Chapter 1 – Nine Thousand Years of Cultivation

Chapter 1: Nine Thousand Years of Cultivation

 

Before entering the world of novels, Gu Ruoqing worked at a kindergarten. He had a cool and reserved personality, rarely spoke, had a handsome appearance, and always wore a white shirt, standing quietly on the side and prefered listening to talking.

 

However, Gu Ruoqing had a problem.

 

Whenever the children in the kindergarten saw him, they would start crying, one by one, the latter always sadder than the one before.

 

Not only that, while crying, the children would run over to him with their little short legs, pleading for him to hold them.

 

He would pick one up, and another would cry even louder. When he comforted the second one, a bunch of others would cry and crawl into his arms.

 

Helpless, Gu Ruoqing had to ask his colleagues why he couldn’t make the children stop crying.

 

The female teacher looked at him, surprised for a moment, then smiled and said, “Mr. Gu, you still don’t know?”

 

“They are just trying to act cute in front of you.”

 

Gu Ruoqing had never understood this logic. Whenever someone cried in front of him, he couldn’t resist being soft-hearted.

 

And at this moment, it was the same.

 

Dressed in white, standing like a refined bamboo, in front of him was a boy wearing the attire of a sect disciple. He was pitifully sobbing, wiping his tears with his sleeve.

 

Yu Yangsheng had an excellent figure, delicate and handsome features. His long eyelashes fluttered like butterflies, making him even more pitiable when he cried.

 

If it weren’t for a few disciples on the ground, whom he had beaten into pig heads, Gu Ruoqing would almost believe that Yu Yangsheng was the most wronged person in the world.

 

Gu Ruoqing sighed.

 

Although he had taught at a kindergarten for a few years before, he had never encountered such a difficult student.

 

Only in front of him would Yu Yangsheng behave like a sweet, wronged kitten, crying pitifully.

 

But Gu Ruoqing could guarantee that as soon as he turned his back, Yu Yangsheng would immediately turn around, grab someone by the collar, and start the second round of fighting, beating them up fiercely like a ferocious young wolf.

 

“Yu Yangsheng, why are you fighting at the sect again?”

 

“Shizun… I didn’t… they started it first…”

 

Nonsense, do you think I’m blind?

 

Yu Yangsheng cried while sneakily raising his eyes to look at him. Gu Ruoqing frowned, his expression seeming a bit displeased.

 

“Yu Yangsheng, return to the Cold Clear Pavilion and… copy some scriptures…”

 

[System: Friendly reminder! The villain’s current corruption level is 20%. Please, dear brother, be cautious about controlling the index~]

 

“Shizun meant to say…Practice… practice with Shizun a few combat moves.”

 

With that, Gu Ruoqing waved his sleeve and left for the Cold Clear Pavilion without looking back.

 

“…”

 

The group of children present were still in disarray in the wind.

 

Practice… a few moves?

 

What moves?

 

What is the Immortal Shizun Gu planning to do?

 

Did he want to punish him by making him copy scriptures or go straight for the kill?

 

The atmosphere instantly became tense, and the children around looked at Yu Yang with sympathy and a hint of schadenfreude in their eyes.

 

On the other hand…

 

Following the motto, “As long as I walk fast enough, shame can’t catch up with me,” Gu Ruoqing briskly made his way back.

 

Finally, he stopped midway, unable to help but find a corner to support his forehead.

 

Oh God, what cringy things did he just say…

 

Transmigrating into an ancient novel is really tough.

 

~

 

Speaking of which, this is actually a cultivation novel called “Nine Thousand Years of Immortal Dao.”

 

Gu Ruoqing’s role in it is the heartless antagonist, the Demon Lord who kills without even blinking.

 

Ancient sages once said that if there’s a good-looking child in a male-focused novel who suffered from bullying in their childhood, that child would inevitably become a blackening-type villain boss in the future.

 

At this point, facing the villain, you have three choices.

 

The first choice is to rescue them from succumbing to evil by building up goodwill.

 

The second choice is to say that it’s not my business and stay out of it.

 

The third choice is to confront the villain, ending the threat once and for all.

 

All three paths seem plausible.

 

Unfortunately, the ancient sages also said that if you happen to be an esteemed Shizun of cultivation, congratulations, your life will be full of poetic legends.

 

Because whether you save them or not, as long as the blackening villain is there, and they will be the first to target you.

 

Gu Ruoqing, the most respected elder of the Qingyun Sect and the number one Immortal Shizun in the cultivation world, had been in the gardening profession for a hundred years, nurturing countless disciples.

