Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I am the Eldest Senior Sister of the Heartless Path.

For three hundred consecutive years, I’ve been the top student in the Heartless Path major.

They say it’s impossible to graduate from the Heartless Path, but I successfully completed my studies.

On the day of my thesis defense, the department head asked me whether I planned to enter the workforce or continue with further studies.

“I’ve already been recommended for postgraduate studies.”

“Oh? Where to?”

“The Joyful Union Sect.”

The entire room went silent.

Anyone walking the Heartless Path knows that the Joyful Union Sect is our arch-nemesis.

The outstanding disciples of our major are always their primary targets for ‘special attention.’

They call it ‘one-on-one assistance’ to help us understand the nature of love. But in reality, once they succeed in their conquest, they dump us.

If you ask why, they’ll just say you failed to transcend love and instead became trapped by your emotions.

How do I know this so clearly?

Because over the last three hundred years, almost every disciple of the Joyful Union Sect has tried to woo me.

I am the most difficult graduation project in the history of the Joyful Union Sect.

The reason I’m going there is that to ascend to immortality, one must pass through a Love Tribulation.

None of them were up to the task. I had no choice but to take the initiative myself.

I emailed the only female mentor at the Joyful Union Sect. She told me my resume was excellent, but I had applied too late-she was already at full capacity.

It made sense. This was the Joyful Union Sect, after all; female disciples preferred female mentors, and male disciples preferred them even more.

She recommended me to the Sect Leader of the Joyful Union Sect instead.

I asked her, “What was the reason for the recommendation?”

“Our Sect Leader is top-tier. He’s handsome, has a great voice, and his hands are beautiful.”

Fine.

I had actually meant to ask what she wrote as the professional reason for recommending me. But according to her description, the Sect Leader of the Joyful Union Sect satisfied the tastes of face-connoisseurs, voice-connoisseurs, and hand-connoisseurs alike. He truly was top-tier.

However, when I arrived at the Joyful Union Sect to report, I didn’t see Sect Leader Shao Yan.

Instead, I saw an old acquaintance: Chen Heng.

He froze when he saw me.

Clutching my sword, I sized him up and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s you? You’re wearing so many clothes I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Chen Heng was the disciple who had spent the longest time trying to woo me. In the past, whenever I saw him, he was either a scholar asking for directions in the forest, a beauty who had ‘accidentally’ fallen into a hot spring, or a fox demon repaying a debt in my bed.

But adding all those instances together, he still hadn’t been wearing as much as he was today.

Chen Heng’s ears turned slightly red. He cleared his throat into a fist and said, “Student Qing Hong, is there something you need?”

“I’m not looking for you. I’m here to report for duty, Eldest Senior Brother.”

This time, Chen Heng looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. He stood frozen on the spot.

After a long silence, he let out a scream:

“God damn it! My graduation project! I haven’t even graduated yet, and my topic is dead!”

Chen Heng fainted.

This was the Eldest Senior Brother of the Joyful Union Sect. He used the most innocent face to perform the most scandalous deeds.

Chen Heng woke up in my arms. I traced the lines of his brows with my fingertip.

“Eldest Senior Brother, in the past, I was too preoccupied with my cultivation. Actually, I…”

Just as I was about to kiss him, he pressed two fingers against my lips to stop me.

Chen Heng looked at me, his eyes clear and full of helplessness. “Unfortunately, it’s too late.”

Chen Heng explained that the Joyful Union Sect prohibited internal dating. Therefore, there was no longer any possibility between us.

As for Sect Leader Shao Yan, he took a hands-off approach to his students. All the postgraduates under his name were actually managed by Chen Heng.

“So, what are the requirements for a Master’s degree from the Joyful Union Sect?”

I was, after all, a straight-A student switching majors.

Chen Heng tossed me a roster of Heartless Path students.

“Pick a research topic you like first.”

Huh? Was I really supposed to backstab my own fellow disciples this quickly?