I Abused the Substitute, Then Found Out They Were the Real One

Bai Duyu, sect leader of the Mubei Sect, became one of the greatest cultivators of his age in less than a century of cultivation, and his sect secured its place as the foremost sect in the cultivation world. Whenever he had nothing better to do, he would seek out his sworn enemy for a fight. When he returned to his sect, his junior brother would always have the sect's affairs taken care of and be waiting for him at the gate.

Everything was carefree and easy.

But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that he had transmigrated into a disciple of his own sect, three hundred years in the future.

The disciple looked just like him, but his talent was abysmal.

He heard that the real him had suddenly died in meditation three hundred years ago, and that the Mubei Sect had been slowly declining ever since. As for his current identity, he was a substitute his junior brother had kept by his side because he missed him too much.

Bai Duyu: ...I've become my own substitute?

To uncover the truth and restore his sect, he returned to Mubei as an outer disciple. But when he got back, he learned that it wasn't just his junior brother: everyone in the sect saw him as a substitute.

His junior brother stared at him with gloomy eyes. “Who said you could smile like that? It doesn't look like him.”

The disciple he'd raised with his own hands regarded him with undisguised disgust. “A substitute should know his place. Don't use his face to do unnecessary things.”

Even the younger disciples who admired their grandmaster warned him, “Looking like Grandmaster is a blessing.”

Bai Duyu laughed in anger. His only friend who knew his true identity watched him seethe and struggled to speak. “Immortal Venerable, times have changed!” Ascending to immortality was no longer easy, and the age of cultivation had long since given way to romance.

Fine, fine. Play the substitute, know your place, and be grateful, is that it?

An overwhelming pressure descended upon the entire Mubei Sect. “Let's see if this age dares to change!”

Thankfully, in this absurd place, there was still a good classmate willing to go crazy and cause trouble with him.

They said this classmate was a mixed-blood of three races, a gloomy loner whom nobody dared approach.

Bai Duyu thought this character sounded just like the sort of great demon lord from a storybook who would eventually destroy the world. And because they looked alike, he suspected the classmate might be his nemesis's kid.

But he didn't mind. He could take his nephew out to eat, drink, play, and have fun.

Until one day, the two of them lay beneath a peach tree, sharing a jar of wine they'd found somewhere. “How about,” the other suddenly said, his voice low, “we have another match?”

Bai Duyu froze. That tone, that profile... Why did it look so much like his sworn enemy, Xiao Xiuyuan?

Sword cultivator Xiao Xiuyuan was cold and heartless. Once, he cleaved half a sect in two for angering him. In this age, the only person worthy of making him draw his sword was Bai Duyu, his fellow genius.

But one day, Bai Duyu suddenly died.

Xiao Xiuyuan thought he ought to be happy. There would be no rivals left in the world.

Yet that day, he stood alone atop the mountain peaks, holding his sword. He was waiting for someone.

Someone who would never come again.

1. The love interest is somewhat of a crowd favorite, but only has eyes for the love interest. The plot is the main focus. There is a crematorium arc, though: the ashes are scattered to the winds.

2. The love interest is his sworn enemy, classmate, and peerless sword cultivator.

3. Single-couple romance, happy ending.

--- Please check out my upcoming story QAQ ---

The Human Destiny Observer

Hello, stranger. It may be difficult to accurately describe the world I live in, just as it would be hard for you to explain your world to someone from before the Industrial Revolution.

The revolution we're going through is called the Human Revolution. It will unlock powers within humanity on a scale our predecessors could never have imagined.

If I were to explain this revolution in a way you could understand, I'd say that people from our world are constantly being dragged off by infinite-flow games and forced to work. Sometimes I even suspect this entire world is a spinoff of all the infinite-flow novels written four hundred years ago.

I'm not exaggerating. When someone comes of age, they'll be snatched away by some “infinite-flow game” within three seconds. For us, being taken away is like receiving an enrollment notice for compulsory education. (Thank goodness some of them let current students and graduates come back, so life in the real world can carry on.)

But I'm an exception. From the age of eighteen until now, I've never been taken. At first, I was relieved that I didn't have to risk my life, but also anxious that humanity's evolution had forgotten me, like a middle schooler who'd skipped class for two years without the teacher ever calling their parents.

Later, not being taken gave me the chance to take on a new identity: Observer of the Human Revolution. Now, stranger, let me share my observation records with you, and witness this grand revolution together.

The main story is told in third person. All characters are original, not based on real people, and this is not a derivative work or an anthology. I hope to make it funny.

A history and anthropology scholar who passes by the protagonists of infinite-flow stories from all around the world.

The love interest is tentatively some unknown Master God lost among the countless infinite-flow stories. (Here, “unknown” means their identity cannot be spoken of.)

Theme: Dear reader, your main quest is progressing slowly, but don't get too absorbed in your side quests. Please hurry up and advance the main quest.