Chapter 2: Give Me the Real Questions

Chapter 2 Give Me the Practice Tests

Chi Yu instinctively thought, *That's surprisingly polite.*

But he quickly realized something—he had only been with Ling Hezhou for about five or six days. His cultivation was abysmal; it was only thanks to Ling Hezhou painstakingly breaking down the cultivation method and guiding him hand-in-hand that he managed to locate his *qi* apertures, draw *qi* into his body, and successfully enter the first level of Qi Refinement.

Naturally, they couldn’t travel during this period. And even if they could, as he’d already noted, his cultivation was too low to use most of the flying artifacts on the market. So, they were stuck traveling on foot.

He was a fairly fast walker, but compared to a cultivator flying through the air, he must have seemed like an ant crawling on the ground.

An ant might laboriously crawl for half its life and only make it from one side of a room to the other.

So how could this person only be catching up to them now?

In a flash of insight, Chi Yu understood—Ling Hezhou had been deliberately released by him.

When a cat catches a mouse, it’s often not out of hunger but to satisfy its predatory instincts. Thus, even after catching the mouse, it won’t eat it immediately. Instead, it will toy with it, chase it, delighting in watching the mouse scramble in exhaustion before finally delivering the killing blow.

These thoughts raced through his mind in an instant.

The damp, heavy smell of blood filled Chi Yu’s nostrils, so thick it carried a sickly sweet, rotting scent. He couldn’t help but hold his breath.

After his initial disbelief, Ling Hezhou’s voice trembled with fear and urgency. "...Just give me to him. Don’t provoke him."

Although Ling Hezhou didn't fully understand Chi Yu, he genuinely liked him and didn’t want him to die.

Of course, he was also afraid of dying himself, but he was even more afraid of causing someone else’s death.

Chi Yu said, "No."

Ling Hezhou grew anxious. "No? Do you want to die?"

Their exchange didn’t seem to bother the man. He raised the sword in his hand and gently wiped it with a soft piece of leather. With that light swipe, the crimson glow coating the blade vanished, revealing its true form—a sword shaped like a human spine.

Ignoring Ling Hezhou, Chi Yu spoke to the man calmly and naturally. "I can’t give him to you. I promised to take him home."

"Chi Yu!" Ling Hezhou was genuinely moved. Even in his spirit state, he couldn’t hold back tears. If it were his martial brothers, it would be one thing, but they had only known each other for a few days.

If they managed to escape this alive, he would treat Chi Yu like a real brother!

Chi Yu had no idea how complex Ling Hezhou’s emotions were. All he knew was that if this man was truly as he suspected, handing Ling Hezhou over would mean certain death for himself.

Although he had never met someone like this, he could still grasp their nature.

Sure enough, after he spoke, the man paused for a moment before letting out a low, light laugh. He had an exceptionally pleasant voice, captivating like a mountain stream. "I can let you have him. In exchange, leave one of your hands behind."

His bright, cheerful voice delivered a brutal offer.

Without another word, Chi Yu turned and took off running.

"It’s over, it’s over! You’re going to die!" Ling Hezhou shrieked in his ear.

Most of the time, Ling Hezhou was fairly composed. After all, he was a cultivator, and his mental fortitude was stronger than most. But facing the man who had killed him and his martial brothers, he reverted to a primal state, like a helpless mortal confronting a predator.

"Quiet!" Chi Yu yelled, taking a sharp breath before lowering his voice to speak to Ling Hezhou. "We won't die today. Relax."

Ling Hezhou forced himself to calm down. "Why?"

Chi Yu didn’t answer. Why else? A fed predator playing a little game of chase was perfectly normal!

Trying to understand this man with human logic would make his head spin, but viewing him through the lens of an animal’s instincts made everything clear.

Of course, Chi Yu wasn’t overconfident. As he ran, he brought up his system panel—yes, that’s right, as a transmigrator, he also had a system!!

But his system was completely useless, offering only support and guide functions. The guiding tasks were one thing, but the auxiliary functions were actually a camera, map, compass, photo album, and QQ Music.

