Western Region of the Qingyuan Continent — Shendao Sect.
"Ji Chang, I'm here. Once you get what you want, I only ask that you spare the Ling family… and spare Xiao Feng.
Come on. I'll just treat it as if I've been bitten by a dog."
Luo Nishang stood before him, her expression cold as frost.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, her body radiating the mature charm of a woman in her prime. Her voice was firm and resolute, as if she were walking toward her own execution.
Yet the rise and fall of her full, heaving chest betrayed her true state of mind.
She was far from calm.
Across from her stood a man dressed in a simple black-and-white Daoist robe. His features were strikingly handsome, carrying an air of natural nobility.
A faint smile rested on his lips.
But if Luo Nishang had dared to raise her head and meet his gaze, she would have noticed something strange. The man's eyes—normally filled with authority and dignity—now held a trace of confusion and shock.
An expression that had never appeared before.
I transmigrated.
Qi Refining… Foundation Establishment… Golden Core…
Demonic beasts… demon clans… the Dao Alliance…
I've arrived in a world of cultivation!
And I'm Ji Chang—the inner sect prodigy of the Shendao Sect, the one most likely to become a True Disciple!
And the mature, alluring female cultivator in front of me… the one glaring at me… is Luo Nishang, the matriarch of a third-rate family under the Shendao Sect's jurisdiction?
Wait… Ji Chang? Luo Nishang?
The shock in his eyes deepened.
In his previous life, he had been a veteran reader of harem novels for over ten years—a true web novel addict who spent countless hours browsing forums.
And very quickly, a thought surfaced in his mind.
A recently popular novel from one of those forums.
"Records of Fairies in Their Splendor".
Ever since a certain famous "goddess novel" exploded in popularity, countless authors had begun writing cultivation stories centered around saintesses and celestial beauties. Among the imitators, this one had stood out as a particularly high-quality work.
He had followed it daily.
How could he possibly forget?
Ji Chang—the inner sect prodigy of the Shendao Sect. Surname Ji…
I've become Ji Chang—the great villain of that "goddess" power-fantasy novel!
He awkwardly circulated the spiritual power within his body, forcing himself to calm down.
But the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Being an inner sect disciple of the Shendao Sect wasn't the important part.
The important part…
was his surname.
Ji.
The Ji Family of the Western Wasteland.
A true Longevity Clan, powerful enough to rival even a top-tier sect like the Shendao Sect.
What was a Longevity Clan?
A family that had endured for more than ten thousand years without decline. Every thousand years, at least one Nascent Soul True Lord would emerge to guard the family, witnessing the rise and fall of the world like tides.
In today's Qingyuan cultivation world, Heavenly Lords of the Divine Transformation Realm had long withdrawn from public view.
Because of that, Nascent Soul True Lords had become the standard used to measure the strength of a power.
Only forces with a Nascent Soul cultivator could be considered a great sect or great clan.
The Ji Family of the Western Wasteland not only possessed that qualification—
some even called them the number one family in the Western Wasteland.
Their strength was terrifying.
The Ji Family constantly had three to five Nascent Soul True Lords guarding the clan.
And their ancestor had already reached Nascent Soul Great Perfection more than a thousand years ago—just one step away from becoming a Heavenly Lord.
After a thousand years…
many great cultivators suspected that the ancestor had already taken that step and advanced to Divine Transformation.
With such an overwhelming background, the Ji Family was naturally untouchable.
And Ji Chang…
was the only legitimate son of the current patriarch.
His father had advanced to the Nascent Soul realm two hundred years ago. With the support of the Ji Family's Dao soldiers, he had earned tremendous fame during the Western Wasteland beast tide, slaughtering countless enemies.
Ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators were no match for him.
Ji Chang's mother was not a Nascent Soul cultivator, but she was still a genuine Golden Core expert. She was also the daughter of a renowned master artificer.
After marrying into the Ji Family, that master artificer had been recruited into the clan as well, forming the Artifact Hall.
The hall generated massive profits and increased the overall combat strength of the Ji Family's cultivators by nearly twenty percent.
