Troublemaker’s Guide to Immortality

Gu Jinghong stood stiffly, utterly frozen in front of Yun Jin.

She gave him a sideways glance, a trace of disdain in her eyes. "You see your master and you can't even smile? What, your face cramping already?"

Gu Jinghong said nothing.

He forced a grin—but it looked more like a grimace.

Yun Jin recoiled at the sight. "Ugh." She immediately scooped up the iron-eating beast. "See this? This is Gun Gun. For the next three months, your main job is to serve it. If it's unhappy or uncomfortable in any way, I'm holding you responsible!"

Gun Gun's eyes sparkled.

What?!

It, the mighty iron-eating beast, now had its own personal servant?!

This master—she's the one!

Gungun scrutinized Gu Jinghong with a critical gaze.

"Hmph. This scrawny thing is supposed to serve me? Pathetic. Does he even have the strength to carry my meals?"

Yun Jin continued, "Gun Gun, keep this in mind. While he is technically our servant, that doesn't mean…"

Gun Gun blinked. His excitement dulled a little.

"Oh. Is Master going to say I shouldn't bully him too much?"

"…you need to treat him like a person. Just do whatever you want with him," Yun Jin said casually.

Gun Gun's eyes immediately sparkled.

What a great arrangement!

Gu Jinghong wanted to run. Desperately.

But there was nowhere to escape to.

"Are you complaining about me in your head?" Yun Jin mercilessly activated a sliver of the contract's power.

Gu Jinghong's face twisted in pain as his body convulsed.

After a brief punishment, Yun Jin coldly declared, "Remember this: the master-servant contract lets me sense any resentment you feel toward me. A servant who disrespects his master invites divine retribution. Understood?"

"Divine retribution?!"

"You're just abusing the contract!"

But Gu Jinghong didn't dare to feel even a flicker of resentment anymore, not even inwardly. He could only nod in silence.

Still, the anger in his chest needed somewhere to go. So Gu Jinghong began cursing Ye Danxia in his heart.

"If it weren't for that bitch Ye Danxia, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Blaming her isn't unfair at all!"

Yun Jin noticed Gu Jinghong's clenched teeth but sensed no hostility toward herself, so she ignored it.

She turned to Gun Gun. "Gun Gun, I'll be out on business tomorrow. Do you want to come with me, or stay here in the sect to keep an eye on our servant?"

Supervise the servant?

Gun Gun was immediately intrigued.

As a rebellious cub with delusions of grandeur, it had always dreamed of being the boss!

In front of Yun Jin, it wouldn't dare act up—

But!

Master clearly had a grudge against this servant. "Do whatever you want" basically meant free rein to torment him!

And Gun Gun loved mischief!

"I'll stay and supervise him on your behalf!" Gun Gun declared. "He's a servant, so I'll make sure he doesn't slack off at night either! I'll supervise him then too!"

He was brimming with enthusiasm.

Yun Jin smiled, then turned to Gu Jinghong. "Take good care of Gun Gun. He needs warm milk at night, and a story before bed. Make sure he's well looked after. If you make him unhappy, I'll skin you alive."

With a mighty leap, Gun Gun climbed onto Gu Jinghong's shoulder.

Yun Jin passed all of Gun Gun's belongings, packed neatly into a storage pouch, over to Gu Jinghong.

Strangely, he almost felt… grateful.

Was Yun Jin actually being lenient with him?

Just looking after a small beast?

That didn't sound like torture at all.

He obediently agreed, even mentally praising Yun Jin's generosity.

"Mount, move!" Gun Gun smacked Gu Jinghong's head.

Though he couldn't understand its words, the meaning was clear. Gu Jinghong trudged out, the beast perched on his shoulder like a tyrant.

The Tianjian Peak disciples had built a small bamboo hut near Yun Jin's residence for him.

As Yun Jin watched them leave, she grinned.

This is just the beginning.

Gu Jinghong needed to experience the life she had endured in her past.

Back then—

If Ye Danxia cried? Yun Jin's fault.

If Ye Danxia was sad? Yun Jin's fault.

If Ye Danxia smiled at someone? The jealous suitors would still blame Yun Jin.

She'd been a scapegoat for everything related to Ye Danxia!

Now, it was Gu Jinghong's turn to suffer.

Gun Gun, despite being a little rascal, might be even more of a handful than Ye Danxia.

If Gun Gun threw a tantrum? Beat Gu Jinghong.

If Gun Gun was unhappy? Beat Gu Jinghong.

If Gun Gun was too happy? Beat Gu Jinghong anyway.

Let him learn what it meant to be blamed for everything!

Yun Jin wasn't worried about Gu Jinghong harming Gun Gun. Their mental link meant she could kill him with a thought if the beast was hurt.

She'd promised not to take his life for three months—

But if he endangered Gun Gun?

That promise meant nothing.

~

That night, Yun Jin refined several more batches of Biling Pills, leaving Yue Zhao to sell them slowly.

Afterward, she glanced at her system panel.

Originally, it had only displayed her own information.

Now, beneath her name, a new line had appeared for Gun Gun.

[Iron-Eating Beast (Gun Gun):

Mid-Grade Spirit Beast

Level: Qi Refining

Skills: Charge (Lv. 1), Roar (Lv. 1)]

Just two skills, and both only at level one.

However, now that they were under contract, she could use Simplification on the beast as well.

Yun Jin tried it.

Charge → "Crash into a tree 100 times daily to rapidly increase proficiency."

Roar → "Shout 100 times daily to rapidly increase proficiency."

With training like this, the skill levels should rise quickly.

She recalled that beast tamers could even grant their spirit beasts additional skills.

If she learned how, she could eventually add divine-grade abilities to Gun Gun's arsenal.

That said, even these basic skills—if trained consistently—had the potential to reach divine grade over time.

Imagine it.

A divine-grade Charge.A divine-grade Roar.

Just the thought of it was beautiful.

Yun Jin decided she'd begin training Gun Gun tomorrow. But the little rascal probably wouldn't want to do it willingly, so she'd have to come up with a clever way to motivate him.

She checked Gun Gun's data again, and to her surprise, there was a hidden information button at the very bottom.

Yun Jin tapped it.

[Spend 10 Simplification Points to reveal hidden information?]

She confirmed.

[Iron-Eating Beast: Mid-Grade Spirit Beast (Potential to reach Divine Grade upon bloodline awakening). In ancient times, a demon god named Chi You once rode the progenitor of the Iron-Eating Beast clan into battle. On the battlefield, they were unmatched in strength and courage. After Chiyou's defeat, the Iron-Eating Beasts vanished. When they resurfaced, they had degraded into mere mid-grade spirit beasts.]

Yun Jin's gaze grew thoughtful.

She had seen similar legends in other worlds she had passed through, but stories like that were too uncertain to take seriously.

Now, however, with confirmation from the system…

It was clear that in this world, the Iron-Eating Beast truly once stood at the peak of glory.

Chi You's mount.

An unrivaled warrior.

Her Gun Gun… one day, would become just as mighty.