The Making of an Actor

As it happened, several major upheavals occurred across the northwest continent, throwing the entire region into chaos and unrest.

After an extraterrestrial evil emerged within the Lion Underworld Sect and Holy Lion City, the two half-Saint experts from the Ancient Families—the Shi and Ling families—were all killed, completely enraging both families.

The two Ancient Families flew into a rage and immediately dispatched several Dou Saints to the northwest, launching a sweeping hunt for Leng Bingyan.

Leng Bingyan, meanwhile, was extremely cunning and vicious. During her escape, she massacred the civilians in every major city she passed through. Her methods were utterly horrifying.

The other matter concerned the Misty Cloud Sect's high-profile actions. Led by Yun Shan, it continued recruiting the leaders of various sects. By now, many sects were willing to come under the Misty Cloud Sect's banner, and some had even moved their entire sects over, merging their forces into the Misty Cloud Sect.

"At this speed, this simply won't do!" Ye Qianqian sat in the main hall, feeling extremely anxious.

She had to complete the system's mission and bring all the forces in the northwest under her control. Although quite a few sects had come to pledge allegiance, that number was still woefully insufficient. Completing the mission within a hundred days would be incredibly difficult.

After thinking it over and over, she began brewing a new scheme to fool everyone.

"I've got it!"

Suddenly, Ye Qianqian's eyes lit up as she came up with a new plan.

That old hag Leng Bingyan was currently causing havoc throughout the northwest continent, provoking the fury of both Heaven and the people. Almost all the major and minor forces were terrified, afraid that Leng Bingyan might descend upon their territory. So why couldn't she make use of that?

With that thought, Ye Qianqian connected to the system space.

"System, exchange the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and the Transformation Technique for me."

"Ding! Congratulations, host. Exchange successful. 300,000 Shock Points consumed."

The exchanged skills were relatively cheap. Ye Qianqian immediately raised two fingers into a cross and shouted delicately.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Bang bang bang bang bang..."

In the blink of an eye, more than three thousand shadow clones split off inside the main hall. The three thousand-plus Ye Qianqians looked at one another, all feeling incredibly curious.

"I should be the original, right?" one of the Ye Qianqians shamelessly laughed.

"No, I'm your original!" another Ye Qianqian hurriedly declared her identity.

"Can you be any more shameless? I'm obviously the original!"

"No, I am!"

More than three thousand Ye Qianqians argued until their faces flushed red, tussling into one chaotic mess and turning the entire main hall into a complete madhouse.

"You shameless old thieves, all of you shut up!" the true Ye Qianqian cursed furiously. She mobilized the Power of Rules to prove that she was the original.

But the moment she finished cursing, she felt awful. Wasn't cursing them the same as cursing herself?

Ye Qianqian shouted, "Young men... Ahem, young ladies, I'm giving you an arduous mission today. Do you have confidence in completing it?"

"Reporting to the original, we... have no confidence!" the three thousand-plus Ye Qianqian clones shouted in unison.

Ye Qianqian: "..."

After studying it for quite some time, Ye Qianqian finally gained a thorough understanding of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

She then ordered the more than three thousand clones to form two lines, with fifteen hundred people in each line.

Fifteen hundred of them used the Transformation Technique to assume the appearance Leng Bingyan had possessed before. The other fifteen hundred retained their original appearance. Once the plan was set, the three thousand-plus Ye Qianqian clones flew out of the Misty Cloud Sect one after another under cover of night.

Sky Escort Gate!

This was a small- to medium-sized sect that usually made its living escorting goods. Its disciples normally followed the elders in transporting cargo for various merchant associations in exchange for generous rewards.

The sect master of this small sect, Zhou Zhennan, was a five-star Dou Wang. Whenever particularly important goods needed transporting, he would personally escort them.

Many merchant association presidents would gladly choose the Sky Escort Gate if they could obtain the protection of a Dou Wang expert.

Today, a large shipment of important third-grade armor and weapons had to be delivered to Heroic Wind City. Since Storage Rings were extremely precious and could not hold much, Zhou Zhennan had also personally set out.

"Ha..." Zhou Zhennan rode his horse alongside the others from the escort gate, sighing repeatedly.

The world was truly too chaotic now. That extraterrestrial evil kept committing atrocities, turning every place she visited into a living hell. Zhou Zhennan had not wanted to escort this shipment, because at a time like this, they could easily encounter unexpected trouble.

"Father, are you worried that Leng Bingyan might suddenly appear?"

A young man riding one of the convoy's horses held a long sword in his hand. His face was coated in heavy rouge and powder, and he wore a red headband. He looked exactly like a sissy. This person was Zhou Zhennan's only son, Zhou Pingzhi.

Zhou Pingzhi said, "Father, you don't need to worry. I've already cultivated the Evil Warding Swordplay to the intermediate stage. Given enough time, once I reach mastery, my strength will definitely soar. No matter what kind of Leng Bingyan or Hot Sweet Potato she is, I'll cut her down with one sword!"

That's right. The Evil Warding Swordplay had been handed out as a free gift by Ye Qianqian, the great fraud, during an expert lecture on Misty Cloud Mountain.

At the time, a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect had comprehended this technique from the Dao De Jing but had never dared to cultivate it. So, to do his cousin a favor, he gave the swordplay to Zhou Pingzhi. Who would have thought Zhou Pingzhi would be so ruthless? He had cut down his own younger brother with a single sword. His cultivation had now reached the nine-star Dou Ling realm, and after unleashing the power of the Evil Warding Swordplay, he even possessed the ability to fight a Dou Wang expert.

