In her previous life, Xi Xun was born with a sword bone. She roamed the Nine Provinces and never once tasted defeat.
The peerless Sword Venerable is reborn as a sickly good-for-nothing with barely any lifespan left. Not only is her soul incomplete and her memory damaged, she is also bound to a romance System.
System: [Host, you have only one year left to live. Win over the designated targets to recover your missing soul fragments, restore your memories, and return to the Great Dao.]
Xi Xun stared at the faint red thread on the little finger of her right hand. Only belatedly did she remember that she was fated to die if she fell in love.
She accepted it calmly. "What does it mean to win someone over?"
The System racked its brains to explain to the emotionless sword cultivator, born with little feeling for the seven emotions: [To the person winning them over, a target is like a cultivator's life-bound sword!]
Xi Xun considered this. A sword cultivator's life-bound sword never leaves their side, except in death.
In her previous life, she herself was powerful, and so was her life-bound sword.
So at the Sword Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony, several names long associated with "good-for-nothings" appeared together at the very top of the rankings.
Hearing the affection scores steadily rise, Xi Xun understood.
Winning people over just meant helping them grow stronger!
-
At the first Nine Provinces-wide exam, the young prodigies lost, looking utterly bewildered.
The young master of the Medicine Sect shouldered a giant cauldron to block attacks. A fortune-telling charlatan excelled at formations. The young master of the Poison Sect couldn't tell friend from foe. A Buddhist girl killed without batting an eye. And some oddball sat at the back, chewing on a steamed bun beneath a shabby umbrella, whose defenses no one could break.
Even Xi Xun, the good-for-nothing known to everyone, defeated every sword cultivator in the Nine Provinces without drawing her sword.
The System was so delighted it bounced around: [Congratulations, Host! Your targets' affection scores are about to reach their maximum!]
Xi Xun did not answer. She lifted her gaze to the young man lounging carelessly against a plum tree. White-haired and red-eyed, he called her by name with lazy nonchalance, and for a moment, his appearance dazzled her.
She lowered her eyes. A red cord was wrapped tightly between them, burning with searing heat.
-
Someone once read Xi Xun's fate: a lone star of misfortune, doomed to bring calamity to family and friends, destined to live a lonely life and never find fulfillment.
In her previous life, that had indeed been her fate.
But when she once again faced a desperate situation, her targets all stood at her side.
Even knowing they might lose, not one of them took a single step back.
Across a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, amid flashing blades and bloody shadows, the young man, who had been preparing to fake his death according to plan, gazed deeply at her and let out a soft sigh.
The next instant, Xi Xun's sword hand trembled for the first time. The young man seized her blade and drove it into his own heart.
The surroundings fell silent. The System's announcement rang in her ears:
[Hidden target Chu Chengui's affection has reached one hundred percent. Congratulations, Host! All target missions are complete!]
Memories of her previous life surged back like a tide. So the so-called fate that decreed they would die if they fell in love meant that neither of them believed in destiny. They would rather shatter than bend, and never settle for half measures.
Xi Xun gave a soft scoff, wrapped an arm around the young man's lean waist, and slowly rose, gripping the sword hilt tightly.
Once, she had been powerless to protect herself. Once, she had looked down upon the Nine Provinces.
Now, if she wished, she could ascend with a single gesture.
But she accepted it: this was her fate.
If she refused to accept it, then even if it was Heaven's will, what could it do to her?
A flash of blue light appeared. A bitter wind and snow swept through the day. The life-bound sword sealed away for a thousand years was finally drawn.
Reading Guide:
1. This is not traditional cultivation fiction. The author has made many things up, so please don't scrutinize them.
2. An ensemble cast, but with a female lead focus. The cultivation path is truly emotionless.
3. One male lead and one female lead. Updates follow the rankings before the book goes premium.
Theme: Follow your heart and do what feels right
