In the Eastern Wasteland lies the sacred ground of the Qingxuan Sect.
At the summit of Tongtian Peak, a figure clad in white as snow walked slowly out of a secluded chamber.
He looked like an immortal descending to the mortal realm. With every step he took, the golden Laws within a thousand miles resonated with a roar, and the phantom images of mythical beasts across ten thousand miles knelt in the air. The offerings of countless living beings in the Eastern Wasteland converged upon him, and the Great Dao manifested. Between heaven and earth, he alone stepped above the firmament.
"The Senior Brother has emerged from seclusion?"
"So powerful! The natural phenomena of heaven and earth are submitting to him. Has the Senior Brother broken through to the Peak Tianxuan Realm?!"
"A dragon among men, with the bearing of a Great Emperor! Merely stepping out of seclusion can trigger the resonance of heaven and earth. Now I understand why he could be exceptionally promoted as the heir of our Qingxuan Sect!"
The entire Qingxuan Sect was instantly sent into a frenzy.
The disciples of the younger generation were utterly shocked, looking at that figure as if tiny mayflies were gazing up at the vast azure sky.
Even within the ancient ancestral tombs at the back mountain of the Qingxuan Sect, several figures awakened from their deep slumber. They fixed their gazes on the figure in white with complex expressions.
"Nineteen years old, at the Peak Tianxuan Realm! With the inheritance of the Qingxuan Sect entrusted to him, perhaps we can rest assured and cultivate for another ten thousand years."
"The Yuhua Dynasty has agreed to let the dynasty's goddess marry Qiye in a dual cultivation union. As for that proud talent of the Xiao Family—since she has already been reduced to a good-for-nothing ten years ago, she is no longer worthy of Qiye. The matter of breaking off the engagement can proceed now!"
Inside the Immortal Lord Hall, an elderly man with the demeanor of an immortal possessed a glowing, ruddy complexion, surrounded by fluctuations of the Dao rhythms of heaven and earth.
"Indeed, the goddess of the Yuhua Dynasty possesses the Innate Dao Body and is the only match for Qiye. Through dual cultivation, our Qingxuan Sect's Chen Qiye shall attain the position of Great Emperor!"
"The Xiao Family is merely a remote clan, and that good-for-nothing who fell from her pedestal is even less worth mentioning. Our Qingxuan Sect giving them time to initiate the annulment is already showing them utmost respect."
Several old-generation giants and powerful figures nodded in agreement inside the Immortal Lord Hall, their words filled with expectations and reliance upon Chen Qiye.
Having been passed down for ten thousand years with a profound foundation, the Qingxuan Sect was a formidable giant of the boundless Eastern Wasteland, and even had some ties with the Tianqi Dynasty in Central China. As for breaking off an engagement, they truly did not care at all.
Yet at this moment!
At the summit of Tongtian Peak, listening to the conversations of the major giants of the sect and witnessing the scene of heaven and earth resonating amid universal adoration, Chen Qiye felt inwardly panicked to the extreme.
"I, Chen Qiye, according to the sect's wishes, am supposed to personally go to the Xiao Family to break off the engagement?" Up until now, Chen Qiye still could not fully accept this reality.
He had cultivated bitterly and diligently for nineteen years—starting his cultivation at age three, reaching Body Refining at five, tempering his bone marrow until it was like mercury at nine, breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm at thirteen, entering the Dao through martial arts at seventeen, and advancing to the Peak Tianxuan Realm at nineteen...
He had thought he was the Child of Fortune of this world, but to his surprise, waking up overnight, he had instead become the destined villain?
Before leaving seclusion, Chen Qiye had already sent people to inquire about the situation of the Xiao Family.
Xiao Yanyue of the Xiao Family had once been the top talent of her clan. However, ten years ago, after falling into the depths of a forbidden zone and bringing back a bizarre ring, her cultivation was completely crippled. Now, she was even inferior to ordinary cultivators.
The true qi she cultivated would always inexplicably vanish, and her cultivation over the past ten years had regressed instead of progressing.
During the last family cultivation realm test, she had even dropped to the third stage of Qi Refining, becoming the target of mockery for everyone in the Ye Family.
Yet he was the proud talent of a generation in the Qingxuan Sect. Ten years after she became a good-for-nothing, he was supposed to follow the sect's wishes and go to the Xiao Family to personally break off the engagement with her!
As a "pseudo-proud talent" who had transmigrated from Earth, Chen Qiye instantly felt numb upon seeing these familiar tropes. He was all too familiar with them, and they even carried a rather authentic flavor.
A villain!
