[The system gloated gleefully]
“Well, it’s your disciple who’s going to fight him. Either you pick a true prodigy as your disciple, or your lifelong reputation is going to go down the drain.”
“Oh?”
Su Chen’s expression remained unchanged.
“Doesn’t matter. Only a fool would be happy to compete in talent.”
The system was stunned for a moment.
[System: Then what should be compared?]
“If I’m the one teaching her—an invincible master in all the world—what suspense could there be?”
[System: …Host, what happened to your dignity as a peerless expert?]
“Dignity? Who cares? Even if I lose face or abandon my pride, I can’t afford to lose in momentum.”
Su Chen looked at the other side with an expression of absolute fairness and righteousness.
“One year. My disciple will return to challenge you.”
“Good!”
The Emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom, after an initial shiver in his heart, quickly regained his composure and responded with a calm expression.
“I’d like to see how this useless waste could possibly defeat me in a year.”
He had crushed her in the Demon Prison Mountain once—he could do it again.
“A year from now, I’ll not only kill Ruo Ximeng, but him too.”
The Emperor of Great Yan stared coldly at Su Chen.
Ruo Ximeng was merely an appetizer.
His true enemy stood right in front of him—this monstrous fiend wreathed in demonic flames.
His ambition sounded grand, but reality… was far more cruel.
***
Yet in that very moment—even Su Chen failed to notice—that while he exchanged words with the Emperor of Great Yan, his disciple was standing nearby, eyes brimming with emotion.
“Master, I swear I won’t let you down.”
“If Master said it, then it must be true, right?”
“As long as it’s for Master’s sake, there’s nothing I can’t do. No, there’s nothing I mustn’t do. Even becoming the Empress of All Realms—I’ll do it!”
“I will win!!”
Suddenly—
Driven by this powerful belief, an intense fighting spirit surged within Ruo Ximeng’s heart.
Unseen and unfelt by others, a will began to coalesce deep within her soul—a defiant battle spirit not even the Emperor of Great Yan possessed.
Ruo Ximeng didn’t know what it was.
She only knew one thing—she wasn’t doing this for herself, but so as not to shame her master.
She had to be worthy of the one who believed in her!
She had no sacred bone.
But she still had unyielding pride!
She had no noble bloodline.
But her veins pulsed with burning determination!
All of it came from one overwhelming belief:
So long as she remained defiant, never yielding, she would reach greater heights.
Ruo Ximeng felt as if her heart had caught fire.
Not just burning—boiling.
Her battle intent condensed like a crystal.
Then—
Before her consciousness, a towering, golden phantom appeared, gazing at her with admiration—gazing at this descendant of the human race, struggling to rise after being stripped of all talent.
“Thirty million years. Countless bloodlines across billions of humans.”
“At last, one has inherited our will.”
“You, bearer of the Human Emperor’s legacy… have passed.”
As the voice fell, the mighty figure shattered into countless golden particles, each glowing with a life of its own, and drifted toward Ruo Ximeng.
As the particles touched her, her delicate face twisted in agony, a groan escaping her lips.
She raised her trembling hand—only to see it being disintegrated by the golden light.
Her thin body dissolved like it was made of sand, collapsing into the golden stream that engulfed her.
Moments later, the golden light reformed into a silhouette—
It was Ruo Ximeng once again.
The Human Emperor’s phantom.
The Human Emperor’s inheritance.
And all of it was triggered by one thing: Su Chen’s words—
Because she chose to believe in him.
“Sounds simple, doesn’t it?”
But in the span of thirty million years, not a single person has succeeded.
That alone shows how incredibly difficult it is.
Because the conditions are far too harsh!
First, one must be in a state of utter despair, yet still hold onto their core—because the foundation of the Human Emperor is compassion.
Just like Ruo Ximeng’s current state.
But how many people in this world could remain so pure in such a hopeless situation?
Secondly, one must possess a grand enough aspiration to be worthy of the title Human Emperor, along with an unprecedentedly strong conviction.
As a ruler meant to protect the human race, such belief must be powerful—and it must never be self-serving.
But how many people in the world are truly selfless, yet also possess that level of unwavering faith?
Even a vow to save all beings is still a form of attachment.
It’s a paradox in itself.
And yet, Ruo Ximeng somehow meets all these conditions.
At this point, it can no longer be called luck—it is truly a miracle among miracles!!
***
“Was that… a dream just now?”
When her consciousness returned, Ruo Ximeng muttered in a daze.
“A dream? What dream?”
Seeing Su Chen turn to look at her, Ruo Ximeng quickly shook her head.
“N-Nothing.”
Immediately after, she clenched her delicate fist and declared with absolute certainty, “Master, I won’t let you down!”
Su Chen replied casually, “It’s fine. As long as you’re happy.”
Ruo Ximeng was even more encouraged by his words.
“I’ll work twice as hard!”
Su Chen corrected her again, “Having fun is what truly matters.”
Ruo Ximeng nodded in deep agreement.
“Mm! Working hard is what makes me happy!”
“…”
For a moment, even Su Chen—who could shatter the heavens and break through the myriad worlds—was at a complete loss.
‘Why is this girl so hopelessly dense?’
Not long after that…
Su Chen took Ruo Ximeng by the hand and left the palace.
Just like that, the master and disciple pair departed from the imperial city under the watchful eyes of thousands of soldiers.
Even the mighty Emperor of Great Yan could only watch them go, not daring to make a single move.
He knew full well—today’s events, once they spread… no, even now—would severely undermine his authority.
But what could he do?
“Su Chen! Ruo Ximeng! Just you wait!!”
With a roar full of rage, the Great Yan Emperor flung his sleeve and resolved to train harder than ever over the next year—he would have his revenge.
***
But the very next day…
A thunderous roar echoed through the palace, filled with shame and fury.
“What did you say? They didn’t leave the capital!?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It seems they settled nearby… they even bought a house.”
“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?!”
“This is bad! His Majesty has fainted from rage—someone call the imperial physicians!!”
As a panicked cry rang out, chaos and disorder once again erupted in the Great Yan Palace.
On the other side…
Su Chen remained unaware that the Great Yan Emperor had coughed up blood yet again because of him.
At that moment, Ruo Ximeng was cautiously putting on her clothes.
Though only sixteen, she had already grown into a graceful young woman, or so she believed.
Of course, graceful young woman was Ruo Ximeng’s self-assessment.
In Su Chen’s eyes, her development was anything but normal!
Ruo Ximeng’s skin was smoother than snow, almost unnaturally soft.
Most striking of all was that beneath her angelic face, she had a dangerously seductive figure.
Su Chen happened to glance at her just then, and couldn’t help but wonder—
‘Is this really that little beggar I just brought back?’
[To be clear, it wasn’t the system that got off track—it was the story that veered nine pages away. What follows is finally the actual main plot.]
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