The Immortal Lord Is Taking the Hehuan Sect's Exam Again

[Equal parts plot and romance, ensemble adventure]

Rumor has it that Sang Zi is cruel-hearted, eats human flesh and drinks human blood, and loves collecting handsome men. The Demon Palace already houses eight hundred and eighty-eight young lords, and she's still eyeing Ji Qinghe of the Yuxu Sect.

Sang Zi looks at the ever-rising expenses of the Demon Realm and falls into deep thought.

Where would she put eight hundred and eighty-eight men?

...The rumor-mongers get worse every generation.

Besides, she's plagued by a curse, and the Demon Palace's affairs are complicated. Her time is precious. How could she waste it on men?

And that Immortal Lord is old, ascetic, and terribly boring. If she's going to find someone, she wants someone young and lovable.

Putting the rumors out of her mind, Sang Zi assumes the two of them will never cross paths. But one day, her brother really does deliver Ji Qinghe to her as a "gift."

She thinks of him as an elder and has no feelings for him, but her curse makes her tease him repeatedly.

Her mind is shouting, "He's an elder. You have to respect him," but what comes out is, "If it bothers you, why not kiss me back?"

At first, he thinks she's a temptress. Later...

Sang Zi looks at the little booklet Ji Qinghe hands her, confusion flashing in her eyes. "What is this?"

"My written exam results," he replies.

Sang Zi opens it and sees the latest exam results for the Hehuan Sect. Ji Qinghe's name is clearly written in first place.

Sang Zi: "..." This is... quite unexpected.

Someone who blushes at the slightest touch is first in the Hehuan Sect's written exam... Does that make sense?

*

Ji Qinghe wandered alone from childhood and endured many hardships before becoming the widely revered Immortal Lord of the Void Realm. But an accident leaves him without his cultivation.

Those he once protected turn against him, loathing and spurning him. Without hesitation, they hand him over like an object to the Demon Lord Sang Zi.

The Demon Lord is nothing like the ugly creature of the rumors. She is beautiful, accomplished at a young age, and exceptionally clever.

But she flirts with everyone and is skilled in the Hehuan Sect's techniques. Today, she smiles at Young Master Chu; tomorrow, she stays up all night talking with Young Master Fusheng.

And yet she smiles at him too, leaving him flustered before walking away as if nothing happened.

He considers himself composed and restrained, always proper in word and deed, yet her repeated teasing throws him into disarray.

He hears she likes people who are young and lovable...

So he secretly begins staying up late to study, learning the so-called techniques for winning her affection.

The book says that if he masters them, he can make the woman he loves crave more, until she looks at no one but him.

*

Reader's guide:

1. Male lead is a virgin; female lead is not. Older man, one-on-one romance.

2. The studying to seduce her mentioned in the blurb will be explored in detail in the middle and later parts, after the male lead realizes he likes her. His studies and exams are already underway.

3. The female lead eventually falls for the male lead. At first, because of the curse, she can't help teasing him verbally. The teasing intensifies as the curse grows stronger, and chapter titles will indicate it.

4. Cultivation levels: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refinement, Body Integration, Mahayana, Tribulation Transcendence, Ascension.

5. The story is half plot and half romance, with an ensemble cast and many side adventures. It's not pure romance, not a coercive romance, and the female lead drives the relationship.

[New upcoming book: After the Proud Hero Binds to a Substitute System]

Jiang Jiu transmigrates into an old-fashioned male-oriented novel. She's the vicious fiancee who breaks off her engagement with the proud hero, Wei Xu.

Her entire story in the book can be summed up in just a few words: break off the engagement, come crawling back, get killed by one of Wei Xu's admirers, and end up abandoned in the wilderness.

To stay alive, she decides...

She still has to break off her engagement with Wei Xu.

Wei Xu is devoted to cultivation, with his mind set only on ascending. He treats female cultivators as if they don't exist. She plans to reason with him and politely end the engagement. Afterward, they'll go their separate ways and live in peace.

No matter how many admirers he has in the future, they have nothing to do with her, Jiang Jiu.

But looking at the man kneeling before her, Jiang Jiu falls into deep thought.

Didn't the book say the proud hero was unyielding, with a backbone of steel? What is he doing?

Wei Xu kneels ramrod straight. His words ring out, each one clear and forceful: "I... have a younger brother."

Jiang Jiu: "?" How would I know whether you have a younger brother? The book never mentioned one!

Wei Xu's jaw tightens, as if he has something difficult to say. After a long silence, he continues, "He's sick. Please save him. I'll sign a gentleman's agreement with you."

With that, he takes out a thick stack of booklets.

Jiang Jiu opens one and sees several large words on the first page: Dao Companion Service Rules.

Jiang Jiu falls silent. You call this a gentleman's agreement?

*

Wei Xu has extraordinary talent and is so devoted to cultivation that he neglects food and sleep. Ascension is his life's goal, but the path to ascension has been destroyed.

Later, something called the Substitute System suddenly appears in his mind.

It tells him that if he becomes the stand-in for the world's female lead, Jiang Jiu's ideal man, lets her torment him physically and emotionally, then tearfully forgives her, and completes the ultimate happy-ending objective, it will help him ascend successfully.

"Fine," Wei Xu agrees at once, though he barely understands a word the System says.

But he is determined to ascend.

[Some System missions]

Become the stand-in

Endure torment

The ideal man returns and gets cruelly abandoned

Run away while pregnant

Return home in triumph

The world's female lead regrets everything

Take down the ideal man and stun everyone

Happy Ending

Theme: A good life takes everyone working together to create it.