Embarking on the Path of a Master Actor (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Favorites) (Revised)

"Ding! Hidden mission completed. Reward: two fishing opportunities. [Beating up Nalan Yanran will spur her to train desperately, causing her cultivation to soar wildly.]"

The first half left Xiao Meng stunned, then startled, then delighted. But the sentence inside the brackets nearly made him cough up blood.

"Damn it, pushing Nalan Yanran into crazed cultivation is actually a hidden mission? This goddamn lousy system never told me there were such things as hidden missions," Xiao Meng muttered speechlessly. This hidden mission was far too bizarre. It actually wanted him to provoke Nalan Yanran into training herself to death. She was the enemy, for fuck's sake!

He seriously wondered whether this system belonged to him or Nalan Yanran.

"Fuck, that little bitch won't enter the Gate of Life and Death ahead of time, will she? Her cultivation will skyrocket then. What's Xiao Yan supposed to do?" Xiao Meng seemed to realize something, and his heart skipped a beat.

Xiao Meng immediately developed a headache, though it only lasted a second. This had absolutely nothing to do with him. Xiao Yan could deal with the headache himself.

"Eh! Does that mean that as long as I provoke Nalan Yanran into cultivating desperately, I'll complete a hidden mission and get double fishing opportunities?"

Xiao Meng's eyes lit up, and he grinned wickedly. "Hehe, looks like I need to find a chance to test it. Stirring someone into working their ass off sounds pretty fun. A little thrilling, too."

"Third Brother, are you all right?" Seeing Xiao Meng standing there blankly with a devilish smile curling at the corner of his mouth, Xiao Zhan, who was slowly approaching, felt a chill run down his spine.

"I'm fine!"

After snapping back to his senses, Xiao Meng flashed a grin. Then he looked at the Xiao Clan disciples in the distance who were preparing to flee and shouted coldly, "All of you, stop right there! Anyone who dares run will be beaten to death and fed to the dogs!"

The disciples froze in place, trembling like startled cicadas, their entire bodies numb with fear. Even the First Elder had not dared act recklessly. How could they?

To be honest, no one in the Xiao Clan had fully recovered from the shock. Who could have imagined that Xiao Meng, once called the ultimate good-for-nothing, possessed the strength to kill a Grand Dou Master?

Aside from the First Elder, who had narrowly escaped death, the Eleventh Elder, who had overseen yesterday's testing, was also drenched in cold sweat. Thinking of Xiao Meng's ruthlessness, he felt immensely fortunate that Xiao Yan had stopped him yesterday. Otherwise, his life would have been in grave danger.

"Get your asses over here!" A spatula appeared in Xiao Meng's hand. He had not forgotten what these little bastards had said earlier. Damn it, the lesson he gave them yesterday clearly had not been enough. Today, he needed to be harsher.

"Brother Xiao Meng!" One by one, they lowered their heads, too afraid to look at him.

"Third Brother, don't bother arguing with them," Xiao Zhan said. He had little fondness for these disciples either. Just as Xiao Meng had said earlier, they only knew how to bully their own people. Outside, every one of them cowered like sickly cats.

"Father, if these little bastards aren't taught a proper lesson, they'll never know the immensity of heaven and earth. Besides, I already let them off yesterday, yet they still dared insult me today. I think they're all tired of living," Xiao Meng said.

Xiao Zhan said nothing.

Xiao Meng's old-fashioned, lecturing manner left Xiao Zhan utterly speechless.

Xiao Meng took several steps forward, swept his gaze across the crowd, and said with a straight face, without even blushing, "All these years, I never bothered arguing with you because one stroke cannot write two Xiao characters. We are family, so I was willing to endure you and yield to you. Yet you treated my patience as weakness and my tolerance as capital for your reckless behavior. Over the years, you've found plenty of amusement at Xiao Yan's and my expense, haven't you?"

The moment he said this, not only the disciples but even the elders lowered their heads in shame, overwhelmed by guilt and practically wishing they could kill themselves in apology.

"Forget it. I can't be bothered to argue with a bunch of self-righteous idiots like you." Seeing their ashamed expressions, Xiao Meng found it hard to lay hands on them.

"I don't want today's matter spreading outside. Whoever foolishly dares speak of it will leave behind neither corpse nor bones. Don't think I'm joking." Xiao Meng snorted, his voice rolling outward.

"We will naturally remember what Meng'er has said," one elder said with an awkward laugh.

