The Second Senior Brother Was a Book Transmigrator (3)

Shen Yuxi lowered his eyes and stared at the scar on his palm, left behind after it had been corroded by the Nine Nether Python's venom.

Three months ago, the wound had been deep enough to expose bone, vicious and horrifying. Now, it had faded into a faint pink line. In a little while, the scar would likely vanish completely, as though it had never left even the slightest trace in this world.

Yet his life had been split in two from that day onward, becoming utterly different.

The mountain wind carried a dense, rusty stench of blood, seeping thread by thread into his nostrils like an invisible hand forcibly dragging his memories back to that dim, deep stone cavern.

Back then, within the secret realm, the oppressive atmosphere had seemed like an airtight net, binding everyone tightly enough to make them nearly suffocate.

The enormous snake tail slammed heavily into the ground. Broken stones rained down upon the disciples, yet no one dared move even half an inch. They could only grit their teeth and endure it.

But under the cover of dust and smoke, that snake tail coiled around one disciple's ankle and gave a savage tug. The disciple was dragged across the ground for a long distance, his back shredded into a bloody mess by jagged stones. More importantly, the sword formation that had only just begun to take shape was immediately torn open.

The giant python seized the chance to attack. In an instant, the junior brothers and sisters scattered like fallen leaves blown apart by a gale.

The entire scene instantly spiraled out of control, plunging into utter chaos as cries of alarm and shouts rose one after another.

The hem of Little Junior Sister's apricot-yellow skirt was flung high by the gale stirred up by the python's tail, like a startled butterfly taking flight, adding several more strokes of panic to the deathly still space.

The Nine Nether Python's sharp fangs gleamed with a bone-chilling cold light, like poisoned blades stabbing straight toward Little Junior Sister's delicate body. Their tips were less than three inches from her throat, and the shadow of death flooded over her like a rising tide.

At that critical moment, Shen Yuxi spun around to block it almost on instinct, without a moment's hesitation.

As he shoved Little Junior Sister away, the longsword in his hand collided fiercely with the venomous fangs. Blue-green sparks burst forth in an instant, like fireflies on a summer night, only to vanish in the blink of an eye, leaving twisted, eerie shadows cast across the rock walls.

"Go!" he shouted sharply. His voice echoed through the cavern in layer upon layer, carrying unwavering resolve and determination.

If he had been alone, then with Shen Yuxi's strength, even if he could not defeat the Nine Nether Python, he would still have been completely confident in escaping unscathed.

But there were many junior brothers and sisters in the cavern. Like a flock of fledglings whose wings had not yet fully grown, their protective true qi was as fragile as paper before the powerful Nine Nether Python. A mere flick of the giant python's scaled tail could easily take their lives.

In such desperate circumstances, let alone striking back, being able to barely dodge the attacks without injury was already a blessing beyond measure.

The Nine Nether Python's scales were as hard as iron, and spiritual swords could not break through its defenses for the moment. The giant python, meanwhile—every movement of its massive body was like an towering mountain shifting, bringing an overwhelming pressure as though it would grind the entire cavern into dust.

Within the narrow stone cave, the clang of sword edges striking scales rang out without end. Broken rocks fell like a torrential downpour. Shen Yuxi had to protect everyone as they retreated into the passage while also dividing his attention to slash apart the jagged boulders crashing toward his fellow disciples.

He even had to hold back when attacking to avoid injuring his junior brothers and sisters. Everywhere he turned, he was constrained, tied hand and foot.

As time ticked away second by second, his spiritual power continued to drain.

Gradually, he began to fall into a disadvantage. His throat tightened, and a thick taste of blood rapidly spread through his mouth—the sign of spiritual power being overdrawn.

Yet he had no time to rest even briefly. The Nine Nether Python's attacks came crashing down again like a violent storm.

As he hastily defended himself, countless unfamiliar yet familiar scenes suddenly flashed through Shen Yuxi's mind.

Years upon years of cultivation passed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, colliding thunderously with another, entirely different set of memories—the brightly lit library, the scent of fried chicken beneath the dormitory building, the ongoing serials he followed on forums...

