My Core is the Boss

Everything within the Mountain-Sea Scroll was false. Only Wang Yuanyu and Tu Kongming were real enough to enter the Origin Land.

Wang Yuanyu frowned. "I did not expect that he would also carry a Martial Lord bloodline. What about Qi Yuan? He's a Bloodline Bearer. Can he enter the Origin Land as well?"

Wariness flashed across Wang Niang's eyes. "While some Bloodline Bearers carry direct lineage and can see the Origin Land, the majority are common folk. Qi Yuan can’t enter the Origin Land because he bears no Martial Lord mark. Even if he accompanies you as a servant, it likely wouldn't work."

Wang Yuanyu understood what she meant, yet she still felt dejected. Only Martial Lords could enter the Origin Land. After all, within the Mountain-Sea Scroll, those who had not become Martial Lords were ultimately false. They would not be able to cross into the Origin Land.

Wang Niang added, "Speaking of which, the leader of the Demon-Slaying Court does seem quite gifted. He did just slaughter every demon in this world, after all. With that level of strength, I have no doubt that he is a Martial Lord. But he likely belongs to another Martial Lord. A shame, or I would've taken him as a servant."

Although she was at the Martial King realm, she spoke of the Demon-Slaying Court’s leader without fear. Having emerged from the Origin Land, she had practiced Martial Lord realm techniques. No Martial King from here could hold a candle to her.

Wang Yuanyu murmured, "What a pity."

It was unclear whether she meant Qi Yuan or the Demon-Slaying Court's leader.

Wang Niang explained, "Young Miss, our position is vulnerable. We need outside support. Tu Kongming would be a valuable ally. I recommend building a strong relationship with him. By our calculations, he should be this Mountain-Sea Scroll's Destiny Child."

Wang Yuanyu asked, "But would Qi Yuan object to him coming here?"

Wang Niang blinked. "Why concern yourself with the feelings of a lesser Bloodline Bearer, Young Miss? This world belongs to those of direct lineage—to the Martial Lords. Others are nothing but dust. They don't even have the qualifications to enter the real world."

The Mountain-Sea Scroll was a constructed world. The real world, naturally, was the Origin Land.

A thread of cold authority entered Wang Yuanyu's voice. "Wang Niang. Do not speak that way. He sheltered me. I consider him my benefactor. I will speak to Qi Yuan about Tu Kongming myself."

Wang Niang immediately bowed her head, trembling slightly. Though her cultivation surpassed Wang Yuanyu's, the weight of bloodline was its own thing entirely.

***

Seven days later, rain began to fall.

Wang Yuanyu sat in the pavilion, watching Qi Yuan through the curtain of rain. Nevertheless, her mind was elsewhere. His bizarre gibberish drifted over, but by then, she barely registered it.

"You have consumed one hundred drops of demon essence blood and gained one hundred days of cultivation. You have consumed a thousand drops of demon essence blood and gained a thousand days of cultivation. Your cultivation has greatly increased—"

Suddenly, she drifted closer. "Master Qi, may I ask you something?"

Qi Yuan, who had been cultivating, opened his eyes. "Since I am in a good mood, you can ask me one question, NPC."

After all, today was his wedding anniversary with Little Bride and Canary.

Something had been weighing on Wang Yuanyu. "What would you do if you discovered one day that this entire world was fake?"

Qi Yuan regarded her with a new appreciation. "Oh? You have finally become sentient and realized that this world isn’t real? Not bad at all. Progress!"

He'd played a great many games and none of the NPCs had ever figured out they were just part of one.

Wang Yuanyu didn't know whether to laugh or groan. As the bearer of the Martial Lord bloodline, she was the only one who was truly real in this world. Qi Yuan and everyone else were nothing more than illusions.

Qi Yuan remained calm. "The world is always false, and only I am real. And whoever I decide is real, is real. That's been my guiding principle for a long time. It’s very useful, in fact. When I see an enemy, I just say, ‘Wretched creature, I can tell at a glance that you're not real!’"

Wang Yuanyu fell into silence. Over these past few days, her former memories had been resurfacing, and she found herself adrift.

She learned that she and Tu Kongming had shared a past life as a devoted couple, deeply enamored with each other. However, a horse demon had killed them. Thus, the ancestors of both families had placed their spirits inside the Mountain-Sea Scroll, intending to revive them. If the three walked their original path again, their true spirits could be revived and resurrected within the Origin Land.

Yet now, when she thought of Tu Kongming, she felt nothing. As handsome as he was, he could not compare to Qi Yuan. Having grown accustomed to Qi Yuan's face, she couldn't summon a single spark of feeling toward Tu Kongming. She had even begun to wonder if her past self actually loved Tu Kongming at all?

"Master Qi, do you believe in past lives?"

Qi Yuan shook his head. "I am who I am. From the moment I became conscious, this is who I was. I have no past life."

How could he possibly have one? He was a transmigrator, not a soul traveler? Every day, he looked at himself, and his unique eyes always revealed the same thing: an ordinary person from the Blue Planet who had crossed over. No powerful lineage. No past life.

Wang Yuanyu was quiet for a moment. "I've awakened some past life memories. In those memories, I was deeply in love with someone. But now, I feel nothing if I think of that person. Does that mean I've moved on?"

She appeared troubled. Qi Yuan's face was right in front of her, yet she didn't feel a thing. The same was true whenever she thought of Tu Kongming.

Qi Yuan glanced at her. "Is there someone new?"

"No."

He said seriously, "Then it isn't moving on. It means you never loved him in that past life to begin with. Those memories are false."

He thought of Canary and how she had awakened her past life memories and loved him with the force of a tide. In his view, no matter how many years passed, true feelings would never fade. If anything, they would only deepen. Of course, he was also aware that kind of love was genuinely rare and not particularly realistic.

Wang Yuanyu murmured, "False memories?"

He blinked hopefully. "You’re only worried because you aren’t strong enough. Once you become omniscient and omnipotent, you'll never worry again. Young Lady, you seem rather talented. Would you like me to place a grandmother inside you to aid with your cultivation?"

Not only was Wang Yuanyu's talent real, but Qi Yuan also vaguely sensed something unusual about her.

She asked uncertainly, "Become stronger?"

He said earnestly, "Yes. Be strong and large enough, and every problem in the world disappears."

"I think I understand the 'stronger' part. The 'large enough' part... not so much."

"Ah. That touches on a rather profound cultivation insight. To an ordinary person, the highest form of strength appears to be omniscience and omnipotence. But I disagree. I think it's simply size. Be large enough, and you are the strongest."

Wang Yuanyu stared at him blankly.

Then, a Blue Planet meme surfaced in Qi Yuan's mind, and he blurted out of nowhere, “Sis, take a look at what you're wearing neida, just a heads-up.”

Well, after all that discussion, wasn't it only natural to steal a glance at the legs? [1]

1. Well, I too don't really get the reference here but my best guess is that the author is trying to lighten the mood again with a meme from modern day social media again. Basically, that they just had a very philosophical conversation and then Qi Yuan suddenly jumps to this social media meme as an excuse to look at her legs. ☜