After Marrying the 'Long Aotian' in Drag to Counter Bad Luck - Chapter 1

In the back mountains of the Shuiyun Sect, the ravines ran deep, the valleys were secluded, and thousands of torrents cascaded down, the sound of rushing water filling the air.

A mist had rolled in beneath the peaks that pierced the clouds, veiling a figure like a layer of thin gauze. He wore ink-washed green robes. His face was clean and handsome, his brows were like distant mountains, and the red mole tucked just beneath his brow was as striking as a phoenix flower, complementing his shimmering, beautiful eyes. As the rosy light of dawn reflected off him, he seemed coated in a soft, golden glow. The long sword in his hand raised a splash of water falling from above, the tip of the blade dancing as its cold glint flashed like stars.

The ancient bell tolled, startling a flock of crows resting on the withered branches into flight. Among a passing group of cultivators, the female cultivator leading the way waved her hand in front of another female cultivator’s eyes. Seeing her snap out of it with a jolt, the leader clicked her tongue twice and said with a smile to the person beside her, “Little Junior Sister just joined the sect. It is only normal for her to be deceived by Senior Brother Rong’s appearance.”

The young female cultivator felt rather embarrassed, lowering her head with a blushing face.

The leading female cultivator had long grown used to this. “Senior Brother Rong puts on that exact performance every year during the sect’s recruitment of new disciples.”

Another person chimed in, “When I first joined the sect, I was also left dazed and infatuated by Senior Brother. If it were not for him, I would have joined a different sect long ago.”

“Who was not?”

“The Shuiyun Sect uses Senior Brother’s beauty to hook new disciples. It is truly detestable!”

Just as she finished speaking, an old man holding a disciplinary ruler flew down from the sky on a sword. The newcomer was incredibly unkempt, with a face full of stubble and a wine gourd slung at his waist. His face was flushed red, though it was unclear if it was from drinking. If it were not for his stern and solemn aura, someone who did not know better might have mistaken him for a genial cultivator.

The leading female cultivator’s brow twitched. She grabbed the hand of the person next to her and bolted forward. “It is Elder Ma Laoqi from the Hall of Discipline! He probably saw that the bell rang and we still had not gone to Sword Peak to cultivate, so he came looking for us.”

Hearing this, the rest of the group also hurriedly fled in a frantic rush.

Thus, by the time Ma Laoqi arrived, the people had long since scattered. Who would be foolish enough to stand around waiting for him to come over and lecture them? Consequently, he blew at his mustache and glared, asking the youth who was still wielding his sword nearby in a displeased tone, “Rong Nianfeng, did you see which direction the six people standing here just now ran off to?”

The youth called Rong Nianfeng stopped his movements. His brows furrowed slightly as he sheathed his sword, his tone rather regretful. “I did not. However, given how heroic, agile, elegant, and handsome I am, Little Junior Sister actually was not captivated by me. It is truly a miscalculation.”

What kind of immortal cultivator would talk like this? If anyone else heard him, it would definitely spark gossip. Yet, Ma Laoqi remained expressionless, looking thoroughly accustomed to it. He tapped Rong Nianfeng’s head with his disciplinary ruler. “What kind of peacock phase are you throwing now?”

Rong Nianfeng sighed, coughed twice, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and said solemnly, “Elder Laoqi, the sect still owes me a labor fee of one thousand and twenty-one low-grade spiritual stones. If you still do not give it to me, my body will feel unwell, and I will have to take sick leave during these few days of recruitment.”

“Yes, you can leave. Go back and rest,” Ma Laoqi waved his hand, his tone shifting imperceptibly. This kid was impossible. How could the elder not understand what the boy meant? His gaze was not on the wine but on something else entirely; he simply intended to demand his spiritual stones today.

Unfortunately, the sect had long been unable to make ends meet. Giving out labor fees was out of the question. It was already a blessing that the sect had not sent them out to do odd jobs to subsidize expenses.

