[Ding! Congratulations, host's soul has been selected by "The Sovereign's Heart for the World"!]
Qiao Han: Huh?
[The System will assist the host in embarking on a wonderful journey. The host only needs to: 1. Complete relevant character tasks. 2. Collect the Male Protagonist's emotion points.]
Qiao Han: Oh ho?
[Once the main storyline of the world ends, the host can unbind from the System, gain independence, and begin your own cultivation life.]
Qiao Han: I see~
[The System is matching the most suitable binding character for you... Laugh if you want, don't hold it in...]
Qiao Han: Hahahahaha.
If you could choose a novel world for an otherworldly journey after death, to see your favorite 2D character, participate in his story, and make up for the regrets you felt while reading, wouldn't you laugh?
This is like a huge pie falling from the sky right onto your head; it's enough to make anyone go crazy with laughter!
"The Sovereign's Heart for the World" was a male-oriented cultivation novel that Qiao Han had read no less than ten times.
If you were to ask if this novel was good?
Well... just looking at the comment section full of warnings would tell you that it was destined to be a flop submerged in the flood of online literature.
'Don't read it, I'm so angry I need an oxygen tube. The Male Protagonist is a certified sucker.'
'I'm the real sucker for being tricked into reading until the end. It's basically a BE ending. To think I actually thought there would be a reversal.'
'Is the Male Protagonist a saint? Who cares about them, just let them all die. Can't he just blacken and destroy everything?'
'Truly the first time I've seen such a frustrated cultivation Male Protagonist in a male-oriented novel.'
'I only have one question, where is the Male Protagonist's harem? So many girls are kept outside the harem gates? You can see them but not touch them; are you trying to suffocate the readers?!'
'So, what exactly was the Male Protagonist's life for? I seriously suspect the Second Male Lead is the real protagonist.'
Highly upvoted comments were all like this; the resentment in the comment section was evident.
It wasn't that the author's writing was bad, but rather he was rebellious; whatever the readers didn't want to see, he wrote, and the framework and character designs didn't fit current trends.
This story tells of the Male Protagonist, Xiao Jiuchi, an orphan adopted by the kind Sect Leaderof the Qingyun Sect. At age five, he was tested to have a mutated ice Spiritual Root and was taken as the only direct Disciple by a Genius Sword Venerable. His Cultivation path was smooth, reaching the Golden Core stage before eighteen. Such an achievement was unprecedented, making him a true Prodigy of his generation.
Not only did he have a handsome and elegant appearance and extraordinary talent, but most importantly, his character was impeccable. He was gentle, respectful, and a model gentleman to everyone from the Immortal Venerable above to the Mortals below.
He was the widely praised Eldest Senior Brother of the Qingyun Sect among the great families and Sects, serving as a role model for the younger generation in the Cultivation World.
The common opening for elders in immortal Sects when educating their Juniors was: "Learn from the Eldest Senior Brother of the Qingyun Sect. If you were even one-thousandth as excellent as him, I wouldn't give a damn about you."
Such a perfect, radiant god-like man should have had a bright and smooth future, but because of a treasure hunt in a Secret Realm, his fate began to take a sharp turn downward.
His Spiritual Root was destroyed, his Golden Corewas gouged out, and he was framed for breaking a Seal and releasing demons, which also led to the Sect Leader's death and his expulsion from the Sect. Later, his Half-Demon identity was exposed, leading to misunderstandings and pursuits. The girls he met either gave up halfway or had their own motives.
From a favored son of heaven to a pariah, it was simply a tragedy.
It seemed the author wanted to pile every "beautiful, strong, and miserable" trope onto Xiao Jiuchi.
All readers, including Qiao Han, felt that by this point, it was enough; the "beautiful, strong, and miserable" character should blacken, counterattack, and slap some faces.
But the author refused.
There were counterattacks, face-slappings, and reversals, but there was no blackening.
Even though he felt the fickleness of human nature and the coldness of the world, he remained firm in his nature, looking up and down without shame before heaven and earth, acting without betraying his conscience.
If only he could save the world, then it was his responsibility, without regret.
In the end, Xiao Jiuchi, enduring all kinds of misunderstandings and slanders, dissolved his immortal bones and sacrificed his life to save the world.
The readers who held on until the final round saw this ending and said: "Great, I'm already on oxygen in the hospital."
It was truly that kind of suffocating feeling of being frustrated.
The comment section was filled with uniform messages: "Author, you're a psycho!"
They didn't care how badly the author tortured him before; as long as the Male Protagonist could have a good ending in the end, the readers were willing to swallow their grievances.
