My Core is the Boss

Qi Yuan was caught off guard. "Time?"

Nothing related to time and space was ever simple. With her Divine Domain tapping into the realm of time, she was now a Great Venerable, only one step away from a Mythic. She stood at a very high position even among Yin Spirits.

She sighed dejectedly. "The time aura is so dense, I can’t match it."

She was worried that something terrible lurked in the Death Qi World, threatening his safety.

Without overthinking it, Qi Yuan tapped the tip of her nose. "It's just a game. Don’t worry too much."

"Hmph. Still annoying. I want to grow stronger! Why can't I just swallow a sun whole?!"

He laughed. "Competing with me for business?"

"No, I have to study harder. I have to get to the bottom of this and find a way to the Death Qi World as soon as possible!”

Wriggling upright, she pulled her school uniform and smoothed herself out before the mirror. Through its reflection, she glanced back at Qi Yuan. "Blood Drop. I am going to school!"

He smirked. "Don't bother."

He knew perfectly well what was going on in her head.

And sure enough, delight broke across her face. "Hm?"

He lied with a straight face, "The school was blown up by the little bird with a bundle of explosives. There is no more school to go back to."

"You said it, not me."

In the end, she did not go to school. Qi Yuan had only returned after almost a year apart. How could she bring herself to leave him alone and go back to class? To her, he meant more than anything else in the world.

The two of them talked and talked about everything and nothing.

Around dusk, Qi Yuan took out his phone. "I've been gone for nearly a year. I wonder if anyone tried to reach me."

Canary was curled in his arms at that point. Her eyes were closed, her long lashes resting softly against her cheeks.

Of course, Qi Yuan knew she was only pretending to sleep. He scrolled through his messages. Despite being gone close to a year, there were barely a handful.

One was an endorsement inquiry. A women's clothing brand called Chelsea was trying to break into the men's market. They'd seen him win the Martial Arts Grand Tournament and liked his features. The last message had been sent six months ago.

Qi Yuan couldn't be bothered to reply. He deleted it outright. Besides, that brand name was a bit much. He'd half-expected it to be a shoe company.

There was another message from an unknown number, wishing him a happy birthday.

He paused. "Zero-One."

From just outside the bedroom door, the robot set down the cat wand toy and stood attentively. "Master, I am here to serve you."

Seeing the toy hit the floor, Xie Xinsu promptly clamped the red feather in her teeth, as if afraid someone would snatch it away.

Qi Yuan read out the phone number, "Find out who sent me this text. The number is 456—"

"Please wait a moment, Master. I am on it." The robot ran at full capacity, cross-referencing data from every available source against the number. A few minutes later, she answered, "Master, all information related to the owner of this phone number has been compiled and sent to you. Please check your messages."

Qi Yuan opened the file immediately. Canary, who had been pretending to sleep, craned her head over as well. She was clearly just as curious about whoever had wished Qi Yuan a happy birthday.

When the photo loaded, Qi Yuan went still. "Isn't that Xiaomei? My blind date?"

In the image stood a tall young woman who was quite striking. It came back to him all at once. He'd arranged a blind date with her at a chicken fast-food chain and even borrowed three hundred thousand dollars from her. She'd been remarkably cool about it too. Not only had she lent him the money, she'd paid for the meal as well.

She's not wishing me a happy birthday as a hint to pay her back, is she?

Qi Yuan felt awkward. He hadn't originally planned on returning the money. But now that she'd reminded him, not paying would be genuinely mortifying.

He grumbled and kept reading. "Honestly, it's not fair. Why do even the mentally ill have to pay back what they borrow?"

Canary tilted her head. "No wonder she lent you the money. She's your Primordial Seed's older sister."

The file made it clear that she worked for the military. Besides engaging in infiltration and undercover operations targeting Bright Star, she would often participate in highly classified missions. More importantly, she had once been a disciple of the deceased parents of the Primordial Seed.

Qi Yuan read on. "Hmm. She'd already left her undercover assignment before I won the tournament."

Evidently, the Seven Martial Stars had learned of her connection to Qi Yuan and had her transferred out of dangerous work. She was promoted into a well-paying, low-risk position with genuine authority.

Reading through her file, Qi Yuan found her story rather remarkable. "She's become a cultivator and even gone to the Death Qi World?"

Even before the blind date, she had already been part of the Death Qi World. And unlike most of its denizens, she moved between the Death Qi World and the mortal world regularly, much like Qi Yuan himself. When the immortal path descended not long ago, she had leveraged her exceptional natural talent to join a cultivation sect and become a genuine cultivator.

Quite the colorful backstory, this older sister.

Qi Yuan set down the file, expression calm. "She's probably in a Mission World right now?"

Canary remarked, "She's learned cultivation techniques. Completing the mission shouldn't be a problem."

"I hope her mission runs long," Qi Yuan said, a touch of genuine feeling in his voice. "The three hundred thousand dollars sitting in my bank account has been collecting quite a lot of interest."

The later she returned, the later he'd have to pay, and the more interest he could pocket.

Canary smiled. "I hope she runs into a Red Staff Demon Butcher who whisks away her mission target!"

Qi Yuan’s expression turned grave. "If you put it that way, doesn't that make me a great villain?"

"Hm?"

He seemed genuinely concerned. "They've been stuck in the Mission World for a year. What if their loan payments are overdue? What if those collectors call their parents? Their social lives would be completely ruined."

As always, he thought things through very carefully.