself.

She went to Zhongzhou’s Lingjian Immortal Pavilion as if going to her death. Her parents, fearing she’d be bullied, even gave her a dowry of an entire immortal mountain and fifty disciples. After arriving at Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, she discovered—

Aha, sure enough, life wasn’t easy.

Shen Yuqing was unwilling about this marriage, so he kept giving her the cold shoulder.

She lived on Yunfu Mountain, he lived on Luo Xia Feng. The opportunities to meet throughout the year weren’t much better than the Cowherd and Weaving Maid.

Additionally, apart from the elders of both sides, the outside world wasn’t clear about the Sympathetic Heart Contract matter. Everyone thought this marriage was Penglai bullying with their power. The entire Lingjian Immortal Pavilion—and even all of Zhongzhou—felt indignant on Shen Yuqing’s behalf.

Usually when she went out, people would roll their eyes at her, which was extremely frustrating. So she lived alone on Yunfu Mountain year-round, almost never going out.

Originally, accepting reality and honestly living as a grass widow could have been endured. But she always had episodes of her affliction.

She couldn’t control wanting to see Shen Yuqing, wanting to strive for his love. So over these two hundred years, she continuously humbled herself, working hard to give.

During the day she was his servant, and late at night she regretted and cried.

In this extreme contradiction, she accompanied him step by step to become the Pavilion Master of Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, the foremost sword cultivator of the younger generation in the current age.

As for herself, her cultivation progressed slowly, and she was covered in injuries and illnesses.

For example, the fire poison in her body today that acted up once a month—this was what she took for him back when he slayed the Fire Qilin.

This was one of the world’s rare poisons. Penglai Island exhausted countless heavenly treasures to save her life, but the residual poison was difficult to clear. Every month it would flare up once more, as if she were placed in the Hell of Unceasing Torment, scorched by raging flames, suffering unbearably.

Fortunately, the residual force of this fire poison wasn’t strong. It only required spiritual power from water-element spiritual roots to soothe it, and Shen Yuqing just happened to possess heaven-grade water spiritual roots, making him most suitable. Therefore, out of guilt, no matter what conflicts he had with her, Shen Yuqing would definitely come each month to dispel the poison for her.

So being afflicted with fire poison not only didn’t make her suffer but actually made her feel happy.

By this time, having struggled for two hundred years, she had also accepted her condition.

After all, a romance-addled brain was like this. As a late-stage patient, there was nothing she could do about it.

Paying without complaint or regret like this—she’d gotten used to it, made peace with it, and could even comfort herself that Shen Yuqing wasn’t bad to her specifically; he was bad to everyone. That was, until half a year ago when he took in a female disciple—

This female disciple was named Mu Jinyue. She was born adorably cute and likeable. From the first meeting, Jiang Zhaoxue’s alarm bells rang loudly. But Shen Yuqing told her that this young girl was his eldest martial brother’s daughter. Now that he’d entrusted her to him on his deathbed, he couldn’t ignore her. He was currently taking her as a disciple and told Jiang Zhaoxue not to overthink it.

But Jiang Zhaoxue always felt something was wrong, so she kept causing trouble for Mu Jinyue. The more trouble she caused, the more tightly Shen Yuqing protected the girl. Finally, he directly let Mu Jinyue move into Luo Xia Feng where he lived.

For a hundred years, Shen Yuqing had been a loner. Not even Jiang Zhaoxue, his wife, had lived on Luo Xia Feng. Letting Mu Jinyue live there made Jiang Zhaoxue even more unwilling.

She could accept Shen Yuqing treating her poorly, but she couldn’t accept Shen Yuqing treating other people well!

So yesterday, she found an opportunity, intercepted this female disciple, and gave her a good scolding in private.

Because of this matter, Shen Yuqing had even come to argue with her earlier. She’d cried all night in anger, but hadn’t taken it too seriously. She originally thought it was just like before—she got jealous, he scolded her, and that was that. She never expected that just moments ago, she would have a dream.

She dreamed that she “experientially” watched a book.

The protagonist of this story was a young man named Pei Zichen.

He was originally the first disciple of Lingjian Immortal Pavilion’s Pavilion Master Shangyang Zhenren—a heaven’s favored son, the sect’s pristine jade.

At seventeen, he formed his Golden Core, full of vigor and spirit. But because he fell in love with his junior martial sister Mu Jinyue, his master became jealous of his deep love for the junior sister. When his master discovered fellow disciples had falsely accused him of colluding with demonic cultivators and opening the Nine Nether Realm barrier, out of selfish motives, the master completely destroyed his root bones and threw him off a cliff.

After that, he leveled up and cultivated all the way, becoming the master of the Nine Nether Realm. Then he brought people back to the immortal mountain to kill his master, destroy the mountain gate, reclaim his junior martial sister, and eliminate everyone who had humiliated him.

During this process, his master’s wife repeatedly tried to kill him to help her dao companion. As a result, she was killed by him, thus offending Penglai Immortal Island. In the end, it turned into a “gourd kids saving grandpa” situation, leading to the complete downfall of his master’s wife’s entire sect.

And in the process of seizing the Nine Nether Realm, trampling Zhongzhou, and destroying Penglai, he leveled up step by step, finally becoming the master of the three realms, marrying his junior martial sister, and ascending to godhood.

Jiang Zhaoxue was this cannon fodder master’s wife.

What she did in the story was very simple. To summarize, she was a gift package dispenser.

