I Failed to Reform the Protagonist [Transmigration] - Chapter 3

Pei Jing dazed for a moment before quickly snapping back to reality. He tilted his head and said, “I don’t think I even need to test him. He definitely isn’t suited for Yunxiao.”

Chen Xu replied, “You are being utterly unreasonable.”

Pei Jing countered, “Rest assured, I definitely understand him better than you do.”

Fuming, Chen Xu spat out a curse: “You understand jack squat.”

Pei Jing took a step forward, a hint of earnestness cutting through his casual demeanor. “Trust me, I’m a very good judge of character.”

Chen Xu’s expression turned solemn. “To deny him the qualification to enter the sect based solely on your personal word. That is unfair to him!”

The smile on Pei Jing’s face faded. “What ‘unfair’? Unsuitable means unsuitable! The disciples of Yunxiao have never walked the Path of Heartlessness. His talent is startling, but the coldness and cruelty in his bones are equally startling.” At this point, Pei Jing’s voice dropped lower. “Or to put it another way, Yunxiao isn’t suited for him. If he stays in Yunxiao, the sword intent our sect inherits will only serve to grind away his natural talent.”

Chen Xu asked, “And how exactly do you know he isn’t suited?”

Pei Jing said, “Just watch.”

A trace of spiritual energy surged from his fingertips and poured into the Profound Water Mirror. In an instant, the world shifted. Upon the hanging bridge, a new illusion appeared.

The sky churned as the airflow grew rapid.

Then, the rain of blood vanished, and the broken bridge was blanketed in frost. In a flash, the world became a vast expanse of gray and white—a common snowy day.

The place where Chu Junyu originally stood shifted from the entrance of the bridge to a patch of flat ground. The biting wind howled, slashing against one’s face like a knife. Within his line of sight, everything was a uniform white.

Chu Junyu did not move.

After waiting a long while, he heard a voice behind him. It sounded like a teenage boy, startled and shivering from the cold: “—My god, what is this now? The Yunxiao selection is too sadistic. I was just about scared to tears by ghosts, and now it wants to freeze me to death?”

Chu Junyu turned around and looked at the youth through the thick, falling snow.

The boy wore thin, brown clothes, and his nose was flushed red from the freezing weather. His hair was loosely tied with a grass rope. He had a handsome face, very fair skin, and large eyes. Currently, he was huddled up, hugging his chest against the cold.

He looked left and right. The moment he spotted Chu Junyu, it was as if he’d found a long-lost relative. His eyes snapped bright with relief as he ran over. “Whoa! It’s actually you! What a coincidence! We were just sitting on the same white crane earlier, do you remember me?” The youth laughed, looking quite comforted. “I didn’t expect us to come out together.”

Chu Junyu’s gaze remained fixed on the boy’s face, staring for a long time. The wind and snow roared; for a split second, the entire world even his very heart seemed to stand still.

After a long pause, he too let out a small smile. “What a coincidence.”

His voice was low, but every word was crystal clear.

The youth blinked, the light in his eyes growing even brighter. “Ah, you actually spoke! I saw you sitting all alone on the cloud crane without saying a word; I thought you were going to ignore me.”

Chu Junyu kept his eyes on him. “Are you cold?”

The youth replied, “It’s a frozen wasteland and I’m wearing so little; of course, I’m cold. Sigh, don’t just stand there, let’s find a way out of here. I’m afraid if I stay any longer, I’ll freeze solid.”

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Chu Junyu’s hand. The moment they touched, he jerked back in fright, looking at him with shocked eyes. “My god, how is your hand even colder than mine?”

Chu Junyu opened his hand. Snowflakes accumulated in his palm without melting. Slowly, a swirl of blood-colored spiritual energy circled his hand, condensing once again into an umbrella. He propped the umbrella up to ward off the wind and snow, holding it over the youth’s head. “Let’s find the exit first.”

Infinite shock welled up in the boy’s eyes. “This umbrella… you, you, you…” He spluttered for a long time, unable to form a sentence. Finally, he just whispered: “You’re way too incredible.”

