Chapter 1: Senior Brothers

Chapter 1: Senior and Junior Brothers

"If we go to that place, we might miss the opening of the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm. The next chance to enter the secret realm won't come for another thirty years."

"Exactly! If we don't enter the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm, how can we pick the Floating Cloud Flower and refine the Foundation Building Pill? Don't you all want to build your foundation?"

"There's still two to four weeks until the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm opens! That's enough time for us to explore this dense forest first. Besides, the Midnight Lotus is even more valuable than the Floating Cloud Flower..."

"How could the Midnight Lotus possibly grow in a valley forest like this? Besides, how do you know there's still two to four weeks before the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm opens? What if it comes early?"

"How could it come early? In the past..."

"What if it does! Our purpose for leaving the sect this time is precisely this Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm and the Floating Cloud Flower. Don't put the cart before the horse!"

As they spoke, the group of disciples began to argue.

"What do you think, Senior Brother?"

The two older disciples frowned and remained silent, looked at the handsome young man sitting in the middle, looking down at a map but seemingly distracted or deep in thought.

The younger disciples who had been arguing also fell silent, looking towards Shang Yunduo in the center.

Shang Yunduo: "...?"

What did he think?

He wanted to sit at home, take out his phone, and scroll through it.

Sigh...

Shang Yunduo suppressed a flood of unspoken words and glanced towards Xiao Chi beside him, saying carefully, "The Midnight Lotus... is a sacred healing herb. I've heard that this time the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm will be extremely dangerous."

Xiao Chi was surprised and asked, confused, "What do you mean, Senior Brother?"

Shang Yunduo: "Nothing in particular."

Xiao Chi stared at his expressionless handsome face, trying to figure out what he meant, and asked, "Senior Brother wants to go to the dense forest valley to look for the Midnight Lotus?"

Before Shang Yunduo could answer, an outer sect disciple with dual water and earth spirit roots had already shouted, "Senior Brother Shang had his soul injured by that bird demon. The Midnight Lotus just happens to heal soul damage. If we miss this spiritual medicine, who knows when we'll come across it again!"

Shang Yunduo nodded.

In reality, his cultivation had plummeted not because of soul damage, but because he had transmigrated without inheriting the original Shang Yunduo's memories or techniques. The sword techniques and spells that "Senior Brother Shang" knew, he couldn't execute at all!

Fortunately, the original "Shang Yunduo" had been seriously injured while on a sect mission earlier; otherwise, he would have been exposed countless times by now.

Seeing Shang Yunduo nod, the outer sect disciple named Yan Jia became even more confident and rattled on, "The Fire Toad that accompanies the Midnight Lotus can remove fire poison and is also very beneficial for cultivating the Fire Spirit Root. Even after Senior Brother Shang reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, he will still find it useful!"

He spoke as if he were entirely considering Shang Yunduo's interests, without mentioning that besides the Fire Toad, the Midnight Lotus also comes with a Cold Toad, which is very beneficial for cultivating the Water Spirit Root.

The others looked as if they had swallowed a fly, but they had to admit that although the Midnight Lotus, Fire Toad, and Cold Toad were not as precious as the Floating Cloud Flower in the Ancient Wilderness ruins, they were more useful to Shang Yunduo.

After all, the Floating Cloud Flower is just a necessary material for refining the Foundation Building Pill. As an inner sect disciple with a single fire Heavenly Spirit Root who was at the Qi Refining Peak stage, Shang Yunduo could diligently cultivate within the inner sect and eventually get a chance to obtain the Foundation Building Pill.

Unlike them, those with Heavenly Spirit Roots have exceptional talent for cultivation, and perhaps only one Foundation Building Pill is needed to successfully build their foundation. Since the Midnight Lotus was more useful to him now, there was no need for him to accompany them into the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm and take unnecessary risks.

Only...

Shang Yunduo was the highest cultivation level among them. Although the landing spots after entering the secret realm varied, and whether one could find the Floating Cloud Flower and escape safely depended mainly on oneself, finding powerful companions was necessary for survival in the secret realm. Alliances formed within the sect were much more reliable than those formed after entering the secret realm.

"What about Senior Brother Xiao? Will he also go with Senior Brother Shang to look for the Midnight Lotus in the dense forest?"

Xiao Chi shook his head, "I'm going into the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm."

The others sighed in relief.

