Reflection Cliff, as the name suggests, is a sheer precipice, its towering mountain mass like an inverted longsword suspended from the heavens, snow-covered all year round, and the environment is harsh.
A thin layer of snow covered Ning Yin, who sat huddled in a corner, knees hugged to her chest, enduring the biting cold wind, her gaze fixed in despair on Yan Hanzhou, who lay motionless not far away, discarded on the ground.
If, after transmigrating, she hadn’t become the villainess in a novel, but was just an ordinary cultivator in the Cultivation World, perhaps she would have been full of ambition, ready to start her own Legendary Life from here.
But—
A villain, and a villain who liked the Male Lead and competed with the Female Lead for a man, would never have a good ending.
In the Palace Hall, the best strategy for a villain to survive was to seize the chance to cut ties with her Sect, return to her Nation as a pampered Princess, and from then on never get entangled with the Male and Female Leads again!
Unfortunately, the plan failed.
Now, not only did she have to face the villainess’s tragic fate head-on, but she also had to deal with all the Scapegoat Messes left behind by the villainess.
Judging by the righteous indignation of her fellow disciples in the Palace Hall, it seemed this Scapegoat Mess would not be easy to clean up.
Still, there was no need to be too pessimistic just yet—it wasn’t the most desperate moment.
Looking at her current predicament, as long as the Female Lead awakened her Heavenly Spiritual Root and returned in triumph, Ning Yin’s crisis would be resolved.
After that… she’d cry bitterly, have a sudden epiphany, repent her past, turn over a new leaf, make it her mission to slay demons and monsters, work hard to join the Main Character Group, and thoroughly escape the fate of the villainess?
It was a beautiful fantasy, but reality was far more haphazard.
The Jiu Zhou Continent was a Cultivation World where the strong preyed on the weak.
Small Sects depended on large Sects, great Nations swallowed up smaller ones, Clans formed alliances, and the whole continent was in chaos with humans, immortals, demons, and monsters. Countless powerless commoners perished at the hands of demons and monsters.
Ning Yin’s Original Body had only average Cultivation Talent; after years of cultivation, she had just barely reached Foundation Establishment, a world apart from Shi Yunzhao, who had already attained the Golden Core stage.
Compared to starting her own Legendary Life, what mattered more was surviving in this pitch-black Cultivation World, and living comfortably and peacefully until the end!
She wondered how far the Female Lead’s plotline had progressed—had she awakened her Heavenly Spiritual Root yet, was she already on her way back?
Reflection Cliff was too cold. Ning Yin found herself missing those winter afternoons in college, snuggled under her dorm blanket with no classes to attend.
Rubbing her hands together and breathing on them, she suddenly noticed Yan Hanzhou, covered in snow, seemed to move a little.
Forget it.
Even though he’d blocked her path home, he’d also stood up for her.
Ning Yin went over, turned him over, pushed him a few times but saw no response, so she had no choice but to drag him under the stone eaves for now.
Yan Hanzhou opened his eyes.
A sharp pain stabbed his chest, like being struck by a heavy object, yet also as if burned by fire. Every breath pulled at the wound, tearing pain shooting through him.
It had been many years since he’d felt such real pain.
From being a Waste despised by all, to becoming a peerless powerhouse who shook the Three Realms, he had taken less than a hundred years.
He was born into a Cultivation Family on the Nine Heavens Continent, gifted since childhood, his cultivation smooth and effortless.
Later, his Clan was destroyed, and everyone said he had succumbed to Demonization and slaughtered his own Clan.
Hundreds of cultivators joined forces to capture him, crippled his cultivation at the Judgement Platform, and reduced him to a Waste.
He spent years in a haze, once even contemplating suicide, but by chance, his ruined Spiritual Root miraculously regrew.
The laughable thing was, when his strength returned to its peak, those who had accused him of slaughtering his Clan now claimed he was wrongly accused and wanted to clear his name.
