Qinglan Holy Land underwent a sweeping reform.
Yin Qiyue ordered a jade statue of Qin Wangchuan to be made, but secretly carved her own name into its base.
During the reforms, she used Qin Wangchuan's name to impose extreme measures--
"The Wen Dao Palace needs only one voice--" Yin Qiyue stroked the Tongxuan Mirror and spoke gently to the disciples kneeling across the plaza. "And that is Young Master's voice!"
No one was allowed to question him. Anyone who did would face severe punishment.
Later, she even personally had an elder who questioned Qin Wangchuan hung before the palace gates, then shouted:
"This is what happens when you question Young Master!"
That night, Yin Qiyue stood alone atop the mountain.
With the Tongxuan Mirror in her left hand and the Cyan Jade Bottle in her right, she gazed blankly in the direction Young Master Qin had gone. Pressing her cheek to the cold treasures, she murmured dreamily:
"If not for you, I wouldn't be who I am today."
"Young Master, you are so magnificent..."
The mirror reflected Yin Qiyue's twisted face.
There was no need to mention that the Tongxuan Mirror was a treasure beyond this realm. What was truly unbelievable was the pill inside the Cyan Jade Bottle.
She had never seen anything like it: just smelling its fragrance could slowly raise her cultivation. It was an Immortal Medicine!
Yin Qiyue suddenly gave a dreamy laugh and pressed the mirror to her lips, as though kissing the image of someone.
"What does the Wen Dao Palace matter?" she murmured softly, as if speaking to someone who did not exist.
"I'll climb to the very top, step by step, and make everyone tremble as they prostrate themselves..."
"Then I'll place it in your hands myself."
"My savior, my god..."
Meanwhile, in the Qin Clan, inside Wangchuan Pavilion.
Qin Wangchuan sat at the bedside, lightly tapping the window frame with his fingertips. A trace of indifference flashed in his eyes.
He had given Yin Qiyue those two things for an entirely different reason, not because he valued her--
"Next time there's a mission in the Lower Realm, I can have her take care of it. Then I won't have to send someone myself."
"That'll save me a lot of trouble."
Who wouldn't love a perfect mission tool?
Looking down, he saw Ye Jianwei in a white dress, playing the zither in the courtyard. Her slender fingers plucked the strings, and the clear, bright Zither Music streamed out like flowing water, sending ripples through the morning mist.
Four years had passed. The little beggar from back then had grown into quite a beauty, even more pleasing to the eye.
Far off, many members of the Qin Clan were bustling about.
That was because Qin Wangchuan's tenth-birthday banquet was fast approaching.
An event of such grand scale required a full year of preparation.
After all, as one of the Ten Heads Three Heavens, the banquet was not only a matter of prestige but also an important occasion to display the clan's strength to all the other forces.
Servants hurried between pavilions and towers. Even the palace lanterns hanging beneath the covered walkways had been fitted with new Shark Silk Lamp Shades.
Yet Qin Wangchuan, the guest of honor, seemed utterly at ease.
"Claim reward."
Qin Wangchuan silently called out.
[Congratulations, Host. You have received a half-tier reward: Low-grade Spirit Stone x100!]
"A half-tier reward now? Dog System, you're not even pretending anymore, are you?"
He stared at the notification on the panel, suddenly wondering if the system had been setting him up all along.
The first time he checked in, he got a tier-nine reward. Bam! An absolutely heaven-defying physique.
Anyone who saw that would have to marvel:
"Holy crap! The Dog System actually has some good stuff!"
Just when you think it's only the beginning, and imagine there'll be even more heaven-defying rewards to come--
Reality slaps you right back in the face and tells you to quit dreaming!
For all those years of checking in, the most he got were tier-one rewards, with the occasional tier two.
And now he was getting half-tier rewards.
Absurd!
"Forget it." Qin Wangchuan sighed. After checking his last remaining simulation attempt, he decisively tapped the button to begin.
```
[Third Simulation. Lifespan consumed: 80 years.]
[Simulation begins.]