Although Senior Brother Xiao's cultivation was not as high as Senior Brother Shang's, he was also well-known among the outer sect disciples before entering the inner sect, with rich experience in combat with spells and breaking arrays. In the sect, he was always given the toughest missions. Moreover, Senior Brother Xiao had a gentle temperament and valued friendship; if they encountered danger and sought his help, he wouldn't turn them away.

The others' tense expressions relaxed, while the loyal and righteous Xiao Chi looked at Shang Yunduo with a look of guilt.

Senior Brother had his soul injured by that bird demon while saving him, and had been recovering for over half a year without healing. In the first few months, his spiritual power was chaotic and out of control, and even his sword flight was shaky. Now that Senior Brother needed the Midnight Lotus, he couldn't go along to help...

Shang Yunduo felt his scalp tingle under Xiao Chi's gaze, and his feigned calm was on the verge of breaking, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Chi shook his head and said painfully, "Since I entered the sect, Senior Brother has always looked after me, but now I can't help you..."

Shang Yunduo quickly said, "No need! Don't bother! Not necessary!"

He felt a jolt of alarm and wished he could jump away.

Xiao Chi was the protagonist of this book! He was just a cannon fodder. It was enough that he didn't stick to the plot and take a fatal blow for the protagonist; how could he dare trouble the protagonist to run errands for him?

Don't come, please don't come.

Although the protagonist was good, he also meant endless crises and troubles. He, a promising young man who had lived only about twenty years in two lifetimes combined, found transmigrating into a book exciting enough. He really couldn't handle any more stimulation.

Shang Yunduo patted Xiao Chi and said earnestly, "You've already helped me a lot. Just take care of yourself from now on."

Xiao Chi was actually quite a decent person.

When he had read the novel back then, he had quite liked Xiao Chi as the main character. His cultivation and character were impeccable; he was loyal to friends and devoted to the female lead. In the novel, after "Shang Yunduo" died, Xiao Chi never forgot this senior brother who had looked after him and even avenged him later.

As a reader, he quite admired that, feeling a gratifying sense of the protagonist avenging him. Because they shared the same name, the sense of identification was particularly strong.

But as "Shang Yunduo" in the book, his mood was subtle.

That sense of identification wasn't absolutely necessary.

Knowing death lay ahead, he couldn't face it head-on and rise to the challenge!

If he were the real "Shang Yunduo" who had foreseen the crisis, he might have accompanied Xiao Chi into the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm and tried to avoid danger to help him get the Floating Cloud Flower—as he recalled, Xiao Chi had triple spirit roots in gold, fire, and wood, making cultivation very difficult. He had taken more than ten Foundation Building Pills before successfully establishing his foundation—but he wasn't that. He didn't even have one-tenth of the original "Shang Yunduo's" skills. Entering the secret realm, he wouldn't be of help and would become a burden. He might not even survive until he met up with Xiao Chi, let alone reach the point in the book where he took a fatal blow for him.

It was a bitter thought.

Other transmigrators had golden fingers and directly acquired a set of skills. What about him? He had been here for over half a year and hadn't even figured out those cultivation manuals that looked like heavenly scriptures in his predecessor's storage pouch!

His sword flight was unreliable, his cultivation was progressing haltingly, and if it weren't for the fact that when he transmigrated, "Shang Yunduo" had just been injured and hadn't recovered, and that Xiao Chi had done the sect mission for him, and that inner sect disciples had their own small peaks and didn't have to squeeze in with others, he would have been exposed long ago.

Even so, in the first few days of panic, he had almost starved himself to death.

But that wasn't his fault. Who wouldn't be scared half to death when they open their eyes to find themselves lying in a stone cave with no daily necessities, suspended on a cliff face with no way up or down?

He rummaged through the stone cave for three days, going through bronze tripods, jars, and chests, but found nothing to eat. He was so hungry he saw stars, and even thought about tearing up those celestial books that he couldn't read a single word of to fill his stomach. Then Xiao Chi came.

His good junior brother brought him healing pills, and Shang Yunduo survived on those pills for several more days.

Those pills... were unbearably bitter. Even now, recalling them brought a bitter taste from his mouth to his stomach. They were really terrible!

But bitter as they were, at least they were rich in energy and didn't let him starve to death.