“Why does Elder Laoqi not try to urge me to stay?” With a heartbroken expression, Rong Nianfeng clutched his chest and continued, “I diligently and conscientiously sell my looks just to recruit more talent for the sect. Now that recruitment is about to end, am I to be cast aside like an old shoe?”

“Heh,” Ma Laoqi glanced sideways at him. “It looks to me like you are thoroughly enjoying it.”

These words were not false. Which year of recruitment did Rong Nianfeng not stir up some trouble? Having to sell his looks was admittedly shameful, but he himself played along with relish, quite liking the admiring looks others gave him. In the Shuiyun Sect, no one suited the phrase “a peacock fanning its tail” better than him.

However, it had to be admitted that his face was indeed useful. Otherwise, the sect would not have been able to snatch a bunch of decently talented disciples from other low-tier sects for the Shuiyun Sect every year.

Thinking of this, Ma Laoqi instinctively looked in his direction. The youth’s hair was simply bound with a jade crown, yet the pride and elegance within him could not be hidden. His clear eyes seemed to hold water, and his pair of peach-blossom eyes were soul-captivating. As if sensing something, a blue spiritual butterfly broke through the water, fluttering down to rest on his hand, making him look like a deity descending to the mortal realm.

Too bad Rong Nianfeng had to open his mouth. He raised his brows smugly and blew away the strands of hair obscuring his eyes. “Hahaha! Ma Laoqi, look quickly! They say that these kinds of spiritual creatures love beautiful people the most. This spiritual butterfly truly has a discerning eye!”

Ma Laoqi offered no response. He had truly never seen anyone more shameless than Rong Nianfeng.

The pervasive water vapor dampened half of Rong Nianfeng’s black hair, and the gurgling sound of the flowing water harmonized with his lighthearted voice, making it sound even more pleasant. However, to Ma Laoqi, the boy’s words were too cold, so cold that he did not even want to respond.

Rong Nianfeng said, “Return my spiritual stones!”

Ma Laoqi ignored him completely.

“Fine, fine, fine. Then I am really leaving.” Having spoken several times without receiving a response, Rong Nianfeng almost choked on his anger and took a violent, large stride forward.

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I am really leaving.” He took another step.

“Hurry up!” Ma Laoqi smiled, his hand tightening around the disciplinary ruler.

“I am rebellious, so I will not leave.” Rong Nianfeng trotted right back, still muttering, “What kind of immortal cultivation era is this? Still withholding wages, how utterly shameless!”

Ma Laoqi finally lost his patience and swung the disciplinary ruler toward Rong Nianfeng.

Although Rong Nianfeng was young and his movements were quite agile, he possessed no spiritual power, so he naturally could not match the elder. Before long, he was beaten into screaming miserably, “Help! The Shuiyun Sect is committing murder!”

“Ma Laoqi, I am going to die! Let us see how your Shuiyun Sect recruits new disciples next year!”

“If I stay alive, I will definitely tell the cultivation world that on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, you, Ma Laoqi, were in the bamboo forest beneath the moon with Fairy Yueying, flirting and holding hands.”

Hearing this, Ma Laoqi almost stumbled. He hurriedly cast a spell to seal the boy’s mouth, terrified that Rong Nianfeng would expose his scandalous secrets.

The remaining words could not be uttered and were all swallowed back into his stomach.

Unfortunately, Rong Nianfeng’s whimpering wails were of no use. From time to time, passing male disciples who witnessed the scene would only shake their heads. “It seems Senior Brother Rong has provoked Elder Ma again.”

It was not until the communication token in Ma Laoqi’s robes flashed that he broke the restriction.

Rong Nianfeng hastily said, “Ma Laoqi, there is movement on your communication token. Quick, check if there is an emergency.”

Ma Laoqi was also a bit tired from the beating, and his hand was sore. Displeased, he pulled the communication token from his robes.

