"Ruan Qiuping!" The Recorder of Fate called out, glancing around the room.
No one answered.
"Teacher, Ruan Qiuping definitely didn't come. When have you ever seen him attend class?" A student below chuckled.
...Fortunately, he didn't come again.
The Recorder of Fate sighed in relief, raising his hand to mark the attendance sheet.
"Teacher, I'm sorry I'm late!" A young man dressed in golden long sleeves and trousers burst in, looking disheveled.
Ruan Qiuping actually came to class?!
The students' spirits immediately tensed up. They all touched the Misfortune Dispelling Talismans on their bodies, and some top students even activated magical barriers around themselves.
Ruan Qiuping noticed that three rows in the back left of the classroom were completely empty. He sat down in the middle of the empty seats, but as soon as he did, the chair fell apart, and Ruan Qiuping crashed to the ground with a thud.
Rubbing his sore bottom, Ruan Qiuping reached for another chair. As he looked up, he saw dozens of nearby classmates jumping up in fright, scrambling to move elsewhere.
Ruan Qiuping sighed heavily, tugging at his golden clothes, and said helplessly, "Is this really necessary? Even if I am the God of Misfortune, you don't need to avoid me like this. Don't you have those talismans from the God of Fortune? Besides, look, I even bought these golden clothes from the trading forest to change my luck. Come on, come closer, bask in the golden light..."
A student muttered quietly, "The God of Fortune never wears golden clothes. You must have bought a fake. As expected of the God of Misfortune..."
Indeed, Ruan Qiuping was a born God of Misfortune.
The previous God of Misfortune had already died from bad luck, and now the position in the Celestial Court was temporarily vacant. Although Ruan Qiuping hadn't been officially appointed due to insufficient cultivation, he was already the only candidate in everyone's minds.
Ruan Qiuping's misfortune was no less potent than that of the previous God of Misfortune. For instance, as soon as he was born, his once-prosperous family became impoverished beyond recovery. Even when people in the celestial realm mentioned the Ruan family, they no longer referred to them as "that family living on the westernmost edge with two tacky golden lions at their gate," but instead as "the poorest family in the west" - in short, the "Western Poor Ruan Family."
Ruan Qiuping's misfortune was far more than just making his family poor; it was contagious and radiating "bad luck." Lower-ranking immortals would encounter minor misfortunes just by seeing him, and major misfortunes by talking to him. Two hundred years ago, a young immortal accidentally touched Ruan Qiuping and immediately fell to the ground, unconscious for half a year. Since then, no immortal dared to approach him.
Ever since hearing that Ruan Qiuping would be attending the Fate Academy, all the teachers and students had begged the God of Fortune for Misfortune Dispelling Talismans, wearing them day and night to barely ward off Ruan Qiuping's bad luck.
Speaking of the balance of yin and yang and the equilibrium of all things, Ruan Qiuping believed that the birth of Yu Huan, the God of Fortune, was meant to counter him.
At the exact moment Ruan Qiuping was born, a child blessed with good fortune was born on the easternmost edge of the Celestial Court.
The instant these two were born, the western side of the Celestial Court was instantly covered in dark clouds, with howling winds and pouring rain, while the eastern side burst with colorful light, birds singing in harmony, and flowers blooming in abundance.
After Ruan Qiuping's birth, his entire family became poor, and misfortune spread for ten miles around. In contrast, after Yu Huan's birth, the Yu family's wealth and prestige soared, and all the slightly ill immortals within ten miles became energetic and vibrant. The Yu family became known as the "Auspicious Family in the East," or simply the "Eastern Auspicious Yu Family."
Before long, people from the western side of the celestial realm began moving eastward. The Ruan family's home became the most desolate place in the west, while the land prices near the Yu family skyrocketed, becoming the most prosperous area in the entire celestial realm outside of the Celestial Court. This greatly altered the existing land value structure of the celestial realm.
From that point on, the future God of Misfortune and God of Fortune were determined.
Ruan Qiuping glanced at the noisy classroom and said lazily, "Teacher, why haven't you started the lesson yet?"
