Immortal Venerable, Whose Substitute Am I?

Zhi Zhu was born with blocked meridians and incomplete spiritual roots. To avoid being cast out by his clan, he endured the pain of opening his meridians and forced himself to cultivate. But even by the age of eighteen, he still hadn't broken through to the Qi Refining stage.

So his father gave him to Jianwei, a renowned immortal venerable of Tianzhou.

They say the person Immortal Venerable Jianwei likes isn't him, but Zhi Zhu's exceptionally talented older brother, a man of refined grace.

He married Zhi Zhu because he wanted a substitute.

Zhi Zhu was heartbroken. Zhi Zhu felt humiliated. Zhi Zhu thought:

How could there be such a good deal in this world!

He could finally stop forcing himself to endure the pain of cultivation!

After they married, Immortal Venerable Jianwei treated him well. He provided everything he needed, from food and clothes to housing and transport, and never skimped on the rare treasures needed for cultivation. More importantly, Jianwei was a decent person, so Zhi Zhu didn't have to worry about being cast aside once he was no longer useful.

The newly appointed substitute, Zhi Zhu, was very pleased. This was the lie-flat life of his dreams!

Still, since Immortal Venerable Jianwei treated him so well, of course Zhi Zhu had to repay him.

So the next day, although he thought Jianwei had questionable taste, Zhi Zhu dressed like his genius older brother and worked hard to copy his words and mannerisms. He wanted to make sure Jianwei felt as if he were seeing the real thing, and knew that his substitute was doing a good job.

Immortal Venerable Jianwei looked at him with an unreadable expression. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said that, actually, his true love was the junior disciple at the nearby Pill Peak. He loved watching other people make pills more than anything.

Zhi Zhu understood. Zhi Zhu was eager to give it a try. That very night, Zhi Zhu dug out the pill furnace and books on alchemy that the Immortal Venerable had given him, and diligently began making pills...

A month later, the famously rugged Ren Peak, where Immortal Venerable Jianwei lived, was razed to the ground.

Zhi Zhu felt guilty. Zhi Zhu didn't know what to do. Zhi Zhu was very worried about losing his job.

Luckily, at this point, Immortal Venerable Jianwei suddenly fell for someone else.

He fell in love with Dao Lord Changze, the famous master of the formation-based Array Peak across the way.

Zhi Zhu's spirits lifted, and that very day he started studying formations.

Then, because of a backlash to his spiritual sense, he was carried into Pill Peak that same day.

Once he recovered, Zhi Zhu lost heart and waited to be kicked out.

Luckily, at this point, the Immortal Venerable fell for someone else again.

He fell in love with the wonderful fairy of the Music Sect!

Zhi Zhu grumbled to himself about how he hadn't expected Jianwei to be so fickle, then immediately picked up the divine instrument Jiaowei that Jianwei had given him and started practicing music.

Zhi Zhu was thrilled. Zhi Zhu was confident. Zhi Zhu thought he could definitely do it this time!

A month later, at Jianwei's birthday celebration, Zhi Zhu played a song he'd prepared especially for him, full of anticipation.

Jianwei fell silent for a long time. He looked at the fellow cultivators around them, who were foaming at the mouth, then applauded and praised Zhi Zhu's performance.

Zhi Zhu was delighted. Zhi Zhu relaxed. Zhi Zhu could finally go back to being a slacker!

But there's a certain speed in this world called an Immortal Venerable falling out of love.

That night, Jianwei calmly told him he had fallen for the master of Artifact Peak, then handed him a storage bag full of materials for crafting artifacts.

Zhi Zhu's eyes widened in shock. Zhi Zhu couldn't believe it. Zhi Zhu felt that there had to be something wrong with either his memory or his hearing!

If he remembered correctly, the master of Artifact Peak was a middle-aged man, two meters tall and dark-skinned, who loved hammering metal with his shirt off!

Had Jianwei's tastes really gotten that extreme?

Zhi Zhu was desperate. He looked at his slight build, and even though he had his doubts, he still packed his things and headed to Artifact Peak in the middle of the night.

As he learned blacksmithing from the hearty master of Artifact Peak, Zhi Zhu seriously considered whether he really had to keep being a substitute.

...It seemed he really did.

While painfully learning how to forge, Zhi Zhu suddenly came up with an idea.

Zhi Zhu decided to create a secret identity and seduce Jianwei!

Once Jianwei's true love became him, he could learn whatever he wanted, and skip whatever he didn't!

For this purpose, Zhi Zhu drew up a plan that filled ten whole books!

The plan went smoothly. Jianwei treated his secret identity better and better, so well that Zhi Zhu forgot it was all part of his scheme.

Until one day, Jianwei was gravely injured saving him.

Zhi Zhu felt he couldn't keep deceiving him.

Once Jianwei had recovered, Zhi Zhu returned everything the Immortal Venerable had given him. For the things he'd used, he wrote IOUs. Then he came clean about everything and shamelessly begged Jianwei to let him stay in the immortal sect.

Zhi Zhu didn't want to leave the immortal sect.

If he left, he'd never see Jianwei again.

Jianwei stroked his head and said softly, "A Zhu, your disguise spell is really bad."

"I could tell the first time."

"Besides, you're another master of Ren Peak. As long as you don't want to leave, no one can make you."

Zhi Zhu froze.

Later, Jianwei told him he'd never had a true love before.

Zhi Zhu was furious. Zhi Zhu felt he'd been deceived. Zhi Zhu... Zhi Zhu was overjoyed.

Jianwei said he liked Zhi Zhu, and had only ever liked him. Zhi Zhu cupped his face in his hands and thought happily.

Theme: Love makes you a better person