Chapter 1

On May 20, 2019, Monday.

Spring had given way to summer.

During this season, the temperature difference between day and night in the Jiangnan area became quite significant. In the daytime, it was so hot that one could wear shorts and still feel like a dog in the heat; at night, one had to curl up in bed to avoid freezing like a cold bird.

Jiangnan University Town.

At 2:13 PM, this was the time when students were in class. However, Song Shuhang was alone in the dormitory, having moved his computer desk to the side of the bed for convenience in watching movies in various positions.

Song Shuhang didn't have a habit of skipping classes—last night, the weather was stiflingly hot, and in his sleep, he kicked off the blanket with a 'double dragon out of the sea' kick. Later in the night, the temperature dropped sharply. With only a pair of shorts on, Song Shuhang was in a miserable state, desperately searching for the blanket in his sleep but to no avail. In the end, he curled up like a shrimp, shivering in the cold night wind.

By the time the sun rose, Song Shuhang had joined the ranks of those suffering from seasonal colds.

His roommate had already taken leave for him for the day.

Then, he took cold medicine and slept until now.

The fever had subsided, but his body still felt weak. In such a state, he couldn't possibly attend class. So, he could only stay in the dormitory, bored, and watch movies.

On the screen, the movie's progress bar slowly advanced, but Song Shuhang didn't pay attention to the content at all.

"Is the medicine still working? I'm so sleepy," he yawned, feeling his eyelids getting heavy.

At that moment, the chat software in the lower right corner of the computer screen flashed.

This was a notification that someone had added him as a friend or invited him to a group.

"Who added me?" Song Shuhang muttered, reaching out to tap the lower right corner of the touchscreen, and a notification popped up.

[True Master Yellow Mountain (******) requests to add you as a friend.] Additional message: None.

True Master Yellow Mountain? Who is this, with such a strange nickname?

"Is it a classmate?" Song Shuhang thought, recalling a few classmates who, despite being in college, were still in their youthful fantasy phase. If it was them, they would indeed use such a strange nickname.

With this thought, he clicked 'Agree.'

Immediately after, another system message popped up.

[True Master Yellow Mountain invites you to join the group 'Nine Provinces No. 1 Group.' Do you agree?]

Song Shuhang continued to click 'Agree.'

'Song Shuhang' agreed to join 'Nine Provinces No. 1 Group.'

[You have agreed to join the group. Say hello to the group members!] A system smiley face was also included.

These days, chat tools were becoming more and more user-friendly.

After a series of notifications, Song Shuhang calmly closed the notifications and the group chat window—sleepiness was overwhelming him, and he had no energy to care about what group he had joined.

Anyway, his group settings were always set to 'no notifications, only show the number of messages.' Chatting in the group wouldn't pop up to disturb him; it would only show the number of messages in the group.

When he was more awake, he could check the chat history to see what kind of group he had joined and the chat records of the group members.

His eyes grew heavier...

The movie's progress bar continued to advance stubbornly, but Song Shuhang's consciousness became increasingly blurred.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the 'Nine Provinces No. 1 Group,' after seeing a new member join, a member who had been lurking surfaced.

North River Scattered Man: "True Master Yellow Mountain added a new fellow practitioner? It's been over a year since the last new addition, right?"

Another ID, 'Su Clan's Ah Qi,' quickly replied: "New fellow practitioner? Which region of China are you from? Where is your cave? What is your Daoist name? What level of cultivation have you reached?"

This series of questions felt a bit off somehow?

Almost simultaneously, an ID named 'Mad Saber Three Waves' popped up: "New fellow practitioner's gender? Is it a fairy? If so, please provide your measurements and a photo!"

Seeing the messages from Su Clan's Ah Qi and Mad Saber Three Waves, several people in the group twitched at the corners of their mouths.

"Brother Three Waves, are you really a goldfish?" North River Scattered Man sighed. "Don't you dare die again. What if True Master Yellow Mountain added a senior practitioner this time?"

Three Waves was a good guy, loyal and helpful, so he had good relationships with people—except that he often spoke without thinking and ended up in trouble.

Worse still, his luck was abysmally low. Every time he inadvertently spoke without thinking, he offended a senior practitioner. These bored senior practitioners, looking for entertainment, would naturally be happy to torment Mad Saber Three Waves.

"Please don't mention 'senior practitioner.' I have a shadow in my heart," Mad Saber Three Waves sent a row of 'tears streaming down' emojis.

Four years ago, his loose tongue offended a beautiful 'senior practitioner,' and he was tormented for a whole year and four months... Yes, a whole year and four months! Thinking back to those inhuman days, his eyes welled up with tears.

Just as Three Waves finished speaking, a series of evil grins popped up in the group—unrestrained, straightforward schadenfreude.

There were eight people online in the group, and six of them sent a row of grins.

"You bunch of schadenfreude, I remember each and every one of you. Don't let me meet you, or I'll make you taste the power of my seventy-two fast saber techniques!" Mad Saber Three Waves said resentfully. He was very confident in his fast saber techniques, and none of the six who sent the evil grins could match him in a one-on-one fight.

Just as Mad Saber Three Waves finished speaking,

Another evil grin popped up in the group, from Su Clan's Ah Qi.

Then Su Clan's Ah Qi said excitedly, "When are we fighting one-on-one?"

Clearly, Su Clan's Ah Qi didn't mean to be schadenfreude—he just wanted to fight someone.

