[Heart-Seeking Realm · Day Three][Current Trial: The Fate Trial Realm — Activating]
Xu Nian jolted awake—She found herself standing alone in an eerily empty space.
The sky and earth were a lifeless gray, void of light, form, or warmth—As if the entire world had lost its color.
For once, her usually lazy system sounded tense:
[Alert: "Fate Trial Realm" is a mid-tier forbidden instance. Category: Destiny-Based Life-and-Death Trial.][You will confront the death destined for you. You must resist fate with your true will—failure results in instant erasure.][Warning: This instance has mutated due to your presence. Ending unknown. Proceed with caution.]
"…HUH???" Xu Nian yelled.
"I'm just in the Qi Refining stage! Can't I get age-appropriate content?!"
But then—A figure began to appear in the center of the gray world.
It was… herself.
Or rather—The original Xu Nian from the novel:Expression blank, skin pale, eyes dull, her robes fluttering like a wandering ghost.
She stared at Xu Nian and spoke in a chilling, hollow voice:
"You are the anomaly.""I am the true owner of this body.""You don't belong here."
Xu Nian froze.
In that moment, the fate of the original Xu Nian flashed in her mind—She had died during the Heart-Seeking Trial. No body, no grave, no name on the Honor Monument.
Yes—This wasn't an enemy or beast.Her greatest fate trial… was her very existence as someone not meant to be in this world.
"You stole my destiny.""You made them… forget me.""You killed me."
Her phantom-self's voice rose in a crescendo of rage and grief.
Suddenly, shadows began to form behind the ghost—five familiar silhouettes.The outlines of her senior brothers—eyes empty, drenched in blood.
"They were my senior brothers.""They would've shattered the heavens for me.""What right do you have to replace me?!"
Xu Nian clenched her fists.
"…You're wrong."
"I didn't replace you."
"I just didn't want you to die for nothing."
"You were nothing but a disposable pawn to fuel the protagonist's glow.But I—am not a tool."
She took a step forward, her gaze clear and steady—brighter than the illusion before her.
"Hate me if you want.""But know this—it was this world that betrayed you first."
She reached out, fingers glowing with spiritual light, toward the ghost of her former self.
"If you want revenge—I'll get justice for you.""If you're full of resentment—then let me carry it for you. Let me… live in your place."
The illusion trembled.
And then…Finally, for the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed the ghost's eyes.
Moments later, she began to fracture—Breaking apart into motes of light.
[Ding! Fate Trial Cleared][Trial Completion Condition: Acceptance of Reality + Autonomous Will][Awakening Level +20%][System Permission Updated: Temporary access granted to Canon Memory Fragments]
Xu Nian's vision spun—Fragments of foreign yet familiar memories surged into her mind:
—The original Xu Nian, born with average talent, was brought into Xuanqing Sect due to a twist of fate.—She was gentle, careful, hardworking… yet always ignored.—She died in the Heart-Seeking Trial because the male lead misjudged a situation, triggering a heart demon. She was sacrificed to restart the timeline.—No one honored her.—No one even said, "She was once one of us."
Xu Nian opened her eyes slowly.
"...Don't worry.""You were used like a tool.But I won't be."
—
Meanwhile, outside the Heart-Seeking Realm—
The "doting but slightly unhinged" senior brothers were on the verge of panic.
"It's already the third day.Why is Xu Nian's energy still unstable?"Xie Linyuan growled, pacing restlessly, cold aura rising off his body.
"Something's wrong with her body," Bai Qi said, folding his fan with a frown."The trial must've mutated. The system's accelerated the challenge."
Without a word, Shen Wang drew his sword and stepped toward the trial boundary.
"What are you doing?!" Lu Jin exclaimed.
"I'm going in to get her."
"That's insane! You'll trigger a total system collapse—it'll kill you both!"
Shen Wang's tone was ice:
"I told you. Wherever she is—I'll be there too."
Bai Qi chuckled softly:
"Count me in, then."
Xie Linyuan muttered:
"I'm not watching her die without doing something."
Behind them, Yun Gui silently activated a fifth-grade teleportation array:
"All ready. Going together."
Sect Master Gu Changyuan tried to intervene—But a soft paw slapped him across the face.
"Snowball" had landed on his shoulder, eyes glaring.
"Our master… needs us."
"Snow—what the—"
"Squeeeeee!!!"
[BOOM!!!!]
In the next instant—five psychotic senior brothers + one ancient divine beast + several hundred shattered formation stones = trial barrier? Obliterated.
They charged straight into the Fate Trial Realm.
—
Xu Nian had just regained consciousness when—Five terrifying auras exploded around her, each radiating murder and madness.
"…"
Each of them had the same look in their eyes:
"Hurt her, and die."
"I JUST finished my life-or-death trial, and now you're here to storm the realm?!"
Shen Wang pulled her into his arms:
"We're here to take you home."
"…I think I just survived," Xu Nian whispered.
Bai Qi smiled gently:
"Next time, don't carry everything alone."
Xie Linyuan's voice was low:
"You're the cure to our demons. Don't you dare die."
Lu Jin added calmly:
"As long as you live, we do too."
The system sighed:
[Your survival rate is truly abnormal.][Plot Deviation Level: 52%][You are no longer a side character.][You now possess the right to choose your own fate.]
—
Meanwhile, on the protagonist team's side—
They were falling apart.
Xiao Yunchen was forced to watch a vision of his "future failure"—He'd killed his entire sect trying to gain more power…But still couldn't save Shen Qingyan.
Shen Qingyan's illusion?
She watched Xu Nian step into the light—Surrounded by devotion and power—While she stood forgotten in the shadows.
"Why… her?"
At last, they realized—
The quiet little junior sister they'd underestimated—
Had completely broken free from the original story.
She was no longer a side character.
She was becoming the new center of fate.