Chapter 1

This lifetime, my father is a villain.

I know that the world I live in now is a novel, and I also know that my entire family is probably made up of villains. The greatest villain among us is my father. From the fragments of memories I can barely recall, he will engage in a fierce battle with the protagonist in the future and become one of the most oppressive bosses. It’s a constant back-and-forth: today you trap me, tomorrow I kill you. The protagonist will level up through the struggles, and the powerful villain will become nothing more than experience points for the protagonist’s growth.

I understand. We are like high-level dungeon bosses; my whole family is the challenging raid that the protagonist must grind through. But the sad part is, I haven’t finished reading that novel. I only know that the protagonist was reborn in the third life and crossed over, so I don’t know who ultimately wins or loses between them.

—If only I had stayed up all night to finish it!

I was created by my father using lotus flowers from the Azure Lotus Pond, mixed with his own bone marrow. He raised me there for three thousand years until I uttered my first cry, shaking the heavens and earth. My father named me "Xiwei."

Perhaps because I was nurtured in the Azure Lotus Pond, my habits resemble those of a lotus flower. My eldest brother says I am as fragile as a lotus, and my father worries that I am easily hurt like one. So he carved out a secret realm for me alone on the Ninefold Divine Mountain.

I sat by the Azure Lotus Pond, playing in the water, and saw my reflection: jet-black hair and obsidian eyes, bearing a seven-part resemblance to the Supreme Heavenly Venerable Taiyan.

My eldest brother says I look most like my father. The Heavenly Venerable is the incarnation of the Dao, his form nearly perfect and even transcending humanity. Because I resemble him so closely, whenever I go out, I cause quite a stir. Once, a follower of my father saw me by the roadside and wept bitterly. I was frightened out of my wits at the time, as the man knelt at my feet, calling out my father’s honored name.

In the end, it was the Phoenix who came to my rescue. The youth sat lazily on a tree, propping his chin on his hand as he looked at me. “Want me to save you?”

I opened my mouth and spat decisively.

The Phoenix is one of my father’s disciples; among my father’s students, only he and I are about the same age. We bickered all the way back home, then I suddenly hesitated and looked back. “Phoenix, haven’t you grown any taller all this time...?”

The growth rate of the demon clan differs from ours. Come to think of it, I’ve seen him in this same state since I was young—as if he never grew up over all these years.

Phoenix: “Say that again?”

I took advantage of his distraction to tiptoe and tap his head, then turned and ran.

“I think I’ll grow taller than you one day!”

...

“Xiwei.”

The Supreme Heavenly Venerable Taiyan called.

I woke from my drowsiness and looked up to see my father watching me. The Heavenly Venerable’s white hair and dark eyes, his lofty hat and broad robes, his hands folded behind his back—his brows carried profound depth, his aura like snow piled deep in the forest, clear and piercing.

“Fa-Father.” I nervously clutched my clothes. Oh no, oh no, I fell asleep again during Father’s lesson...

The Heavenly Venerable took my hand. I was momentarily stunned as he rolled up my sleeve and pressed two fingers to my wrist. The only sound in the air was my heartbeat.

After a long while, he looked up at me. “It’s time for your medicine.”

Because I was nurtured in the Azure Lotus Pond, though my story sounds like a low-budget version of Nezha, I am not nearly as formidable. I do not have three heads or six arms; in fact, I nearly died at birth.

Since I was born, I have been plagued by illness. Even a minor cold could nearly kill me. My constitution is weaker than that of ordinary mortals. If I miss my medicine for a few days, my life might be in danger.

When I was young, my father took me to many renowned doctors, but none could cure my innate “weakness.” Later, he kept me close, giving me a bowl of True Immortal’s blood each month to forcibly condense the “qi” within me, allowing me to live like an ordinary cultivator without collapsing from exhaustion.

The Supreme Heavenly Venerable cut open his wrist, and bright red blood flowed from his pale arm. My gaze was immediately drawn.

At first, I resisted this method, especially since I had to drink my own father’s blood. It sounded utterly perverse!

But my father wouldn’t allow refusal. I had no choice but to hypnotize myself each time: “It’s medicine, it’s medicine.” Grimacing, I took the white jade bowl from him and sneaked a glance at his wrist. The Heavenly Venerable’s True Immortal body contained power in every inch of flesh and blood. Ordinary weapons could not leave a wound on him unless he allowed it.

I felt a gaze as heavy as a mountain fall on me. Under the pressure, I trembled and raised the bowl to my lips, drinking it down in one gulp.

The Heavenly Venerable took back the bowl I set down and gently wiped a trace of blood from my lips. His tone was calm and steady. “Tomorrow, I shall go to Kunlun. All affairs of the Ninefold Mountain will be entrusted to Fuguang.”

Fuguang is my father’s eldest disciple. Although my father has disciples everywhere, he has only five direct disciples in total.

I don’t know what my father is going to handle this time. As a True Immortal and leader of the righteous path, my father is busier than I imagined. In fact, everyone on the Ninefold Mountain is busy—some cultivating, some practicing swordplay. It seems only I have nothing to do.

I feel that not only the Ninefold Mountain but the entire cultivation world is busy. Everyone has something to accomplish, whether to attain Dao and immortality or to strengthen their power. In such an environment, I feel utterly out of place.

Sitting on my Azure Lotus Pond, I recalled the original story’s plot, but after much pondering, I could not figure out how to change my family’s fate.

I wonder how the protagonist is doing now...

This body is indeed frail. After overexerting myself a little, I leaned against the Azure Lotus Pond and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, I found myself looking into a pair of gentle eyes. The young man smiled at me, “Xiwei, what are you doing here all alone?”

I blinked in confusion, then joyfully exclaimed, “Second Brother!”

Having not seen my second brother for a long time, I happily threw myself into his embrace. Jiang Wen caught me, his fingers brushing through my hair. “Xiwei, long time no see.”

My second brother, Jiang Wen, had traveled far and returned home rarely. We held each other a little longer than usual before a strange cough by my side made me break away from his arms and look over.

Jiang Wen smoothed the robe that had lost its warmth and smiled faintly. “Xiwei, this is Mr. Zou. He will be staying temporarily on the Ninefold Mountain.”

I looked at the young man in the wheelchair, his face veiled in white gauze, and I was momentarily at a loss.