Those long-sealed memories surged over him like raging tides, drowning him in an instant. At that moment, he seemed to stand at the intersection of two worlds, shocked and utterly bewildered.

But the timing could not have been worse. He could not bear the sudden impact all at once, and it felt as though his consciousness had been torn away, leaving him briefly dazed.

—It was precisely that fleeting lapse.

The beast had already gained intelligence and was exceedingly cunning. It instantly seized the opening, its tail sweeping over like black lightning straight toward Shen Yuxi's sword hand.

Shen Yuxi's body instinctively moved to dodge, but he was still one step too slow. The python's tail struck the numbing nerve in his wrist with crushing force. His grip loosened, and his longsword fell to the ground with a clang. At the same time, his body was flung away, and the spike at the end of the Nine Nether Python's tail sliced open his palm. Blood immediately gushed forth, dripping onto the cold ground in the dim cavern—a horrifying sight.

"Second Senior Brother!"

Little Junior Sister's sobbing cry pierced through the ringing in his ears. Both the Nine Nether Python's fangs and tail spikes carried lethal poison. Shen Yuxi felt agony tear through his entire body, as though his flesh, skin, and bones were all about to melt away. Then he slammed heavily into the rock wall, his vision going black as he nearly passed out.

Yet with astonishing willpower and profound cultivation, he forcibly endured the deadly blow. In that very instant, Shen Yuxi seemed to catch the faint fragrance of pear blossoms. That elegant scent was like a spring breeze brushing gently across his heart, calming his mind.

In his haze, it seemed as though a bright moon hung above him. That full moon appeared to pierce through past and present, overlapping the figures of his former and current lives. The collision of those two figures nearly set his meridians boiling, and the spiritual power within him erupted under the tremendous impact.

Using the recoil, he soared into the air. Poison had entered his body, yet he drew in a deep breath and resolutely withdrew his protective true qi, gathering all his spiritual power into a single point and using his fingers as a sword.

The instant Sword Qi burst forth, the loneliness of this life and the clamor of his previous one exploded into a sky full of sparks within his spiritual platform. His hair ribbon snapped, and Sword Qi poured down like moonlight as countless silver strands flashed with piercing cold light. His figure shot toward the Nine Nether Python like lightning, so fast that all anyone saw was a blur.

It was a killing move no one in the Profound Heaven Sect had ever seen—when the Sword Qi pierced through the Nine Nether Python's scales, it rang with the clear chime of a jade chime, like heavenly music, yet carrying fatal destructive force.

The giant python stiffened amid the needle-fine Sword Qi, its enormous body trembling slightly as though making one final struggle. But the situation was already beyond saving.

Then, beneath the fierce assault of the sword intent from his fingers, before it crumbled into dust, the python's vertical pupils reflected the young man standing still with raised fingers—black hair flying wildly, scorching fire burning in eyes as cold as frost.

Having exhausted his spiritual power, Shen Yuxi staggered. Even standing steadily seemed difficult, as though a light breeze could blow him over. After stumbling several steps, he could no longer support himself and collapsed into unconsciousness.

In his dreams, those hazy scenes became increasingly clear, as though they were trying to drag him back into that distant time.

It turned out that he was a book transmigrator.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary college student, an out-and-out omnivorous shipper and webnovel nerd. His family background was ordinary, his grades were ordinary, and he had no particularly outstanding talents. He spent most of his free time immersed in all kinds of novels and pairings. He had the vigor and naivety unique to young people, an active mind, and curiosity toward all things under heaven. His days had been simple and happy.

He had thought he would muddle through graduation and become one of the countless office drones. Who could have expected that, after transmigrating into a novel, he would transform into the aloof, cold-faced cannon-fodder Second Senior Brother he was now, surviving in this unfamiliar world as "Shen Yuxi."

The journey through the secret realm ended while he was unconscious. When Shen Yuxi awoke, the bamboo blinds of Bamboo Retreat filtered in specks of light. His mind was a tangled mess, memories of his past and present lives flashing alternately like two intertwined threads—impossible to sort out, impossible to cut clean.

