Chapter 2

Once all three were seated, I waved a hand.

“Right. First, let’s see what you’ve learned!”

The silence that followed was rather strange.

Lianyu ventured, “What will you be testing us on, Sect Leader?”

“Whatever you’re best at. If all three of you enter an array at once, your spiritual energy could get tangled. Let me assess your foundations before I decide who goes first.”

They were still staring, so I waved again. “Come on. Don’t just sit there!”

Fuqu, decisive as ever, rose and drew his sword.

I stopped him at once. “What are you doing?”

He paused. “Demonstrating my sword forms.”

I pointed around the room, which was full of equipment. “In here?”

After a silence, Fuqu sheathed his sword.

Lianyu produced a flute. “Then shall I demonstrate how to direct energy through music?”

Xuanqing spoke up too. “I can accompany him on the qin zither.”

My head was beginning to hurt.

“Go back and review the basics. No test today!”

When all three had left, I exhaled at last.

It was only after they’d sat down that I’d fully remembered what happened to this disposable side character.

After guiding their cultivation, the original owner of this body had come to regard the three as her prized disciples and insisted on keeping them by her side. They eventually found a chance to flee. While she was pursuing them, they met the heroine, whose master killed her with a single thrust of his sword.

And that wasn’t all. Before dying, she’d given the male lead every last bit of her cultivation.

Nothing left for herself.

I’d been thinking, well, if I die, I die.

But actually die?

Absolutely not.

The world was enormous. I was the leader of a whole sect. How could I throw my life away just to keep a few disciples around?

I decided to find an excuse to bundle all three out of the sect.

Tomorrow, they would be expelled for having two eyes.

Only the next day did I discover that something was wrong with this novel I’d entered.

Somewhere, unseen, the Heavenly Dao existed—and it insisted I follow the plot.

Facing the male lead, the second male lead, and the villain, I couldn’t force the words “expelled from the sect” out of my mouth.

What was this? Other people entered novels and rewrote their destinies, ushering in a whole new era. I was just supposed to wait around to die?

No. Absolutely not.

If I couldn’t send the three of them away, I’d leave myself.

Please. With my cultivation, I could rule the roost anywhere!

Then I discovered that once my feet reached the sect gates, they couldn’t take another step.

Oh, for heaven’s sake. Have a heart.

Xuanqing happened to be returning from the mountain. “Is something the matter, Sect Leader?”

I handed him the jade badge at my waist. “Here. You be sect leader.”

He went deathly pale and dropped to his knees. “Xuanqing does not know what offense he has committed. Please spare my life, Sect Leader.”

“…No, I’m serious.”

“Then please at least tell me why I must die.”

I had nothing to say to that.