Seriously, anyone who knew would think he was here on a mission, but with these useless functions, it looked like he was just here for a vacation. The camera even had a beauty filter!

Damn it!

When Chi Yu first arrived in this world and discovered how useless his system was, he furiously smashed the panel. The panel actually fuzzed out into static, as if short-circuiting, and then spat out a new function called "Rejuvenation."

How hilarious. The system he got after transmigrating only dropped functions after being physically assaulted.

*Just admit it, which spy agency sent you?*.jpg

Without hesitation, Chi Yu gave the system another round of hard whacking.

*Do something, system!!*

*It was your fault for dropping my helpless self into this perilous cultivation world in the first place!*

Ling Hezhou stared in astonishment as Chi Yu seemed to be swinging at nothing. "What are you doing?"

Panting, Chi Yu replied, "None of your business. Butt out."

Ling Hezhou: "..."

He didn’t dare say more, since Chi Yu was the one trying to save him.

Even though Chi Yu was weak and his actions were as futile as an ant’s desperate scramble, Ling Hezhou always felt that Chi Yu had a certain convincing, calming presence about him.

He felt weirdly reassured by Chi Yu’s casual words, even as he felt ashamed of that very comfort.

After another round of pounding, Chi Yu managed to make the panel glitch again. It fuzzed out into static for a few seconds before grudgingly updating the map, showing the location of his target, Xie Xiyi, a month ahead of schedule. It even thoughtfully marked the distance—only about five hundred meters away.

Chi Yu: "..."

He paused slightly and glanced back. About five hundred meters away, the man in black stood with his arms crossed. He was incredibly tall and imposing, his presence overwhelmingly oppressive. Even from hundreds of meters away, Chi Yu felt as if the thick, cloying scent of blood still filled his nostrils.

Chi Yu’s brain short-circuited—

*Wait, this is the villain?*

*This is Xie Xiyi?*

*Huh??*

Chi Yu found it unbelievable because Xie Xiyi wasn’t like this.

The book he transmigrated into was called "Divine Path." In the book, Xie Xiyi was a prodigy of the immortal sects, his beauty as precious as a pearl, his brilliance as radiant as the moon. The moment he appeared, he outshone all the other immortals in the hall.

Not only did he possess peerless looks even in the cultivation world, but his cultivation also lived up to his reputation as a prodigy. He reached the Golden Core stage at eighteen. While he was shining brightly in the immortal sects, the male lead, Long Aotian, was still a lowly disciple, only able to gaze up at Xie Xiyi from among the crowd.

For a long time, Xie Xiyi appeared as a reliable senior brother figure. Even Long Aotian admired him and became his close friend.

But no one expected Xie Xiyi to be the great villain, scheming to destroy the nine continents and plotting against many prodigies. In the end, it was the male lead who exposed his conspiracy and righteously sacrificed Xie Xiyi to a divine artifact.

Unlike other systems, his system had absolutely no intelligence. There was a complaint channel in the backend, and he wrote over a dozen complaints every day, but none received any response. Crying out to heaven and earth brought no answer—physically assaulting the system was more effective.

The system lacked intelligence and couldn't inform Chi Yu about the current situation, leaving him completely in the dark about who Xie Xiyi had become.

He readily agreed to Ling Hezhou's request to take him back to Tianyan Sect largely because Xie Xiyi's immortal sect was also located in Wangxian Zhou. According to the original timeline, Long Aotian hadn't even entered the sect yet at this point. Once he joined, there was a high probability Chi Yu could successfully complete his mission.

His transmigration mission was to kill Xie Xiyi, the main antagonist of the book. There was a shortcut to killing Xie Xiyi: by becoming the person Xie Xiyi trusted most, Chi Yu could establish a connection and steal Xie Xiyi's luck. As long as Xie Xiyi's luck dropped lower than his own, he would be able to kill him.