The Recorder of Fate instinctively lowered his head to check the Misfortune Dispelling Talisman on his body, then looked up at Ruan Qiuping while flipping through the textbook, muttering, "Why are you suddenly so eager..."
"It shows that I'm starting to be studious!" Ruan Qiuping grinned.
With that, he took out paper and pen from his bag and actually started listening to the lesson.
As Ruan Qiuping lowered his head to take notes, the playful expression on his face gradually faded away, replaced by a silent determination in his eyes, as if preparing for a life-or-death battle.
Ruan Qiuping's determination was for nothing else but his precious little sister.
Ruan Qiuping's sister was named Ruan Dongdong, who had just turned three years old. In this celestial realm where the average age was several hundred or thousand years, she was barely even considered a seedling, more like a small seed just about to sprout.
Yet, this tiny little seed had been betrothed by the Celestial Marriage Stone.
A few nights ago, Ruan Qiuping accidentally overheard his parents talking and learned that the Celestial Marriage Stone, which hadn't moved for hundreds of years, suddenly revealed two lines of characters a few days ago.
Eastern Auspicious Yu, Western Poor Ruan.
The Celestial Marriage Stone had always only determined marriages, nothing else. But the Yu family of Eastern Auspicious only had one unmarried child, Yu Huan, and the Western Poor Ruan family had no unmarried daughters other than Ruan Dongdong.
Yu Huan and Ruan Dongdong were thus the new couple determined by the Celestial Marriage Stone.
This marriage arrangement... who knows what the Yu family thought, but Ruan Qiuping's parents were overjoyed.
However, Ruan Qiuping was not willing.
Extremely unwilling.
The kind of unwillingness that made him want to take a knife and slaughter Yu Huan.
Let's not mention anything else, who was Yu Huan? He was born on the same year, month, and day as Ruan Qiuping, a 221-year-old young man.
And who was Ruan Dongdong? A little girl who had just turned three.
A three-year-old child who could barely speak clearly or walk steadily, and they were planning to send her to the groom's family in a few days, wait for a dozen or so years, and then get married and have children?
What was this? In modern human terms, this was a crime!
Ruan Qiuping ground his teeth in his dreams, desperate to break off this engagement.
But there was a rule about the marriages determined by the Celestial Marriage Stone: they could neither be destroyed nor broken. Whoever violated the marriage arranged by the Celestial Marriage Stone would be struck by forty-nine bolts of heavenly lightning.
Ruan Dongdong had no magical power at all. Forget about enduring heavenly lightning, she would cry loudly at the sight of ordinary thunder and lightning.
But Yu Huan was different.
Almost every immortal in the celestial realm praised Yu Huan to the skies, calling him the youngest tribulation survivor in the celestial realm, the immortal who would be appointed as a god at the earliest age in history, the record holder for defeating the ferocious beast Xiqu in the shortest time... and so on, too numerous to count.
Since Yu Huan was the pride of heaven and the future hope of the celestial realm, could forty-nine bolts of heavenly lightning really kill him?
Moreover, he was destined to be the God of Fortune. Perhaps when the forty-nine bolts of lightning struck, not a single one would hit him.
Thinking of this, Ruan Qiuping ground his teeth in jealousy.
In fact, Ruan Qiuping had never met Yu Huan.
Although they were both famous figures in the celestial realm, Ruan Qiuping was always alone wherever he went, while Yu Huan was always surrounded by people.
Ruan Qiuping seemed to have caught a glimpse of Yu Huan's shadow over a hundred years ago. The legendary God of Fortune was surrounded by a crowd, his figure barely visible, only the white jade crown on his head faintly discernible.
Later, it was said that the God of Fortune, troubled by being constantly surrounded, had learned the art of invisibility. He would become invisible when going out and was never seen at home. He only wrote a few Misfortune Dispelling Talismans and ignored all other requests, becoming quite aloof.
Ever since learning about his sister's engagement to Yu Huan, Ruan Qiuping had been closely monitoring Yu Huan's movements. Finally, he got a piece of insider information - Yu Huan was going to descend to the mortal world for his tribulation.
