Shen Xuan had died once.
Of course, it wasn’t in this life. In simple terms, it had happened in his previous life.
The two of them had met when they were both truly sixteen. They were classmates. Although Shen Xuan had officially become a disciple of Taiyi Academy a year earlier than Lu Junheng, the academy had no fixed grade levels. All disciples worked toward the same goal—graduation—so the two of them still trained and studied together.
Shen Xuan’s first impression of Lu Junheng was actually rather ordinary.
After all, sixteen-year-old Shen Xuan was still innocent, kind, and lacking in aggression. Calling someone “rather ordinary” was already the harshest negative judgment he could make.
If the older Shen Xuan from his previous life were asked to evaluate Lu Junheng, he would probably just smile and suggest that this troublesome bastard hurry up and die.
At sixteen, Shen Xuan was the textbook example of “someone else’s child.”
He possessed exceptional talent, worked harder than anyone else, and had a gentle personality. He listened to his elders and obediently followed the path they had arranged for him. He helped his teachers with whatever they needed and always walked the proper path, with practically no chance of ever going astray.
Sixteen-year-old Lu Junheng, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Shen Xuan.
Not in terms of talent, of course.
He had somehow appeared on the academy’s new student enrollment list despite being wanted by the Second Divine Hall. Yet he had never taken his studies seriously.
He disappeared during every group activity, somehow managed to leave his name on every minor rule violation, and then, during assessments, would scrape by with exactly the minimum score required to pass.
No one knew where or when he would appear.
No one knew what path he intended to take.
As a result, the two of them rarely crossed paths.
The only real connection between them was that Shen Xuan was often responsible for sending Lu Junheng to the confinement room whenever he violated the academy’s rules.
Whenever Shen Xuan locked the door behind him, he would sometimes wonder:
Where does someone who looks like he’s constantly half-asleep get all that energy to break the rules?
To Shen Xuan, Lu Junheng was a troublesome classmate.
Or perhaps more accurately—
A cultivator of the Heartless Dao who was completely different from the stereotypical Heartless Dao cultivator everyone knew.
But regardless, the two of them should have remained nothing more than passing strangers in each other’s lives.
At that time, Shen Xuan was the eldest son of the Taiyi Shen family and the unquestioned successor of Taiyi Academy.
His talent was beginning to shine, his future looked incredibly promising, and his mental state was perfectly stable.
His life was practically a smooth road laid out before him.
He was at the height of his success.
He had countless plans for his future. If not for Lu Junheng, those plans would have been carried out one by one over the following centuries without any surprises.
If not for Lu Junheng.
When Shen Xuan was seventeen, an elder surnamed Yu from the academy took advantage of the New Year holiday and brought his son to visit the Shen family.
After some casual conversation, the elders inevitably turned their attention to the younger generation.
The elder, who had known and worked with Shen Xuan’s father for many years, joked,
“A few days ago, the Chen family sent someone to propose a marriage for Le’er. My dao companion and I originally thought that the two families were well matched and that it wouldn’t be a bad arrangement if things worked out.”
“But the moment Le’er heard why they had come, he rejected them outright.”
“The Chen family’s child is young, talented, and a good person. Yet Le’er refuses even to meet him. Looks like we’ll have plenty to worry about when it comes to his marriage.”
His gaze suddenly landed on Shen Xuan.
As if it were merely an afterthought, he added,
“Speaking of which… our Xuan’er is seventeen this year too, isn’t he? I remember the two children are only two years apart. They grew up playing together, and now they’ve both reached the age where we parents have to start worrying about their lifelong affairs.”
Yu Le was Shen Xuan’s senior fellow disciple.
He was also the only direct disciple of Shen Chenghe, Shen Xuan’s father and the current master of Taiyi Academy.
The two boys had grown up together.
Shen Chenghe took a sip of tea before giving an answer that was clearly favorable, yet still left room for choice.
“Le’er is my only direct disciple. I’ve always regarded him as one of my own.”
The elegant young man standing beside his father looked at Shen Xuan with his usual gentleness.
But after hearing the two elders’ words, his face quietly turned red and he looked away.
The meaning behind the elders’ conversation was obvious.
Shen Xuan could barely remember what he had felt at the time.
Seventeen-year-old Shen Xuan rarely had strong emotions of his own. He had even fewer thoughts that deviated from the arrangements made for him.
Besides, marrying the senior brother he had grown up with fit perfectly into his plans.
It was suitable.
It was stable.
It was exactly the kind of life he was supposed to have.
He had no reason to refuse.
So after thinking about it for several days, he nodded.
And then—
Lu Junheng entered the life that Shen Xuan had always believed would go according to plan.
That February, the Jade Azure Secret Realm opened.
The secret realm had originally belonged to the Second Divine Hall. It had existed for several hundred years, and most of its valuable resources had already been exhausted through years of exploration. Only some spiritual herbs and demon beasts remained.
The Second Divine Hall therefore transferred it to Taiyi Academy as a training ground for its younger disciples.
Lu Junheng, who normally hated participating in group activities, mysteriously signed up.
Then, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, he appeared among the expedition team with his usual lazy expression.
At first, Shen Xuan didn’t pay much attention to him.
After all, he was Lu Junheng.
Wherever Lu Junheng appeared, it somehow seemed reasonable.
And appearing in an ordinary training expedition wasn’t exactly strange.
Once the group entered the secret realm, they were scattered across different areas.
Shen Xuan had terrible luck.
Right at the beginning, he encountered two high-level demon beasts and was injured.
Lu Junheng happened to pass by.
He hesitated between standing by and ignoring him.
For some reason, a rare bit of conscience suddenly emerged.
He casually did a good deed and handed Shen Xuan a bottle of medicine specifically suited to his injuries.
