Chapter 21: Master (XIII)

In the topmost cabin of the spirit boat, doors and windows were tightly shut. The luminous pearl had been taken down from the lampstand and placed on the table. Warm light filled the room, illuminating the three people seated around it.

Amid crackling electrical sounds, the system spoke cautiously, “Does… does it have to be this many people?”

He Tingdong sat upright and obediently, a bump fresh from Qin Tan’s knock on his head. “Is it many?”

Fu Fengyan counted, sporting a matching bump knocked onto his head. The moisture hadn’t quite cleared from his eyes yet. He said seriously, “Three people. Not many at all.”

Su Tan: “Yeah, we’re all family. Can’t we discuss things? More people, more strength. Besides, Xiao Fu and Xiao He have been running around helping. They’ve heard everything anyway. What’s the point of you hiding?”

Qin Tan rapped the table. “Silence. Less nonsense.”

System: “…”

So it reluctantly pulled up the life data related to Yue Qianxun.

“Yue Qianxun, son of the Demon Lord and the Dragon Daughter. Father doesn’t want him, mother doesn’t like him. Lost his mother at five, fell into the sea of consciousness to make a living. Abused since childhood, so extremely lacking in love. His personality is dark, suspicious, and sensitive. Also, because he’s half-immortal, half-demon, the two sides repel each other. Although his root bones are exceptional, his cultivation is extremely slow. At fifteen, he was brought into the Upper Mystic Realm by Qin Tan, his demon bones sealed, his demon aura dissipated. Because he was too weak and disfigured, he was constantly bullied in the sect…”

…

The system narrated at length, reciting Yue Qianxun’s entire life. “We call this the ‘Save the Blackened Male Lead Plan.’ His life has been too bitter, so after finally ascending to the Demon Lord position, he went on a killing spree, murdering all his enemies. After that, he found life uninteresting, utterly bored, and then chose to destroy the entire world.”

“What we need to do is warm him, care for him, help him achieve great accomplishments, while also preventing him from being so desperate about the world.”

Qin Tan: “So you came here to find him a dad and mom?”

System: “…”

Qin Tan: “When you possessed someone back then, wouldn’t it have been better to arrange it directly with his father? Having the Demon Lord raise a child harmoniously and lovingly—presumably, the Nine Provinces wouldn’t have so much chaos.”

System: “…”

System: “I can only bind once. Besides, he hates his father very, very much. The difficulty of the conquest would increase exponentially!”

At this moment, Yue Qianxun had a sleep talisman stuck on him and was stuffed into the small room next door. Until the talisman was removed, he wouldn’t wake up.

The few people in the hall finished understanding the situation and began thinking of countermeasures.

“Such half-demons should be suppressed, their temperament ground down, their bodies punished, cultivate their character, and never be allowed down the mountain for life.” Qin Tan’s brow furrowed tightly. “Lock him up and raise him. Once he dies of natural causes, that will naturally resolve things.”

The system flattered with praise: “Worthy of Father Tan. However, this was the method used in the original work. Later, the male lead turned demonic, his cultivation soared, and then he ground your bones to dust and scattered your ashes on the immortal-demon battlefield.”

Qin Tan: “…”

System sighed: “This path won’t work.”

The system excitedly chimed in: “Yes, yes, exactly! I was thinking the same thing. Host, we really are in perfect sync!”

“No, absolutely not.” He Tingdong interrupted, his expression seeming to smile yet not smile. “Being a master isn’t that easy. Tan-ge, when you become his only emotional anchor, what do you think will happen when you die?”

Su Tan: “…Sadness?”

He Tingdong said seriously, “Yes, and then he’ll destroy heaven and earth, going even more insane.”

Many lifetimes before were like this. When Su Tan was alive, he fed himself to the tiger, using himself to satisfy all his disciple’s desires. If he died, Yue Qianxun would instantly go mad, doing everything he could and couldn’t do before, using countless lives to force Su Tan back, to treasure him, imprison him, lock him behind layer upon layer of palace walls.

Go home?

That was impossible.

Su Tan’s world, his homeland, would become an unreachable dream. For the rest of his life, he could only remain here, remain in this world, becoming an attachment to the new Demon Lord, a resting place for Yue Qianxun’s desolate soul.

Only his own soul would be forever wandering and displaced in this strange world.

Seeing Su Tan hadn’t reacted yet, He Tingdong put it more bluntly: “Tan-ge, be careful you don’t become a master but end up becoming a wife instead.”

Qin Tan and Su Tan: “…?”

Fu Fengyan, who had read three thousand books, said with perfect articulation: “Make him suffer unbearably, filled with regret. So when I become powerful, I capture and torture him, mutual love and killing, make him my wife.”

Qin Tan: “…”

Fu Fengyan’s gaze was gentle: “Wonderful, he must love me very much. Intimate since childhood, when I become powerful, I capture him and make him my wife.”

