Chapter 1: What Do You Mean I Can’t Go Back Now?

“Master… you’re safe… thank goodness…”

Luo Jiutian’s voice was so faint it was barely audible.

At this moment, he lay in the arms of a silver-haired woman, blood gushing from his chest and staining his robes a shocking crimson.

His face was pale as paper, his lips trembling, the light in his eyes slowly dissipating bit by bit.

The heavens and earth around them were suffocatingly dark.

Black clouds churned and pressed low, as though they would collapse at any moment and swallow the entire world whole.

Thunder roared in his ears like a massive drum, while scarlet lightning bolts rampaged wildly through the storm clouds.

Yet all that overwhelming force of heaven and earth seemed utterly irrelevant.

Because Luo Jiutian’s gaze was fixed entirely on the silver-haired woman before him.

She wore a pure white Daoist robe, her figure tall and slender. Her hair, white as the first snow, cascaded down to her waist, highlighting a face so breathtaking it seemed otherworldly.

Normally, her expression was calm and aloof, as if untouched by the mortal world—an untouchable immortal.

But now, those cold and clear eyes shimmered with moisture, tinged faintly red. Her lips quivered, as though she wanted to speak, yet in the end, all that came out was a sigh, heavy with pain:

“Tian’er, why are you so foolish…”

Moments ago, just as she was about to face the critical stage of her Tribulation to ascend to the Great Ascension Realm, a sinister killing intent had struck without warning, seeking to ruin everything.

It was Luo Jiutian who had burned his very life essence to shield her from that fatal blow.

For her sake, he had sacrificed everything.

Luo Jiutian forced himself to draw another breath, lifting a bloodstained hand with great effort to brush against her cold cheek.

“Master, hurry… go face your Tribulation… don’t let me… cough, cough!”

At those words, the silver-haired woman’s body trembled, her eyes flashing with a panic she had never known before.

For the very first time, she lost control of her emotions.

In the Tianheng Sect, she had cultivated the Supreme Formula for centuries. With each rise in cultivation, her seven emotions and six desires had been gradually eroded—joy no longer stirred her heart, anger could not shake her mind, sorrow and delight were but illusions.

But this dying youth in her arms was tearing her very soul apart.

She clutched him tightly, her icy mountain-like composure collapsing into fragile vulnerability. Her voice trembled with endless self-reproach:

“Why… I’m not worth this…”

Luo Jiutian slowly curved his lips into a faint smile.

But that smile wasn’t for her.

It was for the line of text that appeared before his eyes on a shimmering virtual screen.

【Ding! Congratulations to the Host for raising Dugu Ningshuang’s affection meter to 100! Strategy complete!】

Finally—

All objectives had been conquered.

As the system prompt echoed in his mind, Luo Jiutian’s heart was calm, without a ripple.

Dugu Ningshuang had no idea what he was seeing. All she could feel was his life draining away, drop by drop, in her arms.

Her heart ached like it was being torn apart, but she could do nothing—only hold him tighter.

And then, in the next instant, Luo Jiutian’s body dissolved into specks of light in her embrace and vanished without a trace.

“…Tian’er?”

Dugu Ningshuang froze.

Her arms held nothing.

The thunder still roared. The world was still shrouded in darkness.

But to her, everything was empty.

***

In a space of pure white, there was no sound at all.

Luo Jiutian slowly opened his eyes.

Around him stretched endless nothingness—no sky, no ground. Only a suspended blue interface unfolded before him.

【Host has completed all ten target heroines’ strategies. Each affection meter has reached 100.】
【Evaluation: Extreme precision. Emotional manipulation flawless. Strategy highly innovative. You are the 👍】
【Mission settlement in progress…】

Luo Jiutian let out a slow breath and murmured,

“At last, it’s over.”

He closed his eyes, memories surfacing in his mind.

From the very start, the system had dragged him into this data-simulated fantasy world. It had told him: as long as he, in the role of the “Devoted Supporting Character,” conquered the hearts of ten heroines, he could return to Blue Star with the cultivation of a Great Ascension expert.

He had agreed without hesitation.

In the beginning, he poured all his effort into approaching the first target as instructed by the system. Her attitude toward him gradually softened, and he played the role of the devoted companion so convincingly, he nearly believed it himself.

But the affection meter was forever stuck at ninety. No matter what he did, it refused to move.

Until the day he unexpectedly “died” during a sudden event.

Moments after his death, the system’s voice had announced that the meter had surged past one hundred—strategy complete.

When Luo Jiutian saw that success notification, he had paused, then laughed.

“So that’s it.”

Love unfulfilled—that was what etched the deepest mark upon a person’s heart.

When does someone become unforgettable to another?

Not when they spend each day together. Not when they rely on one another.

But at that moment of pain, regret, and irretrievable loss.

So, with his extraordinary cunning, Luo Jiutian decided then and there—

He would use “fake death” as his strategy for every heroine.

And indeed, it worked every time.

He couldn’t help but sigh. He truly was a genius.

If the strategy itself was an exam, then he had already turned in the perfect paper.

Drawing his thoughts back, Luo Jiutian’s eyes fell once more on the system screen.

【Settlement in progress… please wait.】

He raised a brow, noticing that his body was starting to glow.

The light began at his feet and quickly spread upward, engulfing him.

Teleportation?

Feeling his body grow lighter and lighter, Luo Jiutian closed his eyes, spread his arms, and shouted:

“Kore wa… jiyu daaa—!”

The instant he spoke, the silence shattered.

A tidal wave of noise rushed into his ears—shouts, laughter, clinking bowls and chopsticks.

Luo Jiutian frowned slightly, his consciousness still hazy. The environment was noisy, the temperature utterly different from before.

Instinctively, he muttered,

“Finally… I’m home.”

But just then, a rough voice bellowed nearby:

“Waiter! Bring wine!”

Luo Jiutian’s body stiffened. His eyes flew open.

Before him was a lavishly decorated inn—red pillars, carved beams, flowered windows. On the wall hung a calligraphy painting reading: Fortune Inn.

The air was filled with the aroma of food and drink. Guests bustled back and forth, the hall lively with chatter.

No. Wasn’t this an inn in Tianyuan Kingdom?

Why was he back here?

And… wasn’t this right at the very beginning of the story?

He looked down at his hands—pale and clean, his clothes immaculate.

He immediately circulated his spiritual energy—

Foundation Establishment, early stage.

Weak, but flowing freely, the meridians’ feedback unnervingly real.

Sweeping his gaze around, every detail was too vivid, too convincing.

Luo Jiutian’s lips twitched.

“No way… don’t tell me I’ve been dropped straight into the original world the system modeled all along?”

Sure enough, the familiar blue interface appeared once more.

【Notice: Due to an unknown error, the Host has been transferred into the ‘original world’ used as reference for the simulation. Please accept our apologies.】
【The system will work to repair the bug and return the Host to Blue Star as soon as possible. Please be patient.】

“Temporary? Then how long am I supposed to wait here?”

【Ding! Estimated time: 300 years.】

“?”