Chapter 478: The End of Long Hao!
The reborn prophet's reliance, even surpassing the Investment Return System, was Long Hao's greatest confidence. Even after repeated setbacks, Long Hao was still able to rally because he was confident that as a reborn individual, his foreknowledge of the future meant that a few accidents would not affect the overall situation. But now, if another reborn person appeared, if Shen Family Young Master Shen Anyu was a reborn person, then everything, everything would be over.
At this very moment, Shen Anyu's voice transmission, whispering into Long Hao's ear, struck him like a bolt from the blue, leaving him utterly stunned… The words weren't spoken aloud, yet they echoed in the deepest recesses of his soul, a chilling, private message that bypassed all physical barriers.
'Long Hao, I know you are a reborn person, and I also know you have the Investment Return System.'
The sentence was simple, delivered with a detached calm that was more terrifying than any threat. For Long Hao, it was the sound of his world collapsing. The blood in his veins turned to ice. A violent tremor seized his body, starting in his fingertips and convulsing its way to his very core. He stared at Shen Anyu, his eyes wide with a primal terror that eclipsed all reason.
He understood. In that single, horrifying instant, he understood everything.
The carefully constructed reality he had built since his rebirth shattered into a million pieces. The faces of the future titans he had failed to invest in flashed through his mind—the Shura Demon King Chu Yun, his potential squandered; the Alliance Master Yan Lingxiao, an opportunity lost; the world's richest man Qi Fan, another investment turned to ash. It wasn't bad luck. It wasn't a series of unfortunate coincidences. It was a deliberate, systematic dismantling of his future, orchestrated by the smiling man before him.
A cold dread coiled in his gut as he thought of the Immortal Doctor Lu Ran. That priceless white jade ring, the key to an ancient medical inheritance, had most likely fallen directly into Shen Anyu's hands from the very beginning. And what of the others? The Dragon King Han Qi, the Sword God Ye Linyuan... were they, too, just pawns on Shen Anyu's board, their supposed destinies manipulated and erased before they could even begin?
The confidence that had been his shield and sword since his second chance at life evaporated. Not only did Shen Anyu know he was reborn, but he even knew about the Investment Return System—his most secret, most powerful trump card. He was naked, exposed, and utterly powerless before this man. Every misfortune, every setback, every moment of frustration since his return from the future had been meticulously controlled by a hidden mastermind.
Before Shen Anyu, he was nothing but a complete and utter clown, dancing on strings he never even knew existed.
And that wasn't all. The nightmare deepened.
Another sentence, just as calm and just as devastating, slithered into his mind.
'Furthermore, I've taken your Investment Return System; it's quite useful.'
What?
Long Hao's head snapped up. His gaze locked onto Shen Anyu, who met his terror with a faint, almost pitying smile on his handsome face. A wave of vertigo washed over him. The world tilted on its axis. He screamed in the silent confines of his mind, a desperate, frantic cry into the void where his greatest ally used to reside.
'Investment Return System! System! SYSTEM! ANSWER ME! COME OUT!'
He called again and again, his mental voice growing hoarse with panic. But there was no reply. No familiar blue interface. No comforting, robotic chime. There was only a profound, deafening silence. The connection was severed. His lifeline was gone.
The light in Long Hao's eyes, once burning with the ambition of a man who held the future in his hands, gradually dimmed. The confident glow, the arrogant certainty that had defined him since his rebirth, was extinguished completely. It was over. It was all over. There was no recovery. There was no turning back. This was the true end.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Long Hao has suffered a devastating mental blow and has completely collapsed. Plundering +1,853,398 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! Long Hao's destiny value has been cleared. The Child of Destiny's halo has shattered. He has lost his status as a Child of Destiny!]
A slight smile touched Shen Anyu's lips. He wasn't surprised in the least that he had so easily shattered Long Hao's psyche. The man was never strong to begin with. In his previous life, Su Hongmian's public rejection had been enough to break his spirit, sending him into a reclusive spiral where he hid in his room for two and a half years. The truth was, even with that humiliation, his status as the Third Young Master of the Sichuan Long Family would have ensured a life far more comfortable than most.
His entire post-rebirth persona was a fragile construct, propped up by two pillars: his foreknowledge and his system. Without them, he was nothing. And now, Shen Anyu had kicked both pillars out from under him, revealing that his entire second life had been a farce played out under Shen Anyu's watchful eye. How could a man like that not break?
This wasn't a sudden attack; it was the culmination of a long-building pressure. A psychological tsunami that had been gathering strength since the moment Shen Anyu first targeted him, now crashing down to utterly obliterate the so-called Child of Destiny.
Shen Anyu watched the vibrant, purplish-gold cloud of fortune that had once swirled above Long Hao's head crack like glass. It fractured, then shattered, dissolving into nothing more than wisps of smoke before vanishing completely. His destiny was zeroed out. His halo was gone.
He was no longer worth a second glance. Just a defeated dog.
