Wait, I'm Not the Chosen One?

Yan Lanyi is the young sect leader of the foremost immortal sect in the cultivation world. Born to privilege and blessed with extraordinary talent, he finds that spiritual treasures and divine artifacts flock to him wherever he goes, and even when he sleeps, his cultivation grows on its own. He also reigns supreme atop the beauty rankings of the Three Realms. He's been told that he's the chosen protagonist of this world.

Yan Lanyi believes wholeheartedly that he's the chosen protagonist.

Yan Lanyi is carefree, unrestrained, and loves his freedom. He often skips class to wander the world alone with his sword, taking it upon himself to uphold justice throughout the Three Realms. Countless evil spirits and vengeful souls have fallen to his blade.

Now and then, he can be a little willful, too.

One day, he came across someone in trouble and saved a hapless fellow whose clan had just been wiped out, the very picture of a doomed side character. On a whim, Yan Lanyi forcibly took the unlucky Xie Qiong on as his underling.

His new underling was a man of few words, but he let Yan Lanyi order him around and pick on him as he pleased. Even after avenging the massacre of his family, he was perfectly willing to stay by Yan Lanyi's side and serve him.

As the "big brother," Yan Lanyi might have ordered him around, but this was his first underling, so he gave him plenty of good things, tossing him all the magical weapons, manuals, and pills he had no use for.

Watching his underling's cultivation soar, with progress second only to his own, filled Yan Lanyi with satisfaction.

Yan Lanyi thought that now he had an underling, he ought to build himself a harem, too.

But his ever-loyal underling suddenly "rebelled," snatching away every love interest Yan Lanyi set his sights on.

Yan Lanyi: ?

Come on, brother, if you wanted them too, you could've just said so! It's not like I wouldn't have let you have them!

Later, Yan Lanyi was dragged back by his father to inherit the sect leader's position, while his underling, Xie Qiong, joined the tutelage of a highly respected immortal venerable. The two went their separate ways.

The next time Yan Lanyi heard news of Xie Qiong, he learned that Xie Qiong had killed his own master. The immortal venerable had turned out to be a sanctimonious hypocrite, and was also Xie Qiong's final enemy.

By then, Xie Qiong had switched to the Heartless Path. In just a few short years, he had shot to the top of the Three Realms' cultivation rankings. Though he stood among the righteous, he acted more wickedly than the unorthodox cultivators, becoming the most fearsome figure in the cultivation world.

Just then, the long-idle System told Yan Lanyi that there had been a mistake: Xie Qiong was the real chosen protagonist.

Yan Lanyi was the villain foil to a comeback-story protagonist. The protagonist always repaid his grudges, and Yan Lanyi had once bullied and mocked him when he was down, earning his lasting resentment. The next time they met would be the day the protagonist raised his sword to cut Yan Lanyi down.

Yan Lanyi, who had been arrogant and haughty for half his life: You're telling me that the underling I bullied and ordered around is the chosen protagonist, and now he wants to kill me?

The young sect leader of the greatest sect under heaven, a heaven's favorite who had never put up with such treatment, promptly turned dark and went to find the chosen protagonist to fight him sword to sword.

You ungrateful wretch! You don't mention a single one of the good things I gave you. I treated you like a brother, and you want to take everything I have?

But when Yan Lanyi stormed over to find him, Xie Qiong was sitting alone on a mountaintop beneath the moon, looking desolate. He was wearing the clothes he'd had on the day they'd parted ways, playing the white jade flute Yan Lanyi had once tossed to him because he didn't want it. At his waist hung the sachet Yan Lanyi had forcefully given him, with a strand of Yan Lanyi's hair tied to it to mark his status as the big brother.

Halfway through turning dark, Yan Lanyi was a little dazed.

Wait, did I get the wrong guy?

Aren't you supposed to be the cold-blooded, Heartless Path protagonist?

The next moment, the sorrowful, lonely tune stopped. Xie Qiong walked toward him, eyes brimming with tender affection. He pulled Yan Lanyi into a tight embrace and kissed him hard on the lips.

Yan Lanyi: ???

-

On the day Xie Qiong's family was slaughtered and their treasures stolen, he met a figure of peerless beauty in flowing red robes. That person reached out to him and saved him from disaster, then showered him with treasures that others would pay a fortune for.

Xie Qiong had never met anyone so radiant. Every extra moment spent by Yan Lanyi's side made him fall a little harder.

And yet Yan Lanyi noticed nothing. Whenever Xie Qiong could barely keep his little crush under control, Yan Lanyi would take the initiative to throw himself into Xie Qiong's arms, all under the excuse of being brothers.

There were many people around Yan Lanyi who were outstanding in both family background and ability. They all said Xie Qiong was delusional and told him to stay away from Yan Lanyi. Xie Qiong, too, felt he wasn't worthy of him.

Xie Qiong left Yan Lanyi. To quickly hunt down his enemies and take his revenge, and to force himself to forget Yan Lanyi, he abandoned his original path and switched to the Heartless Path.

When he reached the end of his cultivation, he discovered he couldn't forget his feelings at all.

Whenever he closed his eyes, Yan Lanyi filled the whole world.

An arrogant, flirtatious, beautiful villain who unwittingly attracts admirers, the adored one x a devoted chosen protagonist, the pursuer

Theme: Eradicate evil and uphold justice