Li Shiyin had quite an addiction to playing cards. They had been playing cards non-stop for three days straight, accompanied by Long Qiqi and Chasing the Wind, indulging in their gaming frenzy. Qin Ran couldn't bear to watch any longer and forcibly confiscated the cards, putting an end to their reckless gaming session.
"Ah, how boring, Chasing the Wind," Li Shiyin rolled around on the cat climbing frame by the Sword Washing Lake.
Chasing the Wind's spot was taken, so he stuffed his hands in his pockets and dozed off next to the climbing frame.
Upon hearing Li Shiyin's words, he flicked his tail and summoned two fully black little tigers. The little tigers meowed and jumped onto the frame.
Li Shiyin sat up from the frame, embracing the two adorable little tigers.
The cat climbing frame was carved by Li Shiyin from a large stone. If mortals were to see it, they would marvel at its miraculousness, but it was just a cat climbing frame. The frame had some intricate patterns that looked beautiful; those were the formation patterns carved by Qin Ran, intended to reinforce the frame and prevent it from being crushed by Chasing the Wind.
Initially, Li Shiyin enjoyed playing with the little tigers, they were fluffy and cute, but after a while, she found it uninteresting.
"Chasing the Wind..." she held one pure black little tiger and called out to Chasing the Wind beneath the frame.
"Huh?" Chasing the Wind turned over and lay on the ground, exposing his big belly, squinting at Li Shiyin, helplessly saying, "What's wrong again?"
"Come up and let me beat you up!" Li Shiyin made a serious suggestion.
Chasing the Wind snorted and turned his head, saying, "Do I look like a fool to you?"
Li Shiyin stared at Chasing the Wind for a while and nodded seriously, "Yes!"
"Hey?" Chasing the Wind sat up in annoyance, his big eyes fixed on Li Shiyin, "I told you to be responsible for what you say!"
"If you're not a fool, then come up and let me beat you up," Li Shiyin said.
Chasing the Wind pondered over this sentence for a while but couldn't quite grasp its meaning. He stood there, carefully thinking for a moment, feeling that it was a trap he shouldn't fall into.
"I told you before, my boss taught me a powerful skill," he cleverly changed the subject and said to Li Shiyin, "I'll show it to you."
"A new skill?" Li Shiyin's eyes lit up and she eagerly said, "Quick, show me."
Upon hearing this, Chasing the Wind raised his paw, seemingly about to demonstrate his skill, but suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Li Shiyin asked, not noticing Qin Ran, and continued to question Chasing the Wind.
"Both of you, what mischief are you planning again?" Qin Ran's voice suddenly rang out, startling Li Shiyin.
"What mischief?" Li Shiyin turned to look at Qin Ran, "Master, how could you think of me like that? Am I not the most obedient and adorable?"
Qin Ran sized up Li Shiyin from head to toe, shaking his head and saying, "You have no trace of being well-behaved."
"Master~"
"Enough!" Qin Ran quickly halted Li Shiyin's coquetry and said, "I need to go to Master Peak. You two better not cause trouble!"
"How could we?!" Li Shiyin laughed and asked, "Master, why are you going to Master Peak?"
"The sect leader has given an order, but I have no idea what it's about," Qin Ran shook his head and turned to fly towards the outer area of Dan Peak. He was really worried about those two troublemakers, so he turned back and warned, "Don't do anything bad!"
"We promise not to do anything bad!" Li Shiyin patted her chest, guaranteeing.
"Ah!" Qin Ran shook his head and turned away.
Seeing Qin Ran leave the Guardian Mountain Formation, Li Shiyin quickly turned to Chasing the Wind and said, "Show me your special abilities."
Chasing the Wind remembered Qin Ran's warning and hesitated, "But Dad said..."
"Master is gone, and I'm in charge of Dan Peak!" Li Shiyin waved her hand, interrupting Chasing the Wind and said, "I want you to demonstrate your special abilities, so you better do it."
