In the dark of night, Lin Ji opened his eyes.

From his supine position, he could see a sky full of stars, with a blood-red full moon obscured by dark clouds, hiding half of its face. It had been many years since he had moved his body, and he immediately lifted his arm. A wave of soreness and weakness washed over him, accompanied by a heavy, oppressive feeling in his chest that made it hard to breathe. His throat felt as parched as a fish out of water, and when he coughed, a surge of blood surged up.

This was a body utterly exhausted. Lin Ji sat up and felt around, discovering some minor injuries scattered across his body, nothing too serious. His clothes were torn in several places, revealing patches stained with blood.

Lin Ji focused his energy in his dantian, but not a single trace of spiritual power could gather in his palm. A smirk of sarcasm crept onto his lips.

Suddenly, wisps of spiritual energy gathered from the horizon, resembling the soft green glow emitted by fireflies, as if they had eyes, pausing right in front of Lin Ji.

Lin Ji raised his hand slightly to touch it, and the moment he did, the spiritual light seemed to be triggered, bouncing up and down excitedly: “Hello, the tragic male supporting role of this story!”

Lin Ji: “What did you say?”

Forgive him for having witnessed countless reincarnations in Guixu, he had never heard himself referred to in such a way. The people he had encountered had initially called him the proud son of heaven, a talented young genius, the hope of the sect; later, they referred to him as a demon, the disgrace of cultivators, and an insane executioner.

“Ah, then let me speak to you in the language of your world. Listen well, I am the literary spirit of this book.”

As the saying goes, reading a book a hundred times reveals its meaning. Ink and brush can communicate with spirits. When a certain piece of writing becomes too popular or is inherently excellent, it can give rise to something akin to a book spirit, which is to say, a work of fiction gains a life of its own.

Lin Ji had at least heard of the saying that within a book, there exists a beauty like jade; this concept was not hard for him to grasp.

“Are you saying that the world I exist in is a story created by someone else?”

“To be precise, it’s an online novel, but your phrasing isn’t wrong either.”

Before the literary spirit could finish speaking, Lin Ji suddenly reached out and scooped it into his palm: “So if I kill you, will all of this come to an end?”

Lin Ji recalled how after his death, his soul was trapped in a dark space, unable to disperse on its own. In that darkness, there was nothing, yet every so often, it would light up. Each time it did, countless words would suddenly appear, neatly arranged in the void.

Bored out of his mind, Lin Ji floated over to read those words. To his surprise, after decades of reading, there were still some characters he didn’t recognize, forcing him to guess and decipher them, and those words had to be read horizontally to make sense.

“The title of the story is ‘Little White Cultivator’—at first, everyone thought that clicking in would lead to the author rambling about how to cultivate, but later they found out it wasn’t that profound at all…”

The literary spirit lay comfortably in Lin Ji’s palm, showing no concern for its own safety. If it didn’t want to, Lin Ji wouldn’t be able to touch it at all.

Lin Ji impatiently interrupted, “I know.”

He remembered that when he first floated up out of curiosity to take a look, the first line of text was:
Little White Cultivator.

“…”

So, he really was a character in a story?

The literary spirit easily caught Lin Ji’s thoughts and exclaimed in surprise, “What? You awakened early?!”

The literary spirit quickly slipped out of Lin Ji’s hand, as it couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t be choked to death. Characters who awakened had already broken free from the original world’s constraints; it wasn’t unheard of for powerful ones to shatter the shackles and turn the world created by the main god upside down.

Who was Lin Ji? A ruthless and merciless villain! How could it dare to lie in his palm?

As expected, Lin Ji’s lips curled into a faint smile: “Don’t worry, even if I want to kill you, I’ll let you finish explaining first.”

The literary spirit couldn’t help but shiver.

After Lin Ji’s death, he had no perception of the flow of time, only able to measure it by the number of times the void lit up. Each time it lit up, a dense array of words would appear, serving as his only means to pass the time.

But no matter how good a book was, reading it ten times was enough. Lin Ji thought about it; that void had lit up tens of thousands of times, and by the end, he didn’t even want to count anymore!

No matter how valuable a cultivation text was, reading it a hundred times could bore anyone to death, let alone just a story.

Lin Ji tried to recall the content, but his mind felt muddled: “Why can’t I remember what I saw in the void?”

A wisp of firefly-like light flew in front of his eyes, deliberately keeping its distance: “Once you are resurrected, you must abide by the world’s rules. Once you have fully understood a book, how can it develop further…”

… mainly because it was afraid of his destructive power disrupting the world with his foresight.

“Back to the point, regardless of when you awakened, I must congratulate you on breaking free from the control of the plot. In this life, please step into a brand new life!”

“This opportunity is precious; you earned the top spot on the annual online novel character sigh list.”

