My name is Su Jinnian, and my life is all about “one mishap after another.”
In my previous life, I was an immortal serving tea. My master sent me to the mortal realm to undergo a trial of love. One second before I could be reborn as a human, a white snake that had failed its heavenly tribulation knocked me off course, and I fell into the arms of a married couple who were research professors.
Immortal child to top student, then a product manager drifting north to Beijing, then dying from overwork: all in one seamless sequence.
At the Hall of the Underworld, my thick book of merits was laid out. My master swept his horsetail whisk and said, “Send him to the Beast World to try again!”
I opened my eyes in a primeval forest. A bloodied white snake lay at my feet. Was it the very one that knocked me into the mortal world?!
In my past life, you knocked me into the mortal realm. In this one, I’ll save you from your suffering.
The System came online: complete the trial of love, build up civilization, and earn points. The white snake I rescued had been driven out for being an albino. He was so insecure that he secretly tried to find me a second beastman mate. I gave him a little “needs alignment” talk: “There’s nothing wrong with being who you are. You don’t need to feel inferior. You deserve to be loved.”
After that, five more beastman mates who had been abandoned for albinism joined us: a white tiger, white fox, white lion, white eagle, and white bear. Together, they helped me through my trial.
Using the product mindset from my past life, I drove civilization forward: making bricks and smelting iron, then using technology to crush the allied armies of the Divine Mountain and uncover the secrets of the dark, miasma-filled forest.
From the first white snake in the forest to a Beast City rising from the ground; from an exiled wanderer to a nation of ingenious creations flourishing in the sunlight. I finally understood: my master’s trial was about realizing the truth of life, from one person to all living beings.
A cloud bridge descended from the heavens, and my master’s voice rang out: “Jinnian, my young immortal, do you understand now?”
I looked back at the six who stood by my side, then at the faces of all those in the city who had once been abandoned. “The trial of love wasn’t an ordeal. It was the bridge that carried me across. On the other side lies a world of people, and them.”
In my past life, you knocked me into the mortal realm. In this one, I saved you from your suffering. But in the end, wasn’t I the one who was saved?