"..." Mad Saber Three Waves immediately wilted.

Because he couldn't beat Ah Qi!

His cultivation was profound, reaching the late-stage 5th Rank Spirit Emperor, just two steps away from the 6th Rank Spirit Lord, but he couldn't beat Ah Qi.

His seventy-two fast saber techniques were swift and fierce, and his body movement was as fast as lightning, but he couldn't beat Ah Qi.

He was called Mad Saber, and when he went mad, even he was afraid of himself, but he still couldn't beat Ah Qi!

Seeing Three Waves wilt, the group sent another series of unrestrained grins.

"..." This time, Mad Saber Three Waves could only send a row of colons in frustration.

The group had been noisy for a while, but they hadn't heard from the new member, which made them curious.

"New fellow practitioner, why are you not speaking?" North River Scattered Man asked.

Unfortunately, due to the effects of the cold medicine, Song Shuhang had already fallen back into a semi-sleep state.

At this moment, Su Clan's Ah Qi happily sent another message: "I checked, the new fellow practitioner is called 'Pressure of Books.' Have you heard of a master with this Daoist name? It sounds like a Confucian practitioner? How exciting! In recent years, Confucian practitioners have been in deep seclusion, impossible to find. I haven't fought them in nearly a hundred years! Looking back, fighting Confucian practitioners was more enjoyable than fighting Buddhist practitioners. Not only were they good with words, but their fists were also hard. And when they got excited, they would recite poems, which was even more thrilling! I love fighting them the most."

"Ah Qi, do you only look forward to whether a new fellow practitioner is good to fight and whether the fight is enjoyable?" Mad Saber Three Waves sent a 'tears streaming down' emoji. This is just bully behavior, isn't it?!

"Uh," Su Clan's Ah Qi was a bit embarrassed.

North River Scattered Man grinned evilly, "Could it be another senior practitioner who doesn't know how to use chat tools?"

As he said this, everyone felt a sense of déjà vu.

Yes, about four years ago, there was a senior practitioner who had been in seclusion for over a hundred years and was finally online. True Master Yellow Mountain added him to the group, but because he didn't know how to type, he didn't speak.

Then, a guy named Mad Saber Three Waves happily spoke without thinking in front of this senior practitioner, asking for measurements, photos, and voice chats.

Then... a few days later, Mad Saber Three Waves saw this senior practitioner in person. She was a very beautiful senior practitioner, as dazzling as the moon in the night sky.

Then, this beautiful senior practitioner tormented Mad Saber Three Waves for a whole year and four months before leaving satisfied.

Mad Saber Three Waves immediately fell to his knees.

"Yellow Mountain?" At this moment, an ID named 'Pharmacist' spoke.

A mysterious and brief message, without context.

Fortunately, the group was used to Pharmacist's brief chat style—he was asking where True Master Yellow Mountain was.

Pharmacist's brief messages weren't because he was aloof and cold, but because he typed with two fingers and handwriting, which was very slow. When the message was long, it was easy to make mistakes, and deleting and rewriting was very painful. So, Pharmacist got into the habit of keeping his messages as short as possible. Over time, this became his way of communication.

"He added someone and then logged off immediately. I heard his precious great demon dog ran away again, and True Master Yellow Mountain went to chase it. Dealing with that great demon dog isn't easy, so he must be very busy. It's rare for him to have time to add someone," North River Scattered Man replied.

"..." Pharmacist.

"Then we can only wait for the new fellow practitioner to learn how to use the chat tool," Su Clan's Ah Qi sighed. They all assumed the new member was a fellow practitioner.

Seeing that the new fellow practitioner didn't respond, the few online members, finding no entertainment, all went back to lurking.

* * * * * * * * * *

About an hour later, Song Shuhang gradually woke up.

"I remember someone added me to a group, something called 'Nine Provinces No. 1 Group,' right?" he muttered softly, casually opening the chat tool in the lower right corner and pulling up the chat window for the 'Nine Provinces No. 1 Group.'

What kind of group is this?

Soon, the chat records from an hour ago appeared before him.

Song Shuhang skimmed through them.

Fellow practitioner? Cave? What level of cultivation?

And senior practitioner? True Master? This seat? Chasing a great demon dog?

All kinds of terms from fantasy novels.

The way the group members chatted was also interesting—half ancient, half modern. It felt like modern people trying to use ancient language, but because their classical Chinese wasn't good enough, the communication was very awkward.

"Ha~" Song Shuhang laughed out loud.

It seems this is a group for fantasy enthusiasts?

No, this is definitely not an ordinary fantasy enthusiasts' group!

Everyone in the group had a Daoist name, their residence was called a cave, and the group owner's lost pet dog was described as a great demon dog running away. Someone even claimed to have not fought a Confucian practitioner in nearly a hundred years, implying they had lived for hundreds of years?

Just reading these chat records made him feel embarrassed.

"This level of obsession has reached the level of middle school syndrome, and it's a very Chinese-style fantasy middle school syndrome," Song Shuhang nodded in agreement.

It looks like this is a concentration camp for fantasy middle school syndrome patients!

This was his first impression of the 'Nine Provinces No. 1 Group' and its members.

But why did they add him to the group?

He checked the profile of the group owner, True Master Yellow Mountain, and it wasn't a classmate, and he definitely didn't know him.

Was it a mistake?

* * * * * * * * * *