157 - Divine Mastering Dragon System
Chapter 157: Heartless (Part Five) "Knock, knock, knock." Qin Miao struggled for breath, feeling his fingertips tremble slightly with an uncontrollable anticipation for what was about to unfold. Wearing a solemn expression, he resolved to properly inquire about the changes occurring in him and... why Xiang Shi Yan had suddenly grown distant from him at some point. Xiang Shi Yan had always been a reasonable person; there must be a reason for her attitude and actions. The master he knew would never distance themselves from someone without cause. In his heart, Qin Miao hoped—was there a chance that this woman, whom he had adored since youth, shared the same feelings for him? After all, didn't he win her over in his past life? In the end, Xiang Shi Yan had chosen him. She noticed him at first glance, else why would she have taken in such a burden? After witnessing the massacre of the entire Qin family, the boy, filled with fear and confusion, left home for the first time. With minimal cultivation skills, he could barely protect himself from ordinary people, but it did nothing to quell his fear of his nemesis. As he camped in the wilderness, wandered through mortal towns, and was turned away by uncles who had once been close to his father, young Qin Miao came to realize he had no home. The fear of someone suddenly descending to take his life, as on that day, never left his mind. He journeyed west, traversing almost half of the divine land. By the time he ascended the main peak of Yu Cang Mountain, he had lost hope. He had originally sought the help of the Mountain's leader, Li Huai, who had sent a birthday gift to his father years ago. Never had he imagined that the graceful woman he had only seen once at his father's birthday banquet would be willing to protect him, to offer him a home once again. From that day on, he constantly thanked Xiang Shi Yan, carrying his affection for her as he grew into a man worthy of her. All that she was, should ultimately belong to him. Yet, a dark thought crossed his mind briefly. He was unsettled by the potential bond he was supposed to have with Huai Ye, the indifference from Xiang Shi Yan, and the young junior sister whose origin he did not know. The atmosphere between the three, entangled in a storm, seemed terrifyingly powerful. More alarming was that—this turbulent force seemed to deliberately bypass him. He was unrelated to everything at the eye of the storm. With no answer from inside, Qin Miao knocked on the door again, noticing nervously that cold sweat had indeed broken out. Suddenly dizzy, he reasoned it must have been because of his nervousness; otherwise, how could he have imagined seeing his father's face? The face, resembling his own by seven or eight parts, flashed before him, appearing as kindly as he remembered, but the voice in his mind was cruelly cold, "What a useless thing." "I can't believe the entire Qin family was ruined just to save you." "If it weren't for saving you, I'd be doing well now." No... it's not true, I've already avenged them... "Bai Jing Huan is dead, but what does that have to do with you? The Qin family's enmity is unresolved and forever unreachable." No, I have killed him in a past life already, just... What relation does his past life bear on him now? Much like, the admired Qin Miao of his previous life full of female companions seemed wholly unrelated to the current, unaccomplished Qin Miao. An itch ran down his spine as the inner demon continued viciously, "Now is not the time to worry about this woman, you have more urgent matters. Your nemesis lurks nearby, the mastermind of Tai Xu Sect is yet to be defeated! Put aside these romantic entanglements!" Xiang Shi Yan's room remained silent; Qin Miao slammed the door with frustration, the inner demon's pointed words leaving him confused. Perhaps Xiang Shi Yan wasn't inside, or rather, even as Qin Miao bowed his head and left, the puppet seated cross-legged inside remained unresponsive. He couldn't help recalling Huai Ye's gaze when she took Xiang Shi Yan away, nor could he stop reliving the misty emotions in He He's eyes when she first saw their master. Qin Miao repeatedly told himself that it was impossible. Two women—both his confidants—how could they be involved behind his back? But deep down, Qin Miao knew he couldn’t shake off such speculation because he was all too familiar with those gazes. Wearing a pained and confused expression, the young man exited the lodging where the group was staying. It took almost two hours to fly from the camp to here. The border, especially near the black market, was prone to chaos. When Xiang Shi Yan finally acquired her desired auction item, it was already late at night. She persuaded the group to rest here overnight, seeing no immediate danger at the camp, and to return the next morning to regroup with others. Here was where a peculiar coincidence occurred. It clearly didn't originate from any scientific theory; anyone understanding the whole process of this coincidence would know it was a matter of luck and fate favoring someone. Firstly, if Yu Zi Ming didn't want her presence at Wraith Valley to be discovered—wanting to keep Xiang Shi Yan and Huai Ye in the woods to restore silence was reasonable—then why, in confronting Xiang Shi Yan, didn’t she choose a more discreet approach but summoned a cacophony of ghosts, even merging them into an unmistakable skeleton and storm? Xiang Shi Yan's escape wasn't unexpected, for Yu Zi Ming deliberately let them go. "Having the surface plot discovered" was a part of Yu Zi Ming and her ally's plan. Although Xiang Shi Yan wasn't sure what purpose this served yet, she could only do her best to prevent worse consequences. The elixir related to her breakthrough at the border's black market was crucial; she was determined to obtain it. The auction was likely to start seven hours after Yu Zi Ming's presence was discovered, adequate time for whatever scheme she needed the cultivators to react to. She could send Huai Ye and others to the auction on her behalf, but