Hearing Zhou Pingzhi's words, Zhou Zhennan could only smile bitterly. He truly had no idea how high the sky was or how deep the earth was. Leng Bingyan had even killed a half-Saint. Could he possibly be her opponent?

"Hahaha, you want to kill me?"

Just then, a wild laugh suddenly came from the sky. The horses broke free of their reins in fright and fled in all directions, while the people's legs went weak and made it difficult to stand.

The space twisted slightly, and an ugly old woman appeared in the sky. Boundless dou qi churned the winds and clouds of the world, creating a terrifying sight.

"Who... who are you?"

Zhou Zhennan was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body. He tumbled from his horse with a thump.

A powerhouse like this had to be at least a Dou Zong!

"Me?" The ugly old woman slowly descended, immobilized a horse that was running wild, and sat on it before laughing. "I'm the Leng Bingyan you've all been talking about. Today, every one of you will die!"

"What?"

Everyone panicked, their souls nearly scared out of them by the old woman's words. The thing they had feared had actually happened. That evil Leng Bingyan had set her sights on them. What were they supposed to do?

"Ding."

Congratulations, host. You have obtained 5,000 Shock Points from Zhou Zhennan.

Congratulations, host. You have obtained 3,000 Shock Points from Zhou Pingzhi.

Congratulations, host. You have obtained 100,000 Shock Points from the disciples of the Sky Escort Gate.

One notification after another continuously rang out in Ye Qianqian's mind inside the Misty Cloud Sect's main hall.

It turned out that this Leng Bingyan was merely one of Ye Qianqian's clones in disguise.

It was Zhou Pingzhi's first time facing such a powerful enemy. His entire body trembled nonstop, but he still gritted his teeth and shouted, "Leng... Leng Bingyan, do you dare dismount and fight this young master?"

The ugly old woman stroked the sweaty blood horse beneath her and shook her head. "I don't dare. I'm afraid the horse will run away."

Zhou Zhennan: "..."

Zhou Pingzhi: "..."

The ugly old woman continued, "Since you dare look down on me, I'll kill every one of you!"

In an instant, the Soul-Soul Fruit's ability activated. It looked remarkably similar to Leng Bingyan's life-deprivation power as it began forcefully extracting the souls and lifespans of Zhou Zhennan's group.

"Oh heavens! Someone save us!"

Zhou Zhennan and the others felt their souls being continuously pulled from their bodies, and they aged many years in an instant.

The agony of being powerless to resist filled them with despair. Although the Dou Qi Continent followed the law of the jungle, where the weak were prey to the strong, they truly refused to accept this. They still had many attachments in this world—family, friendship, and love—and could not bear to sever them and leave.

"Calling for help is useless. You're all going to die!" The ugly old woman stretched out both arms and waved them through the air, laughing maniacally with an embarrassingly childish "Wahaha!"

Yet another voice suddenly rang out across the world, instantly bringing the ugly old woman's movements to a halt.

"Bold Leng Bingyan! You dare harm the innocent? Today, I, Yun Lan Ancestor Ye Qianqian, shall uphold justice for Heaven!"

A Ye Qianqian clone released Conqueror's Haki, shaking the world with unmatched might. She appeared with an invincible aura, her voice resounding throughout the universe.

"Wonderful! Yun Lan Ancestor has come to save us!" Everyone rejoiced and repeatedly kowtowed toward Ye Qianqian.

"Ding."

Congratulations, host. You have obtained 7,000 Shock Points from Zhou Zhennan.

Congratulations, host. You have obtained 5,000 Shock Points from Zhou Pingzhi.

Congratulations, host. You have obtained...

The ugly old woman snorted and said, "You came, Ye Qianqian."

Ye Qianqian said, "That's right. I came."

The old woman said, "You shouldn't have come."

Ye Qianqian said, "But I still came."

That exchange of pretentious lines from her previous life once again left everyone dumbfounded. Judging from Leng Bingyan's appearance, she seemed to be very afraid of Yun Lan Ancestor!

The ugly old woman snorted. "Yun Lan Ancestor, I haven't harmed any of your Misty Cloud Sect disciples. Aren't you sticking your nose into other people's business?"

Ye Qianqian thrust out her small chest, exuding feminine authority. With righteousness and conviction, she said, "I, Ye Qianqian, have always upheld the righteous path. All the people of this entire northwest continent are my friends. I will not allow you to harm them!"

"Yun Lan Ancestor is truly righteous!"

The people wept bitterly. They had never expected Yun Lan Ancestor to be such an unparalleled hero, a great champion with the world in her heart—simply the guardian goddess of the northwest continent!

The ugly old woman was furious. "Ye Qianqian, I admit that I'm no match for you. But the northwest is huge. You certainly can't manage everything at once. Once you leave, I can kill them afterward."

As soon as she said this, Zhou Zhennan and the others immediately deflated like punctured balloons. It was over. They had been targeted by an extraterrestrial evil. What could they do? How were they supposed to survive?

At that moment, the ugly old woman deliberately led Zhou Zhennan further into the trap. "If these people were within your Misty Cloud Sect's sphere of influence, I truly would have no way to act. But they aren't members of your Misty Cloud Sect. What are you going to do?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhennan suddenly understood. He hurriedly knelt before Ye Qianqian's clone and shouted, "Yun Lan Ancestor, we wish to join the Misty Cloud Sect! Please grant us permission!"