Question: When you find out that your beloved is accompanied by a rival who is far superior to you in every aspect and deeply passionate about your beloved, what is the correct way to handle it?

Answer one: Fully utilize your subjective initiative, strive to improve your own qualities, surpass the rival, and become the winner of the competition.

Answer two: Fully utilize your subjective initiative, spare no effort to undermine the rival, including rumors, scandals, secret poisoning, etc., defeat the rival and become the winner of the competition.

Answer three: Fully utilize your subjective initiative, promote the spirit of sharing, reach a certain degree of reconciliation with the rival, form a win-win situation of sharing the beloved, and become one of the winners in the competition.

Facing this complex situation, Shen Qingming had to admit that she was somewhat indecisive; among the three plans, plan one was obviously self-deception. Not to mention Zhao Chenlu’s past life identity, her skills in this life alone are far beyond what Shen Qingming could reach. Plan two was even more whimsical; City Lord Golden Jade was renowned in the world for three things: first, unparalleled talent in the Immortal Dao, reaching the Cloud Flipping Realm at 15, the peak of the Mountain-Overturning Realm at 30, and a Half-Step Sea Overturning Realm, progressing at an unprecedented pace in the history of Xiangzhou. Second, unparalleled beauty, breathtakingly beautiful, which anyone who has seen Zhao Chenlu’s true face would attest to. Third, unparalleled ruthlessness, as the City Lord of Golden Jade, her methods of cleaning up opposing forces and entrenched family issues were known for being as swift as lightning. During her nearly 20-year term as City Lord, there were no less than hundreds of Zhao Family members expelled from Golden Jade City and removed from the Zhao Clan Genealogy, including even her parental relatives.

For someone heartless enough to rival beauty and cultivation, playing tricks and conspiracies with her is something even the slightly foolish wouldn’t do.

As for plan three, leaving aside Shen Qingming’s personal willingness, just Zhao Chenlu’s attitude toward Wang Jiu made sharing absolutely impossible—had it been possible, Shang Lanfei and Zhao Chenlu wouldn’t have kept fighting each other even when confronted with a common enemy back then.

Upon careful consideration, all three plans seemed to be dead ends. Shen Qingming’s internal panic and confusion grew like weeds nourished by rich water.

"Ah Jiu, can I ask you a question?"

In a panic, the young girl asked tremulously: "Suppose, I mean suppose, you have something you like very, very much... Oh no, someone. But now there’s a very, very formidable person competing with you, what would you do?"

Wang Jiu was reminded of Shen Ruoshi not long ago also using a "suppose you..." sentence structure to inquire about his situation.

So he couldn’t help but laugh: "What, you have someone you particularly like, and now you’ve come across a very formidable person competing with you?"

Shen Qingming was dumbfounded, staring at Wang Jiu in disbelief: "When did you become so understanding?!"

Wang Jiu said: "I’ve always been understanding. As long as a Master-Servant Contract is established, I can directly read the thoughts of my mount, ensuring no misunderstandings. So you just need to..."

"No peeking!" Shen Qingming forcefully interrupted, her face turning red with embarrassment. "Anyway, forget about all those irrelevant things and just answer my question honestly, if it were you, what would you do?"

Wang Jiu said: "If it were me... hmm, come to think of it, I’ve indeed experienced something like that myself."

Shen Qingming’s eyes widened as if they would pop out: "You experienced it!?"

"Yes, although the specific circumstances differ slightly from your description, the actual experience was very similar."

"Is that so?"

Shen Qingming was momentarily overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

So, Ah Jiu had a first love as well...

Curiosity about Wang Jiu’s first love, resentment about Wang Jiu’s first love already being claimed by someone else, and anticipation that her dilemma might be resolved... intertwined, causing the young girl to swallow and lean forward, asking: "When did this happen?"

"During the Immortal Demon War."

The girl’s heart instantly skipped a beat, love during wartime!

That kind of love is the most unforgettable, no wonder even with Zhao Chenlu’s skills, she couldn’t truly conquer the fortress that is Wang Jiu.

However, what Wang Jiu said next was.

"At that time, the Great Demon God Emperor and I were both contending for the Jiuzhou Continent, as my strongest opponent in life, it was indeed a battle worth remembering forever."

"...Is this what you call a personal experience?"

Wang Jiu asked: "What about it? As the essence of Jiuzhou, my love for the Jiuzhou Continent is beyond doubt, and the Great Demon God Emperor trying to take over Jiuzhou naturally made him my rival. This aligns closely with your scenario description."

"..."

Shen Qingming asked again: "Then, suppose the opponent’s strength far exceeds yours, and in your lifetime, you see no hope of surpassing them, what should be done?"

"Interesting question, so far, I’ve never encountered a rival in terms of strength that I couldn’t surpass. However, you shouldn’t ask me this question. When it comes to the experience of encountering unbeatable opponents, you probably have more of that, what are your thoughts?"