Lin Ji thought to himself that he wasn’t a fool, but the literary spirit’s words became increasingly unclear: “What is the sigh list?”

“The sigh list is a ranking of characters in the story that starts with ‘sigh,’ followed by phrases like ‘if only he didn’t… it would be great,’ ‘it’s a pity, I really feel sorry for him,’ and ‘I think he’s a bit pitiful.'”

Lin Ji: “…”

Ridiculous, why would he need others to pity him?

The literary spirit explained that this world was a cultivation story centered around the protagonist Long Aotian. Lin Ji was not the protagonist but rather the villain who constantly added obstacles for Long Aotian, the greatest enemy on the protagonist’s path to cultivation, ultimately meeting a tragic end and becoming a mere experience pack for the protagonist’s growth.

With such a character setup, he had returned to the beginning of the story. The literary spirit stated that he was now free from the plot and could choose the life he wanted to live, or correct some mistakes, make up for regrets, and not repeat the same mistakes.

Lin Ji thought his life had already been amusing enough, only to suddenly realize that what was even more ridiculous was that his life had been arranged by a pen from outside the world.

A second chance? Why not?

“This literary spirit governs countless small worlds like this, so it won’t follow you. As my task subject, if you need anything in the future, you can summon me with spiritual power to the sky. I’ll come back to handle it… so goodbye, take care!”

The literary spirit transformed into countless specks of light and scattered, as if it had never been there, yet Lin Ji’s fate had changed from that moment on.

After a while, Lin Ji came back to his senses and pulled out a round, glimmering pearl from his pocket, emitting a blue light under the moonlight.

The memories of his youth had long since faded, but he would never forget the day the Lin family was destroyed, when a blood moon hung in the sky.

Years ago, the Lin family was just an ordinary wealthy household in the mortal realm. His deceased father was a merchant who loved to travel and do business, collecting all rare and precious items in the world.

It was this North Sea Jiao Pearl that brought disaster to their family.

The North Sea was hard to find, and the Jiao Pearl was even rarer, a treasure so unique that even the emperor couldn’t find it, and it was hidden away by his family, naturally bringing about their downfall.

In the mortal realm, this treasure would be ground into powder and fed to the emperor, hoping for immortality, while in the cultivation world, it was something everyone coveted.

The Jiao Pearl contained the cultivation of the Jiao people, and for cultivators, possessing it could at least boost their cultivation by a hundred years, helping them break through obstacles and greatly increase their realms.

Thus, righteous sects coveted this item, and to take it without being entangled by mortals, they also destroyed his family.

In the final moments, his mother had given him the Jiao Pearl to escape with, saying it was the last item left by his father and must not be taken away.

Ultimately, it was taken from him. Lin Ji still remembered the white-clad immortal who had struck him down to his last breath, sneering lightly: “Ant.”

Lin Ji remembered running for a day and a night before being caught, and now the Jiao Pearl was still in his hands.

Back then, he had held his breath and pretended to be dead to escape a calamity, but as a mere ant, he had no way to take revenge. The immortal flew too high, striking him from the sky, leaving him no chance to see the other party’s face or clothing features.

The immortal was not in the mortal realm; the place where the immortal resided was a secluded area, separated from the mortal world by barriers and shields.

He had desperately joined the immortal sect, searching for nearly half his life, only to finally uncover the person and sect that had destroyed his family back then.

Now, heh.

Lin Ji’s bloodied hand rested on a nearby rock, pushing himself up to stand.

After thinking for a moment, he casually tossed the Jiao Pearl off the mountain.

In his past life, he had indeed done many regrettable things, but some grudges, even if given a hundred chances, he would still seek revenge!

Even if destroying the Lingyun Sect would be one of the biggest pieces of evidence against him when he was judged in his last life.

So in this life, why not come early?

After throwing away the Jiao Pearl, Lin Ji felt much lighter. He had no intention of returning home. After all, the authorities would properly bury the Lin family when they closed the case; there was no use in looking back.

The next morning, as the first light of dawn broke, Lin Ji used the little money he had left to buy a horse in a small town he passed through, hurrying towards Yunzhou.

Among the nine provinces, the Lingyun Sect was located in Yunzhou, and it would later develop into a great immortal sect, though it was not well-known at the moment.

In his previous life, Lin Ji had surveyed various routes to enter the Lingyun Sect, and although there were slight differences now, he smoothly made his way to the mountain gate.

As for the mountain protection barrier, he had absorbed some energy along the way, and the power from the Jiao Pearl was already enough to break the restrictions.

He looked at the stone tablet at the foot of the mountain, a sarcastic smile appearing on his face. It turned out that at this moment, this immortal sect was called the Qi Ling Sect, not the Lingyun Sect, which still had a low-key flavor to it.

Lin Ji stealthily entered and found the disciples and elders of the Qi Ling Mountain gathered in the courtyard, discussing philosophy, enjoying the moon, and drinking tea.