With parents like that…
Ji Chang was unquestionably one of the most elite second-generation heirs in the Western Wasteland.
But that wasn't even the most terrifying part.
Ji Chang himself possessed peerless talent.
He had been born with dual pupils, a legendary trait.
And when he was born, the heavens had displayed strange phenomena while Daoist chants echoed through the sky.
Several Nascent Soul True Lords of the Ji Family had personally declared:
He possessed the bearing of a Heavenly Lord.
Of course, some might ask—
If he was such an unparalleled genius, why hadn't the Ji Family raised him themselves instead of sending him to the Shendao Sect?
After all, the Ji Family's power was no weaker than the sect's.
The reason was simple.
The Shendao Sect possessed a True Inheritance cultivation technique that suited Ji Chang perfectly.
It was rumored that the technique had been left behind ten thousand years ago by a cultivator who also possessed dual pupils.
That was why Ji Chang had joined the Shendao Sect.
If he could rise rapidly within the sect—and perhaps even become its Sect Master—then the Ji Family and the Shendao Sect would effectively unite.
At that point, the entire Western Wasteland would become their domain alone.
That had always been the Ji Family's ambition.
And in the original story…
Ji Chang had almost succeeded.
He had even tasted the company of countless stunning beauties—fairies, saintesses, heavenly maidens.
The twists and turns of that journey had made the novel a masterpiece on the forums.
But unfortunately…
In the end, the male protagonist Ling Feng endured humiliation, waited for his moment, and eventually turned the tables.
He ascended to the upper realm together with the saintesses who had been thoroughly ruined—some even carrying children in their bellies—and started everything anew.
And the woman standing before him now—
Luo Nishang, the foster mother—
was one of those heroines.
The Ling Family, where Ling Feng came from, was merely a Foundation Establishment family without even a single Golden Core cultivator.
In the Western Wasteland, that barely counted as a second-rate force.
In other words—
they were cannon fodder.
Ling Feng, however, was the pride of their family.
Their one and only hope.
The inner sect's promotion examination for True Disciple accepted only one person.
Even though Ling Feng possessed fortunate encounters and outstanding talent, he was no match for Ji Chang, who possessed countless divine abilities, spiritual artifacts, and talismans.
So why had Ji Chang been so popular among readers—sometimes even more popular than the actual protagonist?
Because his personality perfectly embodied what a true villain should be.
He crushed others with power.
His intelligence was sharp.
And he was utterly ruthless.
Just like now.
Although the Shendao Sect's competition forbade the use of talisman treasures and higher-level artifacts, Ji Chang still wanted absolute certainty.
So he secretly instructed his followers and subordinate factions to attack the Ling Family.
He even forced Ling Feng's most respected foster mother to personally come to his cave dwelling and beg for forgiveness.
He was certain of one thing—
Once Ling Feng heard this news, his mind would be thrown into chaos.
He wouldn't even be able to bring out half of his strength during the competition.
In another kind of story, the original Ji Chang could have easily been the protagonist—a cautious, scheming genius.
But the reason Records of Fairies in Their Splendor had achieved popularity comparable to that legendary "Goddess Record" novel…
was because its protagonist, Ling Feng, had even fewer moral boundaries.
Once you've worn enough green hats, what's one more?
Ji Chang believed his scheme had succeeded, forcing the Ling Family to beg for mercy.
But in reality—
this was all part of Ling Feng's plan.
A plan within a plan.
Of course, on the surface, it looked like he had no choice.
In truth, a strange poison had long been hidden inside Luo Nishang's body.
The moment she and Ji Chang engaged in dual cultivation—
the poison would spread through his body and destroy his Qi Sea and Dantian.
At that point, Ji Chang would no longer be able to use his cultivation.
How could he possibly compete with Ling Feng then?
As for revenge?
By that time, Ling Feng would have already won the competition and become a True Disciple of the Shendao Sect.
And the True Disciple of a top-tier sect was not someone even the Ji Family could casually kill or target.
Likewise—
once Ling Feng became a True Disciple,
the crisis facing the Ling Family would naturally be resolved.