Whether Guo Huaili ultimately agreed to the trade could be inferred from the mathematics books in his Universe Bag and the complicated smile on Qin Ran’s face.
Exchanging his foundational knowledge of mathematics and its application in formations for a vulnerability in the Boundless Sword Sect’s mountain-protecting array—was the deal worth it? Qin Ran’s answer was clear: he had lost so badly that even his underpants were gone.
With these treasures in hand, Guo Huaili returned to the Heavenly Secrets Sect. Within a decade, the sect’s strength would undoubtedly experience a surge—a sustained surge, in fact. As for its upper limit, even Qin Ran couldn’t predict.
Before this, formations had existed in this world as an empirical discipline. But now, with the introduction of mathematics, they became a theoretical science.
It was as if formations were being studied from a completely new angle, or as if mathematics had finally provided the key to unlocking their secrets.
Such foundational knowledge—something akin to a trump card, a golden finger, capable of revolutionizing the field of formations—was traded for a minor sect’s array vulnerability.
The most infuriating part? Given enough time, Qin Ran wouldn’t have needed that vulnerability to deal with the Boundless Sword Sect.
So, just how much had he lost? Qin Ran couldn’t bear to calculate it.
Of course, if he forced himself to look on the bright side, it was this: whether the Heavenly Secrets Sect grew powerful or not would have no impact on him. And if the sect did rise to legendary prominence, he, Qin Ran, would be remembered as the man behind its success—the father of the Heavenly Secrets Sect.
"After I’m gone, let the floods rage as they may," Qin Ran murmured to himself as he watched Guo Huaili’s figure disappear into the darkness.
By the time the Heavenly Secrets Sect grew strong, he would have already left the Land of Immortal Legacy. What did it matter to him then?
……Many years later, as Xuanqin expanded and its leaders scratched their heads in frustration at the formidable Heavenly Secrets Sect’s formations, one question lingered: Why did the enemy’s array logic seem so familiar?
"Master, are we leaving soon?" Li Shiyin approached, taking Qin Ran’s hand.
Before them, the misty passage of the mountain-protecting array slowly closed in the darkness.
"Soon," Qin Ran replied, turning to her and interlacing their fingers. He led her back slowly as he spoke. "We already planned not to take part in Xuanqin’s immortal dynasty scheme. Now that we don’t have to set up the mountain-protecting array for the Dao Sword Sect, the only task left is unifying the Hengduan Mountains."
"Originally, this would’ve taken a few more years. The Boundless Sword Sect isn’t strong enough yet, and their internal conflicts aren’t fully ripe. Forcing the issue prematurely wouldn’t yield the best results. But now, since the sect leader fears me, we might as well speed up the process."
After listening, Li Shiyin thought for a moment, then glanced furtively toward the main peak. Lowering her voice, she asked, "Master, why don’t you just…" She mimed slitting her throat.
Qin Ran understood—she was asking why he didn’t just eliminate the sect leader and take his place, or openly rebel and bring the Dao Sword Sect down with him.
……Li Shiyin clarified: "I was just asking why you don’t try to off the sect leader. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead."
"Why?" Qin Ran chuckled. "Because I can’t beat him! The sect leader is a god-transformation expert…"
But as he spoke, his gaze followed Li Shiyin’s toward the Dao Sword Sect, and he sighed. "I did grow up in the Dao Sword Sect, after all."
"Besides…" He squeezed her hand gently. "Those things are exhausting. I just want to be with you. That’s enough for me."
Li Shiyin’s eyes melted with tenderness, clinging to Qin Ran as she wrapped her other hand around his arm, calling sweetly, "Maaasteeer~"
The two walked leisurely through the grass, their footsteps lightly bending the blades beneath them. They passed under a phoenix tree and returned to the ancient spirit locust, where the dishes and wine cups from Qin Ran’s earlier drinking session with Guo Huaili still lay untouched.
Li Shiyin tried to pull away to clean up, but Qin Ran refused to let go. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down onto a nearby rocking chair with him.
The combined weight made the chair creak in protest.
