**May 20, 2019, Monday.**
Spring has come to an end, and summer is on the horizon.
During this season, the temperature difference between day and night in the Jiangnan region becomes increasingly pronounced. During the day, one could wear shorts and feel like they're melting; at night, however, one might find themselves curled up in their blankets, shivering like a cold little bird.
In Jiangnan University Town.
At 2:13 PM, students were busy attending classes. However, Scholar Song sat alone in his dormitory, having dragged his computer desk beside his bed for maximum comfort while watching movies in various positions.
Scholar Song wasn't one to skip class. The previous night, due to the sweltering heat, he had kicked off his blanket in his sleep using a move he dubbed "Double Dragons Emerge from the Sea." But then, in the latter part of the night, the temperature plummeted. With only a pair of shorts on, he found himself in a predicament, desperately searching for his blanket in his sleep. Ultimately, he curled up like a shrimp, shivering under the biting midnight breeze.
By dawn, Scholar Song had officially joined the ranks of those suffering from seasonal colds.
His roommate had already called in to excuse him from class for the day.
After downing some cold medicine, he had slept soundly until now.
Although the fever had subsided, his body still felt weak, making it impossible to attend class. Thus, he was left to entertain himself by watching movies in his dorm.
The progress bar of the movie slowly crawled along, yet Scholar Song found himself utterly unable to focus on the content.
"Is the medicine still affecting me? I'm so sleepy," he yawned, feeling his eyelids grow heavier.
Just then, a notification chimed from the bottom right corner of his computer screen.
Someone had either added him as a friend or invited him to a group.
"Who's adding me?" Scholar Song murmured, reaching out to lightly tap the notification on the touchscreen.
**[Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain (＊＊＊＊＊＊) requests to add you as a friend.]** Additional message: None.
Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain? Who is that? What a peculiar nickname!
"Is this someone from my class?" Scholar Song pondered, recalling some of the classmates who, even in college, still clung to their youthful fantasies. If it were them, it would indeed make sense for them to have such a strange nickname.
With that thought in mind, he clicked 'Accept.'
Immediately, another system message popped up.
**[Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain invites you to join the group 'Ninefold Land Group.' Do you accept?]**
Scholar Song clicked 'Accept' again.
**'Scholar Song' has agreed to join the 'Ninefold Land Group.'**
**[You have successfully joined the group. Say hello to your fellow group members!]** A cheerful emoticon was included for good measure.
These days, chat applications are becoming increasingly user-friendly.
After a series of notifications appeared, Scholar Song promptly closed the alerts and the group chat window—he was feeling so drowsy that he had no energy to check what group he had just joined.
Anyway, his group settings had always been set to 'do not notify messages, only show the count.' Group chat notifications wouldn't interrupt him; they would simply display the count of messages in the group.
Once he felt more awake, he could scroll through the chat history to see what kind of group he had joined and catch up on the conversations.
His eyelids grew heavier...
The movie's progress bar continued to persistently advance, while Scholar Song's consciousness began to fade.
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In the Ninefold Land Group, upon seeing a new member join, some lurking members resurfaced.
**Hermit of North River:** "Did Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain just add a new fellow cultivator? It's been over a year since we added a newcomer, right?"
Another ID, **Sable Seven,** quickly replied, "A new fellow cultivator? Which region of the Middle Land is this cultivator from? What cave do they cultivate in? What's their Immortal Name? What rank are they at?"
A series of questions poured in, and something felt amiss.
Almost simultaneously, the ID **Wild Blade of Three Tides** chimed in, "What's the new cultivator's gender? Are they a fairy? If so, share your measurements and a picture!"
Seeing the messages from Sable Seven and Wild Blade of Three Tides, many members couldn't help but twitch their lips in exasperation.
"Three Tides, are you a goldfish or something?" sighed Hermit of North River. "You'd better not dig your own grave again. What if Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain has added a significant senior?"
This guy, while genuinely kind-hearted and helpful, had a habit of shooting his mouth off, getting himself into trouble with the senior cultivators. Those bored seniors often found amusement in tormenting someone as easygoing as Wild Blade of Three Tides.
"Please don't mention the word 'senior,' I have trauma from that!" Wild Blade of Three Tides replied with a flood of 'crying' emoticons.
Four years ago, his big mouth had offended a beautiful senior, who then proceeded to torment him for a grueling year and four months. Yes, you heard that right—a full year and four months! Just reminiscing about that period of torment brought tears to his eyes.
The moment he finished his lament, a series of mischievous 'smirking' emoticons filled the chat.
Among the eight members online, six of them simultaneously sent a barrage of laughing emojis.
"You bunch of troublemakers, I'll remember every one of you! If I ever cross paths with you, I'll make sure you all experience the wrath of my Seventy-Two Blade Techniques!" Wild Blade of Three Tides declared angrily. He was confident in his blade skills, believing none of the six who had just laughed at him could hold a candle to him in a duel.
Just as Wild Blade of Three Tides finished speaking, a smirking emoticon appeared from Sable Seven.
Then Sable Seven excitedly chimed in, "When are we dueling?"
Clearly, Sable Seven wasn't being malicious—he just wanted to find someone to spar with.
"…" Wild Blade of Three Tides instantly wilted.
Because he couldn't beat Sable Seven!