Shen Anyu's gaze shifted, falling upon the disheveled figure of Sword Immortal Nie Yun. He smiled faintly.
"A guest has arrived. Please, enjoy some fine wine."
With a casual flick of his sleeve, a cup of wine lifted from the table and glided through the air toward Nie Yun. It moved as if suspended by invisible threads, a display of effortless control without a hint of strain or overt power.
Seeing this graceful, almost magical display, Sword Immortal Nie Yun, who had been half-lost in a drunken stupor, showed a flash of sharp light in his eyes. His movements, once sluggish, became impossibly swift. Like a nimble ape snatching a peach, his hand shot out and plucked the cup from the air. He brought it to his nose, his nostrils flaring as he took in the aroma. His eyes widened in genuine shock. Without a moment's hesitation, he tossed it back, drinking the entire cup in one smooth gulp.
"Good wine! Good wine! Good wine!"
He roared the words three times, his voice filled with an almost religious fervor. He stared at the empty cup, then at Shen Anyu, his expression one of pure astonishment.
"I, Wine Sword Immortal Nie Yun, have tasted countless fine wines in my life. I thought no vintage could truly move me again, but I never expected... never expected to drink something like this today. Forty years... forty years of searching, all wasted!"
At this, the Wine Sword Immortal held the small cup upside down, his tongue darting out to catch the very last, glistening drop of the exquisite liquid, his face a mask of utter infatuation.
"Sword Immortal Nie Yun?"
Liu Ruyan's expression changed, her voice laced with disbelief. Rumors claimed the legendary swordsman lived hidden amongst the common folk, a dragon in the mortal world, his whereabouts a complete mystery. Seeing this scene, how could she not guess? This eccentric, wine-loving master was the legendary super-expert, one of the top ten powerhouses in all of Yanxia—the Wine Sword Immortal, Nie Yun.
Ye Liyou, Yang Luoluo, and Situ Yueying were equally stunned. Situ Yueying, in particular, had a moment of sudden clarity. 'No wonder my man wanted to invite him to Jiangjing Manor.' This wasn't just some random drunk; this was a colossal figure, a peerless expert. A man of his stature was someone even the highest-ranking officials would treat with the utmost respect, not daring to show the slightest neglect.
"Indeed. It is I, Nie."
Sword Immortal Nie Yun casually tossed the wine cup aside. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, and in an instant, his entire demeanor transformed. The drunken, slovenly old man vanished. In his place stood a profound and imposing sword master. A powerful, invisible pressure emanated from him, sharp and piercing. His messy hair settled, smoothing itself out, and the stubble on his chin seemed to simply fall away, revealing a handsome, ruggedly mature face beneath.
He was like a peerless blade, finally drawn from its sheath. Sword Qi surged from his body, so potent it felt like it could tear the sky asunder.
But the very next moment, the crushing pressure vanished as if it had never been there.
The Wine Sword Immortal looked at Shen Anyu, a wide, friendly grin splitting his face. He appeared as benevolent and harmless as a kindly old neighbor.
"Junior, is there any more of that good wine?"
Shen Anyu was momentarily speechless. Liu Ruyan and the other women found the whiplash-inducing change both amusing and exasperating. The renowned Sword Immortal Nie Yun was, at his core, a hopeless alcoholic.
Shen Anyu's eyes flickered, though he wasn't overly surprised. The wine was a product of his god-tier bartending skill; it was designed to be irresistible to anyone who appreciated fine spirits, let alone a legendary connoisseur like Nie Yun.
However…
'I didn't plunder any destiny value from him,' Shen Anyu thought, a flicker of curiosity in his mind. 'Could it be that he isn't a Child of Destiny?'
Given Nie Yun's rumored personality and his very obvious shock and excitement, there should have been some kind of reaction, some small gain of Destiny Points. Unless, of course, he wasn't a protagonist at all.
To confirm, Shen Anyu discreetly activated his identification ability. The system's feedback was immediate: 'Identification Failed.' This confirmed it. Wine Sword Immortal Nie Yun was not a Child of Destiny.
Shen Anyu looked at the swordsman, his mind already calculating the possibilities. 'It seems this Sword Immortal is most likely a teacher or elder figure for a different protagonist, like Hong Qigong was to Guo Jing. It's also possible he's a powerful antagonist to one of them.'
Being an enemy of a protagonist didn't automatically make someone a villain. It often came down to a simple difference in stance or principles. Some were good people, some were bad—just as some protagonists weren't necessarily good people either.
Shen Anyu considered his options for how to deal with Nie Yun. Since he wasn't a Child of Destiny, there was no immediate conflict of interest between them. And for now, there was certainly no animosity.
Wine Sword Immortal Nie Yun, seeing Shen Anyu fall silent, looked eagerly toward the large wine jar still sitting on the table, his throat working.
"If there is, I, Nie, won't leave. You can consult me about the Way of the Sword anytime in the future. Since you know I am the Wine Sword Immortal, you should know the weight of this promise…"
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