Time always seems to crawl when one is filled with anticipation.
Even though she had spent the entire day in cultivation, Yin Luoling still felt that it was passing far too slowly.
Amidst the agonizing wait of every passing second, the setting sun finally dragged the curtain of night over the sky.
Yin Luoling remained in the same outfit she had worn during the day, though she had removed her bamboo hat and the sword at her waist, opting instead to hide a dagger and a sharp hairpin in her sash.
Tonight, she would surely clear her Taoist heart and achieve the unity of self.
Yin Luoling arrived before Ling Huan’s door.
As she reached out to touch it, her fingers trembled slightly.
Whether it was from excitement or fear did not matter.
After tonight, everything would be different.
Firm in her conviction, Yin Luoling pushed the door open with force.
A sudden, brilliant flash of light flared.
For a moment, it stung her eyes so sharply that she could not open them at all.
An ambush!?
Startled, Yin Luoling immediately leaped back out of the room and fell into a defensive stance.
However, as her eyes gradually adjusted to the light, she forced them open only to find that the glow was not a trap set by Ling Huan, but spirit stones.
Bright, shimmering spirit stones were piled high upon the round table, stacked to the very brim.
Yin Luoling was baffled. What did this mean?
Was he putting so many spirit stones here just to mock her poverty?
Was he trying to show her the gap between them?
Yin Luoling had seen much of the world, after all; this amount of spirit stones was nothing in her eyes.
Since she was certain this wasn’t an attempt to ambush her, she decided she should walk in openly.
She could not afford to lose in terms of presence.
“Why did you ask me here?”
Yin Luoling said as she sat down across from Ling Huan.
The high pile of spirit stones almost obscured half of his face.
It was then that she noticed something strange.
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Ling Huan’s head seemed to have a bump on it.
That small, rounded head of his felt somewhat pointed.
Pushing those stray thoughts aside, she focused her attention and locked eyes with Ling Huan.
Yin Luoling never once looked at the pile of spirit stones, instead cutting straight to the point.
“You want to cultivate, don’t you?”
Ling Huan was equally direct.
Yin Luoling nodded.
“I’ve told you about this before, haven’t I, brother? Did you forget, and only just remember today?”
She spoke with a flat tone.
“You wanted to take Zeng Ge as your master today, but he rejected you, didn’t he?”
Ling Huan had remained seated since she entered, but after saying this, he slowly stood up and walked over to her, gazing at her with a smile.
The meaning behind that smile was self-evident.
So, the main reason he called her here tonight was to mock and belittle her.
The matter of giving her the tower was almost certainly a ruse to lure her in.
After all, her body had honestly betrayed the desire hidden within her heart.
This was the result of the dissonance between her mind and her actions.
The mind thought its thoughts while the body did its own thing.
But fortunately, Ling Huan did not know the tower’s true value.
He likely thought the “tower” was merely a symbol—a trophy of successful apprenticeship.
“A pity, but he chose me. Do you know how I cultivated to be the one chosen?”
Hearing this, Yin Luoling sneered.
She was the number one person beneath the Immortal Emperor, a powerhouse whom even Great Emperors feared.
Would she not know how to cultivate?
But she didn’t want to argue.
She didn’t even need to think to know what Ling Huan was going to say.
It would be nothing more than emphasizing how powerful he was, how great his talent was, while demeaning her as pathetic and useless.
He would say she was too useless to even have the ability to avenge their parents.
In her past life, she had been a foolish girl who thought he was right.
In this life, if Ling Huan dared to say it, she would guarantee that a bloody hole would appear in his throat.
But now, her mindset had changed.
Ling Huan was destined to die tonight.
She might as well listen to what kind of laughable jokes this clown could spout.
Regardless, there was always the next life.
In the next life, she would simply torment him properly.
She didn’t believe that, with her current self, any accidents could occur.
In Ling Huan’s eyes, she was probably still just a little chick he could crush whenever he wanted, right?
“Is that so? I have no idea how to cultivate. Please, brother, enlighten me.”
Yin Luoling gave a fake smile, her eyes narrowing as a cold glint flickered within them.