Su Tan: “…”

Fu Fengyan pressed his lips tightly: “Unfathomable, heart itching unbearably, can’t help but draw close. When I become powerful, one day I suddenly realize, I capture him and make him my wife.”

System: “…”

He Tingdong commented: “Master—high-risk profession. Unless you’re an eighty-year-old man with a beard hanging to your feet and a spine bent at a right angle. Of course, we can’t rule out that one day the disciple discovers a beautiful face under the old man’s skin, then becomes smitten and starts secretly loving him or something.”

Su Tan clicked his tongue: “…Xiao He, Xiao Fu, you two really are… broadly experienced.”

His tone carried laughter, revealing something inexplicable. “According to your calculations, doesn’t that mean no matter how I struggle, I’ll be pounced on?”

Qin Tan had already stood up efficiently. “I’ll throw him down right now.”

“Immortal Lord, please wait.” He Tingdong said earnestly, “According to your original plan, how were you planning to handle him?”

Qin Tan’s voice was cold. “This trip, I need to return to the sect first for roll call. He’s a half-demon body, very dangerous. I’ll leave him in the Upper Mystic Realm, seal his demon bones. If he’s obedient, I’ll spare his life. If he harbors evil intentions, he goes to the punishment hall. For the rest of his life, staying in the Upper Mystic Realm as a disciple and spending his remaining years would be a stable ending for him.”

“That won’t work.” He Tingdong shook his head. “Yue Qianxun lived alone in the spirit mass for ten years. If you confine him in the Upper Mystic Realm again, sooner or later he’ll betray the sect.”

“Everything he encountered in the spirit realm was chaotic and disordered. Combined with that kind of parental background, his personality is extreme, sensitive, and suspicious. At the slightest problem, he easily obsesses over things.”

“If it’s just you two, Immortal Lord, you’re too cold, and Tan-ge’s heart is too soft. When he’s alone, facing you day and night, whether it’s love or hate, all his emotional attachments will fall on you both.”

“No matter what you do, he’ll probably regard you as his only support.”

“Love makes one wish for their life; hate makes one wish for their death.”

Qin Tan’s long eyebrows lifted slightly. “Then what do you think should be done?”

“He needs love, affection, and care—then give him love, affection, and care.” He Tingdong said decisively. “However, these feelings can’t come from just one person.”

“Immortal Lord, send him to participate in the Azure Cloud preliminary trial.” He Tingdong said softly. “Let him enter the academy, see how other people his age live, how they get by, then step in to correct those thoughts of his.”

“Besides, I remember the Immortal Lord comes from the Sword Sect. You can serve at Azure Cloud Academy, right? Become a teacher for a period of time?”

Qin Tan thought for a moment. “That’s correct.”

“Then the Immortal Lord can teach while conveniently keeping an eye on him.” He Tingdong added, “The system can also take this opportunity to absorb some of the protagonist’s fortune and make up for the damage it suffered.”

System: “…”

“Azure Cloud Academy has four years of study time. Use these four years to reshape his personality! Change his thinking!” He Tingdong’s gaze was firm, looking at the young man across from him. “What do you all think?”

After a long while, Su Tan’s voice rang out with a smile: “I think it’s workable.”

Qin Tan stood before him and spoke: “There are still twenty-five days until the spirit boat arrives in Central Province, and forty-five days until the Azure Cloud preliminary trial. You speak so passionately, but have you considered—what if he gets eliminated?”

He Tingdong: “…Then, how about we tutor him in some Dao techniques?”

“And you two.” Qin Tan’s long eyes lifted slightly, tapping the bumps he’d knocked onto the two youths’ heads. “If you can’t pass the Azure Cloud preliminary trial, just you wait.”

---

Yue Qianxun was awakened by the sun on a certain gentle afternoon.

When he opened his eyes, he was still somewhat dazed. That hazy mist-like water vapor had disappeared. Everything in his vision was clear and bright. He lay on a narrow bed by the window, covered with a soft, fluffy quilt. The carved window lattice was half-open, covered with a thin layer of gauze, but it didn’t prevent him from seeing the azure sky outside the window, masses of clouds, high and distant.

Every breath he drew into his lungs was dry and carried an unknown fragrance.

It seemed… he had finally left that place.

However, before he could rejoice for long, he remembered the white-robed Immortal Lord he’d seen in the spirit mass, and that cold, fierce “Get lost.”

Yue Qianxun’s whole body trembled. A chill swept over him.

He threw back the quilt, looking around alertly and vigilantly. A completely unfamiliar place, decorations he’d never seen before, and—he was flying high in mid-air. Spiritual power flowed at every part of the walls and windows.

Had he been saved? Or was he imprisoned?

Just as he was examining and studying his surroundings, the door was pushed open. Two youths came in carrying scrolls half their height, dumping them heavily on the small table before his bed.

“Little brother, can you read?”

Yue Qianxun: “?”

He Tingdong pressed down on the half-person-high stack of papers and patted it. “The journey’s boring. Let’s do some practice problems.”

Yue Qianxun: “???”