Chapter 1

In the dark, damp dungeon, Jiang Qisi sat cross-legged on a pile of straw, shaking her head and sighing repeatedly.

The dungeon was dimly lit, with only a little sunlight filtering through a small window high up on the wall, illuminating the tiny patch of ground before her.

She lowered her gaze to her bony fingers beneath the sunlight, her expression grave. She didn’t even need a mirror to know what she looked like now. Her clothes were probably in tatters, her figure painfully thin, and her appearance utterly wretched.

She sighed again, her beautiful peach-blossom eyes narrowing slightly as a melancholy expression instantly settled over her features.

She had been stuck in this wretched place for three days. Whenever she thought back to how she had woken up in the dungeon on her first day, utterly bewildered, only to be interrogated about the whereabouts of the Sect Master’s Token and the Divine Book, Jiang Qisi was left speechless.

From her initial disbelief to her repeated attempts to confirm the truth, she had finally become certain that she had transmigrated into a novel called The World of Immortal Cultivation.

As the title suggested, it was a cultivation novel.

She couldn’t remember the exact plot very clearly, but the story followed the usual formula of leveling up and defeating increasingly powerful enemies.

Oh, right. There was also revenge, putting scumbags in their place, and falling in love.

The original novel unfolded from the perspective of the female lead, Wen Zhiyu, depicting how she endured humiliation while plotting her revenge, how she met her companions, and how they came to understand and love one another—cough, hold it right there.

There were four members in the protagonist group, and Wen Zhiyu was one of them. So who exactly was Jiang Qisi? And what was her relationship with Wen Zhiyu?

…

Unfortunately, she was a villainess.

And not just any villainess, but the most vicious, deranged, and universally despised villain in the entire novel.

The original Jiang Qisi had been the eldest senior sister of Taiyan Sect, a beggar child whom Sect Master Wen Yeliang had taken in from the mortal realm. The Sect Master had shown her kindness as immense as a mountain, yet she coveted his position, colluded with the demonic faction, murdered her fellow disciples, betrayed her master and ancestors, and repaid kindness with cruelty.

As if that weren’t enough, she had also lusted after the beauty of the original novel’s first female lead, Wen Zhiyu, the Sect Master’s daughter. Despite being rejected countless times, she had continued to harass her relentlessly.

After Jiang Qisi seized power and usurped the Sect Master’s position, she imprisoned Wen Zhiyu. Rather than submit to humiliation, Wen Zhiyu chose death over dishonor and escaped Taiyan Sect, eventually meeting Tang Xingyue and her other two companions.

Thanks to the original owner’s relentless efforts to court disaster, the bonds between the protagonists only grew stronger, becoming as unbreakable as gold. Finally, as the story approached its conclusion, [unauthorized copy]they eliminated her, the major villain who had plagued them throughout the entire novel.

Now, the original owner’s schemes had been exposed, everyone had turned against her, and her cultivation had been crippled. All that remained was for the protagonist group to return to Taiyan Sect and put her on trial for her crimes.

In the end, the original owner had attempted suicide to escape punishment but failed, ultimately meeting a miserable death filled with resentment, suffering the consequences of her own actions.

It was truly a case of evil getting its just deserts, a happy ending worth celebrating—like hell it was!

If Jiang Qisi were still an ordinary reader, she would undoubtedly have applauded this development and declared that the villainess deserved to die. But now that she was the one about to be put on trial, the situation wasn’t quite so wonderful anymore.

Sitting around waiting to die wasn’t her style, so she decided to make one last desperate attempt to save herself. After all, who knew whether she would be able to transmigrate back to her original world if she actually died here?

Jiang Qisi straightened her back, rested both hands on her knees, and rubbed her fingers together thoughtfully.

Given the protagonist group’s kindness, she wasn’t entirely without a chance of survival. Wen Zhiyu hated her to the bone for killing her father, so that relationship would be difficult to salvage. But the other three had no such grudge against her. She could simply cling to one of them for protection, especially Tang Xingyue, Wen Zhiyu’s official love interest, who was innocent and kindhearted.

That way, even if Wen Zhiyu wanted to kill her, she would spare her for Tang Xingyue’s sake.

Therefore, her most urgent priority was to meet Tang Xingyue.