"We’ll wash the dishes later," he said, holding her tightly with a grin. His wife was soft and warm, like a ball of cotton candy—once he had her in his arms, he couldn’t bear to let go.
"Ugh, you’re really…" Li Shiyin feigned a half-hearted struggle before giving in, resting her head against his shoulder with a pout. "Leaving the dishes out like that—do you think it looks nice?!"
"Then don’t look at them," Qin Ran suggested, rolling over with her to face the other direction.
"Pfft! You’re so lazy!" She lightly smacked his chest before asking, "How did you even survive before me?"
"Think carefully," Qin Ran said, feigning surprise. "Who took care of you when you first came to Dan Peak? Remember when you blew up the kitchen?"
"Oh…" Having been with Qin Ran for so long, Li Shiyin had long mastered the art of deflection. Her eyes darted playfully. "Back when I couldn’t do anything, you were so diligent. Now that I can do everything, you’ve gotten lazy! Fine, I’ll be lazy too from now on!"
Qin Ran smirked. "Let’s see who’s lazier!"
"Sure, sure, you win," Li Shiyin deadpanned.
The rocking chair creaked gently as the couple nestled together, gazing at the starry sky.
After a while, Li Shiyin suddenly giggled. "Master, earlier when you made that deal with that formation master, did you get the short end of the stick? You looked like you were in physical pain—your nose and eyebrows were all scrunched up!"
"Who said I got the short end?" Qin Ran denied, spinning his own logic. "Among scholars, it’s not a loss—it’s called magnanimity, righteousness, the sharing of knowledge and technology!"
He even adopted a righteous tone. "As I said, if techniques aren’t exchanged, they’ll regress and eventually vanish. If every master keeps their best tricks hidden, sooner or later, the art itself will disappear. So we must be generous in spreading knowledge."
Li Shiyin pressed a hand to his chest, feigning concern. "Master, your heart doesn’t even race when you lie now."
"I’ve always been able to lie with a straight face," Qin Ran said solemnly.
"But Master…" Li Shiyin pressed, "that Guo guy was a cultivator from outside the Land of Immortal Legacy. Why did you pass your formations to him? Wouldn’t it have been better to leave them for the Dao Sword Sect?"
"What’s this ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ nonsense?" Qin Ran chided. "Knowledge knows no borders."
"Ha!" Li Shiyin scoffed. "You just helped the Dao Sword Sect wipe out Zhican Valley, and you’ve always identified as one of them. Knowledge may have no borders, but you do."
"Ah…" Qin Ran hugged her tighter. "My silly disciple has gotten too clever. You’re not so easy to fool anymore."
"I've always been smart, okay?" Li Shiyin said. "I was just going easy on you before."
"Yeah, yeah, sure!" Qin Ran replied. "A small loss is still a gain—consider it a blessing. Right now, we need to deal with the Boundless Sword Sect quickly and then make our exit as fast as possible. We can’t wait until the sect leader takes action and things turn ugly."
"Ah..." Li Shiyin sighed. Over a decade in the Dao Sword Sect had been joyful, but the thought of it ending so bitterly saddened her.
"We’re just leaving the Dao Sword Sect, not the Land of Immortal Legacy," Qin Ran reassured her. "We can hide out in Danyang City, cultivate until we reach the Nascent Soul stage, refine the Longevity Pill, maybe even have a child... and when the time’s right, we can always come back to visit..."
Mid-sentence, his expression suddenly shifted. He sat up from the rocking chair and gazed into the distant night sky beyond the Dao Sword Sect.
Li Shiyin, lost in sweet thoughts of their future, noticed his movement and turned to him. "What now?" she asked, puzzled.
Wait—had she just said "now" with a hint of exasperation?
Qin Ran looked back at her, his face a mix of emotions, though joy seemed to outweigh the rest. After a brief hesitation, he finally spoke: "Someone’s come to clean up our mess and pave the way for us."
"Who?" Li Shiyin asked.
"Me," Qin Ran answered.
"Huh?"
"Yep."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