Yet strangely, he accepted this sudden merging of memories surprisingly well. Those mottled memories overlapped perfectly with his years upon the immortal path, as though the lives of his two incarnations had always been the yin and yang sides of his soul, neither capable of existing without the other.

By day, he was still the most upright Second Senior Brother of the Profound Heaven Sect, every word and movement displaying composure and authority.

But when he opened the window late at night, he would stare blankly at the moonlight filling the courtyard—the memories of his previous life were unstable. Scenes that seemed vivid in dreams would be mostly lost upon waking, and most of the time, he could only vaguely recall perhaps thirty percent.

Let alone those faint, fragmentary scraps of memory, even if he fully recovered every memory from his previous life, Shen Yuxi would still only be Shen Yuxi.

He had already lived in this world longer than he had in his previous one. His habits and mannerisms had long since taken shape and were difficult to change.

But recovering his memories had not left him entirely unaffected.

His mental state improved greatly. The collision and fusion of his previous-life mindset with this life's values gradually led the boy who had once sealed off his heart to begin accepting others. Influenced by his previous life, his personality became much more cheerful, though it did not show in his behavior for the time being.

He was still accustomed to speaking coldly. Besides, he had been somewhat socially anxious in his previous life, and in this world, he had also acquired the burden of being an idol. He had played the role of the iceberg senior brother for eight years. If he suddenly revealed his true nature, it was hard to imagine how everyone in the sect would see him.

Thus, he simply became a master of expression management. Every day, he wore that iceberg face that had not melted for a thousand years, while inside, his thoughts were like an increasingly lively world of scrolling comments, all kinds of ideas frantically flooding the screen.

Well, since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. I've come this far, so I'll just go with the flow.

In his previous life, he had been an absolute diehard fan of the series novel Song of the Nine Domains. He did not know how many times he had reread it. Every character seemed to have been carved into the depths of his soul. He should have known the novel's contents like the back of his hand, able to recite them as easily as counting his treasures.

Yet fate seemed to have played a joke on him. When he arrived in this place that closely resembled the world of the novel, much of its content became like flowers seen through fog, indistinct and unclear in his memory.

The plots and characters he had once known by heart now seemed veiled by a thin gauze, blurred and vague. Only when he saw particular people or events did it feel as though some mysterious mechanism had been triggered, like flipping the correct switch, allowing part of the contents to surge up from the depths of his memory like a tide.

Shen Yuxi brushed a fallen leaf from his sleeve. The north wind swept up his robes, and he cut the figure of an immortal standing upon a lone snowy peak.

At the bend in the mountain path, the young disciples who had been stealing glances hurriedly lowered their heads, and their whispers came to an abrupt halt, as though an invisible hand had suddenly clapped over their mouths.

There was no need to guess that they must be looking up at him with eyes full of reverence and fear—just as the other disciples had over the past eight years.

Little did they know that the iceberg senior brother they revered was currently cursing inwardly: You bastard Heavenly Dao, fine, you made me transmigrate into a novel, and being reincarnated from birth is of course great, but what the hell was with taking away my memories? If I'd had my memories, I would've pried up the floor tiles of the Shen residence and sold them, then turned around and headed straight to the Profound Heaven Sect! Would I still have had to suffer all that grievance?

If I never remembered, that'd actually be fine. But if you insist on making me remember, I wouldn't reject it either, right? But look at the goddamn timing you arranged! I was so close! Really, just a tiny bit away! I almost fucking lost my life!

Shen Yuxi took a deep breath, gazed at the mountain ranges faintly visible amid the distant clouds and mist, and silently screamed, That's why book transmigrators should have systems and cheat abilities! What kind of transmigrator can't even remember the plot properly? This generation's Heavenly Dao is no good!

After venting his frustrations—going a little crazy—Shen Yuxi finally calmed down and began pondering when his pear tree would blossom.