Lin Ji sensed for a moment and discovered that apart from the sect leader, who had some cultivation, the other disciples were mostly just beginning their training, a bunch of Qi Refining Stage practitioners, most of whom couldn’t shake off their gluttonous desires. Their tables were not only filled with tea but also with various dried fruits, pastries, and snacks.

The mountain gate was remote and sparsely populated, yet they seemed to know how to enjoy life.

The sect leader sat at the highest position, stroking his beard as he recounted his travels, while the disciples below listened with admiration.

Seeing that the setup was about right, he took out the Jiao Pearl from his sleeve, reflecting the moonlight with a deep blue glow.

The sect leader looked at the disciples below, whose eyes were practically popping out, suppressing the excitement in his heart. He spun a clichéd story, claiming it was a chance encounter, and with this item in hand, the sect would thrive in the future.

Suddenly, a cold laugh echoed from somewhere, as if it had resonated in everyone’s ears.

“You old fool, how shameless to use my family’s treasure to boast!”

Lin Ji appeared unexpectedly, standing on the eaves without any preparation.

The sect leader jumped up, “Who are you?”

“Are you deaf? I don’t need to explain myself a second time.”

Lin Ji lightly leaped down into the courtyard, slowly approaching in front of everyone.

The sect leader, realizing the situation, was filled with suspicion. He saw the young man before him dressed in luxurious clothing, yet his clothes were riddled with countless tears, blood seeping through here and there.

His hair was disheveled, his face pale and devoid of color, his features swollen and blue, clearly exhausted and at the end of his rope.

He held a mundane sword in his hand, which compared to the spiritual swords of the others, was akin to broken copper and iron.

The sect leader sized up the boy, feeling relieved. He had initially been a bit panicked about how Lin Ji could sneak into the Qi Ling Mountain without anyone noticing. Now, he discovered that Lin Ji actually had some spiritual power, making him a child with decent talent.

However, being in the early Qi Refining Stage, he wouldn’t even need to lift a finger; just releasing his pressure would be enough.

The sect leader thought for a moment and said, “This young friend seems to have some misunderstanding with me. Why don’t we turn hostility into friendship? This spiritual pearl was obtained by me while exorcising demons; it originally belonged to your family… but you didn’t know its use, so keeping it in your family is a waste. I see you have considerable talent; why not join my sect and cultivate together with your senior brothers to experience the wonders of this spiritual pearl?”

Immortals kill mortals as easily as crushing ants, but the cultivation world has always had a Punishment Division to eliminate the scum of cultivators who kill innocents indiscriminately. Coupled with the constraints of the heavenly path and a certain hypocritical self-deception of the parties involved, they couldn’t directly kill.

The Lin family first suffered from bandit raids, then inexplicably fell victim to monsters, leading to their overnight demise.

Once everyone was dead, the white-clad immortal arrived, claiming to exorcise demons, and after taking a stroll, left with a good reputation of having resolved the matter.

The Qi Ling sect leader didn’t believe Lin Ji could know the inside story, so he planned to deceive him while also releasing his pressure.

The next moment, however, he found that everyone had collapsed, with only Lin Ji standing firm.

The fallen ones were not forced down by his pressure; instead, they were all foaming at the mouth, blood streaming from their seven orifices.

Lin Ji shook his sleeve and took out a bundle of paper: “I thought you all were immortals, so it wouldn’t be easy to kill you. I specially prepared a double dose and mixed arsenic with rat poison.”

He had never been a good person; if he could achieve his goals without effort, why not?

The sect leader was shocked, watching as his disciples writhed in pain, and even he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He quickly sealed his acupoints and angrily pointed at Lin Ji: “You’re so young yet so vicious!”

Lin Ji chuckled lightly and replied, “Not as much as you, who pretends to be virtuous while being utterly hypocritical.”

“But you can’t kill me!” Once one reaches the Core Formation stage, they completely detach from the mortal realm; mortal poisons can only cause a bit of stomach trouble.

“So your Qi Refining Stage disciples are truly both unfortunate and fortunate…”

Lin Ji felt that in his last life, when he uncovered the truth and destroyed the Lingyun Sect, the new disciples who had just joined didn’t understand their family’s history and had followed the wrong people; perhaps there was some innocent killing involved.

But the dozens of disciples present, did they really not know how their sect leader obtained the treasure? Even standing at the door as a lookout, they were participants.

“Considering you’re not the mastermind and are as weak as ants, I’ll show some mercy and grant you a quick death.”

Lin Ji raised the sword in his hand, a cold smile on his face, and an endless sense of satisfaction surged within him as blood splattered across the grand hall, his high bun swaying in the wind.

It was said that the blood moon would last for three days; he had deliberately timed it for the last night, bringing them an extra “surprise” at the moment when everyone was the happiest.