The new server for the full-dive online game "A Thousand Forms of Mortal Life" is about to open, and Honghu Corporation is offering ten closed-beta spots.
In the game, you can choose any identity you like and experience a good-for-nothing's rise to success, simulate life as a bewitching consort, debate a crowd of scholars, and more...
As one of the first closed-beta players, You Ruo unhesitatingly chose "life simulation."
Two options appeared before her.
Target One:
A once-favored prodigy of the sect, now suffering abuse and bullying, who will one day become the leader of the righteous path.
Target Two:
A beautiful young merperson, pitiable and wretched in childhood, whose sex has yet to develop, and who will one day rule the seas.
You Ruo couldn't bear to give up either, so she chose both.
.
The young Xie Jingque was lowly and constantly bullied, so You Ruo chose to start raising him during his days as an outer-sect disciple.
When Xie Jingque was cold, she would disguise herself as an old woman who kept the gate and "happen" to bring him winter clothes. When the boy was injured and fainted while hunting demons, she would pretend to be a passing herbalist and rescue him from danger.
Young Xie Jingque had not been born with a useless spiritual root. Someone had switched it at birth. You Ruo secretly sent him a letter revealing the truth.
Xie Jingque lived up to her hopes. With You Ruo guiding his development, he overcame obstacle after obstacle and rose to become the leader of the righteous path.
With the development plan complete, You Ruo could finally devote herself wholeheartedly to the other little merperson.
.
The merperson hated all humans, including You Ruo, who had bought him. He tried to escape by leaping into the sea, but someone had cut off his tail fin, and he ran out of strength and sank before he could swim far.
She gently hauled him out and tended to the many wounds on his tail.
He viciously bit at the vulnerable human neck, but he was teething, and his teeth were still soft and fragile. He failed to break her skin and instead smeared a large patch of glistening saliva across it.
Curious, she reached into the merperson's soft mouth and gently pressed his teeth. The tips of his ears quietly turned red.
Under You Ruo's careful tutelage, the merperson learned to speak and walk, and also learned about human desire and longing. The name he said most often was You Ruo's, and his gaze grew darker by the day whenever he looked at her.
The merperson developed into a human boy, with a beautiful face that could drive anyone mad. He clung to You Ruo more and more, leaving her little time to take care of the other boy she was raising.
When she finally looked back, she found Xie Jingque, who should have become the leader of the righteous path, blind, crippled, and on the brink of death.
The little merperson had a terrible temper, so You Ruo had no choice but to sneak off and bring Xie Jingque back, hiding him in a courtyard.
The gentle young man in white wore a white cloth over his eyes. He was refined and bright, with an air of brokenness about him. "Lady Goddess, will you abandon me?"
You Ruo's heart softened for a moment, and she agreed. When she turned around, she saw the beautiful merperson staring at her, eyes red and gaze dark.
Behind her, beneath his gentle expression, the young man smiled in triumph.
.
Xie Jingque had a secret. He often heard someone whispering in his ear. Each time he opened his eyes, no one was there, but a few items would have appeared on the table, just the things he needed to resolve the crisis at hand.
He had always believed the Goddess was protecting him.
Until he became the leader of the righteous path and a paragon to all the world, she never appeared again.
Without hesitation, Xie Jingque scattered all his cultivation and let his enemies beat him off a cliff.
When he opened his eyes again, he finally saw the true form of the "Goddess."
At that moment, he thought: His Bodhisattva, his Goddess, had finally deigned to show him mercy.
When he saw the merperson who was in his way, he thought that the Goddess was dazzling and radiant, always attracting the covetous attention of filthy things.
June 17, 2026
Theme: The green mountains I see are radiant
