Bai Fanlu was awakened by pain.

He had been sleeping soundly when, half-asleep, he tried to turn over, only to feel a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder. Reflexively, he reached out to turn on the light, but his hand found nothing but air, causing him to fall back onto the bed. His head hit the hard bedboard with a heavy “thud.”

Bai Fanlu’s eyebrows and eyes scrunched together in pain, as if his brain had been shaken into a gong, ringing incessantly.

“Senior Brother, you’re awake? Lie down and don’t move…” said the voice of a young man, unfamiliar to him.

Hearing these words, Bai Fanlu’s throbbing head momentarily froze.

What did he call him?

Oh, no, that’s not the point. The point should be—who is this person? And why is he in my house?

Bai Fanlu instinctively squinted his slightly nearsighted eyes and turned his head to look. The visitor had a handsome face with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, but the white robes and high-tied long hair made him look like a nobleman straight out of a period drama.

However, before he could figure out the identity of this person, an even bigger shock followed—his house seemed to have been robbed. The walls were bare, with no furniture or appliances in sight. Even the mattress he was lying on had mysteriously disappeared while he slept, leaving only the hard, naked bedboard.

What a ruthless thief, not even leaving him a pillow…

Suddenly remembering something, Bai Fanlu hurriedly reached for the back of his head. As soon as he moved, he felt an even sharper pain in his shoulder, so intense that tears welled up in his eyes.

Earlier, the strange man had distracted him, but now he could feel it clearly—his right shoulder felt as if it had been scalded by boiling water, both itchy and painful, a deep, burning pain.

It hurt so much… What happened?

“Senior Brother, your wound is bleeding!”

The man’s voice was urgent, and he raised his hand as if he wanted to touch him but hesitated.

Bai Fanlu’s vision was blurred with tears, and he could only see a figure moving back and forth in front of him, making him dizzy and frustrated. He blinked and felt a warm liquid slide down his cheek, finally restoring his vision to clarity.

“Senior Brother, you…” The man noticed the tear stains, was first stunned, and then his expression darkened, “Damn it! How could Junior Brother be so ruthless? Senior Brother must be in unbearable pain. I will go find our Master immediately.”

The man left as swiftly as the wind, disappearing in an instant.

Bai Fanlu’s question was abruptly cut off. He blinked, blinked again, and then rubbed his eyes vigorously.

He hadn’t seen wrong—the door was still closed. The man had indeed vanished suddenly, disappearing on the spot.

Bai Fanlu shivered as he swallowed, tremblingly ran his foot along the edge of the bedboard, and then touched the area next to his head with his less painful left hand—his phone was gone, and so were his earphones.

This is a dream…

It must be…

Bai Fanlu took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and deliberately ignored the throbbing pain in his right shoulder, avoiding reality like an ostrich.

Just as he thought he could sleep and wake up from this nightmare, a strange fragrance faintly lingered in his nose, followed by a cool, soft sensation like a gentle rain, covering his right shoulder. Almost instantly, most of the pain dissipated into nothingness.

Surprised, Bai Fanlu opened his eyes to find that a person had silently appeared by his bed.

The person was dressed in azure robes, with long hair cascading to the ground, silver strands intertwined with light blue, flowing down his back like a waterfall. A single strand fell by his face, accentuating his serene and tranquil appearance. What’s more, there seemed to be an ethereal aura surrounding him, and at this moment, his right hand was drawing something in the air, forming intricate patterns that looked like mist and gauze, swirling and condensing like a flowing stream… The kind of special effects you’d see for a hundred bucks, dazzling Bai Fanlu’s eyes and leaving him breathless.

… An immortal!

Lying on the bed, Bai Fanlu looked at the immortal with reverence, unable to take his eyes off him.

However, in his current injured and weakened state, his expression seemed to convey a different emotion to the immortal and the white-robed man who had returned silently behind him.

After a moment, the immortal withdrew his hand and placed it behind his back.