In fact, Chasing the Wind also wanted to show off a little. Upon hearing this, he could only nod and say, "Alright then..."
Qin Ran couldn't believe that despite his repeated warnings, those two troublemakers would still cause trouble and completely disregard his warnings. However, at this point, he was already close to reaching Master Peak, and he had no power to stop what was about to happen.
The sect leader wasn't in the Grand Hall of Questions, but in his own residence. Calling someone to meet at his home usually meant it was a private matter and not something major. So Qin Ran was mentally prepared, but not overly so.
Little did he expect that the first words he heard upon entering the sect leader's residence were, "Jian Yuanjie is dead!"
Qin Ran's heart trembled, thinking that he had been exposed. He quickly looked towards the sect leader, only to see him sitting in the main seat with a worried expression. The sect leader wasn't even looking at him, just sighing like that. It instantly dawned on Qin Ran that his act of killing hadn't been discovered.
"Senior Brother Jian is dead?" He pretended to be mournful and shocked.
The sect leader indeed didn't focus on Qin Ran, otherwise he would have seen the horrifying speed at which this young man changed his expression.
From the beginning, he was a carefree and casual young man, then upon hearing the news of "Jian Yuanjie's death," his pupils were shocked, then he thought he had been exposed and felt fear, then he revealed a fierce expression, prepared to go all out, then he discovered that he hadn't been exposed and felt relieved, and finally, he pretended to be mournful and shocked. The changes in his expression were seamless and extremely smooth. In just a second, he went through more than ten different expressions. Even a master of face-changing would be impressed.
"After paying respects at the front door, he disappeared..." The sect leader's expression was filled with sadness. "We've been investigating from various angles these past few days, and we finally confirmed his death. Sigh!"
Qin Ran covered his forehead and squeezed out a few tears, sighing, "I had a good relationship with Senior Brother. We used to exchange alchemical pills and medicinal ingredients... We even had a conversation before paying respects at the front door... I never expected that such an unexpected event would occur. The cultivation world is truly treacherous!"
"Sigh..." Gu Yueming, the head of Dao Sword Sect, sighed once again but composed himself. He called Qin Ran over to sit down and said, "The alchemists of Dao Sword Sect have always had a turbulent fate. They were prosperous and thriving a thousand years ago, but who would have expected it to decline to this extent over the generations? Could it be that some immortal expert has cursed Dao Sword Sect?"
"It is the nature of time and fate, Headmaster. Please don't lament and harm yourself," Qin Ran comforted him.
Gu Yueming shook his head and looked at Qin Ran, saying, "Previously, there were only two people in Dao Sword Sect who understood alchemy: you and Jian Yuanjie. Now that Jian Yuanjie is dead, you are the only one left in Dao Sword Sect."
Upon hearing this, Qin Ran suddenly felt a strange weight on his shoulders... He didn't really feel any sense of belonging to Dao Sword Sect, did he?
"Before, Dan Peak was responsible for internal alchemy refinement, and Jian Yuanjie was responsible for external herb procurement. Now that Jian Yuanjie is gone..." Gu Yueming sighed, "Today, I called you here to entrust you with the responsibility of external herb procurement as well."
As he spoke, Gu Yueming took out a thumb-sized token of an alchemy furnace and handed it to Qin Ran, saying, "Originally, as the head of Dan Peak, you were already burdened with the affairs of one peak. This task should not have been assigned to you. However... now I have to entrust you with the position of Elder in charge of medicinal affairs."
Qin Ran took the token, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"In a few days, it will be time to go to Zhican Valley to procure herbs," Gu Yueming said, "I just assigned you this task today, and I truly feel reluctant. But... go to Butler Hall now and familiarize yourself with the relevant matters in advance."
Qin Ran held the token, exchanged a few more comforting words with Gu Yueming, and then turned and left.
After Qin Ran left, Gu Yueming, who was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, had a serious expression on his face and asked aloud, "Is it him?"
"Without a doubt," a voice from the air replied.
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ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