He saw through the world’s falsehoods, personally killed those who had framed him, and spent years wandering alone.
No one in the entire Cultivation World could challenge him.
Just as he was about to ascend through the Heavenly Tribulation and step into the Legendary Realm, disaster struck.
Yan Hanzhou could still remember when the Heavenly Tribulation descended—countless thunderbolts roared like enraged dragons, tearing the sky apart and swallowing him whole in an instant.
Crossing the Heavenly Tribulation was always a life-and-death gamble, defying the Heavenly Law.
What puzzled him was, after being reduced to ashes, why was he reborn in the body of a useless nobody?
He staggered to his feet, looking around at the vast whiteness, the howling wind over sheer cliffs. In the corner, a shivering girl watched him warily.
Clutching his chest, he staggered to one side and sat down to meditate, trying to examine the condition of this body.
But after a long meditation, he found, just as he expected, that there wasn’t a trace of spiritual power in this body.
Worse, the Soul Root was withered, unable to gather spiritual energy. If this wasn’t the result of sabotage, then he truly was a Waste with no Cultivation Talent.
Yan Hanzhou fell silent, accepting and digesting all the information about this world in his mind, but the constant rustling at his ear was impossible to ignore.
He opened his eyes and looked at Ning Yin, who was shivering like a leaf. “Are you very cold?”
Ning Yin’s teeth chattered so hard her words were barely intelligible. She just nodded.
“Close your eyes, focus your mind on your Essence Field, let your spirit follow your breath, circulate the Small Heavenly Cycle, and repeat.”
Ning Yin was baffled by Yan Hanzhou’s instructions.
Sink her breath to the Essence Field? Where was that? How was she supposed to circulate True Qi? And how many days was the Small Heavenly Cycle?
Seeing Ning Yin still looked completely lost, Yan Hanzhou said in a deep voice, “Close your eyes.”
Ning Yin closed her eyes, silently reciting Yan Hanzhou’s words.
Sure enough, a warm current flowed from her lower abdomen throughout her body.
Before long, she felt warm all over, and an indescribable, wonderful sensation arose.
Ning Yin suddenly felt her heart surge, her whole body relaxing.
As someone who had been nearsighted for years, she had never realized the world could be so clear—even the cracks in the cliff dozens of yards away were plainly visible.
So this was the Cultivation World.
She looked excitedly at Yan Hanzhou, noticing the dried blood at the corner of his mouth. “Um… are you all right? Thank you for standing up for me today. How is your injury?”
“No problem.”
He was coughing blood and still said it was nothing?
To Yan Hanzhou, this little injury truly was nothing. Solving their current predicament was the real priority. “What are your plans from here?”
“Plans?”
“Don’t you want to clear your name?”
“Of course I do, so I’m waiting—waiting for Senior Sister to return and explain the truth. Then I’ll naturally be proven innocent.”
“If your Senior Sister doesn’t return, will you just sit here and wait to die?”
“How could that be! Senior Sister will definitely return safely!” Ning Yin said with certainty. “Then I’ll take the opportunity to leave the Sect and return to Cheng Kingdom—”
She suddenly remembered Yan Hanzhou was her fiancé, and that he had stood up for her in the Palace Hall today.
Thinking she couldn’t just leave him here, she asked, “What about you? Are you coming with me, or staying in the Soaring Cloud Sect? I think you’d better come with me. Neither of us are cut out for Immortal Cultivation. Why waste our time here?”
“So you’re not going to pursue the matter of being wronged today?”
Ning Yin paused, muttering, “It’s not so bad, really. After all, nothing much happened to me. In the Cultivation World, being weak is a crime.”
In this world where Golden Core cultivators were everywhere, she, with only Foundation Establishment, couldn’t afford to offend anyone. Who would listen to her?
