Overplaying House to Here, Heaven's Will Cannot Be Defied-but My Will Is Heaven's Will

Pang Jie's wrist trembled slightly, and the Cinnabar Brush left a crooked red mark on the Talisman Paper.

He instinctively shrank back, forcing a smile, "N-nothing, it's just that Myriad Star Pavilion brought people to cause trouble again a few days ago..."

The boy suddenly straightened his back, a proud look appearing on his dirty little face:

"But I didn't suffer a loss this time! They still don't know I'm already a cultivator!"

Qin Wangchuan stared at the boy's forced composure.

The old man's Heavenly Secret Art divination focused on seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune; while they could offer a glimpse of hope, they lacked the power to Move Mountains and Fill Seas.

As he spoke, the bruises on his back became faintly visible with his movements, and in several places, fresh blood was still seeping out.

The direction of those wounds clearly indicated that they were caused by being whipped from behind.

It's not like he said, that he didn't suffer any losses.

Qin Wangchuan tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, as if deep in thought.

Suddenly, Pang Jie jumped up as if remembering something important, flipping several Talisman Paper in the process. "Oh no! If we don't get back by now, Mother will be worried!"

He hurriedly gathered up the scattered ink and brushes, and before leaving, he bowed deeply to Qin Wangchuan, his tattered clothes fluttering in the wind.

When Qin Wangchuan looked up, the thin figure darted to the alley entrance like a startled rabbit and gently woke up the old man who was dozing at the Fortune Telling Stall.

After whispering a few words to each other, the old man waved his hand impatiently, and Pang Jie disappeared into the alley.

As dusk settled, Pang Jie walked through several dark alleys, the wound on his back burning with pain.

He gritted his teeth and tried to walk as fast as he could—his mother was still waiting for him at home.

But when he pushed open the rickety wooden door, the scene inside the courtyard made him freeze.

The table was overturned, and dishes were shattered all over the floor. Mother was pinned against the wall by two monks, her face deathly pale.

Pang Jie had met one of them before.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

A sharp shout rang out, Myriad Star Pavilion stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his brocade robes and jade Jade Belt gleaming coldly in the twilight.

His gaze swept coldly over his two subordinates. "Taking something for so long, do I have to do this personally for such a trivial matter?"

"Senior brother, please forgive me!" one of the cultivators hurriedly explained, "This woman is threatening suicide, I really dare not..."

"You dare not?" Myriad Star Pavilion suddenly turned around, his robes fluttering as he stirred up a surge of Spiritual Power. "A mortal, killing him is no big deal."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his lips, his voice as soft as if discussing the weather. "Let alone slaughtering his entire family, even massacring an entire town would be as simple as crushing a nest of ants."

"Even if things are exposed, among the thousands of sects in Middle Thousand Provinces, who dares to utter a single word against my Azure Heaven Holy Land? Who dares to investigate my Holy Land's accounts!"

Before he could finish speaking, Myriad Star Pavilion seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head—

Pang Jie had just stepped into the courtyard.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

A hint of amusement flashed in the Myriad Star Pavilion's eyes, like a beast discovering unexpected prey. "Heh... this is the Little Rat you said got bitten?"

He raised his hand and grabbed—

"Well!"

Pang Jie felt an invisible force instantly choke his throat, lifting him into the air with his feet off the ground, and his breathing suddenly stopped.

"I don't have that much time to waste with you." Myriad Star Pavilion, with his back to Pang Jie, asked Mother Pang in an icy voice, "Where is that thing?"

Mother Pang bit her lip tightly, remaining silent.

Myriad Star Pavilion grabbed Pang Jie by the neck, dragged him in front of Mother Pang, and said calmly, "Count to ten, or you'll die."

"Ah... Mother..." Pang Jie struggled, his face flushed, but he couldn't utter a complete sound.

"Ten."

Mother Pang's pupils constricted, and she trembled all over. "You—!"

Myriad Star Pavilion's fingers slowly tightened, and Pang Jie's face turned from red to green, his eyes becoming bloodshot.

"Nine."

Mother Pang's fingernails dug deeply into her palms, and fresh blood dripped from between her fingers.

"Eight."

Pang Jie's struggles grew weaker and weaker, and his consciousness began to fade.

"Seven."

The night wind howled above the eaves.

Qin Wangchuan sat on the roof, his robes motionless in the wind.

He looked down at the farce in the courtyard, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

Now everything is clear.

Children's perspectives are ultimately limited, and much of what Pang Jie said before was wrong.

These people weren't lusting after his mother's beauty; they wanted to take something from her.

It wasn't Myriad Star Pavilion himself who took action, but rather Myriad Star Pavilion of his subordinates or fellow disciples.

Pang Jie mistook him for the Myriad Star Pavilion.

Now I'm taking action myself, with cultivation at the sixth realm.

It's not high, but it's perfectly adequate for this remote city in Middle Thousand Provinces.