Chu Junyu remained noncommittal toward the praise. Though the world was a void of white, he seemed to know the direction. His pace never faltered as he walked forward.

The two traveled through the snow. Beneath the single umbrella, the only sound was that of footsteps pressing into the light snow. The youth’s dark eyes unabashedly studied Chu Junyu the whole time; his gaze held nothing but admiration and awe.

He waited a long time before gathering the courage to speak: “My name is Zhang Yiming, from Jizhou. I ran away from home alone to come to Canghua just to join Yunxiao. What about you?”

“Chu Junyu.”

The black-clad youth held the umbrella high, his tone calm. Aside from that, he said nothing more.

Zhang Yiming repeated the name a few times in his head and muttered, “That sounds like a really powerful name.”

In the face of someone with such absolute strength among his peers, he couldn’t even be bothered to feel jealous. Instead, he felt a sense of reflected glory and grew excited. “Well, if you make it out of this snow realm, I bet you’ll be directly recruited as an Inner Peak disciple.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a rumor I heard. They say Yunxiao opened up ten Inner Peak spots for us to choose the top performers. You’re so amazing, you’ll definitely be one of them.”

Chu Junyu glanced down at him. “Is that so?”

Zhang Yiming nodded emphatically. “Definitely. You can conjure an umbrella just like that; out of all those people, I haven’t seen anyone else with that kind of ability. I think you can already start thinking about which Elder’s peak you want to join.”

Chu Junyu looked down and smiled.

Though Zhang Yiming was shivering from the cold, he still grinned. “Confidence is key. I bet you’ll definitely get into the Inner Peaks. If your luck is a bit better, you might even be taken in directly by the Sect Leader of Yunxiao. Think of how much face that would give you!”

He was already treating Chu Junyu like a brother.

Chu Junyu asked, “Doesn’t Yunxiao have a rule that the Sect Leader only takes one disciple in his lifetime?”

Zhang Yiming said, “Then you can join under the Sect Leader’s disciple! That counts as being part of the Sect Leader’s lineage. Do you know who the current Sect Leader’s disciple is? His title alone might scare you to death.”

Chu Junyu acted as if his interest had been piqued. “Let’s hear it.”

Zhang Yiming said, “That would be Senior Brother Pei, the one hailed as a ‘Peerless Genius’—Pei Yuzhi.”

“‘One sword frosts the Wuwang Peak’ refers to him. He was the top ranker of the Heaven-Asking Trials, the leader of the new generation in the cultivation world. I heard he’s already about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.”

The smile at the corner of Chu Junyu’s lips turned cold in the wind and snow, carrying an ambiguous meaning. “Continue.”

Zhang Yiming paused. “Continue what?”

Chu Junyu: “Continue scaring me.”

“…”

Zhang Yiming was at a loss for words, the smile freezing on his face. Once he processed the meaning, his eyes widened. “Wait, brother, did you come to Yunxiao without even knowing who Pei Yuzhi is? He’s the current Head Disciple of Yunxiao and the future Sect Leader!”

Chu Junyu’s tone was dismissive: “Oh.”

Zhang Yiming: “…Alright, I get it.”

As they talked, the path turned, and a broken bridge appeared amidst the vast snow. It stood ahead of them, its end hidden deep within the clouds, its destination unknown. Chu Junyu folded the umbrella. White snow settled on his black hair, making it look as though he had turned gray-headed in an instant.

He looked at the bridge ahead and said, “Crossing this bridge counts as passing the trial. You go first.”

Zhang Yiming was full of questions. “Huh? Why? Can’t we go together?”

Chu Junyu said, “The road is slippery in the snow. It’s inconvenient.”

Zhang Yiming nodded. “Oh, okay.”

He couldn’t help but feel that Chu Junyu found him annoying for this last stretch and didn’t want to walk with him. He felt a bit dejected and embarrassed. But having troubled the other for so long, he was too embarrassed to say anything. Zhang Yiming hugged his arms and charged into the wind and snow. Having walked in the snow for so long, his legs were stiff and his hands had lost all sensation. Distracted, he missed his footing at the edge of the bridge.

