Because he had awakened his past memories, Ye Ping’an already knew the tragic future awaiting the Xuanxing Sect—it would eventually be slaughtered by the Blood Demon.
So that very night, he went to find his father, hoping to sound him out.
After all, if there truly was no other option, the only solution would be to relocate the entire sect.
Unfortunately, Ye Ping’an had been too naïve.
In this world, the location of every cultivation sect was rooted in spiritual veins. Take the Xuanxing Sect for example—it was situated at the tail end of a branch vein of the great Heavenly Mystic Holy Land.
In these lower-tier sects, the strongest cultivators were usually only at the Foundation Establishment stage, with a few rare Core Formation experts.
That meant even a severely injured Nascent Soul stage Blood Demon could sweep through them like a storm, treating the sect’s disciples as mere nourishment to replenish his strength.
Further upstream, sects stepped up a notch. Core Formation experts were rare, and most sects had Nascent Soul stage cultivators as their highest power.
By the time one reached the midstream regions, the spiritual energy in the veins became significantly richer.
There, only those with Soul Transformation stage cultivation could barely manage to hold their ground.
Any sect without a Soul Transformation expert in residence could be wiped out at any time. Some midstream sects had even produced Void Refinement level powerhouses.
At the upstream sections, close to the main spiritual vein of the Holy Land, things became brutal.
If your sect didn’t have at least a Body Integration cultivator, you’d be kicked out by the next day.
And even then, a single Body Integration expert might not be enough, given how many sects were vying for the few spots available along the branch’s upper stretches.
As for the Heavenly Mystic Holy Land sitting atop the main vein, it reigned supreme over the entire spiritual river system.
Within its borders, cultivators at the Grand Ascension stage were common, and even Tribulation Transcending experts lived in seclusion there.
Of course, all this was knowledge Ye Ping’an had gleaned from reading cultivation novels.
Given his current identity, it was already impressive that he even knew the names of lower-tier sects.
Because of that, relocating the sect wasn’t as easy as packing up and leaving—they’d need to find a suitable location well in advance.
But in today’s Heavenly Mystic Holy Land, there were almost no viable sites left for a weak sect to survive—unless they were willing to move to a spiritual dead zone.
And that, essentially, would be no different than extinction.
Therefore, unless they had absolutely no other choice, even sacrificing more than half the sect’s disciples would be considered acceptable—as long as they could hold on to their land.
Ye Ping’an understood this from the way his father spoke.
Since the option of relocation was basically off the table, Ye Ping’an had no choice but to find another way.
Fortunately, the future protagonist’s personal maid had landed in his hands.
If he could just use this time to win her over—someone who would one day be close to the future protagonist—he might be able to leverage that relationship to get the all-powerful Feng Aotian to intervene early and save their doomed sect.
Today, Ye Ping’an didn’t go out hunting for fortuitous encounters. Instead, he began working on building a good relationship with Ye Mengyao.
Luckily, thanks to the good looks and natural charm his parents had gifted him, he made a decent impression. The two quickly grew close.
Just like that, Ye Ping’an gained himself a new little follower.
Strangely, Ye Mengyao didn’t seem to remember anything from her past. She was like a blank slate.
But to Ye Ping’an, that was a golden opportunity—he could build her goodwill from scratch.
Not that Ye Ping’an had any ambitions of actually pursuing her. He didn’t have the guts to aim for someone connected to the female lead, not even a maid.
Winning her over was purely strategic. If she did end up joining the female lead’s harem in the future, then this connection might just be his life-saving grace—a way to avoid getting casually killed off.
In fact, if he played things just right, maybe he could even stop the sect’s destruction before it began.
With that in mind, Ye Ping’an wasn’t about to let any opportunity slip by. Armed with his handsome face and easygoing personality, he quickly became close to Ye Mengyao in just a few days.
However, for some reason, his longtime companion Ningyue had been sulking ever since Mengyao showed up.
She wore a perpetually gloomy expression, as though wishing Mengyao would disappear altogether.
Ye Ping’an naturally knew why.
After all, even if Ningyue was only his “maid” in name, it had always been just the two of them. She had taken on many responsibilities herself.
Now that Mengyao was here, she had to take care of two people instead of one, which meant less free time for slacking off. Anyone would be grumpy.
Ye Ping’an didn’t bother explaining. Even if he told her the truth—about reincarnation and transmigration—she probably wouldn’t believe it.
So he let her be, sighing inwardly: Ah, Ningyue… everything I’m doing now is for our future. One day you’ll understand just how great your young master’s sacrifices really were.
And so, Ye Ping’an dove headfirst back into his shameless bootlicking campaign toward Ye Mengyao.
Watching her young master fawn like a puppy, Ningyue was furious.
She couldn’t understand—how had her previously dignified young master turned into such a sycophant the moment this baby-faced girl appeared?
Wait a second… Could it be… the young master has a thing for childlike features?
But… this was way too childlike!
Anyone who liked someone like that wasn’t just a weirdo—they were basically a beast!
Thinking of her own mother’s curvy figure, Ningyue figured her future self probably wouldn’t be “childlike” at all.
No, she had to act—for the sake of her young master’s mental health, she needed to keep these two apart!
“Ahem!”
Ningyue grabbed Ye Ping’an’s hand and softly said, “Young master, we should go look for opportunities again today.”
“Opportunities? No need for that,” Ye Ping’an waved her off. Now that he knew he wasn’t the protagonist, what was the point?
Honestly, he’d been tempted to slap some sense into his past self. He’d been living in a fantasy. He wasn’t the main character.
Heck, he wasn’t even a side character—just cannon fodder.
And with his mediocre talent, there was no way he’d ever rise to power. His “future” was already gone.
Still, Ningyue refused to give up. “But young master, we’ve come so far… what if today is the day you find your destiny?”
If she hadn’t said that, it might’ve been easier to bear. Now Ye Ping’an felt like curling up in shame. He could only look at her helplessly.
Seeing that she still wasn’t giving up, he sighed deeply.
“I’m sorry. It was my own delusion that made me believe I had a destiny to find. Someone like me… is never going to get one.”
“But—”
“No buts. Don’t ever bring up ‘opportunities’ again.” Ye Ping’an’s voice turned bitter, his shoulders sagging as he left the room.
From that day on, the Xuanxing Sect lost a young master who once always chased after fortune.
Ningyue wanted to say something more, but when she saw her young master walk away so disheartened, she let it go.
Besides, her goal had already been achieved.
She turned and stopped Ye Mengyao, who was about to follow after him.
“Dreamy, let the young master be for now. He’s… in a complicated state of mind.”
“Who’s Jingjing?” the innocent, baby-faced girl asked, tilting her head.
“Ah… that’s… never mind.” Ningyue was completely stumped.