Chapter 1

May 20th, 2019, Monday. The end of spring and the beginning of summer. During this season, the temperature difference between day and night in the Jiangnan region becomes very large. It's hot as hell during the day and freezing at night, forcing people to huddle under the covers. Jiangnan University City. At 2:13 pm, which was precisely the time when students were supposed to be in class, Shiro was alone in his dorm room. His computer desk was pulled to the edge of the bed, making it easy for him to watch movies in various positions. Shiro didn't have a habit of skipping classes. Last night, he kicked off his blanket with a move called "Double Dragons Emergence," as the weather was stuffy. However, the temperature dropped dramatically in the second half of the night. Shiro, who was wearing only a pair of shorts, was in trouble. He searched desperately for his blanket in his sleep, but couldn't find it. In the end, he huddled up like a shrimp, shivering under the midnight cold wind. By the time the sun rose, Shiro had become a member of the army of seasonal colds. His roommate had already asked for a leave of absence for him today. Then he took some cold medicine and slept until now. The fever had subsided, but his body still felt weak, making it impossible for him to go to class. So he could only stay in his dorm room and watch movies boredly. On the screen, the progress bar of the movie was slowly advancing. But Shiro didn't pay attention to the content of the movie at all. "Is the medicine still not worn off? I'm so sleepy," he yawned, feeling his eyelids getting heavy. "Ding ding ding~" At this time, the chat software in the lower right corner of his computer screen started to flash. Someone had added him as a friend or invited him to a group. "Who added me?" Shiro muttered to himself, reaching out and lightly tapping the lower right corner of the computer screen. The notification message popped up. "[Yellow Mountain True Immortal (******)] wants to add you as a friend." No additional message was attached. Yellow Mountain True Immortal? Who is that, with such a strange nickname? "Is it a classmate?" Shiro wondered, thinking of those guys in his class who were still in their adolescent fantasies even though they were already in college. If it was them, they would indeed have such strange nicknames. Thinking of this, he clicked "Agree." Immediately after, another system message popped up. "[Yellow Mountain True Immortal] invites you to join the group 'Nine Provinces Number One Group,' do you agree?" Shiro continued to click "Agree." "'Book Mountain has a lot of pressure' agrees to join the 'Nine Provinces Number One Group.'" "[You have agreed to join the group, say hello to your new friends!]" accompanied by a system smiley face. Chat tools these days are becoming more and more humane. After a series of prompts popped up, Shiro closed the notification and group chat window he had agreed to join. He was feeling more and more drowsy, and didn't have the energy to care about what group he had just joined. Anyway, he had set his group settings to "No notifications, only show the number," so chatting in the group wouldn't disturb him, and the chat messages would be displayed after the group name. When he was more awake, he could check the chat history and know what group he had joined, and the chat history of the group.

As soon as Mad Knife San Lang finished speaking, the group chat was immediately filled with one smirk emoji after another, all shamelessly expressing their joy at his misfortune. Eight people were shown as online in the group, and six of them all sent rows of laughing faces. "You bunch of joyous vultures, I'll remember every single one of you, don't let me catch you, otherwise I'll make you taste the power of my seventy-two stances!" Mad Knife San Lang said hatefully. He was very confident in his fast swordsmanship, and he knew that not a single one of those six people who were smirking just now could beat him one on one.

Just as Mad Knife San Lang finished speaking, another smirk emoji popped up in the chat, this time from Su Shi Aqi. Su Shi Aqi then excitedly asked, "When are we going to fight one on one?" Clearly, Su Shi Aqi did not mean to be joyous at his misfortune, he just wanted to find someone to fight. "..." Mad Knife San Lang suddenly deflated. Because he couldn't beat Aqi! He was very advanced in his cultivation, having already reached the level of a 5th rank Spirit Emperor, and was only two steps away from a 6th rank Spirit Venerable. However, he still couldn't beat Aqi. He was known as the Mad Knife, and even scared himself when he got too crazy. But he still couldn't beat Aqi! After seeing Mad Knife San Lang deflate, the group chat was again filled with a string of shameless laughing faces. "..." This time, Mad Knife San Lang could only send a string of ellipses in frustration.

The group chatted for a while longer, but didn't see any new members speaking up, and were a bit confused. "New fellow, not going to speak?" asked Beihe Sanren. Unfortunately, due to the effects of his cold medicine, Shiro had once again entered a half-sleeping state.

At this point, Su Shi Aqi happily sent a message: "I checked, the new member's name is 'Shan Ya Li Li Da', have any of you heard of a master by that name? It sounds a bit like a wanderer from the Confucian School? Really makes me excited! In recent years, the Confucian School's wanderers have been hiding very deeply, can't even find them. It's been almost a hundred years since I've fought them! Looking back, the Confucian School's wanderers are even more fun to fight than the Buddhists. Not only are they good at talking, but their fists are also hard. And when they're in the mood, they'll recite poetry to liven things up, double the fun! I love fighting them the most."

"Aqi, I have to say, your expectations for the new member are always just whether or not you can beat them, and whether or not it'll be fun to fight them," Mad Knife San Lang sent a tearful emoji. This was practically bullying, wasn't it?!

"Uh," Su Shi Aqi was a bit embarrassed. Beihe Sanren smirked, "Could it be another 'senior' who doesn't know how to use chat tools?" When he said this, everyone felt like they'd seen this scene before. Right, about four years ago, there was also a senior who emerged from closed-door cultivation after more than a hundred years, finally managed to get on the chat software, and was added to the group by Yellow Mountain True Monarch.