“Cultivation… the most important thing is to be shameless! Talent doesn’t matter at all!”
Ling Huan’s smile carried a hint of triumph.
These unexpected words caused Yin Luoling to stun for a moment.
Had she… heard correctly?
This beast, who thought he was more powerful and talented than anyone else in the world, actually said “talent doesn’t matter”?
“Then, is it… money…?”
“Money isn’t important either.”
Money… isn’t important?!
You beast, didn’t you kill your own parents for money?
You dare say money isn’t important?!
Seeing Yin Luoling’s shocked expression, Ling Huan curled his lips in a smirk.
“That’s right. The most important thing is to be shameless. The path of cultivation is an act of defying heaven, so getting beaten is only a matter of time. I ask you, who hasn’t had a moment of pathetic failure? Who can guarantee they won’t be crushed by someone for their entire life? Or that they won’t be surpassed?”
Though she desperately wanted to refute him, those words weren’t actually wrong.
“But many people think they’ll lose face. They think losing once or being embarrassed means it’s over, that they’re a failure, a waste. They’d rather die!”
True… indeed.
Yin Luoling agreed completely.
She had seen many people with talent far more monstrous than hers, but in the end, they either died or were crippled, never to rise again.
They couldn’t afford to lose face.
They couldn’t bear the shame.
But they didn’t understand at all.
Face wasn’t important; what mattered was cultivation and strength.
One must endure in silence, and then finally—
Wait!
What was she doing analyzing this?
What did she come here for?
She came to force Ling Huan to reveal his true face, to achieve self-unity, and then kill him to seize the treasure!
“So? What are you trying to say?”
“Sister, your strength isn’t enough, so others look down on you. That’s why you were rejected while I was chosen.”
“Continue.”
Yin Luoling’s voice trembled slightly, but it wasn’t from anger; it was from sheer ecstasy.
Finally. Finally, the Ling Huan from her future memories was about to appear.
She could finally achieve her unity!
“And so, sister…”
Come on, Ling Huan!
Mock me!
Insult me!
Hurt me!
Stop suppressing yourself!
“And so, your brother has brought you all these spirit stones. These stones are the capital you need to turn the tables!”
“…?”
Wait, this wasn’t the direction this was supposed to go.
Shouldn’t he have started mocking her? Saying: “Waste! You’re just a waste! A maggot who only brings misfortune to those around you, a jinx who makes everyone unlucky! A total calamitous star! Whoever is your parent or friend has suffered the worst luck imaginable—”
Something like that?
“That’s right, you heard correctly. These spirit stones are the capital to help you stand up. You want to get stronger, I know that, and I support you.”
As he spoke, Ling Huan thrust his arm into the pile of spirit stones and swept them across the table.
The stones cascaded down like a waterfall onto Yin Luoling’s lap.
Her small frame and small thighs were not enough to hold them all, and they clattered loudly onto the floor.
…?
[Warning! The system has detected the host is showing kindness. Please cease this behavior immediately! Otherwise, the mission will be judged a failure!]
But Ling Huan was in no hurry.
He maintained his smile and internally signaled the system to stay calm.
His operation was only just beginning.
Yin Luoling looked at the cascading spirit stones in disbelief.
She had no idea what Ling Huan was trying to do!
This wasn’t right.
Weren’t these stones supposed to be shown to her just to make her angry and let him show off?
“However—”
Aha!
Yin Luoling felt a surge of joy!
As expected, here comes the twist!
The thing she had been waiting for was finally coming!
“Money is hard to earn, and pride is hard to swallow.”
As expected, he only wanted to use this to humiliate her!
“If I just give them to you for nothing, you won’t understand this principle. It would only make you feel that spirit stones come too easily, leading you to believe that many things in life are simply granted by right.”
“These spirit stones… I got them by kneeling before my master named ‘System’ and kowtowing until my head was swollen! My head is literally bruised! You have no idea how many times I had to smash my head against the floor this week just to get this handful of stones! If you want them, I can give them to you, but—”
Suddenly, he dropped one knee to the ground and firmly grabbed Yin Luoling’s ankle.
