Chapter 0: Prologue

There is a Wuxia Novel that I enjoyed reading.

The title is [Return of Mount Hua Sect].

The story is about the protagonist, the Plum Blossom Swordsman, who regresses to his younger self after dying in a battle against the Heavenly Demon, and challenges him again.

It was quite entertaining to see the protagonist, who consumed every fortuitous opportunity, slowly destroy the Demonic Sect from the bottom.

While I was enjoying the novel, a question arose.

Is there no Unorthodox Sects in this novel?

Occasionally, a few mountain bandits appeared, but there were no masters who introduced themselves as martial artists of the Unorthodox Sects.

Originally, I liked novels where the protagonist was from the Unorthodox Sects, so it was disappointing that the Unorthodox Sects did not play an important role in [Return of Mount Hua Sect].

Yes, it was disappointing.

…But that doesn’t mean I wanted to be reborn as the son of a martial artist from the Unorthodox Sects. Even if he was a martial artist from the Unorthodox Sects, my father was just a mountain bandit.

When I turned three and my mind started to function, I realized why the Unorthodox Sects did not appear in [Return of Mount Hua Sect].

They were too weak.

In this world, the Unorthodox Sects were nothing more than mountain bandits or assassins for hire.

There were no proper Unorthodox Sects, let alone major sects like the Murim Alliance or the Heavenly Demon Cult. And the reason was that the martial arts of the Unorthodox Sects in this world were too easy.

When I was eight, I started learning the Thousand Power Sword Technique from my father, and by the time I was nine, I had achieved great success.

It wasn’t because I was a genius. The Thousand Power Sword Technique was designed to be used in actual combat without the need for a Cultivation Technique.

There was no opportunity to accumulate Inner Qi, so the limitations were clear. With only the Thousand Power Sword Technique, I could never rise above being a third-rate mountain bandit.

Moreover, my father started teaching me the ways of mountain banditry from that time. My father and his subordinates said I had a talent for banditry, but if I continued like that, I would just become a successful mountain bandit.

That’s why I left home at the age of ten.

My father tried to stop me with various reasons, saying that leaving home would be a hard life and that staying hidden and living as a mountain bandit was happiness, but I scoffed and left.

Still, since I was reincarnated into a novel, I should also consume fortuitous opportunities, join a major sect, and make a name for myself in the world.

…I think that’s what I thought at the time.

And it was true that leaving home led to a hard life.

First of all, major sects like Mount Hua, Wudang Sect, and Zhongnan did not accept someone like me with an unclear background.

And fortuitous opportunities? Damn, it’s been ten years, who can remember such detailed settings from the novel? I also went to places I vaguely remembered, but I couldn’t find any elixirs or secret manuals.

So I lived like a beggar for ten years. Even now, it was a difficult life, and I always longed to return to my hometown.

However, when I finally returned to my hometown, there were no mountain bandits, including my father.

In a world where the Orthodox Sects were dominant and the Unorthodox Sects were weak, they might have been subjugated by passing masters of the Orthodox Sects or government troops.

It was futile.

The hometown I had longed to return to had nothing left.

I lay down on the site of the mountain hideout and thought.

Maybe I had been thinking wrong all along. Perhaps living an ordinary life was the happiest, and I was suffering because I had been greedy for something beyond my means.

Suddenly, I remembered what my father had told me.

‘Living an ordinary life is the best.’

…Yes, that was the answer to life. Trying to be special only brought pain in the process.

If I lived comfortably and peacefully, I wouldn’t have to feel such pain.

“Father, I finally understand.”

Yes, I made up my mind.

What does it matter if I’m from the Unorthodox Sects or just an extra?

If the story flows as it originally did, the Orthodox Sects will eventually defeat the Demonic Sect, and the world will find peace. There is no need for me to interfere in this already sufficient world.

I stood up and shouted towards the sky.

“Protagonist! Take care of the world! I’ll just live here as an ordinary bandit!”

All I had was a young body just past the age of twenty, worn-out clothes, and an old, chipped blade, but I would start again from here.

From now on, I would live as an ordinary bandit without caring about the original story.

Thinking that way made me feel at ease, and a warm feeling filled my heart.

I had a premonition that things would go well in the future.