“Old servant, you have served as a Servant Disciple in my palace for over a hundred years now. This Senior is aware that your lifespan is drawing to a close.”

“In light of your century of diligent service, do you have any unfulfilled regrets before you depart this world? This Senior will endeavor to satisfy them.”

In the ethereal pavilion overlooking the artificial lake, a graceful figure sat by a stone tea table. She was a violet-robed fairy possessing beauty so breathtaking it seemed she was an immortal banished from the heavens.

Her jade-like hand propped up her chin, legs crossed, her tone laced with languid indifference.

Before her, an old man knelt on one knee. Clad in coarse hemp, his temples were frosted with white, his frame gaunt and withered by age.

Though her words were pleasant, the violet-robed fairy’s gaze held nothing but disdain as she looked upon the old man.

“Has it… already been a hundred years? Time truly waits for no one.”

The old man’s voice trembled slightly. His deeply sunken, weathered eyes betrayed a fear of death mixed with a sense of liberation.

His name was Han Lie.

He was one among many transmigrators.

Over a century ago, he had crossed over to this world of cultivation. However, cursed with wretchedly poor spiritual veins, his aptitude for cultivation was woeful.

Born into poverty, his parents had no choice but to sell him to the Heavenly Void Sect to become a Servant Disciple.

Upon arriving at the Heavenly Void Sect, Han Lie suffered endless bullying and suppression from other Servant Disciples. To survive, he could only work harder than anyone else.

Fortunately, after a few years, his exceptional diligence caught the eye of the Heavenly Void Sect’s Sect Leader, Ye Qingxuan. She arranged for him to serve in her personal palace.

And so, he worked. For a full hundred years.

By all logic, a century of servitude should have earned him merit, or at least pity for his hardships.

But this was the Heavenly Void Sect!

It was one of the most notorious demonic sects on the entire Tianyuan Continent.

As the saying goes, a crooked stick will have a crooked shadow.

The disciples below were constantly scheming, engaging in deceit and treachery. To obtain a pittance of cultivation resources, they wouldn’t hesitate to bully, suppress, betray, or backstab their fellow sect brothers and sisters.

Let alone Ye Qingxuan, the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Void Sect.

To her, Han Lie had always been merely a servant, a slave.

To put it more harshly—a dog.

Her sudden inquiry into Han Lie’s final wishes today was nothing more than a whim. Or perhaps she viewed Han Lie as a mere plaything to alleviate her boredom.

Having accompanied this Sect Leader, whose mood changed faster than flipping the pages of a book, for a century, Han Lie understood her character all too well.

Therefore, Han Lie did not naively believe that Ye Qingxuan had suddenly developed a benevolent heart.

“Reporting to Sect Leader,” Han Lie began. “This old servant entered the Heavenly Void Sect in childhood and has long ceased worrying about his parents. Now that my lifespan is ending, my only regret is that I remain… a virgin.”

Because his life force was nearly extinguished, like an oil lamp running dry, Han Lie’s voice trembled. “This old servant dares not hope for anything else. I only beg the Sect Leader to bestow upon this old servant a companion to accompany me on my final journey.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Qingxuan found it amusing.

“Heh.” She chuckled coldly. “Old servant, you are truly base scum. At death’s door, yet your mind still wanders to such filth. Indeed, you men are all cut from the same cloth. However, This Senior wonders—can a body like yours, flickering like a candle in the wind, even perform?”

Ye Qingxuan sneered with contempt.

“…”

Han Lie remained silent.

According to common sense, at over one hundred and ten years old, one would have long lost any capability in matters between men and women.

But this was the world of cultivation, after all.

Although Han Lie’s cultivation aptitude was poor—to put it mildly—relying on the meager spiritual power accumulated over a century of labor, he could still manage to… raise his head.

Otherwise, Han Lie wouldn’t have made such a request to Ye Qingxuan.

“Fine,” she said dismissively. “Your vulgar character befits the style of our Heavenly Void Sect. This Senior shall be merciful and grant you a woman.”