 

He had a tall and slender figure, silvery waist-length hair, a cold and distant demeanor, and a look that seemed detached from the mundane world. Furthermore, his spiritual power was as vast as a river and ocean, giving rise to legends of a “heaven-sent immortal.”

 

Among Gu Ruoqing’s disciples, the most famous one was undoubtedly the most ferocious Demon Lord of the demon realm in a millennium, Yu Yang.

 

In the original story, Immortal Shizun Gu was a person deeply versed in Laozi’s true teachings, who practiced the principles in his life.

 

He tried all three options and ended up being tormented to death by the blackened villain he had brought back with his own hands.

 

Here’s how it happened:

 

In Yu Yang’s childhood, Gu Ruoqing chose the first option—rescue. While descending from the mountain one day, he stumbled upon Yu Yang who was close to his deathbed. Unable to stand by, he lent a helping hand, saving the future Demon Lord when he was just a child, bringing him to the Qingyun Sect and taking him as his disciple.

 

This was the first wrong decision he made, failing to eliminate the helpless Yu Yang while he had the chance.

 

As Yu Yang grew into his youth, Gu Ruoqing chose the second option—ignoring him. After taking Yu Yang as his disciple, he frequently secluded himself for unknown reasons, no longer personally engaging in teaching, instead instructing the senior disciples to manage the sect’s affairs and mentor the junior disciples.

 

This was the second wrong decision he made, thinking that brotherhood and camaraderie within the sect would prevent bullying among fellow disciples.

 

Yu Yang, hidden from his sight, roamed free, indulging in mischief.

 

Gu Ruoqing had believed that by saving the child, he had done the right thing. Little did he know that ignorance could be equally bad.

 

Later, during a confrontation, Yu Yang discovered that the monsters they were hunting were, in fact, his own mother. After killing her with his own hands, he learned about his true heritage. This revelation shattered his sanity, awakening his demonic bloodline, and he became the Demon Lord, wreaking havoc on the world.

 

During Yu Yang’s adulthood, Gu Ruoqing chose the third option— to eliminate the threat by killing him. When Yu Yang threatened to kill the male protagonist, Yun Qianqiu, and activated a world-destroying formation, Gu Ruoqing arrived in the nick of time, saving the female protagonist and confronting Yu Yang with a sword.

 

As the sect Shizun and an elder in the cultivation world, Gu Ruoqing was highly skilled, eventually impaling Yu Yang’s heart with a sword.

 

Yu Yang stared at him with resentment in his eyes, as if he wanted to devour him, but in the end, he descended into the abyss of a wailing underworld.

 

This was the third wrong decision that Gu Ruoqing made. It was also the one he regretted most in his life.

 

He had killed the child he had once brought back with his own hands.

 

Though the world hailed him as virtuous and praised his selflessness, Gu Ruoqing only looked at the bloodstains on his sword in silence, wanting to wipe them away but retracting his hand.

 

After that, Gu Ruoqing chose to seclude himself, never appearing in the world again in his lifetime and passing away peacefully, his hair white as snow, his handsome appearance preserved for centuries, and he no longer yearned for the mortal realm.

 

Gu Ruoqing stood at a high point, giving a solemn salute to the people below. He turned around, and his figure disappeared from the sight of everyone for the last time.

 

From then on, there was no Immortal Ruoqing, and the world mourned together.

 

From then on, there was no Yu Yang, and the world was at peace.

 

…

 

You might think it’s all over now, but at the time, everyone thought the same.

 

Little did they know that not even a divine and demonic chasm could keep Yu Yang suppressed underground. Three years later, Yu Yang made a contract with an ancient demon and was resurrected, even more corrupt than before.

 

As soon as he appeared, he forcibly brought Gu Ruoqing out of the cave, then imprisoned him in the demon realm for more than a decade, subjecting him to relentless torment and humiliation.

 

Finally, he had his fill, strangled Gu Ruoqing to death, whipped his corpse, and presented it to the male protagonist, who had become the Heavenly Emperor at that time.

 

The divine and demonic war occurred once again, ending with the demon killing his own Shizun before he met his demise.

 

~

 

The connection between Gu Ruoqing and this frustrating novel lies in his name.

 

Because he shares the same name and surname as the Shizun in the book, out of curiosity, Gu Ruoqing casually opened this extremely popular cultivation web novel one weekend.

