Chapter 1: Third Time Transmigrating as the Male Lead’s Master

Chapter 1: Transmigrating as the Male Lead's Master (Third Time)

"Youtan, in your opinion, who do you think is worthy of becoming your disciple?"

Xue Youtan, clad in white robes, let his gaze sweep over the two people seated before him.

His eyes lingered on the beast-eared youth for a full three minutes. Just as everyone assumed he would choose the beast-eared youth, he finally pointed at the frail youth beside him. "I choose him!"

Almost simultaneously, a voice in Xue Youtan's mind began to blare with warnings.

"Warning, warning! Incorrect character selection. Please correct your choice immediately, Host."

Ignoring the alarms in his head, Xue Youtan stepped down from the main seat and walked straight to the chosen youth. "I choose you. Do you have any objections?"

The youth, who had been lying prostrate, trembled twice and nervously fidgeted with his sleeves. "I... I..."

"I was clearly the winner! Why did you choose him?!"

Before the youth could finish speaking, the beast-eared youth's loud voice drowned out his words.

Though kneeling, the beast-eared youth kept his back ramrod straight. As he spoke, his sharp eyes gleamed with an inscrutable gaze.

Xue Youtan stared into those eyes, his face expressionless, but internally, a herd of alpacas was stampeding through his mind.

Why would he pick a random NPC as his disciple instead of the male lead? Did the male lead really have no clue?

Because choosing you means death—death!!

Xue Youtan rubbed the jade thumb ring on his finger as the figure before him overlapped with the person who had executed him by slow slicing two lifetimes ago.

Yes, two lifetimes ago.

All told, this was already his third lifetime transmigrating as the villainous master of the male lead in the book.

In the first life, he was obedient and followed the script, avoiding going out of character while trying every way to win the male lead Pei Zhi's favor. But when they reached the Qilin Lock dungeon, he was still sliced to pieces by ice blades formed from Pei Zhi's spiritual power. Blood and flesh fell together—Xue Youtan still remembered the feeling of only dying after all his blood had drained away.

So in the second life, when he got a do-over, he struck at the right moment. The moment he met Pei Zhi, he killed him outright.

Fast, precise, ruthless—one sword strike to finish it!

He thought that with the male lead dead, he could live out his life peacefully. But who knew the story would reset to the very beginning, and even throw a disciple-accepting ceremony at him right away.

It was truly endless.

Actually, Xue Youtan had regained consciousness a few minutes ago. During a break in the two youths' sparring, he organized his thoughts and reached a conclusion.

The male lead was his nemesis.

Raising his favorability didn't work, and killing him didn't work either. The male lead seemed to have an advantage that made him impossible to overcome. Besides, the system didn't even show him any progress.

Since he couldn't win, why not just avoid him?

Pei Zhi wasn't his disciple yet. If he passed Pei Zhi off to someone else and didn't become his master, he'd become a background character in the protagonist's group. As long as he stayed far from the male lead and became an irrelevant NPC, he could definitely live out his life and die of old age.

Having decided, Xue Youtan ignored Pei Zhi's question and spoke to the chosen NPC again. "I choose you. Do you have any objections?"

Afraid that Xue Youtan might change his mind, the youth quickly shook his head. "No."

"Good. Then from now on, you are my disciple." Xue Youtan bent down and handed the lotus jade token of identity to the youth. "Follow me."

With that, Xue Youtan was about to turn and lead the youth away when someone grabbed his robe.

Pei Zhi remained kneeling, tilting his face up stubbornly. "You haven't answered me yet."

Pei Zhi's face and body were covered in wounds from the earlier sparring match. As he clutched Xue Youtan's robe, the blood from his palm stained the fabric red—clearly, he was badly hurt.

Yet even so, he stubbornly gripped Xue Youtan's clothing, as if becoming his disciple was the most important thing in the world to him.

"Beep beep beep beep—"

At the same time, urgent alarms blared in Xue Youtan's mind, followed by a mechanical voice: "Plot OOC detected. Host, please correct your choice immediately or face punishment."

So he couldn't even refuse to take this disciple, huh?

Xue Youtan turned to look at Pei Zhi. After three seconds of inner conflict, he reached out and pried Pei Zhi's fingers off his robe one by one.

He was changing the plot today, and he'd like to see just what the system could do to him.

Would it really strike him dead with a lightning bolt?

"Rumble—"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, thunder roared in the clear blue sky. The next second, a massive bolt of lightning came crashing down, striking him right on the head.

It actually came for real!!!

"Damn it!" Xue Youtan couldn't hold back a curse, dodging the lightning bolt while kicking Pei Zhi away. "Get the hell away."

If the male lead got struck dead, he'd have to start all over again.

In the critical moment, Xue Youtan kicked with no regard for force, sending the boy flying. Pei Zhi slammed heavily into the stone wall, coughing up blood.

By the time he struggled to his feet, Xue Youtan had already darted to the other side.

Pei Zhi watched the man darting around as lightning struck wildly around him, and the murderous intent he'd hidden earlier surged back into his eyes.

In his previous life, the moment he became Xue Youtan's disciple, he was silenced with a single sword strike to the throat just for disturbing his master's sleep.

The heavens had been kind to him, sending him back to Cangya Mountain with memories of his past life.

This time, he would make sure this man died without a proper burial!

...

The result of dodging lightning was that Xue Youtan got charred to a crisp.

By the time Sect Master Feng Mingjue cast a spell to help him, Xue Youtan's white robes had been scorched black, and he had blacked out.

When he woke again, Feng Mingjue was sitting by the bed, looking hesitant.

Xue Youtan ignored his expression and carefully checked himself over. Good, good—only a few patches of skin on his hands were burned black. No missing arms or legs, and his manhood was still intact.

After confirming he'd only suffered minor injuries, Xue Youtan took the tea Feng Mingjue offered him. Finally unable to stand that pained expression on his face, he cleared his throat and said, "If you've got something to say, just say it. Beating around the bush isn't your style, Sect Master."

"Then I'll be blunt." Feng Mingjue glanced around first, and only when he saw no one nearby did he lean closer to Xue Youtan and lower his voice. "In my view, the method of harvesting yang to supplement yin ultimately defies the natural order. This thunder tribulation might just be a warning. Youtan, you..."

"Pfft—" Before Feng Mingjue could finish, he got a face full of tea.

“Cough, cough, cough…” Xue Youtan choked on a sip of water, coughing several times before regaining his composure. “Master, I honestly don’t understand what you mean.”

This wasn’t a lie.

Though this wasn’t his first time being a master—and he did have some experience—

he had died young in both his previous lives, leaving him with little practical knowledge to draw upon.

This practice of “harvesting yin to nourish yang”—could it be some under-the-table scheme the villain was running? How was it that he’d never heard even a whisper about it before?