Yan Hanzhou said in a low voice, “You may not pursue it, but this Immortal Sect doesn’t distinguish between right and wrong, doesn’t judge by evidence, and passes judgment on a whim—”
“What? You want revenge? You can’t even draw your sword…” Her mocking expression faded when she met Yan Hanzhou’s dark gaze.
In the novel, Yan Hanzhou was flashy on the outside but rotten within, his cultivation talent nearly nonexistent.
He was just a character who accompanied the Princess up the mountain to cultivate, arrogant and clueless, and was quickly slain by the Male Lead.
But the Yan Hanzhou before her seemed calm and wise, upright and righteous.
Though powerless, he still had the courage to stand up for others. From inside out, top to bottom, he was completely OOC from the novel.
…
Had this Yan Hanzhou also been replaced, just like her?
A suspicion formed in Ning Yin’s heart. She said firmly, “You’re not Yan Hanzhou.”
Yan Hanzhou countered, “What makes you say that?”
“Yan Hanzhou is my fiancé—we grew up together. I know his temperament better than anyone. You are definitely not Yan Hanzhou.”
Ning Yin stepped closer, her tone harsh: “Speak! Who are you? Are you a demon or a ghost? Why would you use such a vicious evil art to possess Yan Hanzhou’s body? Where is the real Yan Hanzhou?!”
Looking at Ning Yin’s feigned ferocity, Yan Hanzhou raised an eyebrow. “There are only the two of us here. You question me like this—if I really were some demon or ghost, aren’t you afraid I’d kill you right now?”
Ning Yin froze.
That was reckless.
She dropped her hostile tone, adapting to the situation, and grinned. “You… don’t look like a bad person.”
Yan Hanzhou smiled it off. “I won’t hide it from you. You’re right—I’m not Yan Hanzhou. I come from beyond the Jiu Zhou Continent. While cultivating, I died and my soul dispersed, but for some reason, instead of perishing, I possessed Yan Hanzhou’s body.”
Just as she thought!
“You stood up for me today, and I’m not someone who repays kindness with enmity. As for you possessing Yan Hanzhou, let’s just pretend I never knew. Since you don’t want to return to Cheng Kingdom with me, from now on, we’ll stay out of each other’s way. How about it?”
Since neither of them were the originals, there was no need to expose each other.
One less enemy meant one more friend, and more friends meant more paths.
“Fine. Whatever you want.”
Ning Yin had already decided to leave the Sect for Cheng Kingdom once Shi Yunzhao returned. Thinking of her plain but comfortable future, her mood lifted.
“In light of you standing up for me today, I’ll give you a piece of advice: forget what happened today if you can. A true man can bend and stretch—what’s a little humiliation? Why suffer needlessly? Senior Brother Si Heyu is the Sect Leader’s First Disciple, with amazing talent. Senior Sister Shi Yunzhao is the Destined One, unbeatable. In the future, don’t ever go against them, or you’ll come to a bad end.”
“How are you so sure I’ll come to a bad end?”
“Even if you were a big shot before, times have changed. At least I still have Foundation Establishment, but you can’t even draw your sword. What good would it do to oppose those favored by the heavens?”
“Why do you always belittle yourself and boost others?”
Why was this person so ungrateful?
Seeing Yan Hanzhou’s indifferent expression, Ning Yin grew annoyed. “How am I belittling myself and boosting others? They’re the Destined Ones! Do you know what that means? It means they’re favored by the heavens—no matter what dangers they face, they’ll always turn peril into safety. No one can beat them.”
Yan Hanzhou’s eyes were sharp as a blade, and he sneered, “Immortal Cultivation is about defying the heavens. If he truly is the Destined One, favored by the heavens, then he’s the one I’ll kill!”
If the Main Character said this, it would be a bold act of defying fate. Out of a villain’s mouth, it was a death sentence.
Ning Yin quietly scooted away from him. “Let me know in advance when you plan to kill him, so I can keep my distance.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll wait until you return to Cheng Kingdom before I kill them.”
