Then, the voices became intermittent and indistinct again.
Presumably, both of them had deliberately emphasized their words earlier.
So... how did the discussion downstairs go?
Would they fail to reach an agreement and start fighting?
Yun Huang felt as if a kitten were scratching at her heart.
So itchy...
So desperate for... freedom.
Her fingers unconsciously twisted together, her knuckles turning white from the tension.
Freedom...
That word echoed in her mind, teasing her soul, which yearned to break free from its cage.
Just then, footsteps suddenly approached from a distance.
Yun Huang's heart clenched. She quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be deep in cultivation.
But her ears perked up, straining to catch every faint sound.
"They're coming up," she murmured inwardly.
Her heartbeat quickened, as if it might leap out of her chest.
Was it anticipation or fear?
Soon after, the heavy door of the cultivation chamber creaked open slowly.
Su Qi walked in, followed by his younger sister and that woman.
"Huang Huang," Yun Ting spoke, her voice softer than usual.
"Is this your friend?"
"We just had a long discussion... about your future, and the Yun Family's future."
Yun Huang feigned indifference, but her shifting gaze between that woman and Su Qi betrayed her.
"So... how did it go?"
A flicker of complex emotion passed through Yun Ting's eyes. "Huang Huang, it's not that Mom doesn't trust you or your friend. But the world is complicated, and I just don’t want you to get hurt. Still, since you’ve made your choice, I’ll respect your decision."
Yun Huang had no idea what kind of sweet talk Su Qi had fed this woman.
But she wouldn’t believe a single word of it—not even a punctuation mark.
Whenever outsiders were present, this woman would put on a sickeningly sweet act of being the doting mother.
"Mom will always give you the best."
Yun Huang felt something being pressed into her hand—a card.
[Card Name: I Wander Through Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon, Never Asking Heaven]
[Type: Consumable · Source]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Energy Level: ??????? (7th Tier)]
[Description: If even after attaining immortality, one must still scheme day and night, with no time to pause for the scenery they love, then perhaps immortality isn’t worth seeking.]
[Special Effect ①: Pinnacle of Martial Arts]
[Pinnacle of Martial Arts: Follow the wind and clouds, wander freely, and pause for the scenery you love. After seven days, your martial cultivation will inevitably break through once. (Maximum breakthrough limited to the 7th Tier.)]
This was the real reason Yun Ting had compromised.
Remember the masterful scheme Su Qi had faced before leaving?
"Then, will Yuan wear pretty things for Brother to admire every day?"
Su Qi knew answering wouldn’t guarantee anything—might even earn him mockery from his foolish little sister.
Yet he couldn’t resist replying with a single word: "Yes."
That had given Su Qi a revelation.
Some things, some people, even when you know it’s a trap—you just can’t refuse.
Did Yun Ting really not see through Su Qi’s ploy?
If she accepted this card, it would mean letting Yun Huang slip from her control for seven days.
But...
So what?
Yun Ting wanted this card too badly.
She had nearly lost control and tried to snatch it earlier.
Once Yun Huang used it, she would undoubtedly reach the 7th Tier!
Even if it was only in martial cultivation.
But with the foundation of 7th-tier martial prowess, breaking through in spiritual and soul power would follow naturally.
As Su Qi had threatened, she didn’t want Yun Huang to fail to shine during the martial exams.
Truth be told...
Yun Huang’s reputation as a "Pathseeker" was something Yun Ting had fabricated with massive resource investments...
There was a precedent from the previous era—an author nicknamed "Sugar Umbrella Sister," whose writing was mediocre but somehow attracted endless readers.
Even when everyone criticized her, even after hiring ghostwriters, her readership remained sky-high.
The conclusion? Marketing was everything.
Yun Ting felt an inexplicable kinship with "Sugar Umbrella Sister," transcending time itself.
Under the barrage of relentless promotion, Yun Huang had effortlessly become a "Pathseeker."
Of course...
This reputation was limited to Jiangxia.
Spreading it across all of Great Xia? Even the Yun Family at its peak would struggle.
But lies always collapse eventually.
Yun Huang’s potential had been squeezed to its limit.
In the early stages, the lower the tier, the more obvious the rewards of hard work...
But from the 7th Tier onward, effort alone often wasn’t enough.
Yun Huang had lingered at the 6th Tier for too long...
If this dragged on, doubts would start to surface.
She urgently needed Yun Huang to break through to the 7th Tier—to silence all skepticism.
To stride into the martial exams with overwhelming 7th-tier dominance...
By then...
Who could tell truth from fiction?
...
After handing the card to Yun Huang, Yun Ting removed all monitoring devices from her.
Before leaving, she maintained her saccharine maternal act. "Huang Huang, take a good rest this week."
Watching Yun Ting’s retreating figure, Yun Huang felt no joy.
Only a surreal disbelief.
Dazed for a few seconds, she finally turned to Su Qi. "Thank you."
"Don’t mention it. It’s a paid service—30 million."
A 7th-tier legendary card’s market price in Great Xia was around 8 million.
Printing one on the spot was nothing difficult for Su Qi.
It had cost him a full [50 points of Radiance].
But this was a seller’s market.
A steep markup wasn’t unreasonable.
A perfect sucker.
Why not fleece her?
Yun Huang: "..."
Why did half her gratitude vanish in an instant?
Was this guy obsessed with money or something?
Then, Su Qi nudged Liu Yuan with his elbow.
"Come on, Yuan. Be a good girl—call her sister-in-law."
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
