Chapter One: Ascension Is the Greatest Lie of All!

“A warning to all cultivators: Ascension is a monstrous lie. The immortal path is severed—do not attempt to ascend.”

When Jiang Yu received this warning left by a predecessor, he sighed softly, then plummeted from the summit of the clouds.

Atop Cloud Mountain, six people stood.

“Has Teacher fallen?”

Ma Tianzong, the richest man in the north of Jiang, wept bitterly, his expression laden with grief.

Gu Feifei, the most celebrated actress in Huaxia, bit her rosy lips, her delicate body trembling uncontrollably.

In the military, General Liu Banan’s tiger-like eyes brimmed with tears, his knees dropping abruptly to the ground as he wailed, “Your disciple bids you farewell, Teacher!”

In Cloud City, the underground emperor Li Hao cried out in anguish, “We must recover Teacher’s body—I will see him buried with the highest honors!”

…

Jiang Yu opened his eyes slowly, gazing around in bewilderment.

A tall, stunning young woman stood gracefully at the podium. She held a love letter, and was teasing aloud, “Jiang Yu, as long as you agree to one request, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

The entire class held their breath, except for Jiang Yu, whose confused eyes gradually sharpened.

In his previous moment of peril, he had poured all his life’s cultivation into barely preserving his soul, which was on the verge of disintegration.

“Are you able to sleep with me?” The young woman giggled, making Jiang Yu’s impotence known to all.

The class erupted in laughter.

Many turned to Jiang Yu, shaking their heads in dismay.

How truly overreaching to pursue Sun Wanyue, the third-ranked beauty of the First High School. She was not only unmoved, but found it shameful, humiliating him before everyone.

Jiang Yu’s expression gradually shifted; even after falling from the heights of the clouds, he remained composed and unmoved. Only now did a chill surge up his spine.

Impotent?

Jiang Yu hurriedly fled the classroom, finally dashing into the restroom and yanking down his pants.

“Damn it, Heaven, must you toy with me like this?”

Jiang Yu was on the verge of tears. Though he knew that snatching a new life would incur divine punishment, this was a bit much.

At the same time, unfamiliar memories began to slowly merge with Jiang Yu’s soul.

During the possession, Jiang Yu’s soul had been so powerful it nearly obliterated this frail body. Fortunately, he had restrained himself at the last moment.

Jiang Yu—a senior at the First High School of Cloud City. Descendant of the Jiang family, ostracized by his elders due to his impotence, his status plummeted to that of a stray.

With a sober mind, he’d been muddling through life, merely eating and waiting for death.

The Jiang family had built their fortune from nothing over three generations, amassing wealth in the millions—a modest prosperity.

The girl just now, Sun Wanyue, was the cherished daughter of the Sun family, who ran a seafood business with some money to their name. Because of her pure beauty and tall, alluring figure, she was lauded as the third school flower.

For a moment, Jiang Yu shook his head in resignation.

So be it. At that critical juncture, his soul had enveloped the entire city, and the only suitable vessel was this frail, ill-fated youth.

There were thirty-eight people in Cloud City sharing the name Jiang Yu.

Such a coincidence was nothing rare.

“Five thousand years—five thousand years and still no gateway to immortality.”

“Is my life truly destined never to ascend?”

Jiang Yu’s thoughts drifted restlessly as he leaned weakly against the wall.

Now his cultivation was ruined, his soul feeble—he would have to begin anew.

His mind, once thought indestructible, now wavered.

Was ascension truly nothing more than a grand deception?

Lost in thought, a cold laugh reached his ears. “Jiang Yu, the Jiang family’s reputation has been utterly disgraced by you today.”

The speaker was tall, named Jiang Shaoqi, the eldest son of Jiang Yu’s second uncle and a renowned figure at First High. At eighteen, he had already been recommended for admission to Beida in Yanjing.

His life was something of a legend: accomplished in violin and piano, he had placed among the top three in the Jiangbei piano competition at thirteen, second in provincial mathematics at fifteen, and at sixteen, built his own website from scratch, earning over a million.

At eighteen, he was sent directly to Yanjing Beida—a star student, a genius the Jiang family had not seen in a century.

He and his cousin Jiang Ziyue were hailed as the “dragon and phoenix” of the family, a symbol of auspiciousness in Cloud City, often spoken of admiringly.

Virtually all of the family’s resources were concentrated on the two of them.

From childhood, they were indulged in all things—even the family patriarch doted on them.

On Jiang Shaoqi’s eighteenth birthday, the family spent eight hundred thousand on two pieces of top-grade jade, having artisans carve them into dragon and phoenix pendants to symbolize prosperity, gifting them to Jiang Shaoqi and Jiang Ziyue.