 

The story was fine all the way to the end, but after reading the extras, Gu Ruoqing’s face turned cold, and he gave it a terrible review.

 

It was incomplete and heart-wrenching – a bad ending.

 

The main story of “Nine Thousand Years of Immortal Dao” actually ended with Gu Ruoqing killing Yu Yang.

 

The shocking twist that occurred later can be traced back to an online novelist who was compelled to eat because of their book.

 

After “Nine Thousand Years of Immortal Dao” was serialized, its clicks and collections made it skyrocket to the top of the charts. However, when it suddenly concluded, it became the most criticized cultivation novel on various forums.

 

The reason for the criticism was mainly due to one question: Have you ever seen a cultivation novel where, in the final battle, the antagonist boss, who is a minor character as a Shizun, is killed by the protagonist’s Shizun in a completely inexplicable manner?

 

The crucial point is that the author had been building up resentment towards this antagonist boss from the third chapter. By Chapter 1,033, when the male protagonist finally prepared to settle scores with the antagonist boss and deliver justice—

 

“Only to see Elder Gu Ruoqing of the Qingyun Sect descend from the sky. With a flash of his sword, he pierced it into Yu Yang’s chest.

 

Yu Yang stumbled backward, filled with boundless hatred, glared at Gu Ruoqing, but eventually fell into the abyss of the divine and demonic chasm behind him.”

 

In the end, the male protagonist, Yun Qianqiu, only administered a final blow to the antagonist and then ascended, unifying the three realms, bringing the story to a close.

 

On the night of the conclusion, readers across the internet collectively felt betrayed.

 

Hundreds of thousands of words of buildup and vengeance, but when the characters finally died, there were only two paragraphs, each containing just one sentence.

 

Tens of thousands of book fans bombarded the author’s private messages, filled the comments sections, and pinned posts on forums, passionately requesting the author to resurrect the antagonist and have him fight the protagonist for hundreds of rounds before finally meeting his end under the protagonist’s sword.

 

Unable to withstand the pressure of public opinion, the author finally wrote a first extra—fulfilling the readers’ desires for the antagonist to resurrect and taking vengeance on Gu Ruoqing, by tormenting him in the demon realm, strangling him, beheading him, and whipping his corpse.

 

When Yun Qianqiu, who had ascended to become the Emperor of the Immortal Dao, saw his Shizun being tormented to death by the Demon Lord Yu Yang, he was naturally furious. This led to another battle between the immortals and demons, with Yu Yang’s soul finally dispersing. Some readers were finally satisfied at this point.

 

But then someone pointed out that Gu Ruoqing’s fate was too miserable!

 

As an esteemed elder of the Qingyun Sect, a peak figure in the world of cultivation, he was both Yun Qianqiu’s Shizun and the one who raised Yu Yang from a young age. Righteous and powerful, he had every reason to kill the antagonist, but the extra portrayed Yu Yang’s cruelty towards Gu Ruoqing.

 

The discussion continued, with some arguing that Yu Yang, the antagonist, was actually an inspirational character who overcame adversity, and his extreme personality could be understood.

 

Others believed that Gu Ruoqing’s sudden character twist was abrupt, and the author was shifting blame onto him, making Yu Yang more sympathetic, and Gu Ruoqing’s fate should have been different.

 

There were also those who thought the author had dug a big pit with Gu Ruoqing’s character and failed to fill it, and readers demanded that the author resolve the issue. Fanfictions of the novel proliferated.

 

Of course, the straight male readers complained that the male protagonist, Yun Qianqiu, was unfairly treated, and it was unfortunate that such a well-liked male lead had the lowest popularity.

 

Amidst all the debates, some became die-hard fans while others became critics, and opinions on Gu Ruoqing’s ending were divided.

 

But Gu Ruoqing just took off his glasses, put down his phone, rubbed his temples, and prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the kindergarten children’s performance the next day.

 

Although the character with the same name and surname as him in the novel is a revered immortal Shizun, in reality, he is just a preschool teacher.

 

Apart from their coincidental name similarity, the two individuals should have had no connection.

 

However, as the second day arrived, Gu Ruoqing, dressed in white, stood on a high platform, looking at over a thousand cultivation disciples bowing to him in the square.

 

Yet, in his mind, he was still thinking about the PowerPoint presentation for Children’s Day.

 

How did it feel to transmigrate after leaving a scathing negative review?

 

Absolute regret, he absolutely regretted it.

---

T/N: Hey there! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~

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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!

If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield

If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’

How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection

What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love

How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep

 

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