Whenever Shen Xuan remembered this incident, he felt that he should never have accepted Lu Junheng’s medicine.
Their entire lives had been ruined by that bastard’s conscience—
A conscience that should never have existed in the first place.
Afterward, the two naturally traveled together for a while.
Even then, everything was still within the bounds of normality.
Their paths were different, and neither of them particularly enjoyed traveling with others during training.
Unless something unexpected happened, they would eventually separate at the next suitable fork in the road.
After their brief journey together, they would return to being passing strangers.
Their encounter would have no effect on either of their lives.
At most, their impressions of each other would improve slightly.
Until they discovered a hidden cave that had never appeared on the secret realm’s map.
The cave was hidden inside a dense forest.
Dead branches and fallen leaves had accumulated around its entrance, mixed with the decaying remains of small animals.
Thick, dark-green vines had grown from the rotting remains, winding densely around the dead and living trees nearby and completely covering the entrance.
But no matter how well hidden it was…
After the secret realm had been open for so many years, it absolutely shouldn’t have been possible for a cave like this to remain undiscovered.
There was no doubt about it.
This cave should not have existed here.
It led somewhere unknown.
Lu Junheng summoned a flame and burned away part of the obstruction at the entrance.
Then he asked Shen Xuan,
“I’m going in to take a look. Are you coming?”
Later, Shen Xuan would think about this moment countless times.
He should have said no.
He should have kicked Lu Junheng into the cave and walked away from this cursed secret realm.
Unfortunately, seventeen-year-old Shen Xuan didn’t have the ability to predict the future.
Driven by the curiosity common to young people, he nodded.
“I’m going.”
And so the two entered together.
Lush vegetation and enormous vines filled every corner of the cave.
They were so tall and oppressive that they made the cavern feel suffocating.
The wood-element spiritual energy inside was incredibly dense, filling their noses, mouths, and every inch of their skin.
It almost felt impossible to breathe.
The two walked one behind the other for a long time.
Eventually, they reached the deepest part of the cave, where the vegetation finally came to an end.
Even after all these years, Shen Xuan still remembered what he saw.
There was a gigantic tree.
At the center of its trunk floated a magical artifact glowing with a soft green light.
It looked like a green heart that was still beating.
Beautiful.
Almost eerily so.
Shen Xuan immediately recognized it from certain ancient records.
The Thousand-Spirit Silk.
An artifact that was… difficult to say whether it was a blessing or a curse.
Before the theory that these weapons were “cursed” became widespread, people had called the five immensely powerful weapons Divine Artifacts.
The five Divine Artifacts were undoubtedly connected to the five Divine Pillars representing the five elements of the cultivation world.
According to ancient legends, these weapons had been the personal artifacts of the five gods who created the Divine Pillars.
Thus, when the Divine Artifacts first appeared, they were wildly coveted throughout the cultivation world.
Their appearance had even caused bloodshed and chaos.
Until people discovered something terrifying.
Every single wielder of a Divine Artifact eventually met a tragic end for one reason or another.
Even today, many people still believed it was merely a coincidence—or that the wielders had been too weak and had suffered backlash from the artifacts.
But the cultivation world’s attitude toward Divine Artifacts was now far more complicated than it had been in the beginning.
The last time a Divine Artifact had appeared was more than a thousand years ago.
Shen Xuan instinctively grabbed Lu Junheng, who was about to step forward.
“Do you know what that is?”
“I know.”
Lu Junheng thought for a moment before giving a vague answer.
“Maybe that’s exactly what I came here for.”
He looked at Shen Xuan.
“Do you want it?”
“Although I have a feeling it’s more suited to me, if you want it, we can compete fairly.”
Shen Xuan didn’t continue the discussion.
He simply shook his head.
“No. I don’t use magical artifacts.”
Whether he used one or not wasn’t the most important issue.
More importantly, his personality made it impossible for him to accept something whose consequences were so unpredictable.
Their relationship only went this far.
Since Lu Junheng understood the dangers involved, Shen Xuan had no intention of investigating whatever fate awaited him.
Lu Junheng amicably patted him on the shoulder.
“Thanks. After we get out, you can pick whatever spoils you want from my share.”
Shen Xuan nodded indifferently.
After they got out… their connection would probably end here.
But the instant Lu Junheng’s fingers were about to touch the artifact—
Another hidden force within the cave suddenly enveloped them both.
Shen Xuan felt a sharp pain in his chest.
When he recovered, he suddenly sensed a strange connection between himself and Lu Junheng, who stood across the cave.
The two stared at each other, their minds completely blank.
A red thread representing fate and marriage briefly appeared, connecting their fingertips.
Then it silently disappeared.
Everyone knew that a dao-companion contract could only be formed with the consent of both parties.
Even a three-year-old child knew that.
But—
Neither of them had agreed.
Shen Xuan couldn’t remember how long the two of them stood there in stunned silence.
When faced with a sudden catastrophe, it was difficult for anyone to think clearly.
Finally, Shen Xuan’s trembling hand instinctively closed around the hilt of his sword, as though he could draw some strength from the familiar weapon.
He forced himself to remain calm.
“Did you feel that?”
“What was that?”
Lu Junheng lowered his head and stared at his fingertip.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“…A marriage contract.”
He looked up.
“Between you and me.”
Neither of them spoke again.
They desperately tried to undo the contract that had been imposed upon them against their will.
They searched every corner of the cave, turning it upside down.
But until the secret realm’s time limit ended and they were forcibly expelled—
They found nothing.
After that day, Lu Junheng abandoned the Heartless Dao.
And Shen Xuan destroyed his marriage plans—
Or perhaps more accurately, he destroyed the life he had spent his entire existence carefully following, a life that had never once strayed outside the path he had planned for himself.