Under your orders, Liu Yue was brought in.
Her gaze toward you was a mix of shyness, calmness, and complexity—after all, the two of you had already bared yourselves completely to each other five days ago.
Even though the circumstances had been special, and you'd taken advantage of her vulnerable state, this Destiny's Heroine had clearly resigned herself to her fate.
「Sun Qian, I don't know how Ye Fan managed to offend you, but he's no longer the Liu Clan's bodyguard.」「I can be your woman. I hope you'll spare the Liu Clan.」
Faced with the Destiny's Heroine offering herself up on a silver platter, the joy of being a villain finally sank in for you. Ye Fan, the so-called Destiny's Child, had been maimed by Sun Zhong and chased into hiding, while the Destiny's Heroine was now willing to submit herself just to save her clan.
「No rush. Let me think about it.」
Instead of agreeing immediately to the beauty thrown at your feet, you asked about Ye Fan's origins—you were far too curious about this Destiny's Child, eager to dig into the secrets behind him.
Liu Yue looked surprised. You weren't even interested in a gorgeous woman throwing herself at you? Instead, you cared about a male bodyguard? Could it be that you had some kind of unusual preference? But after a moment's hesitation, she explained anyway.
「Ye Fan was originally a security guard at Liu Group. I happened to see how skilled he was in a fight once, so I hired him as my bodyguard. But his personality is really weird—he always wore tattered clothes that made him look like a beggar, and he'd fly into a fight at the slightest provocation, spouting nonsense about "the path to death" or something like that.」「I tried to use the Liu Clan's connections to look into his past, but I came up empty. Though I did hear him mention once that his hometown was a small village down south in Qianyuan, and that he still had family there...」
Liu Yue racked her brain, spilling every detail she knew about Ye Fan's background.
Listening to her description, you couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Wow, this guy was straight out of some old-school web novels.
A village bumpkin with hidden skills, a powerful elder's remnant soul in his body, a beautiful campus belle as his charge, a close-quarters bodyguard gig—he had all the classic protagonist tropes stacked to the max.
For the past few days, the entire city of Magic City had been combing every inch for Ye Fan, yet not a single trace of him had been found. It was clear this Destiny's Child had some tricks up his sleeve.
After getting all the info you could on Ye Fan, you instructed your protector Sun Zhong to use the Sun Clan's intelligence network to track down Ye Fan's family. You planned to take them hostage and force Ye Fan to hand over all the treasures and opportunities he'd hoarded.
The pills and spiritual materials from the storage pouch Ye Fan had dropped had already transformed you root and branch. There was no doubt he had even more good stuff hidden away.
Not to mention that mysterious "Grandpa" remnant soul—*that* alone was a treasure trove of unimaginable value.
Of course, all this depended on your ability to flush Ye Fan out of hiding and capture him alive.
And naturally, you had no intention of letting Liu Yue, this Destiny's Heroine, slip through your fingers either.
「Liu Yue, I see your sincerity—but it's still not quite enough.」
Meeting your playful grin, Liu Yue instantly got the hint, nodding silently as the two of you walked toward the inner room together, ready to discuss the details of her "sincerity" in depth—after all, sparing the Liu Clan was no trivial matter.
...Your Supreme Imperial Bone siphoned off another portion of Liu Yue's destiny energy, granting you the Fortune Amplification effect, which would last for a week....
Three days later: With sufficient "reasons" and "sincerity" from Liu Yue, you reluctantly agreed to spare the Liu Clan. In exchange, she would become your personal life secretary, providing you with a steady stream of destiny energy on a daily basis.
Five days later: Rumors began to spread across Magic City that Liu Yue had become your woman, and that the Liu Clan had secured the Sun Clan's protection as a result. The news sent shockwaves through the city; countless young masters cried their hearts out upon hearing their goddess had been claimed.
Seven days later: With you sending Sun Zhong to aid the Li Clan, the Zhao Clan of Magic City finally crumbled under the pressure. The Patriarch of the Zhao Clan personally dragged his eldest son Zhao Kun to your door to beg for mercy, groveling that he'd had no idea Liu Yue was your woman and begging for forgiveness for any offense.
You knew full well the Patriarch was referring to the night Liu Yue had gotten drunk and ended up outside your car. But you couldn't care less about that. What you *did* care about was whether Zhao Kun was involved with the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on you. After all, everything that had happened that night had been far too coincidental. You announced your intention to perform a Soul Search on Zhao Kun.
