Blurb:
On Buyao Mountain, countless demons offer themselves as sacrifices, vowing to annihilate the cultivation world.
Disciples from every sect are taken prisoner. The demon leader holds a knife to Xu Ningyuan's throat, planning to make him the first victim. "Chu Qi, seal your magic. Otherwise, I'll kill them one by one."
Everyone looks toward Chu Qi. No one thinks Chu Jingzhi, whose path to the Great Dao is nearly complete, would risk himself for Xu Ningyuan, who has already fallen into demonic ways.
But Chu Jingzhi casts a forbidden spell on himself without hesitation. Everyone is moved: Chu Jingzhi truly is the rarest genius the Sian Sect has seen in ten thousand years, and he has made saving all living beings his responsibility.
The demon leader laughs wildly, growing even more brazen. "Chu Qi, kneel."
In full view of everyone, the aloof Chu Jingzhi bends his knees.
Xu Ningyuan looks at the beacon of the righteous path, kneeling before the demons for his sake, his expression complicated. He ignites the demonic marrow hidden inside him. As it burns away completely, the demons flee in panic, and Xu Ningyuan vanishes into oblivion with it.
Chu Jingzhi stares blankly in the direction Xu Ningyuan disappeared, eyes nearly bursting with grief.
The confrontation between the cultivation world and the demon realm ends quietly. No one understands why the demons retreated.
Only one person dies in the chaotic battle, and the cultivation world is immensely relieved. A grand celebration is held, with guests arriving from every direction. Chu Qi is the only one missing.
--
Ten years later, Xu Ningyuan is reborn in the body of a little beggar who starved to death. By coincidence, he comes across the Sian Sect giving out alms, and a beggar beside him presses down on his shoulders, forcing him to kneel.
Amid calls of "Thank you, Immortal, for your charity," someone stops in front of him. Xu Ningyuan sees a spotless pair of shoes, then slowly raises his head. Chu Jingzhi's familiar, cool face comes into view, his eyes fixed intently on Xu Ningyuan.
Xu Ningyuan blinks. "Immortal, steamed buns and plain porridge are a little too bland. Could I have some meat?"
Before being reborn, Xu Ningyuan was a pathetic little nobody whom anyone could bully. Now, looking at Chu Qi, who insists on taking him everywhere, he takes the hand held out to him with a helpless sigh.
As if he could get away anyway?
Theme: Don't look down on the poor young.