"Ow! Old man, are you trying to kill me?"

That single "Meng'er" made Xiao Meng's hair stand on end, and he shuddered all over, nearly making everyone burst from holding back their laughter.

"Whoever dares call me Meng'er again, don't blame me for being rude," Xiao Meng said viciously.

"What about me? Are you going to be rude to me too?" Xiao Zhan glared at him.

Xiao Meng immediately looked as though he had swallowed a dead rat. Damn it, he could beat up uncles and elders, but he absolutely could not hit his own father, not even if it killed him.

"Father, just call me Third Brother," Xiao Meng said mournfully.

"Are you not going to give me an explanation for what happened today?" Xiao Zhan demanded, glaring.

Xiao Meng knew he could not escape this.

Xiao Meng looked at the elders and said irritably, "Elders, don't you have anything better to do? Hurry up and take your little brats home. Those who deserve the rod, give them the rod. Those who deserve to die, kill them. Those who should kneel before the ancestors, make them kneel."

Immediately afterward, the elders quickly led the disciples away.

"Fourth Brother, why are you standing there like an idiot? What, are you mad at me? Come on, let's take a walk." Xiao Meng looked toward the somewhat dazed Xiao Yan.

At this moment, Xiao Yan's emotions were indescribably complicated.

"Xiao Meng, you're obviously so strong. Why did you set Brother Xiao Yan up and make him take the blame for you?" Xiao Xun'er demanded angrily.

Xiao Meng's face darkened. He could not stand seeing Xiao Xun'er act like this. Besides, he had clearly taken the blame for Xiao Yan, all right?

"I say, Sister Xun'er, we family members are taking a walk. Why are you butting in? Do you really not consider yourself an outsider at all?" Xiao Meng curled his lip.

"Xiao Meng, you're awful!" Xiao Xun'er said furiously. "If you don't want me following, then I'll follow anyway. Let's see what you can do about it!"

Xiao Meng rolled his eyes. "Your skin is so thick. What can I do about it?"

"You're the one with thick skin!" Xiao Xun'er gritted her teeth and lightly smacked Xiao Meng.

"Ah..."

Yet that light smack made Xiao Meng let out a miserable scream, his face twisted in unbearable pain. Xiao Xun'er had struck his right arm.

"Third Brother, what's wrong?" Xiao Meng's scream did not sound fake, and Xiao Zhan was alarmed.

"Third Brother! Are you all right?" Xiao Yan immediately rushed over and saw cold sweat pouring down Xiao Meng's forehead.

"Third Brother, don't scare me. I only..." Xiao Xun'er was terrified.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just stay farther away from me." Xiao Meng sucked in several breaths of cold air, protecting his right arm with his left hand for fear of being touched. At this moment, even the slightest touch from his left hand hurt him unbearably.

"Third Brother, could it be that pulling back that attack earlier severely injured your arm?" Xiao Zhan seemed to think of something and immediately felt guilty. Had he known this would happen, he would not have shouted for mercy. He could have stopped the attack himself.

Xiao Meng smiled bitterly. "I never intended to kill the First Elder and the others. I merely wanted to scare them so they would behave in the future and stop thinking about fighting over this and that all day. So, Father, don't blame yourself. Even if you hadn't shouted for me to stop, I would have withdrawn that attack."

"Third Brother, stop talking for now. Healing your injuries comes first," Xiao Zhan said.

Xiao Meng said indifferently, "My body is tough. This little injury is nothing to me."

"Ding! Help Xiao Yan embark on the path of cultivation. [Note: Due to certain reasons, Yao Chen's soul is dissipating and cannot awaken. Suggestion: The host may use Soul-Nourishing Wood to nourish Yao Chen's soul power.]"

Xiao Meng was instantly dumbfounded. "?????"

"I'll fuck your grandfather! You dogshit system, can't you be any more mischievous? Were you off eating shit all those years ago? Why didn't you wait until Yao Chen was dead before telling me this?" Xiao Meng felt an urge to go insane.

He had endured for eight years just to obtain ten fishing opportunities. Now he had to give away the Soul-Nourishing Wood he had painstakingly fished out of the mortal world. And it was calling this a goddamn suggestion? Suggestion my ass. This was clearly threatening him!

"Third Brother, why is your face so dark? Were you poisoned?" Xiao Xun'er asked with concern. She felt a little apologetic about hitting Xiao Meng earlier.