The Zhao Patriarch readily agreed. Compared to the survival of his entire clan, one son was expendable.
You ordered Sun Zhong to carry out the Soul Search—but to your surprise, Zhao Kun was completely clean. Everything that had happened that night really *had* just been a random coincidence.
「Could it be I was wrong? Is the Zhao Clan really not involved with the mastermind?!」
Sun Qian narrowed his eyes, falling into a brief silence.
He'd been convinced the Zhao Clan was a suspect in the assassination plot against him.
If Zhao Kun hadn't let his greed and lust get the better of him, secretly sabotaging Liu Yue that night, she wouldn't have gotten drunk and fled, ultimately ending up right in front of you and setting off the entire chain of events that followed.
That was the exact reason your simulated self had ordered the Li Clan to target the Zhao Clan specifically.
But Sun Zhong's Soul Search had proven you wrong.
So the question now was: would the "you" inside the Villain Simulator accept that he'd made a mistake?
Sun Qian put himself in the shoes of his simulated self, a malicious grin spreading across his face.
Zhao Kun was dead—reduced to a mindless vegetable after the Soul Search, then killed with a single slap from his own father.
You realized the Zhao Clan was innocent. It seemed you'd made a mistake?
「Young Master Sun, my son is dead. Does this mean all grudges between us are now settled?」
You looked at the Zhao Patriarch standing before you, his expression calm—but beneath that calm facade, you caught a flicker of unquenchable hatred.
It was obvious the pain of losing his son had turned him into your bitter enemy.
「Patriarch Zhao, I don't recall making any promises to you.」
You sneered, slinging an arm around Liu Yue's waist and waving a hand to signal Sun Zhong and the Li Clan powerhouses to move in. If you'd made a mistake, then you'd double down on it. Letting the Zhao Clan off easy would only leave a ticking time bomb for yourself.
The Zhao Patriarch opened his mouth to curse you for your treachery, but before a single word could escape his lips, Sun Zhong slammed his palm into the man's chest, reducing him to a pile of ashes on the spot.
「Magic City has too many great clans as it is. Three would be a much nicer number. The Zhao Clan's territories and businesses will go to the Li Clan—but all their accumulated treasures, pills, and foundation resources? Those belong to me, Sun Qian.」
You laid out your terms, using the lure of massive profits to drive the Li Clan to wipe out the Zhao Clan completely—with you taking the lion's share of the spoils, of course.
With the Li Clan's Saint Ascension Realm ancestor and Sun Zhong joining forces, the Zhao Clan's days were numbered.
In less than a single day, the Zhao Clan was being routed on all fronts, suffering catastrophic losses and teetering on the brink of annihilation. You sat back comfortably in the rear, watching the show with glee the entire time. The Wu and Lin Clans, meanwhile, maintained their neutrality, staying far away from the conflict.
Before long, the Zhao Clan was no more—but the Li Clan's Patriarch reported that the Zhao Clan's Saint Ascension Realm ancestor had vanished without a trace.
You roared in fury, cursing the Li Clan for their incompetence, leaving such a huge loose end hanging over your head.
A Saint Ascension Realm powerhouse with nothing left to lose and no family ties to hold him back was an absolutely catastrophic threat to you.
Still, you got what you wanted: centuries worth of accumulated resources from the Zhao Clan. You decided to lay low from now on, focusing on refining and devouring the Zhao Clan's "corpse" to break through to a new realm.
Just as you were about to enter seclusion, Liu Yue suddenly found you, saying that a "secret realm" had appeared in the seas near Magic City, drawing hordes of powerhouses from all over. She asked if you were interested in checking it out.
You frowned, suspecting this was another trap set by the hidden mastermind. Coupled with the lingering threat of the missing Zhao Clan ancestor, you had no intention of getting involved.
Day 1: You chose to focus on cultivating the Ancient Dragon Elephant Scripture, swallowing a hundred Spirit Refinement Pills in one go, preparing to break through to the Fourth-Rank Divine Ability Realm once and for all.
...
Day 3: You successfully broke through to the Fourth-Rank Divine Ability Realm, condensing a new divine ability: Dragon-Elephant Overlord Physique, imbuing your body with the full might of dragons and elephants.
...
Day 5: The Fortune Amplification effect began to fade. In the final moments before it vanished completely, you felt a sudden, foreboding chill creep up your spine, your destiny energy flaring to life with another warning. The scent of death was closing in...
You jolted awake with a start.