Seeing him distracted, Rong Nianfeng dragged his body covered in red welts, hunched his back, and crept stealthily toward another direction.

Once he gained some distance, just as he was about to bolt, he suddenly felt himself suspended in mid-air. Looking down, he realized he was a full tens of meters above the ground.

“Ah!” He let out a sharp, explosive shriek.

Ma Laoqi had a splitting headache. “Shut up.”

“Elder Laoqi, I am afraid of heights,” Rong Nianfeng said anxiously, tightly clutching Ma Laoqi’s hand which was hoisting him up.

“Useless. You are even afraid of heights; how are you going to fly on a sword in the future?”

Rong Nianfeng’s legs trembled; he truly had a grievance he could not voice. After snapping out of his fright, he said, “I was wrong, Elder.”

Ma Laoqi did not speak.

“I was really wrong. If you send me to the Hall of Discipline, would you have the heart to do it? To watch a delicate and fragile male cultivator like me die in a dark water dungeon? Besides, if more injuries are added to this smooth skin of mine, it will only invoke the pity and affection of those Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters again.”

Ma Laoqi choked on his words and gave him a hard kick to the buttocks. “When did I say I was going to send you to the Hall of Discipline?”

“A thousand wrongs, ten thousand wrongs,” Rong Nianfeng muttered. Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly stopped and asked, “Since it is not to quietly murder me, where are you taking me?”

Ma Laoqi replied, “They say the Xuantian Sword Sect has come to deliver betrothal gifts. Nianxue is your sister after all, so it is only right for you to go and take a look.”

The mention of betrothal gifts made Rong Nianfeng fall into a rare silence.

The reason was none other than the fact that he, Rong Nianfeng, had transmigrated into a book. He had transmigrated into a male-protagonist-oriented novel titled The Cultivation Records of the Defiant Youth: Three Thousand Dao of Sword Intent.

Just from the title, one could tell that this defiant youth was the male lead. The weapon he bought a cheat for was a sword, and since it was called a cultivation record, leveling up and counterattacking were indispensable.

The defiant youth, meaning the classic main character archetype, just like other male leads in these types of novels, was bound to go through a period where he once possessed astounding talent but, for certain reasons, his brilliance was obscured. He would be ridiculed by all kinds of cannon fodder, only to eventually awaken under some stroke of luck. While everyone else thought he had become useless, he would secretly muddy the waters of the cultivation world, playing the pig to eat the tiger and causing anomalies.

Then, he would fight monsters all the way, picking up countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures along the way, to the point where he wished he could hang treasures all over his body. He would also gather underlings and possess countless mounts. He belonged to the type where, by the final chapter when fighting the ultimate villain, the protagonist would summon a divine beast from his storage bag, leaving readers completely bewildered until they looked closely and remembered it had appeared briefly in the first chapter.

Of course, if anyone guessed that he was this main character, they would be mistaken. He was merely one of the cannon fodder who delivered equipment to the protagonist. As for why he was called cannon fodder instead of a passerby, that was connected to the grand finale; he did not survive until the final chapter.

There was absolutely no justice in this world.

He had transmigrated into the book at the age of four. Originally thinking he was the main character himself, he felt thoroughly unwell the moment he learned his name was Rong Nianfeng.

On that day of that month of that year, with tears in his eyes, weeping beautifully like a lotus emerging from water, he had clutched Ma Laoqi’s hem. With bloodshot eyes, he had asked domineeringly and aggressively, “Shouldn’t I be called Ye Xingchen?”

Ma Laoqi did not give him the answer he wanted, coldly throwing him into the Hall of Discipline instead. It could easily be called a humiliating stain on his path to cultivation.

To return to the main point, he figured if he was not the main character, then so be it. If he could live freely and leisurely, that would not be bad either. Unfortunately, he happened to be a malicious cannon fodder who constantly looked for trouble, leaving him no choice but to defy heaven to change his fate.