But the author not only didn't provide one, he delivered one last blow.
People cleared up the misunderstandings and were grateful for Xiao Jiuchi's sacrifice, but a hundred years later, rumors about him in both realms gradually disappeared. No one wanted to mention that the one who saved them was a Half-Demon abandoned by the world.
At this point, the remaining readers were completely wiped out by that last bit of poison, leaving behind countless warning posts and exiting with curses.
When Qiao Han first encountered this novel, he was still young and had a bit of rebellious, chuunibyou energy that wanted to go against the world, insisting on seeing what kind of hellish mess a novel with such warnings could be.
As a result, once he fell into the pit, he couldn't get out. It wasn't that Qiao Han liked self-torture, but the Male Protagonist, Xiao Jiuchi, simply fascinated him to death.
Qiao Han had read countless stories, but he had never seen such a perfect character design. For a certain period of his life, Xiao Jiuchi was even his spiritual sustenance, a guiding light for how to live and act.
Qiao Han's admiration for him could be summarized as: starting from the description of his looks, staying for the display of his character, and falling deep for his dazzling talent.
Before the incident, his looks, martial arts, emotional intelligence, and personality were all great; he was charming, a natural leader, a figurehead who made people instinctively follow in his footsteps. Treating others with sincerity, no amount of beautiful words would be excessive for him.
After the incident, his original intention never changed, and he maintained a gentle and firm character from beginning to end. He wouldn't let external things make him ugly or extreme; he acted uprightly and never once hesitated to blacken or enter the demonic path despite countless opportunities.
He wasn't someone who let others bully him without fighting back, nor was he a saint who swallowed losses; he just had the courage to take responsibility and do what he felt he should do.
When Qiao Han read the novel, he also cursed the author, wishing he could hang him up and beat him to force him to change the story. Such a good Male Protagonist shouldn't have to endure this; he should have ascended to immortality, as he had both the strength and the Dao Heart.
But the world gave him no choice, only letting him be a powerful and gentle tragic hero.
One's own Male Protagonist must be cherished by oneself, so countless times, Qiao Han had thought that if he could ever transmigrate into the book, he would definitely go see him.
To give him warmth, block hardships, and stand by his side when everyone was against him, giving him support and helping him all the way, absolutely never letting him live those miserable days from the original text again.
And look, the dream came true! Hahahaha... but in the next second, Qiao Han couldn't laugh anymore.
The scene before his eyes shifted; before he knew where he was, a sudden Spiritual Pressure like a thousand-pound boulder crashed into him.
It hurt as if he had been hit head-on by a giant truck, crushing his internal organs out of place and grinding his bones to dust. Not to mention the dense pulling sensation seeping into his body, which almost instantly drained the color from his face, making him fall to his knees.
The surrounding air became thin, making it difficult for him to breathe, barely able to gasp.
A sharp, mature female voice shot over with a warning.
"Young Master Qiao, don't say you haven't officially married Jiuchi yet; even if you had, the Qingyun Sect would not tolerate you playing such tricks and deceptions."
Qiao Han was so dizzy from the pain that he couldn't hear clearly what the other person was saying, only catching a few keywords.
Immediately, an ominous premonition swept over him.
The voice continued, its tone clearly tinged with disgust.
"Besides, whether this Dao Companion bond can be formed is still up in the air. This Venerable asks you once more, is the person with a marriage contract with Jiuchi you, or your elder sister Qiao Yuan?!"
Qiao Han's face changed instantly—a bolt from the blue!
[Ding! Character binding successful! Congratulations, host, on obtaining the villain character 'Qiao Han'.]
Qiao Han: Ohhhh! Noooooo!
Was it really the law of transmigrating into a book with the same name? When he first saw that this villain he hated most shared his name, he should have gone and changed it!
System: [...That's not necessary. This character's existence is crucial. Moreover, you are the only 'wife' your idol has ever had a status with.]
Qiao Han got goosebumps all over: Aaaaah, please don't say it. I feel like I've insulted the Male Protagonist.
The setting for the villain 'Qiao Han' was extremely disgusting. Although Dao Companions in the Cultivation World didn't care much about gender, setting a male Dao Companion for the Male Protagonist in a male-oriented novel was a bit off-putting.
Not to mention the Male Protagonist was definitely straight, the character 'Qiao Han' himself was hateful enough.
'Qiao Han' came from the Qiao Family, a cultivation Family. The Family's descendants had a certain chance of inheriting the special Luoyan Profound Body, an excellent Physique for Dual Cultivation. It was said that the last person to achieve Ascension in the Cultivation World was a Sword Venerable and his wife surnamed Qiao a thousand years ago.