Once he had a bit of extra strength, he awkwardly copied Xiao Chi’s way of taking things out of his storage pouch. He spent days puzzling over it on his own, in a daze, relying on muscle memory to circulate spiritual power, until he could finally take things out of his own storage pouch.

Not that his storage pouch had any meat or vegetables to begin with.

Relying on those medicine bottles—not knowing if they were poison or medicine—and a few fruits whose taste was hard to describe, he ate them every day, gambling on his life, and somehow managed to barely scrape by.

When I think back, it’s a bitter tale—that crap of a life was no way to live.

When it came down to it, Xiao Chi had saved his sorry life. Thanks to Xiao Chi, he hadn’t starved and could leave the cave dwelling and have the leisure to understand this world.

When he first transmigrated, he didn’t know who he was, couldn’t see a thing (metaphorically speaking), and couldn’t read a single word. The only person who ever came to the cave was Xiao Chi. Afraid of revealing himself, when Xiao Chi called him “Senior Brother,” he called Xiao Chi “Junior Brother.” They went on calling each other senior and junior brother for over a month, until Xiao Chi took him to get a new sect mission, and he finally learned that his junior brother’s name was Xiao Chi, and his name in this world was Shang Yunduo, and their sect was called the Taiyuan Sect.

When he first heard “Xiao Chi,” “Shang Yunduo,” and “Taiyuan Sect,” Shang Yunduo was so shocked he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Xiao Chi,” “Shang Yunduo,” “Taiyuan Sect”—wasn’t this the cultivation novel he’d randomly skimmed to de-stress before the college entrance exam? The characters and the sect from that story?

So he hadn’t just transmigrated—he’d been sucked into a novel!

The protagonist: Xiao Chi.

The sect: Taiyuan Sect.

In the early part, there was an expendable senior brother who died blocking a blow for the protagonist, with the same name as him, only appearing in the beginning and in Xiao Chi’s memories.

Shang Yunduo felt utterly screwed.

According to the plot development in the book, wasn’t he supposed to die?

Xiao Chi was about to break through to Foundation Establishment. In the book, “Shang Yunduo” died going with him into some secret realm to find treasure right before that.

The more he’d enjoyed the book back then, the more miserable he felt now. Recalling how “Shang Yunduo” in the book had only a few brief mentions, a miserable life that ended quickly just to set off the protagonist, he went completely numb.

Even revenge wouldn’t help!

What the hell’s the point of revenge when you’re already dead?!

After returning to the cave dwelling, Shang Yunduo didn’t know how to interact with Xiao Chi anymore.

Originally, he really admired Xiao Chi, who was the first person he met in this world—a decent guy with a great personality. He had been getting along with him as a friend and a brother. Although he felt a bit guilty for using the original Shang Yunduo’s body to interact with his junior brother, he had intended to continue as fellow disciples and repay him slowly in the future.

But learning that his junior brother was Xiao Chi, the protagonist of the book, threw him for a loop. He had no clue what to do about Xiao Chi.

First, because in the book, “Shang Yunduo” would die blocking a blow for Xiao Chi.

Second…

There were many types of novel protagonists. Some were OP protagonists, some had grand backgrounds, but Xiao Chi was not like that. He was an old-school inspirational growth-type protagonist, whose only cheat was being tough and surviving blows. Though he had opportunities, his path of cultivation was full of hurdles, and he was especially good at drawing people in (trouble included).

Attracting friends, attracting beauties, and even more so, attracting villains.

His growth could be summarized as: he suffers, his beauties suffer, his friends suffer; then he counterattacks, takes revenge, slaughters his enemies, loots the spoils, levels up, and breaks through to higher realms.

The beauties were fine—they generally survived and had blessings afterward—but his friends suffered badly, with a terrifyingly high death rate.

Xiao Chi’s path to godhood was paved with the corpses of friends and enemies. Shang Yunduo was a bit scared.

He hadn’t inherited the original “Shang Yunduo’s” memories and didn’t know how deep his bond with Xiao Chi was. If he were a woman, he might have continued to be Xiao Chi’s senior or junior sister, or even his master’s wife.

But as the senior brother Xiao Chi couldn’t forget, he was holding a death script!

He didn’t have the courage.

Friendship was precious, but life was even more valuable.

He had only transmigrated recently and wasn’t ready to die for Xiao Chi.

He also didn’t dare to become close friends with Xiao Chi.