This bold and direct action left her stunned.
“You want them?”
Ling Huan’s palm brushed against the arch of her tensed foot.
“Let me massage your feet again, and these will all be yours.”
“You lecher!”
Yin Luoling’s pupils shrank.
At the exact moment she barked “lecher,” her toes carried the force of wind and thunder as she kicked directly at his jaw!
Plan successful.
[Simulation Space], activate!
In an instant, time froze.
A vortex suddenly emerged, quickly pulling Ling Huan’s consciousness into that void.
That’s right, this was Ling Huan’s plan.
If he just gave her spirit stones, she wouldn’t accept them.
Ling Huan had realized that she had very strong self-esteem.
Besides, the system wouldn’t allow it.
So, it was better to humiliate her under the guise of a “trial” and for the purpose of “training.”
This would not only break down the pride that kept her from accepting the stones but also temper her state of mind.
It was killing two birds with one stone!
How would he carry this out?
The key was the [Simulation Space].
He would use the [Simulation Space] to familiarize himself with Yin Luoling’s attack patterns and habits.
Then, he would return to reality and use his absolute strength to easily dodge all her attacks.
He would make her understand what kind of results the gap in strength brought, showing her that in the face of becoming stronger, dignity and face were not worth mentioning!
Afterward, he would massage her feet.
Based on Yin Luoling’s reaction during their first meeting, her heart should be filled with humiliation!
But at the same time, it would satisfy the system’s mission.
Finally, he would stand up and adopt a “solemn and sincere” attitude to tell her that if she obsessed over her so-called self-esteem, she would easily end up in a miserable state where villains could treat her however they pleased!
He would say something like, “Today it is only I, your brother, touching your feet. But if your strength is lacking in the future, what will you do if a villain wants to force himself upon you?”
He would create a sense of crisis in her heart and further strip away her pride, making her feel more comfortable accepting his stones and help.
What was even better was that during this one month in the [Simulation Space], he could take the time to study the “Anatomical Map of Human Acupoints” he borrowed from Jiang Yue.
While teaching her a lesson, he could give Yin Luoling an extremely comfortable foot massage.
It would make her feel ashamed yet also as comfortable as she had the first time.
Then, Ling Huan could smoothly explain why he had taken someone’s clothes off in the dark back then.
It was purely out of respect for his teacher!
He had wanted to give his teacher, Jiang Yue, a massage to relieve her pain!
It was just an unfortunate misunderstanding.
With this!
Not only would the misunderstanding be resolved, but he could also guide Yin Luoling, clear up his issues with her, and help her while completing the system’s task!
Holy crap!
I’m a freaking genius!
Damn system, you think you can control me?
This young master has a hundred ways to flip a bad situation into a good one!
Humph, amateur.
Alright, let’s start the first phase of the plan.
Turning himself into a cool, powerful brother who can easily handle his little sister!
At that moment, he pulled up the [Simulation Space] panel. In the battle list, Yin Luoling’s name appeared prominently among the options.
Select.
[Yin Luoling, Qi Refining Level 3 Peak]
Oh?
She’s actually at the third level of Qi Refining?
It seems Sister Yin Luoling really does have a family secret technique.
Ling Huan was a bit surprised.
He thought she would be at the first or second level at most.
He hadn’t expected her to be almost caught up to him.
And he had system buffs!
Could it be that this sister of his was a legendary child of fortune?
A monster among monsters?
The small figure suddenly appeared before Ling Huan, as delicate as carved jade and extremely cute.
She didn’t have that cold expression; she looked very calm, yet also very beautiful and adorable.
She was like an exquisite doll, standing there quietly—it was very pleasing to the eye.
Even though it was a simulation, he felt a bit reluctant to lay a hand on his own sister.
Click [Start].
As the countdown appeared, Ling Huan began to stretch his body.
3…
2…
1…
Come on!
Ling Huan stretched lazily.
[Battle Ended. Survival Time: 0 minutes 01 seconds]
…?
What happened?
Is there a bug?
How did it end as soon as it started?