“Mo’er, how do you feel now?”

As expected of an immortal, even his frown was like poetry—autumn wind rustling among maple leaves, brows knitted under a cold mountain breeze.

His voice was also extremely pleasant, though clear and distant, yet there was a warmth and tenderness in his tone. Bai Fanlu, who had a habit of analyzing voices, felt an immediate increase in his affection for the immortal.

But, was this “Mo’er” really referring to him?

Bai Fanlu was confused and didn’t dare to respond rashly, so he hesitantly nodded.

Seeing this, the white-robed man cupped his hands to the immortal and said, “Master, Junior Brother could have stopped earlier, but instead, he went too far and harmed Senior Brother to this extent. This is truly unjust and difficult for others to accept. Please, Master, consider this carefully!”

He spoke each word clearly and forcefully, though Bai Fanlu couldn’t understand what he was saying. Strangely, however, the words felt eerily familiar.

“I will make the decision,” the immortal said after hearing the white-robed man’s words, neither shaking nor nodding his head. “Chongyu, you should return for now. Don’t be so reckless next time.”

“…Yes, Master.” The white-robed man saluted with his fists, as if he had more to say, but eventually kept silent, obeying the command to leave. Before departing, he glanced at Bai Fanlu.

Bai Fanlu didn’t notice the look. He was still pondering over the name “Chongyu,” the “Mo’er,” “Master,” and the conversation they just had.

“…Master…?”

On impulse, Bai Fanlu tried calling out.

The immortal looked down at the disciple on the bed, slightly nodding, “I understand.”

Understand? Bai Fanlu was stunned. Even he didn’t know what significance that call had.

As he was wondering what to say next, he saw the immortal raise his left hand, gathering thousands of red lights in his palm, quickly forming a red pill that floated slowly in front of Bai Fanlu.

A strange fragrance filled the air!

The subtle scent from earlier seemed to converge instantly on the pill. Before Bai Fanlu could react, there was a flash of red light, and the pill disappeared.

At the same time, something cool and smooth slipped into his mouth, bitter and fishy, with a hint of sweetness—like biting into a strawberry and cutting your tongue.

Bai Fanlu frowned, his throat contracting, but he was still half-forced to swallow it.

Seeing him swallow the pill, the immortal calmly said, “I know what you’re thinking about Yun Zhan, so I will only punish him with three days of confinement as a small penalty.”

“According to the rules, his temporary appointment as Sect Leader is already decided. I will now take him to Fu Xi Mountain. You should rest and recuperate.”

After saying this, the immortal turned into smoke and mist, drifting away.

The pill began to dissolve in Bai Fanlu’s stomach, gradually turning into a warm current that spread through his entire body. A deep, powerful force seemed to rise and surge somewhere within him, then began to absorb…

But Bai Fanlu had no time to experience this sensation. He was stunned by the mention of “Yun Zhan.”

For a long time, Bai Fanlu sat frozen, then suddenly jerked up from the bed.

Yun Zhan!

The male lead of the novel *”Records of Immortals and Demons,”* which he had just finished reading. This male lead had a white-haired master named Ling Qingzi. Ling Qingzi’s second disciple was called Wang Chongyu, and his first disciple was—Bai Fanlu, originally named Bai Mo.

Bai Fanlu pinched his thigh hard with his right hand. His shoulder didn’t hurt much anymore, but his leg hurt a lot.

It wasn’t a dream—he had transmigrated into the world of the novel!

Bai Fanlu stood up and wandered aimlessly around the room like a lost soul. The small room was empty, with only a desk and a few scrolls by the window. A simple landscape painting hung on the wall, with several large blank spaces.

His hand brushed across the desk, where the ink on the open scroll had not yet been applied, and a brush lay nearby, as if waiting to be used.

Bai Fanlu walked to the window and pushed it open, looking out.

At the summit of the jade peak, beside the forest of celestial trees, in the depths of the mist, at the pinnacle of the world.