At this thought, Jiang Qisi suddenly slapped her thigh, mentally congratulating herself on her own brilliance.

A moment later, however, she frowned and swept her peach-blossom eyes around the room, feeling rather helpless. Even if she wanted to turn her miserable situation around, she would first have to meet someone, wouldn’t she?

The dungeon where she was currently imprisoned was constructed entirely from black profound iron and sealed so tightly that not even air could pass through. Forget people—even a mouse couldn’t get inside. Escaping was out of the question, so she could only wait for someone to come in. Fortunately, her luck wasn’t too bad. At noon that very day, footsteps sounded outside the dungeon.

At the time, Jiang Qisi was lounging with one leg crossed over the other, her hands tucked behind her head as she stared blankly at the skylight. She even had a piece of dried, yellow straw dangling from her mouth, apparently unable to bear doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps it was an instinct left behind by the original owner, but she managed to detect the movement outside.

She hurriedly spat out the straw with a loud “Ptooey!” Then she sat up and leaned against the wall. First, she pressed her index finger against the corner of her mouth and pushed it downward. Only then did she withdraw her hand, fold her arms across her chest, and turn a melancholy gaze toward the entrance.

With a thunderous rumble, the heavy black profound iron door swung open, and a short figure slipped inside. It was the Third Elder of Taiyan Sect. Jiang Qisi quickly curled her lips into a sneer and said coldly, “I already told you, unless Wen Zhiyu comes here herself, then…”

The Third Elder entered the dungeon without paying her any attention. Instead, he stepped aside, turned around, and revealed a fawning smile, exposing the slender figure standing behind him.

Jiang Qisi’s gaze followed his movement, and her voice abruptly died away.

The person stood at the boundary between light and shadow, her face obscured. She wore robes as black as the night, with only a glimpse of pure white visible at her collar and cuffs. Over the black robes was a snow-white fox-fur cloak. A read the original at bailiantales.compair of slender, delicate hands emerged from beneath the fur, holding a small golden hand warmer.

The original novel had mentioned that Wen Zhiyu was physically frail and extremely sensitive to the cold, so she dressed as though it were winter all year round.

The moment Jiang Qisi saw how this person was dressed, her heart gave a nervous jolt. Was that Wen Zhiyu? Surely she couldn’t be that unlucky?

The Third Elder’s respectful address of “Sect Master” made her heart sink completely.

The slender figure slowly approached, and by the faint sunlight, Jiang Qisi could finally make out her face.

Her complexion was extraordinarily pale, and against the snow-white fox fur, her skin appeared utterly devoid of color. Her features looked as though they had been painted in rich black ink, with especially dark eyebrows and pale, delicate lips. A vivid crimson cinnabar mark between her brows served as the finishing touch, instantly bringing life to an otherwise indifferent face.

Holding the hand warmer, Wen Zhiyu stood before Jiang Qisi and looked down at her from above. Her voice was gentle and pleasing to the ear. “Who would have thought that the once-glorious, carefree Sect Master Jiang would end up in such a miserable state?”

Her tone was perfectly calm, without the slightest hint of mockery, leaving Jiang Qisi somewhat bewildered.

In Jiang Qisi’s imagination, after finally defeating the villainess—especially one responsible for her father’s death—even if Wen Zhiyu wasn’t ecstatic with joy, surely she shouldn’t be acting this indifferent?

Could this be the magnanimity expected of a female lead? Perhaps she could try persuading her?

While she was still wavering between hope and doubt, Wen Zhiyu’s thin lips suddenly curved upward. Her pitch-black eyes held not a trace of emotion as she instructed the Third Elder, “Take good care of her. Bring her before me in three days.”

Three days later, Taiyan Sect would invite cultivation sects from all walks of life to gather and purge the traitors, including her, the chief culprit.

Recalling what happened later in the novel, Jiang Qisi immediately understood Wen Zhiyu’s intentions. The Third Elder, however, was carefully pondering the four words “take good care.” He turned to glance at Jiang Qisi. Everyone knew that the Sect Master and Jiang Qisi were enemies, with a deep and bitter hatred between them. Those four words certainly couldn’t be taken at face value.

Then what the Sect Master meant was…

After issuing her instructions, Wen Zhiyu turned to leave, her expression cold and indifferent.

