Tricked yet again, Liu Yue—the mysterious Heavenly Realm powerhouse—was so furious she was practically seeing red. All pretense of her lofty, unapproachable demeanor vanished as she let loose a string of curses.
Without a Sealing Talisman or similar countermeasure to negate it, she had no way to trap or stop you.
During your last Villain Simulation, you'd asked your eldest brother Sun Shou for a second Life-Substitute Blood Escape Talisman—and the mastermind had gotten wind of it, laying traps in advance.
But this time, you'd deliberately kept this trump card hidden from everyone. Not even Liu Yue had known you still had one left.
And the Life-Substitute Blood Escape Talisman used random teleportation to whisk its user away. Tracking you down after that would be next to impossible...
While your simulator self was busy taunting Liu Yue, the real Sun Qian in the physical world was deep in thought, his mind racing with a different kind of plan.
「The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If I can get them on my side, we'll be fighting for the same goal.」
「There's a saying from my past life: make as many friends as possible, and your enemies will naturally dwindle.」
「If I can rope Liu Yue and her backers into my camp, I'll finally have enough power to stand up to the mastermind's forces.」
「Liu Yue's neutral faction has their own interests to protect. Otherwise, they wouldn't be sneaking around with this 'take the seed and discard the father' scheme.」
「As long as I prove I'm valuable enough, they'll definitely reconsider. They'll start betting on me—and the more they invest, the harder it'll be for them to back out.」
「Once their sunk costs are high enough, they'll have no choice but to grit their teeth and keep supporting me to the bitter end.」
Under the boost of Supreme Mode, Sun Qian's thoughts transcended mortal limits, soaring to a whole new level of strategic clarity.
With the Villain Simulator by his side, he was destined to rise rapidly and claim the top spot.
But all of that would take time.
Time he could only buy if he had powerful allies to shield him from the mastermind's relentless attacks.
As his previous simulations had shown, the Sun Family—and the hidden forces backing them—weren't strong enough to keep him safe on their own.
So he needed to bring in Liu Yue's neutral faction to share the pressure.
To buy him the time he needed to grow.
What did Liu Yue's faction want?
A descendant who might inherit his Supreme Emperor Bone?
But could a divine treasure like the Supreme Emperor Bone even be passed down through bloodline?
And would a child with a possible chance of inheriting the bone ever be more valuable than him—the original owner?
Before he'd learned his true identity, Sun Qian had wracked his brain trying to figure out what leverage he could use to make Liu Yue's faction invest in him.
He'd never been able to come up with a solid plan.
But now that he knew he was of Qianyuan Imperial Blood, he finally realized where his true value lay.
He was a potential candidate for the Qianyuan Emperor's throne.
A child with an uncertain future was nothing compared to a future Emperor.
If he succeeded, the rewards would be beyond imagination—enough to make any faction salivate.
Would it work? Who cared—first, he'd sell the dream.
Would they believe it? Doesn't matter—first, he'd paint the pie.
Painting pies was his specialty, after all.
Then, he'd slowly turn that imaginary pie into reality.
This was, without a doubt, the best path forward for him right now.
「Though… it seems I might have overplayed my hand a little.」
Sun Qian's eyes flickered as he felt a faint sense of unease creeping over him.
Ever since he'd deliberately let slip his real name—Chen Qian—the atmosphere in the room had grown eerily tense and heavy.
Partial Heavenly Fate Luck (7 days)
The sliver of Heavenly Fate Luck he'd stolen from Ye Fan was tingling, sending off sharp warning signals, alerting him that something was about to happen.
On the carpet, Liu Yue—who'd seemed harmless and asleep just moments ago—was now watching him with a strange, calculating look in her eyes, as if she was debating something with herself...
Clearly, realizing her own identity might have been exposed had given Liu Yue some new ideas.
「Trouble.」
Sun Qian's eyes turned cold as he cursed inwardly—but he didn't panic.
As if he had another ace up his sleeve.
...
「Damn it! How could that bastard possibly know that name? Could he have found out about what happened that year?」
「No—according to our intel, he's never had any contact with those people all these years...」
「After the great upheaval back then, those who survived either died or went into hiding. Only the Sun Family has dared to stand in the open, protecting him...」
「And why did he say that name right in front of me? Could it be he's known my true identity all along? Could he even know about the plan...」
「Is there a mole in our ranks?!」
Liu Yue's expression shifted rapidly, her mind in turmoil as a million thoughts raced through her head. The "take the seed and discard the father" plan her faction had hatched was top-secret—and extremely risky.
The mastermind hiding in the Imperial Capital wanted nothing more than to seize Sun Qian's Supreme Emperor Bone and eliminate him as a potential threat.
Would he ever allow someone to create a "copy" of Sun Qian—a future threat?
If their plan were exposed, her faction would face the mastermind's full wrath and retaliation...
「No. I have to capture that clueless bastard and interrogate him. I need answers.」
Liu Yue's gaze hardened as she made up her mind.
This was too important to let slide. Extreme measures were called for.
She didn't dare kill Sun Qian or perform a soul search on him—but a little rough questioning? That she could risk.
Hmph! Hmph!
That bastard had even dared to ignore her beauty and toss her onto the floor like a sack of potatoes earlier.
This would be the perfect chance to get her revenge.
Slap!
She threw off the blanket covering her without a shred of mercy, rising to her feet slowly and stalking toward Sun Qian, who was lying on the bed—ready to teach that brat a lesson.
But to her surprise, Sun Qian didn't even seem to notice her approaching. He casually pulled a book out of his arms and began flipping through its pages, a look of appreciation on his face.
「The masterwork my teacher left me is truly extraordinary—every word is a pearl of wisdom. I could read it day and night and never get tired of it.」
「He once told me that if I can fully comprehend its contents, it will benefit me for the rest of my life.」
「It's a shame there are still some parts I don't understand. I'll have to ask him for guidance the next time we meet.」
Slap!
Liu Yue froze in her tracks instantly, her eyes locking onto the book in his hand against her will.
True Scripture of Talismans
Swish! Swish! Swish!
As if by chance, Sun Qian flipped to the very first page of the book, revealing the name of its author in bold, clear characters.
Xuan Fuzi
BOOM!
Liu Yue's pupils constricted to pinpricks. Her mind felt like it was about to explode.
In that moment, her expression was identical to the Ghost Physician Venerable's when he'd seen Sun Qian unleash the Nine Dragons Incinerate the Heavens.
It was the look of someone who'd just seen a ghost in broad daylight.
Crap!
Without a second's hesitation, she spun on her heel, marched back to the carpet, curled up under the blanket, and closed her eyes—pretending to go back to sleep.
Pretending that none of those dangerous thoughts had ever crossed her mind...