This was the description of the four realms of the immortal world in the book. Bai Fanlu gazed at the swirling sea of clouds and felt the breeze of the immortal world, his heart filled with confusion.

Had he really become the Bai Fanlu in the book?

Lowering his head, he looked at his right hand resting on the window ledge. It was pale and slightly bloodless, with a faint purplish ribbon barely visible on his wrist. This was likely the sealed magical artifact, Cangjin, from

 the book. It would change form with its owner’s emotions, and now the ribbon had begun to transform, with a second strand faintly growing.

This was because the original Bai Fanlu in the book had been severely injured during the sword competition to select the temporary Sect Leader, in front of thousands of disciples from the four mountains and eight gates.

And the one who injured him was none other than the male lead, Yun Zhan.

Remembering this plot, Bai Fanlu couldn’t help but sigh. He had originally read the novel because it was chosen to be adapted into a radio drama, and he was in charge of post-production. However, when he saw that the name of the second character in the cast list was identical to his own, Bai Fanlu couldn’t resist staying up all night to finish the novel.

At the beginning of the story, the original character in the novel didn’t disappoint him. As the top disciple of the largest immortal sect, he was not only exceptionally talented but also kind and magnanimous, a model for the new generation of disciples in the immortal world, admired by junior disciples and the most trusted successor in the eyes of his master.

Unfortunately, this senior brother was good in every way except for his poor judgment—his pure heart was entirely set on the male lead, Yun Zhan.

Yun Zhan was an ingrate, saved by the original character when he was young. He followed him around, calling him Senior Brother sweetly and receiving endless love and care. But one day, he suddenly turned against him, not only injuring the original character with an immortal weapon during the sword competition but also flirting with a female immortal right in front of him and even coldly watching as the original character was attacked…

The original Bai Fanlu couldn’t bear such treatment. His mind was shaken, and he fell into the abyss of the Boundless Realm, losing his sanity and becoming a murderous demon, leaving countless souls to suffer. Yun Zhan, using this as an excuse, united with various immortal sects to deploy a demon-exterminating formation against the original Bai Fanlu, subjecting him to the agony of being shattered into pieces and having his soul torn apart, dying with hatred at the hands of his beloved.

Normally, when the plot reaches this point, the male lead would have a sudden awakening, regret his actions, and try to win back his love, possibly leading to a “lovers reunited after hardship” scenario, or even a rebirth would make sense. However, Bai Fanlu, holding onto such an idea, patiently read on, only to find that the plot took a shocking twist.

It turned out that the Bai Fanlu in the book was indeed a true villain. After being awakened by the Great Elder of the Demon Clan, he remembered his identity as the hidden heir of the Demon Clan and bore the humiliation, all for the sake of avenging his mother, the former Demon Lord, who perished in the great war between immortals and demons.

Moreover, the original Bai Fanlu’s affection for his junior brother Yun Zhan was nothing more than a ruse. Yun Zhan had long seen through the villain’s schemes with his sharp insight, deliberately setting a trap to throw Bai Fanlu off balance. In the end, with the truth revealed, Yun Zhan killed the villainous Demon Elder, successfully saving the world and rising to the pinnacle of the immortal realm.

So… this wasn’t a romantic story about love and hate but rather a male-centric power fantasy about the protagonist’s rise to greatness?

Bai Fanlu barely managed to reach the end of the story, almost spitting blood in frustration, feeling utterly vexed.

In the later stages of the book, the original senior brother, who was once gentle and jade-like, succeeded the Demon Lord, becoming a bloodthirsty, murderous fiend, completely blackened. The author’s writing was truly captivating, as Bai Fanlu found his name repeatedly appearing amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, giving him chills.

But Bai Fanlu felt especially unwilling to accept this outcome. For the first time, he had suffered emotional damage from reading a novel, and he couldn’t let it go. So, amidst the comments criticizing the male lead as a scumbag or accusing the author of deceiving readers with false pretenses, Bai Fanlu stood out with a comment defending the senior brother.