Seeing that she was about to go, Jiang Qisi had no time to think things through and instinctively called out, “Wen Zhiyu…”

Wen Zhiyu stopped walking without turning around. Jiang Qisi’s eyes immediately lit up at the sight. There was hope!

She spoke in a melancholy voice, “…Little Junior Sister, have you been well all these years?”

After all, they had once been fellow disciples under the same master. Besides, her reputation was already in ruins, and Wen Zhiyu had even ordered someone to cripple her cultivation, leaving her with less than a hundred years to live. No matter how deep their hatred ran, surely that was punishment enough. Add to that her silver tongue, ​read the original at bailiantales.com​and she might be able to talk her way around—bah, persuade the other woman. If she could resolve everything without bloodshed, why shouldn’t she give it a try?

With this in mind, her voice grew even more subdued. “Little Junior Sister, Eldest Senior Sister was wrong. Eldest Senior Sister shouldn’t have…”

“Shut up!” Wen Zhiyu seemed to have been enraged by her words. She abruptly spun around, her pitch-black eyes glaring fiercely at Jiang Qisi. Her fingers tightened slightly around the lid of her hand warmer.

She drew a deep breath, barely suppressing the violent emotions surging inside her, and forced a smile. “You were wrong? What exactly did you do wrong?”

Sure enough, Wen Zhiyu wasn’t nearly as indifferent as she pretended to be. Thinking this, Jiang Qisi steeled herself and began, “I was wrong…”

“I shouldn’t have let my admiration for you turn into hatred when my love went unrequited, causing me to commit so many wrongs in the past.” Her voice was heavy with grief, her expression filled with profound remorse. “But Little Junior Sister, I didn’t kill Master. There were circumstances behind what happened back then!”

In the original novel, the circumstances surrounding the original owner’s supposed murder of Wen Yeliang had been described rather vaguely. It only stated that she had absorbed Wen Yeliang’s spiritual energy, without ever explicitly mentioning that she had personally killed him. Logically speaking, the original owner really had no reason to kill Wen Yeliang.

After all, looking at it from a more sinister perspective, Wen Yeliang would have been far more useful alive than dead. For example, if he were still alive right now, she would have another bargaining chip to use in negotiations with Wen Zhiyu.

Unfortunately, Wen Yeliang was undeniably dead. Completely and utterly dead.

Jiang Qisi was filled with regret, which only made the expression on ​stolen content​her face appear increasingly sincere. She said earnestly, “I’m not lying to you. Believe me.”

Those words immediately drew a cold laugh from Wen Zhiyu.

All traces of gentleness vanished from her face, and her features abruptly turned sharp and intimidating. She suddenly strode forward, seized Jiang Qisi by the collar with one hand, and hauled her up. Her snow-white face moved closer, her expression dark and menacing as she demanded, “Jiang Qisi, do you think I’m still the same innocent, gullible Wen Zhiyu from back then, the one you could manipulate and make a fool of so easily?”

“Everything you took from me, I’ll make you pay back, bit by bit!”

Wen Zhiyu was so close that her striking features filled Jiang Qisi’s vision. Because she was so agitated, a faint pink flush had even appeared on her pale cheeks.

Jiang Qisi stared at her blankly. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of something sweet, like milk candy, and became even more dumbfounded.

Wen Zhiyu possessed the elegant bearing of a traditional Chinese ink-wash landscape painting, so why did she smell like something as childish as milk candy?

“D-Do you… like eating candy?” Jiang Qisi blurted out instinctively.

Wen Zhiyu’s expression abruptly froze, and she slowly released her grip.

She straightened up, her expression returning to its usual indifference. Once again, she appeared as elegant and composed as before, as though her [stolen content]earlier outburst had been nothing more than Jiang Qisi’s imagination.

She took a handkerchief from her sleeve and unhurriedly wiped the fingers that had just touched Jiang Qisi. She cleaned them with meticulous care, slowly wiping each finger in turn before finally tossing the handkerchief onto the ground. Her disgust couldn’t have been more obvious.

“Jiang Qisi, spend these next three days reflecting on your sins.”

After speaking, she pressed her fingers to her lips and coughed softly before walking out without looking back.

Only after that slender figure had disappeared did Jiang Qisi withdraw her gaze and turn her attention to the Third Elder, who stood before her, watching her with a thoughtful expression.