"Is this also his tribulation?" Qin Wangchuan asked the old man beside him without turning his head.

After spending nearly two months together, he also learned the old man's name— Xianyun Weng.

From the Ten Directions Immortal Court.

Xianyun Weng stood with his hands behind his back, also gazing at the distant courtyard and nodding. "Indeed."

"He truly considers you his master," Qin Wangchuan continued.

"This is fate, beyond human control." Xianyun Weng narrowed his eyes. "If he can survive this tribulation, nothing will hinder his path of cultivation."

What if we can't make it through?

"It will pass, it's just... a little painful."

Xianyun Weng knew perfectly well that Pang Jie's mother would die today.

Her blood will soak through the blue bricks, her screams will be etched into the boy's bones, and her death will become the final stepping stone for Pang Jie on his path of cultivation.

Is it painful? Of course it's painful.

But these are all trials he was meant to endure.

"The will of Heaven cannot be defied..." Xianyun Weng sighed deeply. There was a time when he had tried to change it.

The tragedies of others, and even my own, all ended in failure.

Gradually, you become numb to it.

"Is there nothing left to hinder his path of cultivation?" Qin Wangchuan slowly rose, moonlight flowing like water across his robes. "It sounds quite good, but—"

"And the cost?"

The price, naturally, was his only family member.

Xianyun Weng knew this, but he didn't say it aloud. Instead, he looked at Qin Wangchuan and asked, "Are you going to help him?"

As he spoke, his withered fingers began to calculate.

It's still the same.

The trajectory of the boy's fate seemed to have been erased, as if he shouldn't even exist.

"Help him?" Qin Wangchuan chuckled and shook his head.

The old man frowned slightly, about to speak—

"The will of Heaven cannot be defied, but my will is the will of Heaven."

"Have you ever heard of a villain?" Qin Wangchuan suddenly asked, moonlight shattering into countless cold stars in his eyes. "You know, the kind of character who... wipes out an entire family of anyone they don't like."

Xianyun Weng was somewhat confused by Qin Wangchuan's meaning, but still frowned and replied, "Of course I've seen quite a few. And you...?"

What a coincidence!

"I'm that kind of villain."

"I'm in a good mood today." Before Xianyun Weng could react, Qin Wangchuan had already leaped off the roof, his voice like a persistent, stabbing wound into his ears:

"Perfect for killing a few people to liven things up."

With each step Qin Wangchuan took through the alley, a wisp of flame ignited in his Green Gwa Robe, the fabric disintegrating inch by inch in the flames to reveal a magnificent, dark black robe Mysterious Ink Gilded Gold underneath.

What was originally a protective inner armor formed from Dragon Scale Egg was refined by the Old Ancestor and transformed into clothing more suitable for the Qin Clan Divine Son.

Ancient gilded Dao Patterns were subtly embroidered on the hem of the garment, exuding a captivating and imposing aura in the night.

A Five-Clawed Golden Dragon appeared from nowhere, its eyes like torches, its golden scales gleaming, and as it coiled, it brought forth countless laws of the Dao. It wrapped around Qin Wangchuan's body, and finally transformed into a dazzling golden Dragon Pattern, imprinted on his robes, its dragon head proudly poised to emerge.

From inside the courtyard, Myriad Star Pavilion's countdown echoed, "Six—"

Qin Wangchuan continued walking, but the words of his Old Ancestor came to mind.

"I see."

"Experiencing tribulations is not actually experiencing tribulations, but rather observing tribulations."

He had been intentionally keeping his distance from Pang Jie, actually because he had vaguely seen another version of himself in the boy.

Without the system, and if he had been born into a poor family, perhaps he would have ended up the same way.

He was of humble status and of mediocre talent.

Even with all your might, you can't protect the person you want to protect.

But so what?

"That's enough playing house."

Dragon Breath burned in his eyes, Qin Wangchuan raised his hand to touch the Dragon Pattern on his sleeve.

He was neither Pang Jie, who struggled to survive, nor Qing Wangchuan, a poor man from a humble background, who was at the mercy of others.

He is the Qin Clan Divine Son, a forbidden existence of the Ten Directions Immortal Court, destined to stand above all living beings.

Qin Wangchuan!

At this moment, my mind is at peace.

"Boom--!!!"

A dazzling beam of light suddenly shot into the sky, tearing through the night and piercing the heavens!

The Xianyun Weng with the clouded eyes was staring intently at the dying Pang Jie in the courtyard, his withered fingers unconsciously calculating the Heavenly Secret Trajectory.

Sudden--

The world suddenly brightened!

The old man suddenly turned his head, and the beam of light that Tongtian was reflected in his cloudy pupils. The loose wrinkles on his face instantly tightened.

"A sudden realization?!"

Xianyun Weng cried out in shock, his voice filled with a horror he had never experienced in a century.

He staggered back two steps, his tattered robes fluttering wildly in the turbulent Spiritual Qi Turbulence.