ColdRamenSoup

Here's another kinda generic cultivation novel. It's nothing ground breaking, just another thing for me to write for fun and update occasionally. Anyways I've had this idea in the back of my head for awhile but I finally published the first chapter. 

As a middle-aged man Xiao Ren made his peace with aging. Despite what his niece said about twink death being a terrifying thing he wasn't bothered. Some people around the office whispered about him being a 'silver fox,' whatever that meant.

If it was an insult then they were just jealous of his success. A man his age in a young people's profession was impressive. He knew that it wasn't his personality that got him the role. Nor his looks. It was his ability to get work done.

Anyway while Xiao Ren could take public transport to and from work, he preferred walking since his apartment complex was only a few blocks from his job. As long as he woke up at a reasonable hour and didn't dally too much then it wasn't too much of a problem for his daily commute to take a little longer.

After finishing up for the night Xiao Ren planned to head straight home. At an intersection the light displayed that it was okay for pedestrians to cross. Still he looked both ways, the road was clear of cars so Xiao Ren proceeded to walk across the street.

At this point a car came out of nowhere. A screeching sound was heard as the car's tires locked and began to skid across the asphalt. Xiao Ren had been hit but his mind hadn't registered it yet.

His body felt no pain, all he could sense was the cold feeling of blood running down his head. He should be dead. Xiao Ren knew that much. Yet for whatever reason he felt fine as if his body was at the peak of health.

Xiao Ren's eyes grew wide. He was dead. The last thing he had ever expected was to wake up again. Not after having died. He looked at his body, or more specifically his hands.

Those were the dainty hands of a musician, not the hands of a man who had been middle-aged when he died. What was more, the room he was in was filled with things some spoiled child would have.

'Maybe I was reincarnated?' Suffice to say this would take some time for him to figure the situation out...

****

Xiao Ren looked in the mirror. He still wasn't used to his new appearance, granted it had only been a week or two since he transmigrated into a xianxia web novel he had once read.

The story in question happened be called "Age of Martial Swords." It was moderately popular on the website he frequented but it was over shadowed by better written novels.

Whereas the premise of the plot was simple enough: All of the main characters learn martial arts and cultivate to become stronger. As for the antagonists, they were all run of the mill cliches.

For instance the Shadow Demonic Cult was attempting to take over the cultivation world. Not that any members of the Shadow Demonic Cult were actual demons, rather they were unorthodox nefarious cultivators.

Every real pure blooded demon species had been banished from the Mortal Realm centuries ago. Hence another point of conflict was that the barrier between the three realms was slowly weakening.

Hence demons, ghosts, and other monsters had started to reappear in the Mortal Realm. New threats seemed to pop up every day.

As for the character that Xiao Ren was stuck as... Well Xiao Baizhu was supposed to be an arrogant young master. At least that was what the author had originally intended.

Yet what was up with the reflection that stared back? At best young master antagonists are average in the looks department or at worst ugly.

However, he was androgynously pretty. From a distance someone might mistake Xiao Baizhu for a cold jade beauty. Despite the fact that he was a young man.

In addition, he possessed hair the colour of silver starlight and he had long eyelashes. His slim build and a deadly kind of charm were complemented by his blue eyes, which had an irresistible allure and the charm of legendary enchantment.

Fashion in the Demon Realm is practical but sometimes a little bizarre. As in the fabrics are light and breathable.

While the clothes look meant to show off skin, it's actually so that the wearer has better mobility and less restricted movements. Compared to most Xiao Ren's style of dress was conservative for a demon.

Truly Xiao Baizhu was much more beautiful than handsome. Of course this was a detail glossed over by the author in the novel, so it came as a shock when he caught a glimpse of himself for the first time.

Such excessive attractiveness was a trait of the Abyssal Storm Demon. One of the three Celestial Demon species still left in existence. Said beauty was considered unattainable even by the most elite of cultivators.

"Despite everything It's still me..." Xiao Ren sighed, looking away from the mirror. Both Xiao Baizhu and Xiao Ren had become one in the same, with Xiao Ren's modern life experience mellowing out the former's personality.

