This was a sure-win deal—a thousand Villain Points well spent.
Ye Qian placed the Realm Breaking Pill back into the System inventory. He couldn't afford to be careless with such a treasure. Items like this demanded careful preservation.
In the Immortal Realm, medicines of this caliber simply didn't exist.
Even if some immortal elixir could force a breakthrough between major realms, it would carry crippling side effects and require impossibly rare materials to refine.
The first draw had been a test. Ye Qian found the results... satisfactory.
Still, he didn't rush to gamble away his remaining Villain Points.
Drawing lottery spins was gambling by another name, and gambling required discipline—knowing when to walk away, when to cut losses before they bled you dry.
Who could say whether the next items would prove worthwhile? If they turned out to be trash, wouldn't his Villain Points vanish for nothing?
The System remained speechless.
The drawing mechanism operated on pure randomness, beyond manipulation. Good fortune or calamity—neither bent to its will.
Ye Qian's Luck Value had finally climbed into positive territory, and with a Realm Breaking Pill secured in his inventory, his mood lifted considerably.
...
Meanwhile, far from Ashen Orchid City, Yun Lan maintained her vigil.
She watched the Secret Realm's entrance with unwavering focus, searching for any sign of Yue Qingshan's emergence.
Unfortunately, he remained inside.
Within the Secret Realm, Yue Qingshan faced the assessment of an ancient, overwhelming presence.
From fragments of information he'd gleaned, he now understood the truth: this was an Ancient Ruin left behind by a Great Saint.
That Saint had fallen countless ages ago, leaving this inheritance site to find a worthy successor, a disciple to carry forward his legacy.
Blood and dirt covered Yue Qingshan's robes. His time in the Secret Realm had been anything but gentle.
The moment he'd crossed the threshold, trials had descended upon him—brutal, relentless tests designed to separate the worthy from the weak.
Fortunately, the Ancient Ruins possessed a measure of fairness. The trials calibrated themselves to match each intruder's strength.
Since Yue Qingshan's cultivation only reached the Enlightenment Realm, the enemies he faced weakened correspondingly.
Through sheer determination and grinding effort, Yue Qingshan clawed his way through trial after trial, finally arriving at the innermost chamber.
A luminous jade stone rested on an ancient table. The moment his fingers closed around it, brilliant light erupted from within.
A towering figure condensed in the void, faint and ethereal yet radiating undeniable power.
The giant gazed down at Yue Qingshan.
When it spoke, its voice carried the weight of mountains, the authority of celestial edicts.
"Congratulations, boy. You have passed my test.
Everything I left within these ancient ruins shall be yours.
Treasures beyond counting, cultivation techniques I spent lifetimes perfecting, and resources that could shake the heavens themselves.
But I have one condition..."
Yue Qingshan's nervousness evaporated, replaced by barely contained excitement.
He'd glimpsed the treasures earlier—heaven and earth spiritual medicines, natural treasures that could accelerate cultivation exponentially.
If he claimed them, his advancement would progress with twice the results for half the effort.
"Senior, please speak freely! State your condition.
If it lies within my power, I will complete it no matter the cost."
Yue Qingshan wanted those treasures, those techniques. He needed them desperately if he hoped to grow stronger.
Ye Qian's contemptuous gaze still haunted him, sharp as a blade thrust through his chest.
At this moment, Yue Qingshan's heart clenched.
Something twisted painfully inside him, as if something precious was slipping through his fingers, abandoning him forever.
He dismissed the sensation immediately, attributing it to the psychological blow Ye Qian had dealt him earlier.
The majestic voice resonated through the chamber once more.
"My condition is simple. Become my disciple. Inherit everything I am.
From this moment forward... I shall be your master."
Yue Qingshan's expression shifted.
He already had a master. How could he acknowledge another?
Yet the opportunity before him blazed like the sun—impossible to look away from, harder still to abandon.
His heart wrestled with itself, torn between loyalty and ambition.
The deliberation stretched on. Finally, resolution crystallized within him.
His gaze dropped to the ring on his finger. Even if he acknowledged a second master, surely his original master wouldn't blame him for seizing such a fortune.
He could accept the inheritance of two Great Saints. Where was the problem in that?
This Great Saint offered everything without reservation—techniques, treasures, knowledge accumulated over millennia. To refuse would be to spit on heaven's generosity, to waste resources that could reshape his destiny.
Besides, he'd suffered through countless trials to reach this point.
Giving up now? Unthinkable.
The image of Ye Qian and Yue Ming together flashed through his mind. His teeth ground together audibly.
He couldn't allow it.
No matter how hard he tried, despite everything, Yue Ming's smile refused to fade from his mind—the gentle curve of her lips, the warmth in her eyes.
He had to grow stronger. Stronger than Ye Qian!
Only then could he make Yue Ming see reason, make her understand who truly deserved her affection.
Only then could he reclaim her love!
Yue Qingshan exhaled slowly, opening his eyes. Determination burned in their depths like forge-fire.
"I accept! I'm willing to acknowledge you as my master, to inherit your legacy!"
He dropped to his knees and kowtowed three times to the towering figure.
Deep in slumber, Yue Qingshan's original master—the Great Saint whose remnant soul resided in the ring—remained blissfully unaware that his disciple had just sworn allegiance to another.
If that ancient soul knew, he'd probably wake from near-death itself in sheer fury.
The treasure map he'd left for Yue Qingshan was meant to guide his disciple toward fortuitous encounters, to help him grow stronger through carefully curated opportunities.
He'd never intended for Yue Qingshan to prostrate himself before another Great Saint and accept a competing inheritance.
In the Immortal Realm, powerful beings guarded their legacies with jealous pride.
The idea of jointly teaching a disciple with another Great Saint? Virtually unheard of, often considered an insult.
But Yue Qingshan couldn't spare thoughts for such concerns.
He needed power. Power to eclipse his former self. Power to surpass Ye Qian, who'd crushed him as effortlessly as stepping on an ant.
"Excellent! Hahahaha!
My dear disciple, since you've accepted my inheritance, you are now my true successor.
As such, I cannot permit you to suffer any loss.
Everything I've preserved here now belongs to you."
The giant figure swept its hand through the void. Restrictions that had sealed away the treasures unraveled instantly, dissolving like morning mist.
Spirit pills gleamed in jade bottles. Magic Treasures hummed with dormant power.
But the most precious treasure in this Ancient Ruins wasn't material—it was the cultivation technique inheritance of the Great Saint himself.
"Disciple, since you've become my successor, I shall now impart my cultivation method directly."
The words had barely faded when the figure brought two fingers together and extended them toward Yue Qingshan.
A golden thread of pure knowledge emerged from the fingertip, stretching across the void to connect with Yue Qingshan's glabella.