[Year 0]
You were born into the Ji Clan of the Taixu Imperial Clan, part of the Ten Directions Immortal Court.
As the most outstanding direct descendant of the Ji Clan's generation, nine phoenixes appeared at your birth, and purple qi stretched thirty thousand li eastward.
The Old Ancestor personally gave you the name Ji Wuchen, meaning "free of restraint and untainted by dust."
[Year 1]
You were born with the Taichu Holy Body. Purple Dao Patterns appeared between your brows, and all your meridians were open.
On your first birthday, you could already draw upon the Dao Rhyme of heaven and earth, shocking the entire Ji Clan.
[Year 3]
You began systematic cultivation of the Taixu Emperor Scripture. You entered meditation in three days and reached the first realm in seven.
The Ji Clan's Old Ancestor stroked his beard and praised you. "This child has the makings of a Heavenly Emperor!"
You pretended not to understand what he meant, but secretly rejoiced. Surely no one could be more heaven-defying than me, right?
[Year 5]
At the clan's Grand Competition, you defeated your ten-year-old cousin with the strength of a five-year-old at the third realm.
It should have been a joyous occasion. You turned around.
On the viewing platform, your father was speaking with someone.
"With Wuchen's talent, he should have few rivals among his peers, right?"
"He's certainly impressive, but the Qin Clan's child has the Longevity Immortal Body..."
That was the first time you had heard the name Qin.
[Year 7]
You followed the Old Ancestor into seclusion to study the Void Seal.
When you left your seventh palm print on the stone wall, your heart swelled with joy. You had grasped seven palms in just a few months—an understanding that could only be called heaven-defying.
Yet after waiting a long time, the praise never came. The Old Ancestor stroked your head and sighed.
"If only you had half the understanding and courage of that little grandson of the Qin Clan..."
A nameless ball of rage seemed to explode inside your head.
You stared at your trembling hands, experiencing for the first time an emotion that burned through your lungs.
It was an emotion that had no place in you: jealousy and fury.
[Year 8]
You secretly sent people to find out who the Qin Clan's little grandson was.
You uncovered very little.
But you learned one thing: his name was Qin Wangchuan.
He was three years younger than you.
There was another thing the Qin Clan made no effort to hide.
Qin Wangchuan was the Qilin Child the Qin Clan had spent a century shaping with countless treasures. He bore the Longevity Immortal Body and was destined to become an immortal.
"Become an immortal?" You scoffed at the notion, thinking it didn't sound all that impressive.
[Year 10]
You swept aside your peers at your tenth-birthday banquet.
While everyone cheered, you stared fixedly at the seats on the east side—the Qin Clan's place.
"Didn't he come?"
"Of course. He's only seven this year." You felt disappointed, but also relieved.
No one knew that you wanted to meet this Qilin Child, yet feared seeing his heaven-defying talent with your own eyes and being stunned by it.
That was right. You were afraid.
Afraid of being outshone, afraid of letting your clan down.
[Year 11]
You began frequently dreaming of a blurry figure.
He stood atop a mountain and glanced back with a faint smile. "You can't even see my back."
"Qin Wangchuan!!" You cried his name and jolted awake.
[Year 12]
The Old Ancestor bestowed upon you your life-bound divine weapon, the Taixu Halberd.
Everyone had the highest expectations of you, but during one trial,
when the tip of your halberd pierced the eighteenth Trial Puppet, you suddenly went berserk and smashed the entire training ground to pieces.
"Your heart is unsettled."
"Why did I suddenly think of him?!" You hid in the shadows, clutching your head and questioning yourself, but no one answered.
[Year 13]
The Qin Clan sent an invitation, asking the Ji Clan to attend Qin Wangchuan's "tenth-birthday banquet."
You held the invitation and stared at it for three days and three nights.
[Simulation paused.]
"Wait."
"Did he turn me into his inner demon?" Qin Wangchuan pondered for a moment, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
"What kind of normal person would stare at an invitation for three days and three nights?"
Before you continue