“Why are you always talking about killing people?” Ning Yin sighed.
“Fine, I’ll tell you the truth. This world is actually a novel. Do you know what a novel is? It’s a story. Shi Yunzhao is the Female Lead, Si Heyu is the Male Lead—they’re the protagonists. The whole world revolves around them. Every adventure, every trial is a set plot. You can think of it as the Heavenly Law. They’re favored by the Heavenly Law, and anyone who opposes them will be trampled underfoot. I’m one of those set up to oppose them, but now that I’ve awakened, knowing my fate, I obviously won’t go against them. I’m not tired of living.”
“And you too—you die even earlier than I do.”
“People like us are called villains in the novel. We’re fated to die at the hands of the Male and Female Leads.”
“Fated?” Yan Hanzhou’s eyes glinted with amusement. “So what’s my ending in your novel?”
“You get chopped down by the Male Lead.”
The amusement faded. Yan Hanzhou’s eyes grew stormy. After a long pause, he asked, “Haven’t you thought about changing your fate?”
“Aren’t I changing my fate right now?”
“By running away?”
Ning Yin answered solemnly, “No, I’m lying flat. When you have no solution, lying flat is the best solution.”
Yan Hanzhou pondered for a long time, then summarized, “So you mean, anyone who opposes the protagonists is a villain, and the villain’s fate is always to die at their hands?”
“Exactly!”
“Then you’d better hope they don’t oppose me.”
Ning Yin eyed him warily. “What do you mean by that?”
“What you say is interesting, but I don’t believe it.”
“Don’t doubt me! I’m telling you, there’s a Secret Realm at the bottom of Reflection Cliff. It’s an Ancient Inheritance left by a founder a thousand years ago. The protagonist awakens the Heavenly Spiritual Root there and receives the Ancient Inheritance. All these years, no one in the Soaring Cloud Sect has discovered it. Why? Because it’s meant for the protagonist alone. Only the protagonist can obtain it—that’s the Protagonist Halo!”
Yan Hanzhou gazed at the broken edge of Reflection Cliff, where clouds and mist churned below, bottomless.
Occasionally, the piercing cry of an eagle echoed up, quickly shredded by the howling wind.
He stepped forward, loose stones tumbling down. The mountain wind, laced with bone-chilling cold, cut into his marrow, but he seemed not to notice, only staring intently at the surging sea of mist.
“You’re saying there’s a Secret Realm and Ancient Inheritance at the bottom of this cliff?”
Ning Yin walked to the edge, looking out over the rolling sea of clouds. “Yes. Who would ever expect that such a great opportunity would be hidden at the base of Reflection Cliff in the Soaring Cloud Sect?”
“If you know, why don’t you go seize this great opportunity?”
“Compete with the protagonist for a chance? Am I crazy? That sort of opportunity is meant for the protagonist. Even if you tried, you couldn’t get it. The Ancient Inheritance chooses its master. That’s the Protagonist Halo—if you and the protagonist stand before the Ancient Inheritance, it’ll only choose the protagonist, not you!”
Yan Hanzhou stood at the cliff’s edge in silence for a long time.
“I’ve faced death in Secret Realms, fought my way into demon lairs alone, and tempered myself in blood and battle. The path of cultivation is long and winding. If there really is an Ancient Inheritance beneath this cliff, as you say, then it’s fate that I should not die. If not, then so be it. It’s fate—no one else to blame.”
Ning Yin felt a twinge of unease at his words and quietly backed away, only for Yan Hanzhou to suddenly clamp a hand on her shoulder.
Fear spread across Ning Yin’s face. “Wait! What are you doing? Don’t do anything rash! I was lying! There’s nothing at the bottom of the cliff—”
Yan Hanzhou leapt, dragging her down toward the base of the cliff.
In an instant, the two of them vanished into the swirling sea of mist, leaving only Ning Yin’s terrified voice echoing among the cliffs.
“Hey—don’t mess with the new account!”