Lin Yu snapped back to reality, his mind now clear.
After conducting a "void divination" in his heart—analyzing his birth chart, the current moment, and his present circumstances—he finally understood.
He had grasped the significance of Shen Buyao, the "Celestial Lone Star," and himself, the "Dominant Fortunebearer."
Before replicating the full skill set, Lin Yu had firmly dismissed the idea of so-called fate.
But after delving deeper and considering his current situation…
He had to admit.
The fact that the I Ching and predictive studies were eventually incorporated into doctoral programs wasn’t entirely without merit.
After decades of denouncing superstition, it had gained recognition within the education system.
True mysticism had triumphed over science!
"You two seemed so engrossed in your conversation, I didn’t want to interrupt."
"All that talk about chasing or not… I really couldn’t follow."
Lin Yu replied offhandedly.
Shen Buyao, however, was quite pleased with his answer.
Now this was a masterclass in playing dumb!
Of course, such matters couldn’t be explained in detail to Big Moo.
Big Moo was also a magnet for romantic misfortune—telling her would yield neither help nor insight.
It’d be like talking to a wall.
Yet.
Lin Yu’s seemingly indifferent response drew a prolonged stare from Shen Jiuyi.
A direct, unblinking, laser-focused gaze!
Lin Yu: "…"
The intensity of her scrutiny made even Lin Yu second-guess himself.
Had he misspoken somehow?
He hadn’t even said anything substantial!
"Buyao, mind if I borrow Lin Yu for a moment?"
"I’d like to have a private word with him before the deal."
Shen Buyao frowned and instinctively retorted:
"Big Moo, are you doing this on purpose?!"
"He’s his own person—what do you mean 'borrow'?"
"Did everything I just said go in one ear and out the other?"
Shen Jiuyi ignored her, keeping her eyes locked on Lin Yu as she said:
"In the past, you would’ve snapped back with…"
"'The hell can’t be said here? Why the secrecy?'"
Shen Buyao: "!!!"
Lin Yu: "…"
Touche.
Family really does know family best.
With just one sentence, Shen Jiuyi had perfectly channeled Antique Sis’s vibe.
Shen Buyao bit her lip, seething internally.
She glanced at Lin Yu, as if seeking his opinion.
Lin Yu, for his part, was curious to hear what this IQ-145 "divination prodigy" wanted to discuss privately.
"Buyao-jie, I’ll go chat with Jiuyi-jie for a bit then."
Shen Buyao had no grounds to object.
She pointed at her own eyes, then at Shen Jiuyi, and warned:
"Big Moo, if you dare badmouth me, you’re dead meat!"
With that, Shen Buyao strode out of the Treasureless Pavilion’s main hall.
Watching her leave, Shen Jiuyi sighed and remarked:
"Buyao may seem domineering, but deep down, she’s quite foolish…"
Lin Yu: "Yeah, I can sense that."
Shen Jiuyi: "Or in cruder terms—a dumbass."
Lin Yu: "Huh?"
Shen Jiuyi: "Just stating facts. Truth often sounds harsh."
Lin Yu: "…"
No wonder Antique Sis always gritted her teeth at the mention of this "Aunt Jiu," ready to throw hands at any moment.
She totally deserves it!
Buyao had literally just finished saying "don’t badmouth me."
Couldn’t she at least wait a beat before insulting her?
And Shen Jiuyi’s poker face made it impossible for Lin Yu to tell whether she was joking or dead serious.
Before he could recover, Shen Jiuyi dropped another bombshell:
"Take a seat. Let’s discuss Buyao’s potential… 'retaliatory tutoring' campaign against you."
Lin Yu: "???"
"W-wait a second!"
"Jiuyi-jie, how can you say something like that so casually?!"
Shen Jiuyi paused mid-step toward the table and turned back:
"Was my phrasing not in human language?"
Lin Yu: "…"
Thank god this was happening inside the Treasureless Pavilion.
If she socialized like this out in the real world, she’d get her ass kicked daily.
Resigned, Lin Yu followed her to the table and took the initiative:
"Jiuyi-jie, let’s get to the point. I’ll treat what you just said as a joke."
"What exactly did you want to discuss?"
"Trying to pry about the antiques in my possession?"
He played along casually.
Though he knew Shen Jiuyi likely wanted to talk about Antique Sis, from an "outsider’s" perspective, he was a player with no visibility.
To maintain his wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing act, he couldn’t reveal too much.
Shen Jiuyi picked up the teapot, skillfully pouring Lin Yu a cup:
"I couldn’t care less about antiques."
"Lin Yu, I only want to talk about Buyao."
"Ever since childhood—"
(Ten thousand words of exhaustive backstory later)
Lin Yu drank cup after cup of tea as Shen Jiuyi recounted every minute detail of Antique Sis’s past.
Despite being several years younger than Shen Buyao, Shen Jiuyi spoke as if she’d "watched her grow up."
The "Celestial Lone Star" fate meant Shen Buyao had never formed deep connections with the opposite sex.
Even with her friend Huang Feirong, Shen Buyao mostly stayed in touch online throughout the year, meeting in person no more than once a month.
There was a time when Shen Buyao naively went to Shen Jiuyi with a question:
If she and her best friend called each other "husband" and "wife" online or in games, would it bring misfortune to others?
After learning it wouldn’t, Shen Buyao remained addicted to gaming up to this day.
"We’ve talked about Buyao for a while now. Let’s talk about you."
"Buyao is like a little girl trapped in a dark place, surrounded by heavy iron doors:"
"The Shen family is one door, her fate is another, her past experiences are yet another, her restricted social circle is another, her self-isolated heart is another, and her lonely future is yet another door."
"But you…"
Lin Yu: "The Imperial Guard?"
Shen Jiuyi: "A window."
Lin Yu: "Oh…"
Shen Jiuyi: "Don’t get it?"
Lin Yu: "Not at all!"
Shen Jiuyi’s gaze shifted slightly as she asked Lin Yu:
"If suddenly, a girl appeared in this world."
"And you could do anything to her without facing moral or legal consequences."
"What would you do?"
Lin Yu’s face flushed red: "…"
However, he quickly snapped out of it:
"That’s… that’s not a proper analogy!"
"What do you mean ‘no legal consequences’?"
"I’d still call the police!"
Shen Jiuyi nodded and continued:
"Then let me rephrase it…"
"Imagine a prisoner who’s been locked up for twenty years is finally released."
"And in the outside world, you’re the only person of the opposite sex."
Lin Yu’s face turned red again: "…"
This "Kingdom of Women" hypothetical was strangely evocative.
"Tsk!"
"Even though I still think your analogy is flawed, I kinda get the gist."
"But mutual feelings matter—forced affection isn’t sweet…"
Shen Jiuyi: "But it quenches thirst. Would a dying man complain if the melon isn’t sweet?"
Lin Yu: "???"
"That doesn’t mean I have to go along with whatever Buyao wants!"
"You should at least ask how I feel about it, right?"
Shen Jiuyi: "I won’t ask."
Lin Yu: "???"
Where’s Shen Buyao… or that antique of a sister?!
Get in here and deal with her!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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!
