After Cultivating the Wrong Strong, Pitiful, and Beautiful Demonic Lord - Chapter 1

When Li Jian woke up, he was lying on a large tree. The dense foliage blocked the sunlight from above, casting mottled, shifting shadows.

It was still early, and the pale dawn light was still wrapped in layers of clouds, allowing only a faint glimmer to seep through. With his two long legs draped lazily over a tree branch, he opened his eyes, stretched, and nearly tumbled right out of the tree.

That was close.

If he had kicked the bucket right after transmigrating—and died by falling out of a tree, no less he would have truly become the laughingstock of the century.

Li Jian closed his eyes. The system that had been talking just moments ago had already fallen silent. Judging by the sound of it, the host it served was not just him; it was currently busy attending to someone else.

That meant he had to wait in line.

Just as Li Jian was drifting off to sleep, the system reappeared with a crisp “ding.”

[Respected host, hello. Welcome to the Transmigration System. I am your concierge, service number 301. Next, let me briefly introduce our service philosophy…]

Before the voice could finish, Li Jian frowned slightly, directing his words toward that fading point of light. “You already said all of that just now.”

The system clearly paused, falling silent as if processing the information.

[Oh, apologies, Host. Our system has been overly busy and encountered a glitch. We kindly ask for your understanding.]

Nowhere to be found when there was actual work to be done, but quite eager when it came to apologizing.

Li Jian scoffed inwardly, not bothering to waste words with it. “Cut to the chase. Why exactly did you pull me in here?”

Li Jian remembered that before closing his eyes, he had been sitting in a taxi. At a traffic light intersection, the cab had accidentally collided with a truck. With his window rolled down, he had been thrown directly out of the vehicle. The last sound he heard before losing consciousness was this very system’s prompt announcing that it was pulling him in.

For some reason, the system didn’t seem rushed anymore and even had the leisure to soothe him.

[Host, please do not misunderstand. We did not pull you in; rather, you chose our Transmigration System. Of course, being able to serve you is our honor.]

Li Jian had read a few novels and knew how transmigration systems worked. Entering this space meant he met the criteria for a candidate, and he could only return once he completed his mission.

“So, what is my mission?”

System 301 hadn’t expected this host to be savvy enough not to require a lengthy explanation. It immediately grew cheerful and introduced the task.

*[According to our records, your mission is to find Immortal Lord Shiyuan, who has descended to the mortal realm to undergo a mortal tribulation, and help him complete his trial. Once you successfully accomplish this and retire, you will receive a handsome reward. Naturally, successfully completing the mission also grants a hidden reward.]

“A hidden reward? What is that?”

*[The hidden reward is a random top-tier reward within the system, designed to help the host survive better in the current world. As for what it specifically is, it depends on the host’s completion rate for the mission.]

As it spoke, the system seemed to pause again. Li Jian asked, “What is it? Is there a problem?”

*[Apologies, Host. I took a closer look, and this mission might be a bit difficult for you. Records indicate that this mission has a difficulty rating of ten stars—the hardest among all recently issued tasks. Therefore, I am concerned you might not be able to complete it.]

With that, the system sent the mission details over to him. The file stated that the Immortal Lord in question practiced the Ruthless Path, and was specifically a swordsman of the Ruthless Path.

And his mission was to find a way to conquer him, make the Immortal Lord fall in love with him, and then abandon him at the very end. This would cause the Immortal Lord immense heartbreak, lead him to see through the mortal world, and bring him to absolute despair regarding earthly existence, thereby fulfilling the conditions for a successful tribulation trial.

Li Jian: “…”

Conquering someone on the Ruthless Path, and an ascended Immortal Lord at that—wasn’t this equivalent to trying to pluck hair from a bald man’s head?

System missions were all distributed randomly by matching suitable candidates. Once a selection was made, they couldn’t be changed; either the host completed the task and left the world, or the task failed, and they moved on to the next one.

Evidently, though, the system had no intention of making things difficult for him and even planned to slack off directly and give up on Li Jian.

Li Jian: “What happens if I can’t finish it?”

*[If you cannot complete it, please do not force yourself. When the time is up, I will naturally come to pick you up. At that point, we can switch to the next task until the next one is completed.]

Li Jian still didn’t quite catch the meaning. “What do you mean by ‘you will come to pick me up’?”

Wasn’t the system supposed to stay with him the entire time while he performed the mission?

*[Here is the situation, Host: due to the overwhelming popularity of transmigration systems, we are short-handed. Each of our systems has to take on four hosts simultaneously. I still have other hosts’ KPIs to fulfill. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, the host may freely choose whether to complete the mission based on the issued materials, or just lie flat and wait for the next task.]

Every time a system took on a host, there were performance quotas (KPIs) to meet; only by completing them could they get promoted and receive a raise. Consequently, when accepting tasks, they had to pick whichever host seemed capable of finishing the job. As for those who couldn’t, there was no need to waste time on them.

Clearly, Li Jian was the one who had been written off.

So he had waited in line half the day just to draw this kind of a piece of work?

This was completely different from the stories he read! In those novels, systems were always pushing their hosts to finish missions with all sorts of rainbow-fawning praise, threats mixed with incentives, practically begging the host to hurry up and finish. How come the moment he transmigrated, he ran into this kind of direct, abandoned-at-the-doorstep treatment?

*[I have another host waiting for me. If the host has no other business, I shall take my leave now. Wishing you a pleasant journey.]

Before Li Jian could say another word, the system’s voice vanished completely, leaving him with only a blurry, incomplete file. It didn’t even bother to tell him the mortal name of the Immortal Lord, scurrying away in haste.