The original good's childhood was less than stellar. He had an absent mother who busy ruling an entire noble clan of demons and a dead father.

After the conflict between the Murim Alliance and Heavenly Demonic Cult that ravaged the Mortal Realm, Xiao Baizhu would further wreck havoc. He'd lead an army of real demons, although in the end his conquest was unsuccessful.

It took the combined might of the protagonist and his allies to fend off the invasion. Meanwhile one of the heroine's dealt the killing blow.

Good thing that the entire conquest scheme hadn't happened yet because Xiao Ren was determined to avoid that particular death flag. In any case, he didn't want to die in vain some pathetic end again.

As for Xiao Ren in his first life, his upbringing wasn't much better, him and his younger sibling were orphaned. Only because he studied his ass off in high school was he able to attend university.

It was lucky that he found a stable career as an office worker but not so lucky to have been hit by a car.

After which Xiao Ren had suddenly woken up in the body of Xiao Baizhu. It turned out that the two shared the same birth name of 'Ren' and 'Baizhu' was simply a courtesy name the villain was bestowed later in life.

Due to being isekaied this version of Xiao Baizhu was a salted fish. He'd rather take a nap than scheme, read books over picking a fight with anyone.

Although so he didn't get screwed over by some protagonist Xiao Baizhu still put in tremendous effort to improve his cultivation. He spent most of his time studying and meditating.

Nonetheless because he was a cannon fodder villain it was slow progress. It seemed Xiao Baizhu reached a bottle neck at the intermediate foundation establishment stage.

Maybe a change of scenery is what was needed. So he planned to leave the Demon Realm in favour of joining a sect in the realm above where mortals roam. That and well staying in Demon Realm would have been too boring.

The original goods had always longed to see the sun, the Demon Realm was a cold, brutish and dark place after all.

Compared to the land above demon culture was much more underdeveloped. In regions where there are only unintelligent monsters its kill or be killed. Meanwhile the scarce places with cities use a bartering system in place of currency.

Moreover, the Demon Realm is ruled by warlords and the factions follow a feudal system. The elite nobility that governs is made up of the most powerful demon bloodlines, with the Demon Lords of the various fabled Celestial Demon lineage being at the apex of this hierarchy.

Finding a tear in between the barriers of reality was one way to travel between realms. A teleportation array was another means of transportation, or a human cultivator might randomly ascend thanks to an increase in their cultivation base.

Yet given that tears are unpredictable and spit out people in the randomest of places, Xiao Baizhu was inclined to use an array. After all it was better to minimize that variables that could go wrong.

A teleportation array was not easy to come by. They were rare magic artifacts. Most of them were located within the grand treasury of the Northern Constellation Palace.

Although being who he was, Xiao Baizhu didn't need to rely on connections or bartering. He was simply able to enter his family's grand treasury as he pleased.

Still, finding a teleportation array was a tough task. The corridors were labyrinthine, the treasure rooms vast and filled with countless riches.

Finally Xiao Baizhu found the macguffin he was looking for. It was a discreet looking artifact that resembled a common paper slip talisman.

Upon channeling a little bit of his Qi, it began to glow red. This was the teleportation array's signal that it was about to activate.

He blinked. "Y-yes, good it worked!" Xiao Baizhu exclaimed. For once he could feel not just a cool breeze on his skin but he was warm in the sun.

There was also solid ground beneath him instead of frigid shifting snow. And the sky above was blue, something he'd never seen in the Demon Realm.

First things first, he required information. Without knowing the way of the land, it was likely someone might try to take advantage of his lack of knowledge. Yet he wasn't totally clueless thanks to the limited flavour text from the novel.

Xiao Baizhu went through his spacial ring, inventorying the items he brought along with him on this journey. There were a few spirit stones that he gathered from slaying demonic beasts, his scimitar sword called Bo Ming, and a meat bun with mystery meat.

Many things were different here in the Mortal Realm. Xiao Baizhu simply laid in the grass lazily cloud watching while thinking about what he should do next.