Although they were the same age, Ruan Qiuping and Yu Huan's cultivation levels were worlds apart. Ruan Qiuping had basically remained stagnant, not much different from a hundred years ago, while Yu Huan's cultivation had soared. It was said that after this tribulation in the mortal world, he would officially be appointed as the God of Fortune, becoming the youngest god in history.
As luck would have it, Ruan Qiuping was studying the course of Fate, which dealt with human destinies.
After learning that Yu Huan was descending to the mortal world, Ruan Qiuping knew his opportunity had come.
In the tribulations of immortals descending to the mortal world, there had always been an eternal challenge - the tribulation of love.
Many immortals who descend to the mortal realm for trials often fall in love with humans. Some of them, even after returning to the celestial realm, can't forget that mortal lover, resulting in a tragic love story between an immortal and a mortal. To solve this problem, nowadays, immortals who return from their mortal trials must drink the Waters of Forgetfulness. However, even with this measure, every few decades, a handful of immortals mysteriously regain their memories and then cry out to heaven and earth, demanding to go to the Hall of Yama to find their mortal lovers.
This has become a major characteristic of immortals' trials in the mortal realm.
Ruan Qiuping intended to use this very tactic on Yu Huan.
His plan was to help Yu Huan find a passionately devoted lover in the mortal world, then manipulate things so that Yu Huan couldn't drink the Waters of Forgetfulness. This way, when Yu Huan returned from his trial, he would naturally break off his engagement with Ruan Dongdong and focus entirely on how to be with his mortal lover forever.
It was perfect!
Ruan Qiuping stretched lazily, tapping his pen against his head, and praised himself: "What a clever brain!"
"Snap!" The pen in his hand inexplicably broke into two pieces, and the black ink flowed down Ruan Qiuping's forehead.
...Ah, the usual misfortune.
Ruan Qiuping silently used magic to clean the ink off his head, patted his skull, and praised himself again: "...What a hard head indeed."
.
After paying attention through several classes, Ruan Qiuping finally understood the process.
The course Ruan Qiuping was taking belonged to the basic curriculum of the Fate Academy. The theoretical part had just ended, and from today, they were starting the practical courses.
For the next two days, they would first visit the "Gate of Vanity" where immortals descend to the mortal realm, and various tools used to alter human fate. The following two days would be spent observing the mortal world with the Recorder of Fate and teaching assistants. It wasn't until the fifth day that these apprentices would officially begin their practical courses of descending to the mortal realm, after which they would have five minutes of mortal realm time every day for the next two months.
These five minutes were not to be underestimated. Nowadays, the management of travel between the celestial and human realms had become increasingly strict. Under normal circumstances, the only immortals who could go to the human realm were those descending for trials and students studying the Fate course. For a normal immortal to go on a trip to the mortal realm, they would need to get stamps from more than a dozen departments and go through a lengthy process. By the time the process was complete, several decades would have passed in the mortal world.
In this light, the daily five-minute privilege that Ruan Qiuping had obtained through his student status was indeed precious. Not to mention that according to the time conversion mechanism where one day in heaven equals one year on earth, these five heavenly minutes were equivalent to 30 hours in the mortal realm.
Thirty hours a year... If he worked hard enough, he should be able to find a good partner for Yu Huan before his death.
Thinking this way, Ruan Qiuping finally felt at ease.
.
"Students, please follow teaching assistant Senior Qi Yue to the Gate of Vanity. Mis... ahem... Ruan Qiuping, please stay behind for a moment," said the Recorder of Fate.
After most of the students had left, Ruan Qiuping stood up and walked towards the podium. "Teacher, what's the matter?"
"It's nothing, just stay where you are, no need to come closer..." the old Recorder of Fate hurriedly said. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and then said, "Ahem, Ruan Qiuping, you've come to class now because you're worried that the course is ending soon and you're afraid I won't give you a passing grade, right? Actually, you don't need to worry about that. You have extraordinary talent and are an indispensable part of our Fate Academy. Even if you didn't come to class and just read a book at home, I would still give you an excellent grade..."
"Teacher, there's no need to treat me specially," Ruan Qiuping said seriously. "If you treat me specially like this, what will the other students think?"
"The other students would be glad if you didn't come to class..." the Recorder of Fate muttered under his breath.
