My Core is the Boss

Qi Yuan lay on his side and yawned. "Well, that is complicated. Luckily, I didn’t overthink back at Wangshan Temple. Otherwise, I'd never have encountered so many of my dear White Moonlights. Not bad, though. Getting to watch one last drama before I leave. Not bad at all."

A savage smile twisted across Manluo's face. "When I was three years old, I cut out my own womb and forged it into a ritual weapon. The Tong family will have no more heirs. Hahahaha!"

To her, this was the most perfect revenge there was. She laughed hysterically.

Tong Tianyou stood nearby, watching the flower demon. Something in his expression shifted. The weight of the whole story seemed to crush him.

Qi Yuan rose, his voice languid. "The world is full of noise. Why dwell on it? I carry a sword. With it, I cleave my own path."

Tong Tianyou’s expression shifted. Every trace of the heaviness from a moment ago scattered and was gone. He stared at Qi Yuan, lowered his head, and fell into thought. Beside him, the flower demon stumbled, her composure collapsing entirely.

Qi Yuan watched it all as though watching a play. Though now and then, he found himself stepping onto the stage too. "Mushi, after I leave, go back to Zhenyang. Tell the old master that their line is finished."

With those words, he vanished. The demons of this world were slain in full. The scattered stragglers remaining weren't worth his time. It was time to leave.

Huo Mushi stared at the empty space before him, a long stillness passing over his face. "My lord!"

***

Qin Yuan Kingdom, Tianyue City. In a three-bedroom apartment, a young woman in thin silk pajamas lay with her eyes clenched shut. Her hair was dishevelled, cold sweat beading her forehead.

Then she jolted awake, gasping for breath. Another nightmare...

Zhong Niao sat up with a pale face. Lately, she had nightmares every single night. She dreamed of a crack tearing open between heaven and earth, and a woman who looked exactly like her stepping through. That woman drove a knife into her.

She could still see the cold, expressionless face of that woman clearly. For three nights in a row, she had the same dream.

Zhong Niao pressed her hands to her face, anxious. What’s with the weird dream? I can't actually have damaged my kidneys, can I?

In her dream, the sky split open with fracture after fracture, from which poured an endless stream of demons and cultivators in ancient robes. There were also humans arriving via highly advanced warships. All of them started killing each other. She had even been killed by a version of herself dressed in ancient robes.

Zhong Niao consoled herself. Usually, dreams are a reflection of waking life. These dreams must be connected to what happened half a year ago, when the immortal cultivators descended on Arch Star.

Half a year ago, four great immortal cultivation worlds connected to Arch Star, causing fractures to open in the sky above it. Countless cultivators had descended upon their planet.

Their arrival had thrown Arch Star's society into tremendous upheaval. These cultivators could fly and move with the speed of fighter jets. They demonstrated powers that were both powerful and deeply bizarre.

At the time, there had even been a great demon lord wielding a Myriad Soul Banner who publicly threatened to massacre an entire city. Said demon lord was a Nascent Soul ancestor of a demonic sect.

Panic had gripped the populace. Nevertheless, the Eye of the Sky had revealed its terrifying capability in that moment, pinpointing and eliminating that demon lord with a single strike. All of the Qin Yuan Kingdom had erupted in relief and cheering.

The four cultivation worlds had been shaken to their cores by this event. They had not expected Arch Star to possess weapons of that caliber.

Later, the Seven Martial Stars and the four great cultivation worlds had sat down together for a month of negotiations. They signed a series of agreements, some of which covered trade. Others covered the establishment of cultivation grounds and immortal academies.

Zhong Niao convinced herself that all of this had left such a deep impression, hence the nightmares. What a shame Qi Yuan has disappeared. Otherwise, I could ask him to check on me and see if I've been possessed by something. As a cultivator, he'd know more than most.

She had looked for Qi Yuan several times over the past year. Every time, she was told he wasn't around, which disappointed her.

Qi Yuan was someone she was on familiar terms with. He could probably get to the bottom of these nightmares. Since she had once helped treat his mental illness, wouldn’t it only be fair if he helped treat hers in return?

***

A constant flow of people from all walks of life streamed into Tianxuan Tower.

A female streamer in a breezy outfit held up her phone and filmed the building ahead. "Everyone, this is Tianxuan Tower. Word has it this tower was awarded by the Seven Martial Stars to the mysterious cultivation sect: the Profound Heaven Sect. This is also the first prestigious cultivation sect in our entire province."

When the four cultivation worlds had initially made contact with Arch Star, the major sects had decided to leave behind a lineage on this new world.

A sect like the Profound Heaven Sect, with a Nascent Soul elder presiding over it, was an absolute titan. Such a lineage would be classified as a top-tier immortal sect. Placed in the context of Arch Star's universities, it ranked alongside the very best. The smaller sects that had also established themselves here were considerably less impressive by comparison.

└Damn it! Our province has this many people, and only one top-tier immortal sect!

└What makes it worse is they only accept disciples based on innate talent!

└See that? All those people kneeling outside Tianxuan Tower... Every single one of them is hoping for even a sliver of a connection to the immortal path.

└I want to join a top-tier sect like the Profound Heaven Sect too!

└My sixty-year-old neighbor next door has been single her whole life. But when she was accepted into a sect on par with the Profound Heaven Sect, a single glance was all it took for a marquis to marry her on the spot!

└Check the source. Don't believe in this scam.

In the livestream, viewers from all across the country watched Tianxuan Tower with undisguised envy. Joining a major sect was a true leap that set one up for life.

At that moment, atop the roof of Tianxuan Tower, a woman stood with an upright figure and sword-sharp brows. Her face was haggard with exhaustion. She swept her gaze over the crowd of people kneeling below.

She sighed, her voice laced with disappointment. "All of them have trash Spirit Roots."