Several wooden planks on the bridge had long been unstable, hidden beneath the accumulated snow. His step sent a plank plummeting down. The broken bridge wobbled, and for a second, he felt weightless. Zhang Yiming let out a loud cry, but luckily his reflexes were fast; his hands caught the edge of the snowy ground. However, his arms were stiff and his grip was weak. He began to slowly slide backward toward the abyss.

In a panic, he called for help from the only person on the snowy plain: “Save me—!”

Chu Junyu stood in the wind and snow, his light-colored eyes reflecting the white until they were almost transparent. Hearing the cry for help, he lingered in place for a moment before slowly walking over.

Zhang Yiming’s back was drenched in cold sweat. After this fright, his frozen mind cleared. Seeing Chu Junyu approach, he was nearly moved to tears, shouting with all his might: “Save me—!”

Chu Junyu crouched down and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back from the edge of the cliff.

Having survived the disaster, Zhang Yiming felt like his soul had almost left his body. He sat on the snow for a long time, not even feeling the cold, only grimacing. “What kind of bad luck is this! Is Yunxiao so poor that even their bridges are rotten?”

Chu Junyu didn’t stand up. He simply locked eyes with him. His excessively pale face, under the reflection of the snow, seemed to glow with a faint, mysterious light. His black hair fell like a waterfall over his ornate robes. His extremely pale eyes seemed to hold a hint of a smile now, but the intent was cold.

“I told you the road was slippery in the snow. Why were you still so careless?”

Zhang Yiming twitched his lips. “This isn’t just a slippery road; this is a trap set by Yunxiao.”

Chu Junyu reached out a hand to him. “Can you still walk?”

Zhang Yiming tried to move his hand, only to find that because his palm had been pressed against the snow for too long, it had frozen to the ice. He wanted to cry but had no tears. He tore off a layer of skin, leaving his palm a bloody mess. Supported by Chu Junyu, he finally stood up. Even then, he couldn’t stand steadily—his leg had hit the cliff wall earlier and was injured; he couldn’t walk.

Zhang Yiming sighed. “…I might not be destined for Yunxiao after all. You should go ahead quickly. Don’t worry about me. Strive to be the first one out of this illusion.”

Chu Junyu looked down and said flatly, “Giving up so early doesn’t sound like you.”

Zhang Yiming’s eyes widened, stuck between laughter and tears. “What do you mean? You talk like you know me so well.”

Chu Junyu added, “I’ll carry you across the bridge.”

Zhang Yiming was stunned. “Huh?”

When Chu Junyu smiled, he carried a natural air of nobility and elegance. He reached out, naturally supporting Zhang Yiming’s arm, and then hoisted him onto his back.

Zhang Yiming only felt that the aura on the other man was as cold as deep snow. He stammered a few times, struggling. “Don’t. It’s too much trouble for you.”

Chu Junyu replied, “It’s fine.”

Seeing him like this, Zhang Yiming felt a wave of complex emotions. His head hurt a little, so he could only mutter hoarsely, “Brother, you really are a good person.”

Chu Junyu paused, then said, “You’re sick.”

Zhang Yiming felt dizzy too. He suppressed a sneeze in his throat and hummed, “Probably.”

Chu Junyu seemed to chuckle softly. “I’ve really made things difficult for you.”

Zhang Yiming scoffed, his voice nasal: “What are you talking about? I’m the one making things difficult for you.”

On the broken bridge in the wind and snow, the two mountains faced each other. There were only the two of them in the silent snowy plain.

After a long time, Zhang Yiming seemed to truly lose his clarity of mind. He began to babble nonsense, asking: “What do you think of Yunxiao?”

Chu Junyu said, “The head of the immortal sects, a holy land for sword cultivators.”

Zhang Yiming murmured, “But they have so many rules and strict precepts. So annoying.”

After a pause, he asked again. “What do you think of Pei Yuzhi?”

There was no emotion in Chu Junyu’s downcast eyes. “Nothing much.”

Zhang Yiming gave a muffled laugh and drifted into a deep sleep. “Fine then… I have high hopes for you.”