Peach blossoms were pretty, but fuzzy peaches dirtied one's hands when eaten, and they were soft and limp without being filling. From the moment he had first arrived, Shen Yuxi had been thinking about the tender, juicy pears on Spirit Pool Peak.

Being cold was acquired later, and so was being expressionless, but the pursuit of delicious food knew no distinction between extroverts, introverts, aloof people, or simps.

Just then, a brisk, rhythmic set of footsteps broke the silence with a tap-tap-tap, like pebbles thrown into a tranquil lake.

The footsteps came closer and closer, seemingly carrying a different kind of vitality that slowly woke him from his beautiful dream of pears.

A girl as delicate as a doll came hopping into view. It was Little Junior Sister. Her cheeks were rosy, like ripe, enticing apples, glowing with a healthy, sweet color as though juice would burst out with the gentlest bite.

She carefully held an exquisite food box in her hands. The box was finely crafted, with delicate patterns carved upon it, as though telling of the preciousness of what it carried.

Inside were pastries she had spent a long time learning to make from Fourth Senior Sister. Every piece was filled with her heartfelt sincerity. She had specially tasted them herself and only brought them to her senior brother after she was satisfied.

Three months ago, within that perilous secret realm, Shen Yuxi had descended like a hero, placing himself in danger without regard for his own safety to save Little Junior Sister when her life had hung by a thread.

From that moment on, ripples had spread across Little Junior Sister's heart lake. The first stirrings of love had quietly awakened, and affection for Shen Yuxi had secretly taken root. Like flowers silently blooming in spring, her love slowly blossomed deep within her heart.

At this moment, Little Junior Sister was full of joy. A faint blush colored her fair cheeks, and her eyes shone with intertwined anticipation and shyness.

"Second Senior Brother! I made pastries for you. They're really delicious, come taste them!"

Shyly raising her hand, she offered Shen Yuxi the carefully prepared pastries brimming with her feelings. She secretly hoped that even a simple word of praise from Second Senior Brother, or perhaps a single "you've worked hard," would leave her completely satisfied.

Yet things went against her wishes. Shen Yuxi merely stared at her blankly, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.

Then, his inner voice exploded beside Little Junior Sister's ears like a sudden clap of thunder: Wait, the pastry-gifting plot? Aren't you part of Eldest Senior Brother's harem? You've got the wrong target, haven't you?!

That abrupt inner voice instantly doused the beautiful, warm atmosphere with a basin of cold water, shattering it into pieces.

Little Junior Sister immediately looked utterly lost. Her large eyes, once full of anticipation, were now filled with deep confusion and incomprehension. She unconsciously tilted her head slightly, like an innocent little deer, staring at Shen Yuxi in complete bewilderment.

Why would I like Eldest Senior Brother? What does harem mean? Little Junior Sister was thoroughly confused. This inexplicable inner voice had left her as lost as though she had fallen into clouds and fog, unable to make head or tail of it.

Fourth Senior Sister, who had come with Little Junior Sister intending to encourage her—while also secretly hoping to hear some juicy gossip—suddenly heard this earthshaking inner voice. Her eyes immediately lit up like stars in the night sky, and she could barely contain her excitement.

She instinctively clapped her hands together.

"Wow, what juicy gossip."

She could already foresee the tremendous uproar this news would cause in the sect once it spread.

Although Second Senior Brother eventually accepted the pastries, Little Junior Sister, who had arrived full of anticipation, could not feel happy at all. She puffed up her cheeks, her little mouth protruding enough to hang an oil bottle from it. Then she stamped her foot, turned around, and left.

The moment Fourth Senior Sister returned to her residence, before she even had time to sit down, a crowd of wildly curious senior and junior brothers immediately surrounded her like stars circling the moon.

Their eyes gleamed with excitement like hungry wolves spotting prey, and they could not wait to ask Fourth Senior Sister what exactly Second Senior Brother had said.

Seeing this, Fourth Senior Sister deliberately cleared her throat and slowly began to keep them in suspense, whetting their appetites to the fullest before finally saying at an unhurried pace, "Second Senior Brother said Eldest Senior Brother has a harem."

