System Xiao Jiu, whose fate was held firmly by the back of its neck, flailed its short little legs, looking utterly pitiful. “Let me down already! You big meanie, I have not even finished talking!”
He Heyum grabbed the soft, fluffy little ball and kneaded it a few times before reluctantly letting go.
He looked down at the little creature from on high. “What else have you not finished saying? Spit it out.”
Tears shimmered in Xiao Jiu’s big, round eyes. “The original character’s ending really is like that, but you can change the trajectory of the plot.”
“Change the trajectory of the plot?” He Heyum raised an eyebrow. “You mean I do not have to follow the original book’s plot, and I can decide my own destiny?”
Xiao Jiu nodded. “You only need to complete a task in the novel world of Supreme Demon Emperor, and once the dust settles, we can send you back to the real world.”
Could such a good thing exist? This did not match the transmigration novels he used to read.
“What task?” He Heyum felt a bit tempted.
System Xiao Jiu’s expression turned serious. “Do you remember the ending of the original novel?”
Of course He Heyum remembered. The ending was so sloppy that countless readers instantly rage-quit with anger.
The original book’s ending was a whole chapter long, but it only consisted of a few sentences:
Chi Yuan became the new Demon Lord. Wherever the iron hooves of the demon race reached, heaven and earth changed color, and the sun and moon lost their light.
He unified the Cangming Continent, becoming the supreme powerhouse standing at the very peak. [The End]
And that was it. There was not even an extra side story.
Xiao Jiu sighed. “Even though the author stopped writing after that, the novel world is still running.”
“Chi Yuan found ruling the Three Realms both busy and boring, so he simply decided to destroy the world and shatter the void to leave.”
He Heyum thought to himself that as expected of a powerhouse standing at the very peak, he was truly as willful as that.
He Heyum asked, “So what on earth is my task?”
“Your task is to make Chi Yuan feel the beauty of the world under the premise that the plot does not collapse, and persuade him to give up destroying the world at the end.”
Alright, alright. In short, it was asking him to go save the world.
Xiao Jiu’s eyes shone brightly as it flapped its fluffy wings and flew right up to him, cupping its face with its hands. “How is it? Isn’t it pretty simple?”
“This is the simplest task among all the hosts I have ever guided! You just need to raise the protagonist cub into a righteous, upright, and positive good baby!”
He Heyum replied, “Hearing you put it like that, it does sound pretty simple.”
Seeing that he did not refuse, Xiao Jiu happily spun around in circles. “That is fantastic! I will transmit you right now!”
In an instant, the pure white surroundings began to twist and distort.
He Heyum was pulled and dragged by an invisible force, and after a burst of dizziness, the scenery before his eyes gradually cleared up.
System Xiao Jiu’s voice resounded in his sea of consciousness. “Hold on, Host, let me sort out the novel’s timeline.”
It cleared its throat. “You have not met Chi Yuan yet. There are still two months until you cross paths with him.”
“Remember to bring the protagonist Chi Yuan back before the Lingxiao Sect’s recruitment grand competition.”
The moment He Heyum opened his eyes, he found himself seated high up in the grand main hall.
The architecture before him was incomparably magnificent. Clouds and mist billowed in front of the hall like a fairyland, with emerald tiles and vermilion ridges gleaming brilliantly in the sun.
As expected of the Lingxiao Sect, the number one sect in the Cangming Continent.
Then he looked down and saw several young children standing neatly and orderly in the hall, looking exceptionally cute and well-behaved.
He Heyum asked in confusion, “What is going on here?”
System Xiao Jiu’s expression was exceptionally sincere. “Do you know what connected people through guanxi are?”
He Heyum was stunned upon hearing this, and after looking closer at the children in the hall, he realized they were all dressed in brocade robes. Even the tassels on their waist pendants contained rich, mellow spiritual energy, making them far from ordinary items.
“Wait, the Lingxiao Sect recruitment competition has not even started yet. Are you saying they are all connections with a backdoor pass? They can apprentice early?” He Heyum was somewhat shocked.
Although He Heyum was a wealthy second-generation heir, his parents had never let him take any shortcuts.
Both elders were typical self-made pragmatists, the kind who firmly resisted nepotism.
System Xiao Jiu’s expression was rather subtle. “There are second-generation heirs in every world.”
“These are all heirs selected from major immortal cultivation families, destined to become the personal disciples of sect elders.”
“But you do not need to worry. The original character He Heyum actually had no intention of taking on disciples before meeting Chi Yuan.”
“So you just need to follow the persona.”
He Heyum breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
To be honest, he had never raised a cub before, and seeing such milky little tots still made him feel a bit out of his depth.
During the time He Heyum and system Xiao Jiu were exchanging information, the grand hall was almost dead silent.
The people inside were filled with both reverence and fear.
From their perspective, He Heyum had remained completely silent from beginning to end, and no one could guess what he was thinking.
This Immortal Venerable was only a single step away from ascension, and his entire body radiated an overwhelming aura of spiritual energy that could take their lives with a mere flick of his finger.
He was a figure who usually came and went like a dragon, rarely seen by mortals, so why had he suddenly appeared today?
Legend had it that he had been in seclusion for over a century, and there was not even a portrait of him circulating among the common folk.
However, the rumors about him were quite numerous.
Some said that having lived for so many years, he must be a vigorous old man who never smiled, while others claimed he had locked his appearance in time, making him a handsome immortal with crane-white hair and a youthful face.
Yet apart from He Heyum’s senior martial brother, Jiang Yuhuai, very few people had actually seen his true face.
To explain the whole story thoroughly, it had to start with Immortal Chihua.
Legend had it that a thousand years ago, the Cangming Continent was a barren land devoid of spiritual energy, suffering bitterly from the invasion of demonic entities.
By chance, an immortal endowed with divine powers passed by on a casual journey. Unable to bear watching the living creatures suffer and perish, he wielded immortal arts to drive the demons away to the sparsely populated western region and erected a barrier.
Ever since then, peace had returned to the world, and the realm was tranquil.
The immortal departed with peace of mind, continuing his travels through the Three Realms without concerning himself with worldly affairs.
Mankind worshipped him as the Supreme Ancestor, building grand halls and renovating temples for him while singing praises of his monumental achievements.
This immortal was Immortal Chihua, and his former residence was named Chihua Mountain.
Through the long-term nourishment of spiritual energy, Chihua Mountain transformed into a peerless, spiritually blessed treasure land.
The Lingxiao Sect located on the mountain was the sect founded by the Supreme Ancestor Immortal Chihua, and today it stood alongside the Misty Palace as the pinnacle sect of the Cangming Continent.
As for He Heyum and Jiang Yuhuai, they were precisely Chihua’s direct disciples back in the day.
Due to differences in their personalities, Jiang Yuhuai, who excelled in social organization, eventually took over the sect and became the Sect Master.
He Heyum remained wholly devoted to cultivation, only holding the honorary title of an elder in the Lingxiao Sect.
In the very beginning, only these two individuals propped up the Lingxiao Sect, while all the other current elders were outstanding juniors recruited and nurtured by Jiang Yuhuai after the sect grew prosperous.
Consequently, Jiang Yuhuai and He Heyum were practically treated like founding patriarchs within the sect.