A flurry of profanities raced through Li Jian’s mind. Could systems nowadays afford to be this willful? Just dropping him here and leaving him to fend for himself?

Figures. No matter how good something was, it shouldn’t get too popular. Once it exploded in popularity, the customer service plummeted drastically. Before he went back, he was definitely going to lodge a complaint against this system.

So, what was he supposed to do now?

The body that Li Jian had sat upright in out of sheer indignation slumped back down. Whatever. He might as well take a nap first and figure things out after waking up.

drifting into a hazy slumber, when he opened his eyes again, the daylight was already blazing bright. Scorching sunlight filtered through the leaves above his head, casting a small patch of warmth over his body and bathing him in a cozy heat.

If he could just lie here and sunbathe like this, it wouldn’t be half bad. It would basically count as a paid vacation, sparing him from going back to being a 996 corporate slave, working himself to the bone.

He had thought it would be a wonderful holiday, but then Li Jian remembered his cursed task. It was his first time seeing a transmigrated host who was completely left to his own devices.

Damn it, what kind of garbage was this?

Li Jian reached out and shook the branch beside him. The dense foliage overhead swayed in response, sending a leaf drifting down to land on his chest. His slender fingertips pinched it up; the leaf was vibrant green, making his hand look all the fairer by contrast.

This wasn’t his hand. When he was alive, he had been a corporate dog running back and forth, frequently missing meals. While his fingers had been slender, they were rough—unlike the pristine, well-cared-for hands of the person he was now, white and tapered like bamboo shoots, clearly belonging to someone accustomed to a life of luxury where he never had to lift a finger.

A small bird seemed to have landed on the other end of the branch, chirping incessantly as if echoing someone else’s voice, noisy enough to give a person a headache.

When Li Jian first heard he had transmigrated, he hadn’t felt this lost.

Oh well, since he was already here, he might as well give it a try. Putting aside whether he wanted to save face, he was far more interested in that reward.

Li Jian flipped off the tree, sending green leaves fluttering down in a shower all around him. He patted the dust off his clothes, struggling to get used to this new body.

According to the files, he was currently located outside Yangyang City in the novel—the legendary place where Immortal Lord Shiyuan had descended to undergo his mortal tribulation. His mission was to find the tribulation-bound Immortal Lord and lead him onto the path of cultivation.

During this period, he had to use every method at his disposal, based on the system’s issued tasks, to make Shiyuan fall in love with him, and then stab Shiyuan at the final moment so that he could see through the mortal world and return to his position as an Immortal Lord.

Li Jian suddenly understood why the system had abandoned him without looking back; he felt he couldn’t even complete the very first task.

Presumably, the system had guessed that he would inevitably choose to lie flat and slack off, directly waiting out the clock until the next assignment. That was why it had given him such a perfunctory briefing, not even providing the Immortal Lord’s mortal name, simply telling him to look for an ethereal white-clad gentleman of peerless appearance—following that description meant he couldn’t possibly go wrong.

Meaning… just someone good-looking, then?

Thus, acting on the system’s hint, Li Jian walked out of the suburban woods, intending to find a place to wash up and rest his feet. However, when he searched his entire person, he didn’t have a single copper coin to his name.

What kind of ghost identity was this? Dressed this impeccably, yet so utterly penniless that not even a coin jingled?

In that case, forget about looking for anyone; wouldn’t it be better to just drink the northwest wind?

Never mind, he might as well head back to the woods outside the city and go back to sleep. Compared to striving hard, Li Jian had always been remarkably quick to give up.

Just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly heard the system automatically chime with a “ding,” indicating he had arrived at the mission location.

Li Jian looked around and sure enough, not far away, a grand, wealthy estate was bustling with guests being welcomed in high spirits. After asking around, he learned that this was the Qi family of Yangyang City, holding a grand banquet to welcome distinguished guests and aristocratic visitors from all directions.

In that case, the Immortal Lord Shiyuan he was supposed to find should naturally be among them.

A large bronze mirror sat on a jewelry stall by the street, facing a neat row of gleaming, colorful hairpins and trinkets. Li Jian stepped in front of the mirror, and an indigo-robed figure abruptly materialized before his eyes, clad in flowing robes and standing tall against the wind.

Judging by his appearance, he looked to be around twenty-or-so. His features were refined and gentle, with his dark hair secured by a crown. If not a young master from an illustrious family, he should at least belong to an immortal sect. He looked somewhat similar to Li Jian’s original face, but this visage was noticeably more breathtaking—even Li Jian couldn’t help taking a few extra glances.

With a face like this, he felt a bit more confident. At least the first impression wouldn’t be an issue.

Li Jian smoothed down his robes, confirming that his outfit was in order, and then walked gracefully toward the Qi family’s entrance under the watchful gaze of the jewelry vendor.

Yangyang City was home to many wealthy households, and because the current emperor favored martial arts and revered Daoism—with the city lying close to various immortal sects young gentlemen from all families made it a point to establish themselves through martial prowess. The Qi family was one of them.

At this moment, the Qi family was holding a grand banquet to celebrate acquiring a new divine statue, inviting guests from all walks of life. Anyone who heard the news and came out of admiration was permitted to enter and view it.

As Li Jian was pondering what kind of identity to use to slip inside, he caught a glimpse of a refined, white-clad gentleman flashing past on the bustling, crowded stone steps.

The man turned slightly, standing tall and straight. Li Jian caught sight of his striking profile—sword-like brows and starry eyes dazzlingly prominent among the crowd of aristocratic youths.

Especially that flowing, effortless white robe; wasn’t this precisely the ethereal, white-clad gentleman the system had described to him?