Because of the unexpected episode with Qin Hongye, Yun Zhonghe returned to the Yun residence a little later than planned.
Once back, he asked Tao Jiuer to report to his mother on his behalf and explain how the gift presentation went.
Anyway, there were no real issues—it had all gone smoothly.
Right now, he needed to make the most of his time to plan for his future.
“Sister Jiuer, I’ll leave Mother to you. I’ve got important things to take care of!”
And with that, Yun Zhonghe vanished in a flash, leaving Tao Jiuer exasperated, forced to report to the Madam alone…Inside the main hall of the Yun household, a stunningly beautiful woman listened to Tao Jiuer’s report.
She was Yun Zhonghe’s mother, Madam Chen, and also the matriarch of the Yun family.
Even though she had a son as grown-up as Yun Zhonghe, she looked incredibly young—barely in her twenties.
Tall and slender, with delicate, elegant features, fair skin, and a dignified temperament, she was truly a rare beauty.
Her looks bore a clear resemblance to Yun Zhonghe’s.
This gift presentation task was intended as a test for her son.
He was the typical spoiled noble brat—never made big mistakes, but constantly tripped over small ones.
Fortunately, Leader Li was once a fellow disciple and close friend of hers, essentially one of “their own,” so she could be trusted to handle things even if Yun Zhonghe caused a bit of trouble.
Madam Chen had already braced herself for her son’s usual nonsense.
However, when Tao Jiuer told her that Yun Zhonghe had conducted himself with poise and grace during the meeting with Leader Li—and had even stepped in earlier to help Lin Zhongyu, who was being bullied—Madam Chen was utterly stunned.
She knew her son better than anyone.
Since when had he turned over a new leaf?
She asked, “What is Zhonghe doing now?”
Tao Jiuer replied, “Seems like he went to the Scripture Repository. Said he wants to work hard. He even pulled an all-nighter yesterday.”
Madam Chen:???
Was this still her son?
Scripture Repository.
Yun Zhonghe left, satisfied, after acquiring two copies of profound technique manuals.
As the young master of the Yun family—and its future head—he had access to almost everything in the clan, including its famous cultivation techniques.
So even high-tier manuals weren’t hard for him to get his hands on.
One of the manuals was the Eight Desolations Sword Art, a high-grade Profound-level sword technique!
Across all of Cangzhou City, there were only a handful of forces capable of producing Profound-level techniques, let alone high-grade ones.
This sword art alone was enough to make the Yun family stand tall among all powers(aside from the Immortal Alliance, of course).
Paired with the Yun family’s signature cultivation method, Golden Sun Technique, and his top-tier gold-element spiritual root, the Eight Desolations Sword Art could be unleashed to a level rivaling Earth-level techniques.
It was part of why the Yun family remained dominant among the noble houses.
In fact, Yun Zhonghe’s father—at the late Foundation Establishment stage—had once used this very skill to slay a Nascent Soul-stage demon beast, shocking the entire city.
This powerful legacy would eventually be passed down to Yun Zhonghe for him to carry forward.
“A high-grade Profound-level technique… Even back when I was playing the game, Huan Aotian only had access to it after reaching the Golden Core stage. But now, just because I’m the young master of the Yun family, I got it so easily.”
Back in his study, Yun Zhonghe was beaming with excitement.
In his past life, this Eight Desolations Sword Art was incredibly hard to acquire in the game. In terms of power, it ranked near the top of all Profound-level techniques.
And in that past life, Yun Zhonghe had specialized in swordplay—he was deeply skilled in it, and even knew some hidden techniques…Hidden techniques—also known as game
“Bugs.”
“Now that I’ve transmigrated into the game world, I wonder if those old bugs still work. If they do, I could boost my power by leaps and bounds and even defeat higher-stage enemies. That would make my plans go much more smoothly.”
Earlier today, running into Qin Hongye had reminded Yun Zhonghe of a plot detail that was easily overlooked in the game, which was why he rushed to retrieve the manuals.
In the game, Qin Hongye had a “little brother” follower—a completely unremarkable side character who didn’t even have artwork.
They met in Cangzhou City—right around the current story timeline.
Roughly ten days from now, the Cangzhou branch of the Immortal Alliance would issue a mission:
investigate the string of disappearances in a small town thirty miles from the city.
The Alliance suspected it involved demonic cultivators or monsters.
By the time this mission was posted, many of the town’s young adults had already gone missing.
Strangely, only the young and able-bodied disappeared—none of the elderly, women, or children.
This wasn’t even the first time the mission had been issued.
A previous team of rogue cultivators had taken it on and vanished without a trace—likely killed.
So this time, the Alliance reissued the task, hoping to rescue the missing people and figure out what happened to the first group.
In the game, the new team was led by two Foundation Establishment cultivators and five Qi Refining ones.
Qin Hongye’s “little brother” was one of the five.
In theory, such a lineup was more than enough to complete any quest in what was basically the beginner area of the game.
But they still got wiped out—because the villain behind it all was a crazed Golden Core-stage demonic cultivator.
He annihilated almost the entire squad.
Only two people escaped alive: Qin Hongye, and the little brother she later accepted as a follower.
As for why she was there in the first place, the plot explained that she had been searching nearby for rare ice-element spiritual herbs to give to Mu Jixue.
But she got caught up in the disaster.
So now Yun Zhonghe was thinking—what if he replaced that little brother and participated in the mission?
If he saved Qin Hongye, could he use that opportunity to build a relationship with her?
First, win over Qin Hongye.
Then, help her get together with Huan Ao tian.
If that works, I’ll be considered a great contributor—and maybe even become Huan Ao tian’s trusted brother-in-arms.
Wouldn’t that be perfect?
After all, who says only the female leads get to stick around Huan Ao tian?
Even a cannon fodder like me could have his time in the spotlight.
“More pathways mean more chances at survival.”
Yun Zhonghe always felt that earning Huan Ao tian’s approval was incredibly difficult.
Betting everything on Lin Zhongyu alone wasn’t a good strategy.
But if he could get multiple people to speak well of him—especially whisper a few sweet words in Huan Ao tian’s ear at just the right moments—then his chances of getting “ashore”(i.e., winning a spot among the main characters)would increase significantly.
Actually, Qin Hongye was a pretty good girl too—just a bit spoiled and headstrong.
Later on, she caused a number of awkward scenes and couldn’t back down, which only made her more extreme in her actions.
On top of that, her little follower wasn’t a good influence either, always giving her bad ideas, gradually leading her astray.
But if he, Yun Zhonghe, could become close with Qin Hongye and guide her properly, she’d definitely have a shot at rising to full female lead status.
Just to be safe, Yun Zhonghe glanced at the Book of Prophecy in his sea of consciousness to check for any signs of danger.
Thankfully, the Book didn’t give off any warnings—meaning his plan was still within safe bounds.
“Kekekeke… As expected of me! Truly wickedly brilliant! Cast a wide net, explore multiple paths, and one day—I will become Huan Ao tian’s trusted brother! I’ll shake off this ‘blond cannon fodder’ label for good!”
Yun Zhonghe let out a sly, scheming laugh.
“Qin Hongye, you really like Huan Ao tian that much, huh? Then let me help you!”
Of course, he had no intention of giving up on Lin Zhongyu either.
It would be best to pursue both threads at the same time.