Pretending not to hear, Ruan Qiuping said, "Well then, Teacher, if there's nothing else, I'll go to the Gate of Vanity with my classmates."
"Oh, wait a moment, there's one more thing. I need to put more fortune into this Fate Orb for you."
Putting fortune into the Fate Orb was a part-time job that Ruan Qiuping and Yu Huan did together at the Fate Academy, with the purpose of balancing human fate.
However...
"Didn't we already do that this year? Why do we need to add more fortune?" Ruan Qiuping asked, puzzled.
The Recorder of Fate explained, "It's because Yu Huan is going to descend to the mortal realm for his trial. But he has too much good fortune, which would make his life in the mortal realm too smooth, not conducive to a successful trial. So, you need to add more of your fortune to balance it out and help him complete his trial successfully."
Ah, that legendary God of Fortune, I see.
Ruan Qiuping smiled grimly and forcefully infused the Fate Orb with his misfortune.
In an instant, the previously transparent Fate Orb was now filled with black energy.
Ruan Qiuping laughed coldly in his heart and handed over the orb.
For a moment, Ruan Qiuping almost felt like he was the evil queen handing over the poisoned apple in a fairy tale. Thinking of this, he paused: Was it too much? With so much misfortune, the God of Fortune might perish as soon as he descended to the mortal realm.
"It's not enough," the Recorder of Fate shook his head. "You probably haven't seen Yu Huan's current abilities. When you two were first born, your fortunes might have been evenly matched, but his cultivation now is incomparable to before. This Fate Orb would probably be purified as soon as it touches his body, not even making it to the mortal realm..."
Ruan Qiuping: ...
What did that mean? Did it mean that the difference in cultivation between him and Yu Huan was now as vast as heaven and earth, and even if he put all his effort into infusing misfortune, it would still be insignificant in front of the God of Fortune?!
How dare they look down on the misfortune of him, the mighty God of Misfortune?!
It was an absolute insult!!!
Ruan Qiuping forced a smile and took back the Fate Orb, saying, "It seems I almost did something bad with good intentions. Since this is for Yu Huan's trial, I should take it more seriously."
With that, he took back the Fate Orb, turned around, and continued to infuse it with misfortune. Heaven knows how much effort he put in. As he infused the fortune, the air in the entire classroom began to swirl, windows and doors flew open, curtains flapped violently, all the instruments on the desk levitated into the air, and Ruan Qiuping smiled like a villain whose scheme had succeeded.
The tip of a pen even cut Ruan Qiuping's wrist, and a drop of bright red blood fell into the Fate Orb as he waved his fingers.
However, this scene was so subtle that no one noticed.
"Alright," the Recorder of Fate shook the Fate Orb in his hand. "This should be about right. It looks like Yu Huan will have the fortune of a normal person for this trial."
Ruan Qiuping: "..." An immortal's fortune would already be reduced by nine-tenths when descending to the mortal realm, so all that effort only balanced out one-tenth of Yu Huan's good fortune?!
Ruan Qiuping angrily slammed his palm on the desk.
"Boom!"
The desk suddenly fell to the ground, heavily crushing Ruan Qiuping's foot.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"
The Recorder of Fate shook his head and tossed Ruan Qiuping a jar of ointment: "Clean yourself up first, then go to the Gate of Vanity on your own later."
Ruan Qiuping, hugging his painful foot, nodded.
Ruan Qiuping arrived at the Gate of Vanity quite late, but it wasn't really his fault.
Who could have predicted that on his way out, he would encounter a frenzied divine beast running amok, two annoying little fairy children who had lost their way, and the Old Immortal Under the Moon who was drunk and insisted on talking to him, only to throw eggs at him after learning he was the God of Misfortune.
To be honest, Ruan Qiuping was used to it.
After all, the life of the God of Misfortune was anything but dull and full of such interesting incidents.
In any case, Ruan Qiuping was delayed quite a bit on the way, so by the time he reached the Gate of Vanity, it was already dark. His classmates, his senior teaching assistant, and his Recorder of Fate teacher had all disappeared.