Shen Qingming was about to explode: "Don’t change the subject! I have no thoughts!"

"Then from my observation of human behavior, typically, if surpassing through legitimate means isn’t possible, they’ll resort to underhanded methods such as gossiping, poisoning, seduction, etc."

"What if... the other party’s strength in these underhanded methods also far surpasses yours?"

Wang Jiu said: "Generally speaking, organisms that choose to oppose someone far superior to themselves in every way will be naturally eliminated."

Shen Qingming was so frustrated that her Qi Blood surged, her hair stood on end, and it took great effort to restrain the urge to hit someone, as she continued to ask: "But, even so, wouldn’t it be unsatisfying to just give up?"

Wang Jiu thought for a while: "I think ’Dream of Scarlet’ suits your situation better. Speaking of which, if you and Li Xinyu purchase together, you should be able to enjoy a discount..."

"I said it’s not me!"

...

Shen Qingming ultimately couldn’t get a satisfactory answer from Wang Jiu.

Perhaps, this kind of question might never have a satisfactory answer at all. Love, after all, is brewed in the constant entanglement, anxiety, and anticipation into bitterness or even pain. And when people suddenly realize it, youth has quietly slipped away.

——

When the young girl returned to her bedroom at the Divine Sword Tower, feeling despondent, just as she crossed the door, her vision blurred, and a bunch of colorful flowers with a rain of petals overwhelmed her.

"Qingming, happy birthday!"

"Happy 15th birthday!"

What followed were a few enthusiastic smiling faces and a chorus of congratulations.

It took Shen Qingming a few seconds, clutching her chest, to stagger up from the floor in shock, looking at these enthusiastic yet unfamiliar faces, and asked: "Who are you..."

"I invited your good sisters from various tea houses to celebrate your birthday. Over there is Tiantian, the top maid from Yiqing Tower, and next to her is her good sister, Lele. It’s not easy to invite them, you know."

As she spoke, Li Wanqing slowly emerged from the inner room, holding a big longevity peach in her hands.

"Qingming, happy 15th birthday."

At the same time, the group of girls around Li Wanqing also uniformly congratulated: "Qingming, happy 15th birthday!"

Shen Qingming nodded blankly, taking the heavy longevity peach from Sister Wanqing, feeling her brain couldn’t keep up at all.

"Thank you, Sister Wanqing, but... my birthday is..."

Li Wanqing said: "March 15th, of course, I remember. But at that time, we were involved in some troubles and couldn’t afford to prepare for you carefully, so we decided to celebrate a month later."

With that, Li Wanqing grabbed Shen Qingming’s arm—which nearly caused her to drop the longevity peach—and ran inside: "Today, I designed a whole set of celebration events for you, you must experience them all, it’s going to be very fun."

"Ah, but..."

"No buts, it’s a rare birthday, so forget all worries for now and enjoy the happy times. Leave any major worries for tomorrow."

Shen Qingming’s mind was still a bit unclear, she just subconsciously resisted, unwilling to move forward.

Li Wanqing didn’t want to force her either, so she patted her shoulder: "At least be happy today, anyway, Wang Jiu won’t run off to Golden Jade City today."

On hearing "Wang Jiu" and "Golden Jade City," Shen Qingming’s previously muddled mind instantly cleared: "You know!?"

By this time, Li Wanqing, already walking inside, sighed helplessly and stopped: "Of course I know, I was listening to your conversation very clearly from the back."

"You!?" Shen Qingming blushed deeply in an instant, "How could you eavesdrop on our conversation!"

"I was the one who first asked Wang Jiu to find Shen Ying, and since he wasn’t returning, and neither were you, of course, I had to check the scene... Zhao Chenlu is indeed a formidable rival, but I think you don’t need to be discouraged. Though it won’t be easy to surpass her, getting a draw is within grasp."

Shen Qingming immediately lifted her head, disregarding her still-blushing cheeks, nearly crushing the longevity peach in her hand, and urgently asked: "A draw? How can I do that?"

"It’s simple, just think about it, Zhao Chenlu was amazing in her past life, right?"

Shen Qingming nodded. Although Wang Jiu didn’t mention much about his old friends, the information revealed in casual conversations was enough to portray an incredibly impressive woman. The title of Jiuzhou’s number one female immortal was even more glorious than today’s Zhao Chenlu.

"Yet, in her past life, despite being so amazing, Wang Jiu still didn’t look at her differently."

"...That’s true."

"So why should you feel self-doubt? In front of Wang Jiu, she’s a loser just like you."

"..."

"And considering her excellent conditions, her defeat is much worse than yours. She isn’t discouraged, so why should you be anxious? Switching perspective, she may seem to have every advantage now, but she hasn’t even touched the real Wang Jiu. She’s actually doing worse than you, so in front of her, you should hold the prideful stance of a victor."

"Sister Wanqing, you’re really good at comforting people."