"Dad, what are you doing? Why so mysterious?"
Qin Wuya leaned in close to Qin Hao's ear and whispered, "Your mother took in a female disciple at the Jade Pool. A Primordial Dao Body!!! She grasped a complete Great Dao the moment she was born! She's about your age and her cultivation has already reached the Body Integration Realm. From what your mother said, she intends to matchmake the two of you."
"I figured since your lucky encounters always involve mooching off women anyway, I agreed on your behalf. You'd better perform well. When you go to the Jade Pool this time, put in a few good words for me in front of your mother. You know that ever since I forcibly seized the providence of our future descendants, causing so many of the children she bore to die prematurely, she hasn't spoken to me."
"Find a way to get your mother to come back. In the blink of an eye, I've been single for over twenty years. I'm hundreds of thousands of years old, I can't just stay single forever."
Seeing Qin Wuya's cautious demeanor, Qin Hao couldn't help but laugh, "I couldn't tell, Dad, you're actually quite pure-hearted. After all these years, you haven't even found me a stepmother."
Qin Wuya sneered, "Do you think everyone is like you? You irresponsible brat. I'm not as generous with my affections as you are. I don't have much love to give, only enough for one person."
Qin Hao nodded in agreement, then patted Qin Wuya on the shoulder. "I can only say I'll do my best."
Hearing this, Qin Wuya wasn't having it. "Doing your best isn't enough! You must absolutely, definitely bring her back! If you can't even complete this task, don't call yourself my son anymore, and you can forget about being the Imperial Son of the Qin family. I think that kid Zhan Tian is pretty good. I'll adopt him as my godson and just give him the position of Imperial Son."
Hearing this, Qin Hao was amused. "Oh, wonderful! I won't acknowledge you as my dad anymore, then. I'll take my mother and find a new, obedient dad."
After this brief exchange, Qin Wuya immediately admitted defeat. "Haha, Little Hao, hehe, my words were a bit harsh just now. Dad apologizes to you right here, please don't take it to heart."
Qin Hao chuckled softly. Old man, you dare threaten me? Come on, let's hurt each other!
After chatting briefly with Qin Wuya, Qin Hao contacted the system within his body:
"System, didn't I unlock the target designation function before? Help me designate my next mission target as my mother's disciple, Luo Qingxue."
[Ding, target designation successful. Mission is being issued. Please wait patiently for the client to place an order.]
......
The Jade Pool
Luo Qingxue knelt on a futon. In front of her was a Go game that was more than half finished. She played black, and her master played white. Amidst the intertwining black and white stones, killing intent lay hidden, much like her current state of mind.
"When the heart is not calm, the game becomes chaotic." The person opposite her had a clear and mellow voice. She wore a moon-white robe and possessed peerless elegance between her brows. Time had not left a single trace on her face. This person was the Vice Palace Master of the Jade Pool, Qin Hao's mother—Jiang Yun.
"What is it, Qingxue? Do you not want to marry my Little Hao?" Jiang Yun looked at Luo Qingxue in front of her. In truth, in Jiang Yun's heart, Luo Qingxue was no different from her own child.
Luo Qingxue was a child she had picked up when she first left the Qin family and returned to the Jade Pool. She had raised the girl single-handedly. Over all these years, she had long treated Luo Qingxue as her own flesh and blood. If Luo Qingxue truly did not want to marry, she would never force her.
Luo Qingxue nodded, then shook her head. She didn't know if she wanted to marry either. If she married, her master would be happy, and she wanted to see her master happy.
However, she had never had any contact with that Imperial Son of the Qin family, so she had no idea what kind of person he was. Thinking of this, Luo Qingxue glanced at Jiang Yun and couldn't help but think to herself:
"If his temperament is like Master's, he must be one of the best people in the world. But what if he takes after that heinous husband Master talks about? Master has been away from home for twenty years, and he has never even come to visit her once. He must be an irresponsible person."
Jiang Yun looked at Luo Qingxue's hesitant expression, her brows furrowed so tightly they were almost twisted into a knot, and she couldn't help but reach out and gently tap the girl's forehead.
"Silly girl."
Jiang Yun set down the chess piece in her hand, stood up, walked over to Luo Qingxue, and bent down to help her up from the futon.
"Qingxue, I picked you up back then and raised you to adulthood, but it wasn't to raise you into a gift to be given away. You were raised by me, and in my heart, you are no different from my own child."
"If you are willing to marry my Little Hao, that is his good fortune. If you are not willing, I will absolutely not make things difficult for you in the slightest. You will still be the disciple I treat as my own."
"Master..." Luo Qingxue looked at Jiang Yun with red eyes. "This disciple... this disciple doesn't know how to repay you... If, if Master hopes for me to marry him, then I will marry."
Seeing Luo Qingxue like this, Jiang Yun smiled and shook her head. "What do you mean by what I hope for? This is naturally a matter of mutual affection. How about this: I have already contacted the Qin family, and I imagine my Little Hao will be coming to the Jade Pool very soon. You two should get to know each other first. If you are suitable for each other, then be together; if not, then forget about it."
Luo Qingxue nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Master."
After Luo Qingxue finished playing the game of Go with Jiang Yun, she left Jiang Yun's sleeping quarters. On her way back, her mind kept replaying the conversation she had with her master.
"Mutual affection..."
Luo Qingxue muttered these words, the tips of her ears growing slightly hot.
She had lived for almost twenty years, cultivating the Primordial Great Dao and comprehending the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, but she was completely clueless when it came to romantic love between men and women. What did mutual affection mean? What counted as being suitable? She had no idea at all.
Just as she was thinking, she unknowingly stepped on something, producing a crisp clack sound.
Luo Qingxue looked down and saw a jade pendant lying beneath her feet.
"Hmm? Whose jade pendant dropped here?"
Luo Qingxue reached out to pick up the jade pendant, and suddenly, a message entered her mind:
"The Heavenly Dao draws a thread of marriage; rent a Dao companion to relieve your worries. Seven-day trial, guaranteed refund if not satisfied."
Luo Qingxue was stunned. Renting a Dao companion? Could such a thing even be rented? It requires mutual affection and suitability! The Jade Pool is a place for pure cultivation. Who dropped this jade pendant full of such shameless words at her feet?
Just as Luo Qingxue was about to kick the jade pendant away, she stopped. She thought of her master's words. Her master had told her to get to know the Qin family's Imperial Son first, but she had absolutely no idea how to interact with the opposite sex.
"Why don't I ask this person who rents out Dao companions? Since he does this kind of business, he must be very knowledgeable about these things. What does it mean to be suitable? What does it actually feel like to like someone? Once I ask and understand clearly, then when I interact with Master's son, I'll know whether he is truly the right person for me."
Thinking of this, Luo Qingxue picked up the jade pendant and infused her order request into it:
"I would like to ask you some questions."
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!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
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.