Starting off with a proud talent arriving to break off an engagement—this was absolutely something only a villain would do!
Chen Qiye was well aware of how deep the waters of the cultivation world were, and even more aware that no matter how hard he tried now or how dazzling he was in the early stages, once he offended the Child of Fortune, they would rise up. As a villain, no matter how many resources he obtained, in the later stages he would only end up on the chopping block!
In fact, the stronger the villain, the more miserable they would be when they became the whetstone for the Child of Fortune!
A Child of Fortune simply could not be killed.
Even falling into a forbidden zone would allow them to emerge with a fortuitous encounter; even being crippled allowed them to undergo Nirvana and be reborn; and even if they were truly killed, they might still reincarnate.
Characters as formidable as the Great Emperor-esque Wang Tian or the Nine-Winged Kunpeng had all been slaughtered by the Child of Fortune, let alone someone like himself?
Chen Qiye even suspected that if he really went to break off the engagement, would that good-for-nothing from the Xiao Family immediately shout out the phrase: "Don't bully a young man in poverty for thirty years, don't bully a young man in poverty for thirty years"!
"Xiao Yanyue, you are the fiancée of me, Chen Qiye. You were in the past, you are now, and you will be even more so in the future!"
"There may be some gossip in the outside world, but I, Chen Qiye, swear to you with my Dao heart: you are the woman I will use my life to protect. Anyone who dares to harm you by even a fraction, even if I, Chen Qiye, must shoulder the Heavenly Abyss, fight a bloody battle against the Tianqi Imperial City on one side, and face a Great Emperor directly on the other, I will chop the one who harmed you into the dust of the Nine Netherworlds!"
"I have also constantly been searching for a way to restore you recently. Once I attain the Saint Realm, I will certainly exhaust all my efforts and mobilize every resource at my disposal to reshape your dantian and meridians... I will definitely make your future soar straight up, defy the heavens to attain the Dao, and shatter the firmament with a single sword... I, Chen Qiye, will protect your resurgence with my life..."
"In addition, based on your current state, I have exhausted two years of my mind and spirit to select the most profound cultivation techniques and secret arts of the Qingxuan Sect for you, along with three thousand spiritual herbs from my personal collection, to present to you together! To be opened by my wife, written in Chen Qiye's own hand!"
Before coming out of seclusion, Chen Qiye had already written a very long letter.
He had also prepared a storage ring filled with medicinal herbs and cultivation techniques.
He had neither come admiring her former glory nor departed during her low point. Even Cao Cao had hesitated repeatedly when killing Chen Gong; since he had already provided timely help in the snow and bestowed generous gifts, surely it would have some effect?
Thinking of this, Chen Qiye felt slightly more at ease, yet he still felt somewhat apprehensive.
It had already been ten days since the letter and the storage ring were sent out. Reckoning the time, the letter and the storage ring should roughly have arrived by now.
Who knew what reaction Xiao Yanyue would have upon receiving the items?
"The ascension of one Emperor brings the skeletons of ten thousand proud talents! Whether my conjecture is right or wrong, I must leave myself some more backup plans."
"Resisting the Child of Fortune head-on is far too terrifying. If I cannot reform them through empathy, I must possess sufficient strength to leave at the very first moment. I also need to find a secluded haven and a method to conceal my aura and the secrets of heaven..."
Chen Qiye was cautious in his heart, his survival instinct dialed up to the maximum.
Chen Qiye never felt that running away was shameful; dying was shameful. A gentleman does not stand under a tottering wall; nothing is more important than staying alive.
His emergence from seclusion this time was precisely to resolve this crisis!
There were simply too many disaster-prone burdens around him. In front of a true Child of Fortune, even a foundation as astonishingly formidable as the Qingxuan Sect could potentially be reduced to ruins overnight. He had to maintain sufficient rationality.
"Xiao Yanyue received your letter, the entire Xiao Family is shocked, you gain Xiao Yanyue's gratitude!"
"Heavenly Dao Value +12!"
"Xiao Yanyue received the spiritual herbs and cultivation techniques in the storage ring, the entire Xiao Family is shocked once more, you gain Xiao Yanyue's gratitude once again!"
"Heavenly Dao Value +25!"
"Heaven-Defying Plunder System activated! Initial activation rewards the host with one lottery draw! Initial activation rewards the host with a pair of Double Pupils..."
Just as Chen Qiye was racking his brains and pondering how to prepare more backup plans, a voice suddenly and abruptly sounded in his mind.
Hearing this, Chen Qiye's body instantly froze!
What the hell?
What just made a sound?
Was this... a system?
He, Chen Qiye, a villain, could actually activate a system?