In the original plot, after his spiritual roots were tested and found to be incomplete at the age of ten, he completely let himself go, not caring about cultivation at all. Therefore, when the protagonist came to offer betrothal gifts to Rong Nianxue, his twin sister, he only cared about the heavenly materials and earthly treasures sent by the immortal sect, squandering them all lavishly without ever thinking of using them for cultivation.

Rong Nianfeng inwardly spat at his past self from the original plot.

If Rong Nianxue could have lived a life free of worry over food and clothing after marrying over, it would have been fine. But the protagonist was naturally promiscuous, possessing an immense harem. In any random minor sect competition, a beautiful female cultivator would inevitably entangle herself with him.

Rong Nianxue was not the main wife; she was merely a sacrificial lamb married off to bring good luck and dispel bad fortune because the protagonist had suddenly fallen ill, turning from a genius into a useless person.

The protagonist’s body was frail, and during the three years after Rong Nianxue married him, the two had never consummated their marriage. It wasn’t until three years later, when the protagonist was twenty-one, that the Sect Master of the Hemen Sect came to find him. He claimed that as long as the protagonist was willing to marry his youngest daughter, who had admired him for many years, he was willing to bring out the Nine-Transformation Universe Pill to save him.

The protagonist did not hesitate, because the youngest daughter of the Hemen Sect’s Sect Master, Liu Li’er, happened to be the person who had saved his life when he was a child. She was also the female lead of the novel.

In the book, Rong Nianxue’s ending was brushed over in a few brief strokes, merely stating that she contracted a sickly aura and died.

As for him, why did he die too? He died because he sought death too much.

According to the development of the plot, when he was twenty-one, he stumbled into a cave by mistake and unexpectedly obtained a sword manual. Before he could even rejoice, he was besieged by people from various sects who coveted the secret manual.

If he had usually minded his own business, perhaps the protagonist, hiding in the crowd, would have felt a surge of compassion upon seeing that he was Rong Nianxue’s twin brother and helped him out.

Yet, he had actively sought death. He looked down on Ye Xingchen, repeatedly going up to the Xuantian Sword Sect to humiliate him, saying he was not worthy of Rong Nianxue and deserved to be bullied.

It was truly incredibly exasperating. He was a malicious cannon fodder in every sense of the title.

For a moment, Rong Nianfeng did not know what to say. Regardless, his character died, and the secret manual was taken by the protagonist. The protagonist even comprehended the opportunities within it, breaking through his realm and advancing from Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core stage.

Therefore, when he was four years old and learned of his ending, Rong Nianfeng decided to cultivate properly. With the plot in his hands, he had no reason to fear being unable to snatch the main character’s resources.

At the thought of his future self being extraordinarily talented, possessing all kinds of mounts, and holding countless heavenly and spiritual treasures, Rong Nianfeng wanted to laugh out loud.

However, as an eighteen-year-old who was still a useless person this year, he had truly disgraced his elders and hometown folks.

But who could blame him when the Shuiyun Sect was genuinely poor? They were incredibly stingy whenever he wanted some resources. Even if he wanted to rely on his own efforts to enter a secret realm to seek opportunities, the Shuiyun Sect, as a low-tier sect, did not even have the qualifications to participate.

If he was not a useless person, no one was.

But logically speaking, it should not be happening this way. The plot should have drifted slightly by now. Why was the protagonist’s immortal sect still coming to offer betrothal gifts?

Perplexed, Rong Nianfeng asked, “Elder Laoqi, didn’t the Xuantian Sword Sect say that their sect’s astrologer calculated that only someone born at the hour of the Rat on the Ghost Festival could bring luck to dispel his illness? If that astrologer is truly that powerful, how could he fail to calculate that my sister and Qi Yan are currently preparing for their wedding?”

The plotline had indeed drifted slightly, and if credit were to be given, it had to be counted on Rong Nianfeng.

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