a Golden Core cultivator wandering the black market with a rare elixir might invite more trouble. So, Xiang Shi Yan dispatched her puppet. The mirror capable of crafting realistic puppets was something Xiang Shi Yan acquired in Xinyang City, used while investigating Zhu Cheng in Huaihai City. It could create a puppet nearly indistinguishable from the original. It would be hard to discern. The puppet could indeed carry the consciousness of the original. But just moments before Qin Miao arrived at the door, Xiang Shi Yan withdrew her spirit from the puppet to focus on a strange presence suddenly emanating from the forest. Bringing Huai Ye, He He, and the others to the black market wasn't without purpose. Given the distance, even if they found something wrong at the camp, returning promptly would be difficult. However, the distance also lay outside Xiang Shi Yan's realm of influence. After being expelled from Hua Hai City by the world's will, the system lost its capability to track the protagonist's actions using surveillance. The new network signal was erratic. During this stable period, if it were still active, Xiang Shi Yan might have detected Qin Miao’s abnormalities through precise measurements. When Xiang Shi Yan withdrew her consciousness from the border market, the system on her end suddenly only emitted static, unbearably disruptive. Only after severing all ties, including previously left measurement functions, did the grating noise cease. In theory, another person remained capable of monitoring Qin Miao. Yet, long before Qin Miao paced in his room, deliberating on how to approach and what to say to his master, He He had already left the border market. This happened shortly before Qin Miao ultimately decided to knock on Xiang Shi Yan's room. For an ordinary cultivator, the journey lasting two hours was nothing to a black dragon. Before, she had flown across half the divine land by night, killed five people in Hua Hai City in a fit of rage, then returned before Xiang Shi Yan awoke at dawn. Had she not returned to the camp, where would the dazzling azure light and spiraling purple energy in the sky have come from that Xiang Shi Yan and others witnessed? These accumulated coincidences created a rare moment when no one observed Qin Miao, and his actions went unrecorded. Could it be that his master didn't even want to see his face anymore? The youth, disheartened, exited the lodging, attempting to regain his composure with plans to browse the market for treasures that might aid in breaking through to the Golden Core stage. Qin Miao had visited the border market in a past life, choosing this perilous route to infiltrate the demon lands, but the urgency then left no room for thorough exploration. Now, during the unspeakably peculiar hour of Chou, the market transformed. Various discreet deals usually hidden away came openly to light within this unique timeframe. Qin Miao hadn't walked far before sensing something amiss. The streets were still bustling with people moving noisily back and forth, but the jade slips and scrolls on display at the stall selling martial arts and swordplay manuals, which he had seen earlier with Huai Ye and Xu You Qing, no longer prominently marked their categories or descriptions. Shops that had displayed an array of fascinating treasures by day had swapped their wares for peculiar little trinkets lining their storefronts. Curious, he paused at a stall. The vendor seemed indifferent, so Qin Miao picked up one of the jade slips. The moment he infused it with his spiritual sense, Qin Miao froze. The merchant still sold texts, but they had been replaced with dual cultivation techniques and manuals on bedroom skills. He had a rough idea of the street's transformation but couldn't resist a glance at the shop that had once sold magical treasures by day. It turned out that the oddities outside were just a taste of what lay within, as Qin Miao was drawn to bizarre, intricately shaped items collected by the shopkeepers from the mortal world—many devoid of spiritual power. However, when he looked up, the shop's interior stunned him; grotesque and exaggerated devices filled the walls and tables, with some implements he couldn't even identify. Dazed, he stumbled backward and bumped into a demon cultivator, whose power was at least at the late Golden Core stage. Annoyed by the interruption, the demon rudely shoved the frail human aside. Qin Miao collided with the alley wall and, turning back, noticed that several small and discreet shops, closed during the day, were now lit with lanterns at their entrances. A coincidence, or perhaps guidance, had brought him here, leaving the next choices up to him. Whoever pulled the strings of fate—whether aligned with Qin Miao or a follower of Xiang Shi Yan—was out of reach for now... As Qin Miao hurriedly and shakily exited one of the small shops, Xiang Shi Yan was unaware that the man with whom her mentorship was tenuous carried a packet of powder in his sleeve, so tightly clenched that his hand's sweat dampened the wrapper. While Qin Miao worked to calm his racing heart, unaware he had just exhausted his final stroke of fate's favor, he had irrevocably lost his chance to turn the tables. The moment Xiang Shi Yan severed her link to the numerical system, it faithfully recorded Qin Miao's aura value dropping from ten to nine. Within that unnoticed instant, the world underwent a reset—to accommodate its new center. Thus, Qin Miao, formerly the "protagonist," officially became an insignificant side character, a mere passerby no one cared about. He even lost his last thread of immortality protection. Author's Note: Is your champagne ready? Thank you to the little angels who cast power votes or nourished me with nutrient solutions from 2022-09-02 15:13:58 to 2022-09-03 35:20:44~ Thanks to the little angels who nourished me with nutrient solutions: Jinchen with Night Ink Does Not Return 5 bottles; Melancholy Waste Ah Ah 1 bottle; Thank you all for your support, I will continue to work hard! 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