But, wielding his status, and due to longstanding discord with Jiang Yu’s father, Jiang Shaoqi often suppressed Jiang Yu.

And after Jiang Yu was diagnosed as impotent, Jiang Shaoqi crushed him completely.

Jiang Yu’s parents were exiled by the family patriarch to a small county town to run a tiny jewelry shop—the family had utterly abandoned them.

At this thought, Jiang Yu smiled faintly and brushed past Jiang Shaoqi.

At the restroom entrance stood an exceptionally shapely young woman in a pleated skirt and white sneakers, her long hair draping over her shoulders, her bright eyes and charming brows full of allure.

Jiang Ziyue, his uncle’s daughter, also one of the school’s three celebrated beauties. Her graceful figure exuded an air of charm, inviting the imagination.

Arms folded, face cold, Jiang Ziyue snapped, “Jiang Yu, do you even realize what you’ve done?”

Jiang Yu looked up at her and smiled, “Are you lecturing me?”

Jiang Ziyue gave him a look of bitter disappointment. “Now it’s done. Your condition is known throughout the school. The Jiang family’s face, ruined by your love letter.”

“And after the mock exam, there’s a family meeting. The daughter of the Zheng family from Jincheng is coming tonight.”

Jiang Yu frowned.

The Zheng family from Jincheng?

Even they were losing patience?

Zheng Xuan, the Zheng family’s daughter, was his fiancée by childhood arrangement. The last time they’d met was three years ago.

Both had just turned sixteen, their elders hoping to match them. During their meal together, Zheng Xuan was ice-cold, silent, her gaze wandering out the window, her mind clearly far from Jiang Yu.

At that moment, Jiang Yu knew—the engagement’s dissolution was only a matter of time.

Jiang Yu took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright.”

Jiang Ziyue’s expression softened. She spoke quietly, “Jiang Yu, it’s not that I look down on you—it’s that you’re completely useless. You never strive for anything, drifting through life like a wasted youth. Maybe Jiang Shaoqi and I shine too brightly—no matter how hard you try, you’ll always live in our shadow.”

She shook her head regretfully, saying no more.

Jiang Yu, in her eyes, was truly pitiable. His parents were outcasts, he was born impotent, and his character was both unruly and selfish, never considering others.

Yes, she and Jiang Shaoqi, still only eighteen or nineteen, already had bright futures laid before them.

They were the family’s hope, the “dragon and phoenix.” Compared to them, the mediocre Jiang Yu was nothing more than a stepping stone, doomed to look up to them his whole life.

In studies, Jiang Yu was idle—sleeping or daydreaming through class, always at the bottom.

In business, he had no experience—only spending and playing.

In every way, the word “waste” clung tightly to him.

Jiang Shaoqi exited the restroom with a calm smile, not sparing Jiang Yu a glance as he left alone.

This good-for-nothing wasn’t even worth rebuking; it would only lower his own status.

Cloud City First High gathered the city’s young elites—children of the upper class.

This was the crucible for the younger generation’s competition.

Back in class, the mock exam had begun.

Everyone was focused, answering swiftly.

Only Jiang Yu lay listlessly on his desk. The teacher glanced at him, sighed, and looked away.

As time passed, Jiang Yu woke from a nap to find many students had set down their pens, frowning.

The teacher on the podium softly reassured them, “This mock exam is the toughest in history. Don’t feel too pressured.”

But Jiang Yu, a five-thousand-year-old monster who had witnessed the fall of dynasties and amassed vast knowledge, found these questions, at first glance, somewhat intriguing.

It was like a doctoral scholar tackling elementary school math Olympiad problems. At first, the unusual logic was interesting, but once understood, the challenge was gone.

As the exam neared its end, Jiang Yu picked up his pen and answered with fluid grace.

Now and then, he even added his own insights to the solutions—clear, concise, and accessible.

Five minutes before time, he set down his pen, rose, and left.

…

Half an hour later, at the Jiang family mansion.

Two large red lanterns hung at the entrance, a bright red carpet laid beneath, a respectable display.

Outside, a BMW 7 Series glided to a stop at the gates.

The car door opened, and a voluptuous woman in a tight short dress and high heels stepped out from the back seat. Her long legs, wrapped in sheer stockings, looked even more slender and shapely.

The family patriarch personally led everyone to welcome her at the door, Jiang Yu among them, standing to the rear.

Zheng Xuan emerged, her smile a touch unnatural as she greeted, “Grandpa Jiang.”

The engagement’s dissolution had finally come.

It seemed all the family’s disgrace stemmed from Jiang Yu.