“But This Senior is very curious—does a body on its last breath still possess that kind of capability? Do not disappoint This Senior.”

“Hahahaha!”

Ye Qingxuan laughed mockingly, seemingly finding great interest in the absurdity of it all.

“Th-thank you… Thank you, Sect Leader!”

Han Lie trembled with excitement; even his withered body shook like dry firewood.

For over a hundred years in the Heavenly Void Sect, all of Han Lie’s energy had been spent on simply staying alive.

Although he no longer suffered bullying from other Servant Disciples after coming to Ye Qingxuan’s palace, if his work contained even the slightest flaw and Ye Qingxuan discovered it… her punishments were far more terrifying than any bullying from the others.

Han Lie vividly remembered one instance when he failed to clean the dust from a single corner properly. Ye Qingxuan had suspended him from a pole under the scorching sun for seven days and seven nights. He had nearly reported to King Yama ahead of schedule.

This life of drudgery felt like treading on thin ice; several times, Han Lie felt he might not make it across safely.

Fortunately, his fate was tough enough; he managed to live past one hundred and ten.

Because of these lifelong circumstances… Han Lie had never even held hands with a girl.

He didn’t have many regrets; he just felt it would be too shameful to enter the earth while still being… untouched by a woman.

It was only human nature.

Even those Emperor-level powerhouses who could shatter space with a flick of their fingers or move mountains and drain seas—possessing heaven-defying abilities—still had desires in this regard. How much more so for someone like Han Lie, who had lived his whole life like a beast of burden?

“Hmph.” Ye Qingxuan snorted disdainfully as she stood up, issuing a decisive order that left no room for argument. “This Senior doesn’t need thanks from base scum like you! Go do what you are supposed to do!”

“Remember: if you are going to die, die outside! Do not dirty This Senior’s grounds! Otherwise, This Senior will ensure you die without a burial place!”

“Yes, Sect Leader! This old servant remembers!”

Only after Ye Qingxuan returned inside her palace did Han Lie finally stand up shakily.

A bitter, self-mocking smile played on his lips, which were marked by the passage of time, as he muttered quietly: “For a transmigrator… to reach my state is truly a failure.”

In his youthful days, long gone by… hatred had filled every fiber of his being toward both the Heavenly Void Sect and Ye Qingxuan, who constantly beat and scolded him…

He had sworn silently that someday, when he rose up, he would take revenge upon them all…

But reality proved cruel indeed.

With spiritual veins that did not even qualify as first-grade… within a beast-infested place like the Heavenly Void Sect, where finding a kind-hearted person was harder than finding a needle in a haystack while carrying a lantern at night… merely surviving consumed every ounce of his energy.

As for revenge? That became nothing but absurd talk.

Now nearing the end of his lifespan… there was no longer any energy left to consider matters of vengeance.

How to leave the world decently, without regrets, became the top priority urgently occupying his thoughts.

There was no time to dwell further on such thoughts, though. After briefly collecting his emotions…

For the sake of the young woman promised by Ye Qingxuan… he once again began busying himself around the palace diligently.

During his days of youthful vigor, full of vitality, he had possessed enough energy to clean the entire Violet Heaven Palace thoroughly within a day or two.

But as age advanced gradually over the passing decades, and his vitality waned correspondingly, each passing year required increasingly longer periods to complete the same cleaning tasks to the exacting standards demanded here.

Nowadays, it required at least six or seven days to meticulously clean the entire Violet Heaven Palace until it was spotless again.

Before he knew it, seven days had already passed.

After dumping the final bag of trash, he finally finished cleaning the Violet Heaven Palace completely once more.

Standing outside the entrance, facing the setting sun’s last rays which cast a long shadow ahead of him, he stood silently, pondering. Something felt missing inside his heart.

Perhaps due to advanced age causing slower reactions, it took a good while before he suddenly realized:

“Ah, right! The woman the Sect Leader promised This Senior earlier… where is she?”