Xiao Meng's mouth twitched, and he felt like his balls hurt. What kind of eyesight was that? This was a healthy complexion, all right?

"Fourth Brother, I know you're angry, but regarding what happened today, Third Brother had no choice but to do it this way." Xiao Meng shot Xiao Xun'er a glare, then began his path as a master actor.

"Third Brother, then tell us what hardships forced you to do it this way," Xiao Xun'er interrupted at the worst possible moment.

"Xiao Xun'er, interrupt me again and I'll beat you to death with this spatula!" Xiao Meng was furious. This girl was deliberately trying to ruin his act, wasn't she?

Xiao Xun'er bared her teeth and claws, snorting coldly. "If you won't explain, that means you deliberately messed with Xiao Yan. Xiao Meng, your heart is too black. You would even..."

"Xun'er! Don't talk nonsense," Xiao Yan said with a frown.

Xiao Xun'er immediately pursed her lips and fell silent, her face full of grievance.

"Fourth Brother, do you know why I didn't cripple one of Nalan Yanran's arms?" Xiao Meng sighed. His eyes became deep and distant, as though he were an old man weathered by countless ages, exuding a sense of loneliness that left Xiao Zhan and the others feeling incredulous.

What kind of experiences could make a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy so melancholy and lonely?

"Perhaps you think I was afraid of angering the Cloudmist Sect, but that isn't the case. Even if I were determined to kill her, Nalan Yanran would still die even if her master, Yun Yun, came in person," Xiao Meng said, intending to go farther and farther down the path of being a master actor.

Xiao Meng's words shook Xiao Zhan and the others to the core, stirring towering waves within their hearts.

Xiao Meng continued, "The reason I did not cripple her arm was because I wanted to leave her for you. However she humiliated our Xiao Clan today, three years from now, you will humiliate the Cloudmist Sect in the same way. And you must make Nalan Yanran lose with complete conviction."

"But Third Brother, Little Yan..."

Before Xiao Zhan could finish, Xiao Meng interrupted him. "I actually knew about Fourth Brother's underlying problem long ago. Solving it is not difficult either."

"Third Brother, you know what is wrong with my body?" Xiao Yan stared blankly at Xiao Meng, his hands trembling slightly.

"Third Brother, you really know what's wrong with Brother Xiao Yan's body? Then hurry up and tell us!" Xiao Xun'er seemed even more agitated than Xiao Yan and immediately switched to calling him Third Brother.

"Third Brother, since you already knew what was wrong with Yan'er's body, and the solution isn't difficult, why didn't you say anything?" Xiao Zhan was more rational and immediately pointed out the crux of the matter.

In an instant, Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er both turned their gazes toward Xiao Meng. They wanted to know why as well. After all, Xiao Yan was Xiao Meng's own brother.

"Father, do you think this world lacks geniuses?" Xiao Meng asked in return.

Without waiting for Xiao Zhan to answer, Xiao Meng answered his own question. "This world lacks nothing less than geniuses, but how many of them can reach the pinnacle of martial cultivation?

Talent is not the most crucial factor in determining one's final achievements. Its greatest use is merely shortening the time spent cultivating and allowing someone to take fewer detours. Yet talent has both advantages and disadvantages. Those with exceptional talent often become arrogant and complacent, conceited and overbearing, eventually losing themselves and failing to accomplish anything great.

"Therefore, Fourth Brother's cultivation before the age of twelve was too smooth, which was not necessarily a good thing. These three years of experiences are the most precious cultivation resource of his life."

At this point, Xiao Meng reached out and patted Xiao Yan's shoulder. "Don't blame Third Brother for being cruel and not resolving the root of your problem sooner, making you suffer three years of humiliation. But you must understand that what you lost in these three years can easily be reclaimed in the future. What you gained during these three years, however, is irreplaceable."

At this point, Xiao Meng pointed at Xiao Yan's heart. "Only an unbreakable heart for cultivation will allow you to go farther. Compared to your future achievements, what are three years of humiliation? Set your sights farther ahead. What you should pursue is the path of an Emperor."

"The path of an Emperor?" Xiao Yan's face was full of shock. Was his ambition really that great?

Seeing Xiao Yan and the others staring at him in utter astonishment, Xiao Meng felt somewhat embarrassed to keep boasting.

Damn it, good thing bragging wasn't illegal. Otherwise, I'd be headed straight for a life sentence.