First, she dispensed gift packages to Shen Yuqing—saving him from danger, forming the Sympathetic Heart Contract with him, accompanying him to become the Pavilion Master of Lingjian Immortal Pavilion and Zhongzhou’s foremost sword cultivator.

After that, she dispensed gift packages to the female lead Mu Jinyue. She was jealous of her, provoked her, and then somehow Mu Jinyue was poisoned with Ling Mi San, a poison unique to Penglai that scattered spiritual essence and melted spiritual roots. Shen Yuqing, in his fury, dug out her spiritual roots and gave them to Mu Jinyue. Mu Jinyue obtained heaven-grade wood spiritual roots, and combined with her own exceptional comprehension, later became the foremost female immortal.

After that, she began continuously sending gift packages to the male lead Pei Zichen.

The delivery method was rather special. Because Shen Yuqing kept harming Pei Zichen for Mu Jinyue’s sake, in order to please Shen Yuqing, she continuously summoned reinforcements from Penglai Island, sending people to kill Pei Zichen. Then each general sent out either became a spirit pet, or had their cultivation stolen by Pei Zichen, or at worst was robbed until they had nothing but their underwear left before running back.

In the later stages, Pei Zichen relied almost entirely on this method of legitimate self-defense to practically empty all of Penglai, completing his primitive accumulation.

In the end, he even attacked the immortal mountain, snapped her neck, and contributed a wave of satisfaction to the readers.

She didn’t have much plot in the story, but her contribution was enormous. It could be said she was practically the original shareholder of the three protagonists. These three characters relied on feeding off her and her maternal family Penglai Island to become filthy rich.

Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t see the plot after her death. Even for the earlier plot, she could only see the parts that the character “Jiang Zhaoxue” could see. Through outline explanations plus fragmented experiential viewing, she immersively experienced the life of cannon fodder “Jiang Zhaoxue,” then woke up after Pei Zichen “crack” snapped her neck.

After waking, many questions were immediately resolved.

Why did she always do things against her will?

Why was she like someone with split personality—impulsive during the day, emo at night?

Because this was the author’s setting!!

She knew something was off. As a corporate slave, she might fall for someone, but how could she sacrifice herself so boundlessly?

Even corporate slaves have self-respect, okay?

“Alright, Master. There’s no need to dwell on the past—focus on the future.”

A’Nan knew she still couldn’t quite process everything, so she spoke to pull back her attention and explained in detail: “Right now is when everything begins. Mu Jinyue has just been poisoned. Pei Zichen has been sent to Wuyue Forest to find Lingxiao Hua to dispel the poison. Shen Yuqing will come to condemn you very soon. According to the original plot in the book, you will admit your crime, curse Mu Jinyue, and then be locked up by Shen Yuqing with your cultivation sealed in Tianming Hall. Ten days later, when Mu Jinyue’s spiritual roots are completely melted, Shen Yuqing will take your spiritual roots and give them to Mu Jinyue. After Mu Jinyue obtains your heaven-grade wood spiritual roots, she will grow to become the cultivation world’s foremost female immortal, waiting for Pei Zichen’s triumphant return as king.”

“Tianming Hall has a great formation that seals cultivators. Even Tribulation Crossing stage cultivators inside cannot manifest any spiritual power. If he confines you in Tianming Hall, you will have no power to fight back. Once your spiritual roots are taken, your path as a cultivator will be over. So right now is the most critical and easiest time to change your fate. If you miss this opportunity, one wrong step leads to wrong steps everywhere. Master,” A’Nan’s tone was especially solemn, “Shen Yuqing will arrive shortly. Are you prepared?”

As A’Nan spoke, the respectful greetings of servants sounded outside the door, one after another in succession, drawing nearer from afar: “Greetings to the Pavilion Master.”

“May the Pavilion Master be well.”

…

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue turned her head in a daze, instantly becoming nervous.

Wait—he’s coming this fast?! She wasn’t prepared yet!

There was so much information her brain was practically smoking. It was all stuck together, leaving her unable to move.

The maid beside her reacted quite quickly though, saying happily: “Oh, the Lord Consort has arrived!”

As she spoke, the maid raised her hand to arrange Jiang Zhaoxue’s garments, quickly flattering her: “My Lady, I told you the Lord Consort has you in his heart. You see, arguments aside, today when your fire poison is acting up, didn’t the Lord Consort rush over so early? He must be concerned about you!”

“He’s not concerned about you. He’s here to condemn you.” A’Nan feared Jiang Zhaoxue’s romance-addled brain would act up again, so she quickly reminded her: “Master, the world’s restrictions on you have been broken by me. You can make free choices now. Don’t be influenced by your feelings for him. Be rational—he doesn’t love you. He’s here to take your spiritual roots. Quickly think of a solution!”

Just as she finished speaking, the door was smashed open with a “bang.” Everyone including Jiang Zhaoxue looked over at the sound, and saw a young man standing at the entrance.

Black robes with snow patterns, jade crown binding his hair, his brow frosting over snow, so cold he seemed to bring his own winter wind.

Behind him were two rows of disciples, holding their swords upright, each with suppressed anger between their brows, quite imposing.

Seeing this, the maid hastily knelt. The young man strode inward with large steps.

The disciples outside had prepared early. They slammed the door shut with a “bang.” The maid looked up in surprise, but before she could react, the young man had already reached the bedside. His long sword had leaped out, pointed directly between Jiang Zhaoxue’s brows.

“Jiang Zhaoxue, I