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."
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