A breeze blew by, leaving only mottled tree shadows, and the entire Gate of Vanity was eerily quiet.
Ruan Qiuping glanced at the tightly closed Gate of Vanity, sighed, and was about to turn and leave.
But just then, a tree shadow on the ground suddenly flickered.
Ruan Qiuping thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but when he looked closely, a man in white robes had walked out of thin air.
The man wore white robes and a white crown, his face as cold and beautiful as jade. There was little expression on his features, but his whole being exuded an extraordinary aura. Even the hem of his robe that fluttered as he walked seemed to emanate an immortal air.
Even the moon seemed to favor him, casting a pure white moonlight over his entire body.
He looked very unfamiliar.
Ruan Qiuping looked down at his own golden shirt and golden pants, and pouted.
What's with all the pretense? It's such an outdated style to dress so traditionally in this day and age.
Just you being proper, just you looking good.
Hmph.
Anyway, Ruan Qiuping disliked this person at first sight.
But when he looked up again, he realized this person seemed to be walking towards him.
This feeling was quite extraordinary, after all, everyone in the heavens who saw him would avoid him. This seemed to be the first time someone was approaching him.
Three steps, two steps, one step.
That person stopped in front of Ruan Qiuping.
Very close.
Ruan Qiuping could see this person's hair strands, could count their eyelashes, could clearly sense their breath.
Ruan Qiuping's throat tightened slightly, this seemed to be the first time... the first time someone had been this close to him.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly came to his senses and quickly took a few steps back.
But he retreated so hastily that his left foot caught on a stone, and he nearly fell—at the critical moment, the man in front of him suddenly took a few quick steps and caught his hand.
Ruan Qiuping's eyes widened abruptly. He straightened up, hurriedly shook off the hand, and quickly retreated a few more steps, saying, "How dare you touch me, don't you know who I am? I'm the God of Misfor—"
"Ruan Qiuping," the person suddenly spoke, his eyes curving into a smile, "I know you."
"..." Ruan Qiuping frowned slightly, muttering, "If you know, how dare you still touch me..."
Suddenly remembering something, Ruan Qiuping took out a jade pendant from his bosom and reluctantly threw it to the man, saying, "I bought this for my sister at a high price in the trading forest. It's said to be the personal jade pendant of the God of Fortune. I'll lend it to you to wear for a minute to dispel the misfortune on your body, but you must return it after use."
"God of Fortune?"
"That's right, the one surnamed Yu." Ruan Qiuping raised an eyebrow, not quite convinced, his tone arrogant and contemptuous, "Hmph, useless God of Fortune, at least he's good for something."
The white-robed man opposite smiled and raised the jade pendant, saying, "But this jade pendant doesn't belong to Yu Huan."
After saying this, he took out a high-quality white jade from his bosom and said, "This one is."
Ruan Qiuping pouted, "You mean I bought a fake, huh."
Huh, no wonder he's not afraid of me, turns out he's carrying something from the God of Fortune.
The man suddenly stepped forward again, took Ruan Qiuping's left hand, and placed both jade pendants in his palm, smiling, "If you don't believe me, you can try them when you get back."
...He touched my hand again.
"I told you not to get so close to me, and don't touch me."
Ruan Qiuping shook off the man's hand and retreated two more steps, looking down at the two jade pendants in his palm, and asked, "Don't you want money?"
The man shook his head.
Seems like he's rich but foolish.
Ruan Qiuping put the two jade pendants in his bosom and slightly raised his chin: "Then I'll keep them for now. If they're real, thank you in advance."
The man nodded, glanced at the darkening Gate of Vanity, and said softly, "Ruan Qiuping, we'll meet again."
"Better not, meeting me isn't a good thing for you." Ruan Qiuping muttered, stepping away.
Ruan Qiuping walked for tens of minutes, looking straight ahead without turning back, before stopping.
He lowered his head and looked at his left hand.
As far as he could remember, he had never touched anyone, not even his parents, not even his beloved sister.
Two hundred years ago, an immortal accidentally touched his shoulder through clothes and fell to the ground unconscious. Since then, others avoided him even more.
So this is what it feels like to touch someone else.
Warm, soft, with a lingering heat.