The system provided a winning strategy with a high probability of success: becoming Xie Xiyi's closest friend, subordinate, or lover. After analyzing it, Chi Yu actually agreed—after all, the image Xie Xiyi projected to the outside world was that of a reliable and trustworthy senior brother.

However, the lover route was out of the question. He was straight, and workplace romances were inadvisable.

Moreover, he had one advantage: Xie Xiyi didn't know that Chi Yu was already aware that he was the villain.

*Advantage is mine.jpg* [internet meme reference]

This advantage meant that whichever path he chose would go relatively smoothly… at least without major obstacles.

But now he was being told that the antagonist had dropped the act and started killing outright. Was that reasonable?

It was like having a flawless walkthrough ready for a flawless victory, only to be told: "Sorry, dear, this version isn't supported."

*Then at least update the version!*

*Where the hell have you brought me?!*

Chi Yu's emotions churned, but he quickly calmed down, put away the panel, and continued fleeing.

Xie Xiyi didn't come after him.

But Chi Yu knew Xie Xiyi would eventually come for him.

Perhaps in Xie Xiyi's mind, he would be trembling with fear and anxiety, but sorry—Chi Yu's life motto was:

*Optimists distort the world; pessimists are distorted by the world.*

Chi Yu wouldn't be defeated by something like this.

He found a secluded valley with a narrow entrance—a steep, narrow crack perfect for hiding.

Ling Hezhou said dejectedly, "Hiding here is useless."

Chi Yu replied, "How could it be useless? It's very useful."

Ling Hezhou thought Chi Yu was naive. "Do you know how powerful a Golden Core Stage cultivator is? A Golden Core Stage cultivator could level this valley. You'd die without a proper burial."

Chi Yu laughed. "What are you talking about? How could I die without a proper burial? This place looks like a prime *feng shui* spot. If I die here, I'll surely bring blessings to my descendants."

Ling Hezhou: "…How old are you?"

Chi Yu said, "18… uh, 17?"

Chi Yu had used the system's "Rejuvenation" function. He initially thought it was a healing skill, but using it came at a cost.

He tested it on a rabbit with a lame leg. The rabbit became lively again, but his age on the panel jumped from 18 to 17.

"…" This damn function actually took years off!

Taking years off was one thing, but he also shrunk by about four or five centimeters.

As an eternal optimist who didn't let things bother him, Chi Yu only cared about one thing: his height!

He had worked hard to reach 180 cm, but this experiment knocked him back to around 175 cm.

At least he hadn't forgotten his high school material; otherwise, he'd have to start studying all over again.

Ling Hezhou had no idea what Chi Yu was thinking and wasn't surprised by his answer. He guessed Chi Yu was around that age—very young but too old for cultivation, as his *qi* apertures were nearly closed.

In the cultivation world, children with spirit roots usually started cultivation at age six, when their *qi* apertures had just formed, allowing for faster progress. Chi Yu was already 16, and his *qi* apertures were beginning to close, naturally slowing his cultivation speed due to physical limitations.

This was also why rogue cultivators had it tough. Once they missed the window between *qi* aperture formation and closure, even with an excellent spirit root, it was hard to be accepted into a sect.

But since Chi Yu had already rejected his suggestion, Ling Hezhou didn't dare bring it up again. Just as he was about to respond to Chi Yu, he saw Chi Yu once again shaking his fists at the air, muttering, "Give me the practice tests! I need to review! Don't you understand I'm a high school senior?! A senior!"

Ling Hezhou: "…"

Author's Note:

Xie Xiyi: I'll let you get a head start for a few days before coming to kill you.

Chi Yu: *Punching the system.jpg*

P.S. For plot reasons, the *gong* will kill the *shou* [gong = top, shou = bottom in danmei relationships]. It's unavoidable. Other than that, I don't think there's any angst (fingers crossed). It's still a sweet story! Chi Yu only takes the good, none of the grief!

Oh, and there might be a slight element of coercion, but it's not extreme—no imprisonment scenarios. (*Just a heads-up.jpg*)