Sable Seven had achieved the late-stage of the Fifth Rank Spirit Emperor, just two steps away from the Sixth Rank Spirit Lord, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't win against Sable Seven.
He prided himself on his Seventy-Two Blade Techniques, which were swift and fierce, coupled with his lightning-fast footwork, but still, he could never win against Sable Seven!
Though he was known as the Wild Blade, when he truly got into it, even he feared himself, but he just couldn't beat Sable Seven!
Seeing Wild Blade of Three Tides wilt, the group erupted into another series of uncontrollable laughter.
"…" This time, Wild Blade of Three Tides could only express his frustration with a string of ellipses.
After a long bout of banter, the newcomers had yet to speak up, leading to some confusion.
"Is the new fellow cultivator silent?" asked Hermit of North River.
Unfortunately, due to the lingering effects of the cold medicine, Scholar Song had drifted back into a half-sleep state.
At that moment, Sable Seven excitedly sent another message, "I just checked, the new fellow cultivator is called 'Scholar Song.' Has anyone heard of a master by that name? It sounds a bit like someone from the Confucian sect, doesn't it? I can't wait to find out! These years, the Confucian cultivators have been hiding so deeply; they're impossible to find. It's been nearly a hundred years since I last fought one of them! Thinking back, battles with the Confucian cultivators are more thrilling than those with the Buddhist sect; not only are they articulate, but their punches pack a punch too. They even recite poetry when the excitement builds, making it twice as enjoyable! I absolutely love fighting them!"
"Hey, Sable Seven, do you only care about whether the new fellow cultivator is easy to fight and how enjoyable the fight is?" Wild Blade of Three Tides sent a crying emoticon. Seriously, wasn't that bullying behavior?!
"Uh." Sable Seven felt a bit embarrassed.
Hermit of North River smirked and added, "What if the new fellow cultivator turns out to be another 'senior' who can't use chat tools?"
As soon as he said that, everyone felt a sense of déjà vu.
Indeed, about four years ago, there had been a senior who had emerged from a hundred years of seclusion, who had also taken a long time to figure out the chat software. They had been added to the group by Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain, but due to their inability to type, they had remained silent.
Then, a certain Wild Blade of Three Tides had been a bit too eager, asking that senior for her measurements, photos, and voice chats.
Not long after, Wild Blade of Three Tides had met the senior in real life. She was strikingly beautiful, shining like the moon in the night sky.
And that beautiful senior had tormented Wild Blade of Three Tides for a whole year and four months until she was satisfied.
Wild Blade of Three Tides had immediately submitted.
"Immortal Sage?" At that moment, an ID called **The Alchemical Sage** chimed in.
A short and cryptic message appeared, without any context.
Fortunately, everyone in the group was used to The Alchemical Sage's succinct communication style—he was asking where Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain was.
His brevity wasn't due to aloofness but rather because he typed using a two-finger method mixed with handwriting, which was painfully slow. When he had to write too much, mistakes piled up, and he had to erase and rewrite, which was torturous. Over time, this led to his current concise way of speaking.
"He added someone and immediately logged off. I heard his precious big demon dog was sulking and ran away from home again; Immortal Sage is probably busy chasing it. Dealing with that precious big demon dog isn't easy; it's really hard to find time to log on and add people," Hermit of North River replied.
"..." The Alchemical Sage.
"Looks like we'll have to wait until the new fellow cultivator learns how to use chat tools before we can chat," Sable Seven lamented. They all presumed that the new addition was also a fellow cultivator.
Seeing the new cultivator remain quiet, the few people online, realizing there was no more fun to be had, went back to lurking.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
About an hour later, Scholar Song began to regain consciousness.
"I remember someone added me to a group earlier, called the Ninefold Land Group, right?" he muttered softly, casually clicking on the chat tool in the bottom right corner to pull up the Ninefold Land Group chat window.
What kind of group is this?
Quickly, the chat history from an hour ago appeared before him.
Scholar Song skimmed through it.
Fellow cultivators? Caves? What rank are they?
And what's with the seniors? Immortal? This seat? Chasing after a big demon dog?
A myriad of terms straight out of a cultivator fantasy novel.
The way the group members communicated was also quite amusing—half-ancient, half-modern. It felt like modern people trying to converse in archaic language, but their lack of proficiency in classical Chinese made it all sound awkward.
"Pfft~~" Scholar Song chuckled aloud.
Looks like this is a group formed by cultivator fantasy enthusiasts?
Oh no, this is definitely not just an ordinary group of cultivator fans!
Every member had created their own Immortal Names, referred to their residences as caves, and even referred to the pet dog that went missing as a "big demon dog." Then there's someone claiming they hadn't fought a Confucian cultivator in nearly a hundred years—are they actually claiming to be hundreds of years old?
Just reading through these chat logs made him feel an overwhelming sense of embarrassment.
"This level of obsession has reached a level of 'chuunibyou' (middle school second syndrome), and it's uniquely flavored with a touch of Chinese cultivator fantasy," Scholar Song silently nodded to himself.
It seems this is a gathering place for enthusiasts suffering from 'chuunibyou' in the realm of cultivator fantasies!
But why did they add him to the group?
He glanced at the profile of the group leader, Immortal Sage of Yellow Mountain, realizing he didn't know this person and was certain they were not one of his classmates.
Was it an accidental addition?