Joy and Change

After disposing of the corpses,

and even cleaning up the blood left on the ground,

until the bloodstink permeating the ruined temple had gradually dispersed,

Ling Wuyuan looked in a certain direction.

The direction where the Pei Family was holding its banquet.

Though he knew there were many large bonfires there,

for some reason, Ling Wuyuan felt that the firelight coming from that direction was far brighter than before.

"Did they add a lot more bonfires?"

Ling Wuyuan was not quite sure.

After looking a few more times, he turned around and continued dealing with the remaining things inside the ruined temple.

He felt that once he was done, he could get ready to sleep.

After all, he had to report to the Pei Family early tomorrow morning.

If he did not get enough rest,

that would truly be inappropriate.

To him,

the opportunity offered by the Pei Family was practically a new rung in life.

He absolutely could not treat it carelessly.

Setting everything else aside,

just the food and lodging, along with the chance to systematically learn this world's writing and briefly come into contact with Extraordinary Power, were enough to make him face it and treat it with all his heart.

With those conditions,

he would have the foundation to climb upward.

No matter how small an opportunity was, it was still an opportunity.

He believed he would surely seize this opportunity and climb ever higher...

To be a [human]?

That was not his ultimate goal.

Whether in this life or his last, he wanted to be a [person above people], to become the one who ate others in the immutable truth that people ate people, rather than be eaten by others!

After successfully coming into contact with Extraordinary Power, he could not help imagining that this world might possess power that could truly grant immortality, allow one to command everything in the world, and let one shed [humanity] to become a [god]...

If it truly existed,

then he wanted to obtain that power...

He wanted to stand at the highest point, wanted to dictate everyone's life and death, wanted to ascend that supreme and unrivaled throne...

Ambition burned within him...

Especially after awakening that power which could make him faster, he was incomparably ecstatic.

At that moment,

he was wildly and sincerely glad that he had been transported here.

Even though it had cost him the tens of millions in assets he had painstakingly accumulated after years of struggling as an orphan in his previous life, and even though it had thrown him into this dangerous world where he did not understand the language as a young child without giving him anything at all, leaving him to wander the streets and survive on rats, insects, and weeds, forcing him to silently learn the language by secretly listening to others speak...

At that moment, he still felt incomparable joy...

Because this was an opportunity to transcend.

An opportunity for him to possess Extraordinary Power that could truly change everything...

Before this opportunity,

Ling Wuyuan felt that all the hardships he had endured over the years had been utterly worthwhile!

Thus, he felt joy from the bottom of his heart.

His world

had never been so beautiful, not for a single moment...

Even compared to the moment in his previous life when he had finally achieved financial freedom, it was still so.

Half an hour later.

"Bang bang bang..."

"Rumble rumble..."

They were the sounds of countless impacts, cries and wails, and houses continuously collapsing.

Hearing those sounds,

Ling Wuyuan, who had only lain down not long ago, immediately sat up without hesitation.

He watched the distant sky with wary eyes.

There, a swath of fiery red filled the heavens—the fiery red of roaring flames.

And that direction was precisely where the Pei Family was located!

"Something happened to the Pei Family?"

Realizing this, Ling Wuyuan's expression became somewhat ugly.

Though he did not know exactly what had happened, he understood that it certainly was not good for the Pei Family.

To put it bluntly,

if the attackers did not have absolute confidence, they could never have acted at such a special time.

One had to know that, in order to celebrate the Patriarch's four hundredth birthday, the vast majority of the Pei Family were present.

In other words, most of their combat personnel were there.

The mastermind behind the scenes dared to strike at the moment when the Pei Family's overall combat strength was at its greatest. They were presumably aiming to wipe them all out in one sweep.

Fuck...

After thinking for a moment,

Ling Wuyuan could only curse inwardly with an exceptionally ugly expression.

This feeling was practically like successfully being hired as a full-time employee at a major company tomorrow morning, only for that company to be maliciously acquired by a competitor tonight and undergo massive layoffs before you even had time to dream about it.

"Ah?"

That single [ah] filled with confusion and shock could perfectly summarize Ling Wuyuan's many thoughts.

His dream had not completely shattered.

But at the very least, part of it had broken.

This abrupt development, so utterly beyond his expectations, made him deeply realize that all the plans he had made before now had to be torn down and rebuilt...

At the same time,

as he gazed at the distant firelight, a trace of complexity faintly appeared in his eyes.

Although he still did not know why Pei Zhizong and that little girl had paid special attention to him during the day, and had even granted him the qualification to use the [Spirit Awakening Ritual], judging by the actual result, they had undoubtedly shown him kindness.

If not for them, it would have been practically impossible for Ling Wuyuan to use the [Spirit Awakening Ritual].

And using the [Spirit Awakening Ritual] was a prerequisite for changing his life.

Therefore, the two of them could absolutely be considered his great benefactors.

Naturally, Ling Wuyuan would be concerned for their safety.

Kindness was kindness.

Enmity was enmity.

Though Ling Wuyuan knew he was not a good person, he had principles of his own.

If he could,

he very much wanted to repay their kindness right now.

But unfortunately, at this very moment, he was far too weak and wholly unqualified to repay them.

As he watched the distant firelight and listened to the distant commotion, he did not even quite dare to leave this ruined temple.

In this world without streetlights, he did not dare say what he might encounter if he went outside at night, especially when the surrounding area was clearly in turmoil.

With just a casual sweep of his gaze, he noticed that many homes around him which had previously been lit by candlelight had voluntarily extinguished their candles.

Clearly,

the many ordinary people regarded the current commotion as something to avoid like venomous snakes and savage beasts.

Forget taking the initiative to investigate—even looking a few more times was more than they dared to do.

They feared being implicated.

More than ten minutes passed.

Then, suddenly, aside from the great commotion in the distance that sounded as though an army were locked in fierce battle,

Ling Wuyuan's ears caught a faint sound.

A sound much closer by.

It immediately put him on alert.

When he followed the sound with his gaze, he instantly saw a figure that had just climbed over the wall and fled into the ruined temple's rear courtyard.

A somewhat familiar figure.

By the dim yellow firelight inside the ruined temple and the pure white moonlight overhead, Ling Wuyuan could vaguely make out traces of dishevelment on that youthful, beautiful face.

And when the other party noticed Ling Wuyuan's face and his slightly shocked expression, shock likewise surfaced in her eyes...

Perhaps this was what people called fate—or destiny.