Target Selected

At the same time, the boy hiding in the corner on the second floor let out a long breath.

'Never be so reckless again. My own safety must come first!'

'This time, it was only because Zhang Lexuan was emotionally stable and I had the home-field advantage that she couldn't just attack me.'

'Otherwise, I'd have been beaten half to death!'

'At least the results were pretty good...'

Looking down at the peaceful scene below, Ning Huan felt triumphant, yet secretly grateful for his incredible luck.

In truth, from the moment he'd taken the initiative to tease Zhang Lexuan and stir up her guilt,

she had already stepped halfway into his trap.

His refusal to join Shrek,

the three demands that she absolutely couldn't fulfill,

and then his request for her help organizing the bookshelves

had all been meant to influence her thoughts further through their frequent interactions.

As for the inexplicable despondency Zhang Lexuan had felt during their conversation, that had been pure coincidence.

An unexpected bonus, you could say.

There was nothing he could do about it. Ning Huan's knowledge of her was limited to a few scattered words on paper.

Almost all the details were guesses he'd made based on information from his previous life.

The accuracy was, to put it mildly, rather touching.

Still, all things considered, this unexpected turn had actually helped a great deal.

Not only had it sped up the process of building rapport,

it had also ensured that he wouldn't need to risk being beaten badly while continuing to drive a wedge between her and Shrek.

It had also greatly increased the plan's secrecy, lowering the chances of anyone noticing something was amiss.

Otherwise, given Zhang Lexuan's intelligence...

Ning Huan couldn't be sure she wouldn't suddenly come to her senses and realize that something about their conversation didn't add up.

After all, being modest and reasonable had never been prerequisites for each other.

If Zhang Lexuan's state of mind hadn't faltered for a moment...

she would probably have caught the difference at once.

Still...

"Sigh. Once she has some free time, she'll figure out sooner or later that I played her..."

"Forget it. I'll deal with that when it happens. For now, building the academy and choosing a target are more important!"

After temporarily suppressing his unease, Ning Huan turned back to the notebook in front of him, which was more than half full.

A sense of pride welled up in him.

There was no doubt about it: these were management principles from his previous life, distilled over many days of working overtime and drawing on his past experience.

Perhaps, in a society whose civilization had stagnated for ages, there were plenty of fantastical ideas among them.

They were the sort of suggestions that would be rejected anywhere.

But the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect and Ning Hao were different.

A wish carried forward for ten thousand years.

A deep foundation free of worries for the future.

An ambition that had once briefly shone, only to be suppressed for years.

Brought together, they could unleash a force more powerful than any in history.

Thinking this, Ning Huan closed the notebook and solemnly placed it in his Storage Soul Tool.

"That'll do for now. The rest of my ideas don't match the current level of productivity. Writing them down would only give me more headaches."

As his quiet words faded, he pulled a sheet of blank paper from the corner of the desk.

Then his pen flew across it, writing down more than a dozen names before suddenly stopping.

"That might be too many..."

"Cang Lan can revive through the mark on the Spirit Bestowal Platform, but not quickly enough for me to waste him at will."

Reluctantly, Ning Huan crossed out most of the names.

After much deliberation, only three remained on the paper.

[Huo Yuhao]

[Yan Shaozhe]

And the one he had thought long and hard before keeping...

[Dai Huabin]

"Huo Yuhao is the protagonist. Once he leaves the White Tiger Duke Mansion, fortune will be on his side."

"Except for Tang San's meddling, his path will be smooth sailing almost all the way."

"Let's not even get into whether Cang Lan's abilities work on someone favored by fortune. Even if they do, the day I reap the rewards is still far off!"

Ning Huan considered it from every angle, then shook his head helplessly.

He raised his hand and quickly drew a line through [Huo Yuhao].

There was no other reason: the risk was high, the wait was long, and the payoff uncertain. He was hardly the best choice right now.

With a slight shift of thought, Ning Huan decisively crossed out [Yan Shaozhe] as well.

The reason was simple.

That old rooster was too crafty!

And he was still strong!

With Yan Shaozhe's status, getting close to him and leaving safely was simply unrealistic.

'That leaves Dai Huabin as my only option...'

'But in a sense, if I use him well, he might be worth far more than he seems...'

A flash of inspiration suddenly lit Ning Huan's eyes.

He realized that this minor character, whom he'd never taken seriously, was actually his best choice right now.

Decent strength for his rank, an impulsive and short-tempered nature, and not much going on upstairs.

With the right approach, it wouldn't take more than a few words to get him hooked!

Most importantly, he was a natural enemy of Huo Yuhao!

With all those factors in play, wasn't he one of the most useful pawns imaginable?

With that in mind, Ning Huan pulled out another fresh sheet of paper.

He wrote [Fortune] across it, then murmured:

"The gathering of fortune can't happen overnight. Otherwise, [Huo Yuhao]'s life wouldn't be so difficult to influence—not even for Tang San."

"So this is bound to be a fairly long process..."

"The key lies in those 'fated' 'turning points'!"

Before long, the area around [Fortune] was covered in notes and slogans.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm: its character leaves much to be desired, and it's hard to get, but its value is simply too great.

To be decided!

Electrolux: same as above, but comparatively easier. The [Spirit Bestowal Platform] can give him a new life.

Confirmed!

The Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, Spirit Bones, the God-Sealing Platform...

Before the story begins, Jinbao needs to be raised with special care. Aim for a zero-cost acquisition!

Time slipped by. It wasn't until he wrote [Freshman Assessment] that Ning Huan paused, a host of questions surfacing one by one.

If Dai Huabin won his struggle against Huo Yuhao, could that delay the surge in Huo Yuhao's fortune?

Using Cang Lan's abilities to bolster Dai Huabin wouldn't have a low chance of success...

And a genius who rose out of nowhere and was willing to join Shrek could also draw some attention away from him. Why not?

"Mm! Worth a try!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the four characters [Proceed as Planned] sprang onto the page.

And so, under the same roof, the two brothers were thoroughly plotted against without ever knowing it.

Meanwhile, the culprit behind it all stretched languidly.

After casually burning the page covered in writing, he turned to look out the window.

"Daybreak already... When you're busy, you really lose track of time~"

As he spoke, Ning Huan stood and headed downstairs.

A seed planted by chance, watered with the nourishment of history, then transplanted into that barren soil.

Would it struggle to grow, or die in an instant...

Honestly, he was eager to see what kind of flower would bloom in the end.

At the same time...

"The moon... the Sun Moon Empire... a hereditary Martial Soul... How could this be..."

Weak and drained, Zhang Lexuan stared fixedly at the ancient text before her, her pupils trembling wildly.

"If the [moon] is the hereditary Martial Soul of the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family... then who am I?"

The once steadfast believer, the prodigy who had carried herself with such confidence on the competition stage,

had now fallen completely into self-doubt, unable to pull herself out.