In a lengthy, passionate post of over a thousand words, he meticulously listed all the plot points of the book, criticizing the author for being cruel just for the sake of it, and logically argued that even if the senior brother was a demon by birth, such a strong and disciplined person could not have truly fallen into madness and indiscriminately killed the innocent due to love. He accused the author of having a confused logic, suspecting that the ending was a forced black-and-white reversal.

This long review, filled with sincerity and strong immersion, quickly gained traction, and within half an hour, it was pushed to the top of the recommended comments.

Amidst the dense replies, one green-font comment stood out particularly.

Clouds Passing By: “Hello, thank you for the detailed review. I see your name is ‘Secular Fanxin.’ May I ask, how did you cultivate a Buddhist heart in the secular world? If you were Bai Fanlu, could you maintain your original intention?”

Bai Fanlu dismissed this with a smile, thinking, “It’s just a book. Once I vent, it’s over. Why so much thinking? Besides, I am Bai Fanlu.”

Originally, he had read this mindless angst novel just because his favorite voice actor was cast in it. Now, he could listen to his idol’s voice to heal his soul. Bai Fanlu put the novel out of his mind, happily turned on his phone, and snuggled into bed to listen to the radio drama. His idol’s majestic, seductive voice made him feel numb all over, floating in ecstasy.

His idol’s voice was pure and seductive, with a kingly, domineering tone that made one want to have his babies just by listening. However, his idol had never taken on a role like Yun Zhan, who was morally ambiguous. Bai Fanlu couldn’t understand why he would agree to voice such a scummy character. They say voice actors are monsters; Bai Fanlu wondered what kind of voice his idol would use to portray Yun Zhan.

As he listened, Bai Fanlu fell asleep. When he woke up again, he had already transmigrated into the world of the book.

Fine, he could accept transmigrating, but why couldn’t he have transmigrated before getting injured, saving himself from this level-nine pain?

Finally organizing his thoughts, Bai Fanlu let out a long, heavy sigh and suddenly wanted to find a mirror to see what he looked like. If he had to accept the reality of transmigration, at least he wanted to know what his new face looked like.

The author of the novel was rather peculiar, describing the appearance of every character in great detail, except for the senior brother. The only time his face was mentioned was during a plot where the original Bai Fanlu disguised himself as a woman while training outside the sect. His beauty caused such a stir that the streets were deserted, and he was almost harassed. This suggested that his appearance was top-notch.

Unable to find a mirror and feeling distressed, Bai Fanlu’s right hand seemed to understand his intention and, with a slight movement, drew a talisman in the air, creating a water mirror in front of him.

As the water mirror formed, Bai Fanlu suddenly heard two mechanical beeps in his mind.

“Congratulations, you have activated the system function, awarded a fragment of ‘Reader’s Imagination.’ Welcome to the world of ‘Records of Immortals and Demons.'”

Having already experienced transmigration, Bai Fanlu was relatively calm this time. The mechanical voice seemed to pick up on his brainwaves, beeping again without needing him to ask.

“The Gate of Time and Space is closed. You cannot return to the real world until you complete the system’s objectives.”

“…”

“Your set objective is: to stay true to your original intention, remain true to yourself, and avoid blackening until the end of the story.”

Listening to the slogan-like wording, Bai Fanlu rolled his eyes helplessly. The setting was so contradictory. If the villain didn’t blacken and turn good, how could the novel reach its conclusion?

“The villain is not the only one. As long as the male lead ultimately defeats all the villains, achieving peace counts as the ending.”

Bai Fanlu thought of the Demon Elder who used the original Bai Fanlu as a pawn and understood.

“As long as I don’t blacken, I pass?” Bai Fanlu asked to confirm.

“Yes,” the beeping voice answered crisply.

“Even if the plot changes, it doesn’t matter?”