Everyone froze at first, the expressions on their faces instantly stiffening as though time itself had stopped. For a moment, they failed to react.

Then their eyes widened as large as bronze bells, and their mouths opened wide enough to fit an egg. They let out a collective cry of alarm, their voices filled with shock and disbelief, as though they had heard the most absurd thing in the world.

Seeing this, Fourth Senior Sister became even more pleased with herself. The corners of her lips curled into a sly smile as she added another revelation. "He also said Little Junior Sister is one of his harem."

This time, everyone's cries rose even higher, like rolling thunder that nearly burst through the roof, as though the entire Profound Heaven Sect would be shaken by the sudden revelation.

Little Junior Sister was both anxious and furious. Her little face turned bright red, and tears even glimmered in her eyes. She kept stamping her feet like a child throwing a tantrum and shouted, "I don't like Eldest Senior Brother...!!"

She looked both adorable and aggrieved, making people unable to help but feel sympathy and want to step forward to comfort her.

Wen Jian did not believe it at all. He repeatedly waved his hands and said, "Second Senior Brother must be letting his imagination run wild again." After all, he himself had suffered deeply from it before, having been embarrassed beyond measure by Second Senior Brother's wild speculations.

But Fourth Senior Sister Zhou Wan disagreed. Shaking her head, she said seriously, "Junior Brother, we have all spent years together as fellow disciples. Second Senior Brother's character is plain for all to see. He has always been steady and reliable. How could he make up something like this out of nowhere?"

Wen Jian could not help rolling his eyes inwardly, the meaning in his gaze obvious: Do you even believe that yourself, Senior Sister?

Seeing this, Zhou Wan immediately retorted, "How could those be the same? Although Second Senior Brother is usually addicted to playing matchmaker, wild speculation and stating something as certain fact have vastly different tones. I do not think I would misjudge that difference."

Wen Jian was anxious, but he could not expose how Second Senior Brother had previously made wild guesses about him and Third Senior Brother. His face flushed red with frustration as he argued loudly, "Little Junior Sister is still a child! Eldest Senior Brother has always been upright and honorable. How could he possibly have that kind of thought toward Little Junior Sister? It's absolutely impossible!"

"Junior Brother, that is where you are mistaken." Zhou Wan gently shook her head, a hint of certainty in her gaze. Looking meaningfully at Little Junior Sister's flushed cheeks, she slowly said, "Since Second Senior Brother can see scenes of the future, how do we know it will not become reality someday? After all, Little Junior Sister will not remain a child forever."

Everyone's hearts stirred upon hearing that. Yes, the young girl before them, whose first feelings of love had already begun to bloom, was gradually growing up. She was no longer an innocent, ignorant child.

Thus, after such discussion, the group of senior and junior brothers somehow muddleheadedly accepted that what Second Senior Brother had said was true.

Meanwhile, Eldest Senior Brother, who was currently in seclusion, knew nothing of any of this. He remained immersed in cultivation, completely unaware that his reputation had already been ruined beyond all recognition without him realizing it.

Song of the Nine Domains Encyclopedia:

○ Nine Nether Python

A demonic beast that liked underground places, deep caves, and subterranean water. The higher its cultivation, the larger its body, and it dug tunnels at an extremely fast speed.

Its shell was exceptionally sturdy and made excellent material for forging weapons.

Although it was venomous, the venom itself was not particularly potent. Its fangs were also excellent materials for forging weapons.

Its meat was firm and rich in flavor. It was recommended to smoke and store it for more than ten years before tasting.

Little Theater:

After leaving seclusion, Eldest Senior Brother was walking down the road when his fellow disciples said, "Eldest Senior Brother, we heard you have a harem?"

Eldest Senior Brother: ???

His fellow disciples said, "We heard you won't even spare Little Junior Sister?"

Eldest Senior Brother: ???

His fellow disciples said, "It's fine, Eldest Senior Brother. Men, you know? We understand."

Eldest Senior Brother: Let me explain... No, Shen Yuxi!!! Get out here and explain yourself!!!