Unlike a Cauldron, because this Physique required the owner to be conscious and willing for it to work, there was no possibility of forced seizure. Whenever such a descendant was born into the Qiao Family, a marriage was arranged in advance with a Family friend.
For the Qiao Family, it was about consolidating status and receiving protection from major Sects; for the various immortal Sects, it could provide a smooth path to heaven for their most talented Disciples, so naturally, it was highly sought after.
So when Qiao Yuan and 'Qiao Han' were still small, they were already spoken for.
Initially, 'Qiao Han' chose Qin Xiuzhong, a direct Disciple of the nearby Wanren Sect, whose talent was not at all inferior to Xiao Jiuchi's and who also had a background from a great Family.
But Qin Xiuzhong had the script of a "trash to hero" lead. In his youth, he encountered almost the same setbacks as Xiao Jiuchi. Later, he became the Second Male Lead of this story, having a relationship of mutual respect and competition with Xiao Jiuchi. After Xiao Jiuchi's sacrifice, he became the world's number one Immortal Venerable.
Before that, 'Qiao Han' successfully broke off the engagement with the now-useless Qin Xiuzhong.
Because the Sect Leader of the Qingyun Sect had only left a token when arranging the marriage contract for Xiao Jiuchi back then, the scumbag father found a loophole.
The elder sister Qiao Yuan, who was supposed to be engaged to Xiao Jiuchi, was driven away to Wangyue Island to Cultivate by the scumbag father and stepmother. Once you entered that island, you couldn't leave for a hundred years. Then 'Qiao Han' was made to replace his sister, and at age eighteen, he boarded the immortal boat sent by the Qingyun Sect to receive the marriage partner.
Although surprised to see the partner was a man, the Sect Leader kept his word, and Xiao Jiuchicould only comply, successfully imprinting the marriage contract. As for the wedding ceremony, they planned to wait until the two had developed some feelings, but then Xiao Jiuchi had his accident.
After Xiao Jiuchi lost even his Golden Core, 'Qiao Han' forcibly broke the contract, abandoned the Male Protagonist, and fled the Qingyun Sect.
Afterward, as he watched Xiao Jiuchi's ups and downs, 'Qiao Han' would step on him whenever they met, and in worse moments, even try to kill him. Xiao Jiuchi's Yao Race Bloodline exposure was also largely thanks to him. It was as if having a marriage contract imprinted with the other party was the biggest stain on his life, so he targeted him everywhere, belonging to the type of villain who constantly sought death.
Although his end was tragic, it wasn't at Xiao Jiuchi's hands; it was a "reap what you sow" kind of ending.
So now being told he had transmigrated as such a character, Qiao Han felt worse than if he were killed.
And what was happening right now was the scene shortly after 'Qiao Han' arrived at the Qingyun Sect, where the Sect Leader's wife had discovered the substitution of the marriage contract and brought him in for questioning.
"Still not telling the truth!" Seeing Qiao Hanremain silent for a long time, Madam Jiang's anger flared, and her pressure increased, nearly flattening Qiao Han.
Qiao Han's mouth was already full of the taste of blood, and he felt bitter in his heart.
Tell, of course I'll tell, but big sister, can you withdraw the pressure? I can barely breathe; do you actually want me to speak or not!
"Mother, don't... don't be like this. Young Master Qiao hasn't reached Foundation Establishmentyet; he can't take it. Eldest Senior Brother will blame us when he returns." A soft, timid voice came through.
"Suwei, stay out of this. The Master's Wife is doing the right thing. How can Eldest Senior Brother's marriage be a joke? If it's fraudulent, how can such an ill-behaved person be the Dao Companion of our Qingyun Sect's Eldest Senior Brother? It would simply disgrace our Sect!" Another fierce female voice sounded. "Besides, during this time, he's been causing trouble everywhere using his status, causing the Disciples to complain. It must be strictly investigated."
As the woman listed the crimes, the pressure on Qiao Han grew even heavier.
Just as Qiao Han felt he was about to spit blood, the main hall doors slammed open, and a clear, cold aura rapidly approached.
Qiao Han's arm was suddenly supported by someone, and the pressure on him vanished instantly.
Cries of "Eldest Senior Brother" rang out one after another in the hall.
Qiao Han let out a big breath, but his heart seemed to stop beating at this moment, and everything around him disappeared. Only the original text's description of Xiao Jiuchi flashed through his mind.
On Qingyun Mountain, in azure robes, with a Nine-Layered Golden Core and an ambition for all living beings, a peerless gentleman with the ice soul sword, the pinnacle of a generation, invincible.