“Correct.”

Having received a clear answer, Bai Fanlu smiled. That would be much easier!

He was always a go-with-the-flow kind of person, with a naturally optimistic outlook and quick adaptability. Now that he had a plan, most of his worries dissipated.

The water mirror in front of him shimmered, gradually revealing a clear image. Bai Fanlu first saw the person in the mirror dressed in white, similar to Wang Chongyu’s attire, likely the sect disciple’s uniform.

As for the face, it was all too familiar—it was his own.

“But this might be very difficult,” the beeping voice suddenly chimed in.

“The plot has its inherent direction and logic.”

That sounded rather profound. Bai Fanlu, however, shook his head with a smile. The figure in the mirror with long black hair slightly fluttered. With that smile, his features were remarkably elegant and handsome, with an extraordinary aura that would astonish anyone.

With a casual wave, the water mirror shattered into countless light spots. Bai Fanlu walked through the light, full of confidence.

Isn’t it just not blackening?

Although the original character was born a demon, his nature wasn’t evil, and he was clear about his grievances. It was only due to the male lead’s provocation and manipulation that he blackened and became a killer. Since that was the case, he would stay far away from that troublesome beauty. If he couldn’t provoke him, he would avoid him!

As for the Demon Elder, he could find another way to stir up trouble with one less disobedient pawn. Otherwise, how could he be a competent final villain?

The world is vast; he could now find a good place to hide from the world and enjoy a carefree life as a free immortal, waiting for the male lead to achieve his goals. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Having figured everything out, Bai Fanlu planned to use the same method he used to create the water mirror to cast a teleportation spell and leave the mountain. But after thinking about it, suddenly disappearing would undoubtedly arouse suspicion. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he should leave a note for someone. Otherwise, before he had gone far, the entire sect might start searching for him.

Who should he leave the note for? The first person Bai Fanlu thought of was Immortal Ling Qingzi.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Bai Fanlu effortlessly created another talisman with a slight pinch of his fingers. He paused for a moment, and a few drops of ink began to form characters on the talisman’s surface.

What excuse should he use…? Just as Bai Fanlu was about to move his fingers, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.

Two or three white-clad figures flashed past the window, moving too quickly for Bai Fanlu to

 see clearly, followed by more than ten disciples, each holding a sword, all heading in the same direction.

Bai Fanlu frowned slightly, searching his memory for the plot.

After the sword competition, the original Bai Fanlu was injured by Yun Zhan and was saved by his master. Later, the master took Yun Zhan to the Spirit Spring Formation at Fu Xi Mountain to undergo a test. At the critical moment of the formation, a demon unexpectedly broke in.

Because Yun Zhan was in the formation and unable to leave, and his master was exhausted from healing the original Bai Fanlu and supporting Yun Zhan in the formation, it was difficult for him to continue. At that critical moment, the original Bai Fanlu, despite his serious injuries, sacrificed himself to fend off the demon…

Bai Fanlu pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling uneasy.

According to the book, he should immediately go out, grab a disciple, and demand to know what was going on, then, despite his injuries, rush to “sacrifice” himself without hesitation.

Of course, according to the later plot twist, the demon was summoned by the original Bai Fanlu himself. It was a ruse, using a self-inflicted injury to gain the male lead’s sympathy.

Bai Fanlu quietly closed the window.

He didn’t want to perform this self-sacrifice trick—it was painful. Since the original Bai Fanlu only knew about the incident after asking, could he pretend not to know by not asking? That way, others wouldn’t know that he knew…

“Bang!”

The door was suddenly slammed open by a burst of energy.

Wang Chongyu strode in with two large steps, his anxious gaze instantly locking onto Bai Fanlu, who was standing by the window, looking innocent.

“Senior Brother! Your injuries haven’t healed yet; you mustn’t overdo it!”

“…”

Bai Fanlu was speechless. He didn’t want to go either.

He could have chosen not to go.

But now…