Within the Sacred Land of Chaos, a towering peak floated above the sea of clouds. It was Gu Lanyue's private residence. White stone palaces carved with ancient patterns stood proudly amid sacred winds. Pure heavenly and earthly energy flowed endlessly, and the spiritual energy was so dense that even a single breath caused one's cultivation to rise slightly.
The palace doors opened and closed with a faint sound.
Inside the luxurious chamber paved with spirit jade, Gu Lanyue stepped in with a relaxed posture, completely different from how she appeared before others. She leaned back onto the soft bed comfortably as a satisfied smile slowly appeared on her beautiful face. Her eyes shimmered with unconcealed delight.
It was done.
That thought surfaced clearly in her mind.
Today, she was in an exceptionally good mood. Not only had she seized Zhang Lin's opportunity, she had taken it before that ridiculous man Wang Teng could even touch it.
The souls she had taken were not ordinary souls. They were fragments of immortals. Even reduced to remnants, they were still filled with priceless knowledge and experience from the Greater World.
Especially the two female souls. One from the Demon Pavilion and one from the Heavenly Pavilion. Both were forces that once stood at the level of Immortal Emperors in the Greater World.
If they had remained with Zhang Lin, his power and growth would have surged at an astonishing pace. His path as a Son of Destiny would have become even more stable. Even she herself had begun to feel uneasy about that possibility.
But now…
That opportunity was in her hands.
Although she failed to seize all three souls, this was still an extremely satisfying outcome in her eyes. For that, she had to thank the system for providing her with information about the souls hidden within Zhang Lin's ring.
Gu Lanyue gently closed her eyes as memories from the past surfaced.
Previously, she had encountered another Son of Destiny who also possessed a powerful soul dwelling within a ring. That time, she had spent an enormous amount of effort and schemes before finally forcing the master and disciple to turn against each other, all to extract enough villain points.
It had been so exhausting that she nearly gave up.
But Zhang Lin's case was far easier than expected.
That was because they had only just met. Their bond was not deep, and the souls themselves were still hesitant.
Before this, when she decided to join the Sacred Land, she had used most of the villain points she accumulated to purchase a highest tier concealment talisman. When Zhang Lin summoned the Supreme Elder, she activated the talisman. On the surface, it appeared that she had fled, but in truth, she had remained hidden within that room the entire time.
That talisman was exceptionally powerful. It was strong enough to evade even the perception of the Supreme Elder of the Sacred Land.
Gu Lanyue secretly observed every conversation and every decision, waiting patiently until the most suitable moment arrived.
Only then did she emerge from the concealment talisman and present the souls with a better choice.
A nearly one hundred percent chance to reconstruct their bodies. Resources from the Gu clan. A path back to the Greater World. Along with the Gu clan's formal promise.
For dying souls like them, such an offer was almost impossible to refuse.
Now there was only one thing she truly wanted to know.
Villain points.
Compared to last time, when she successfully separated a master and the previous Son of Destiny, causing that man's fortune to drop by more than half and granting her an enormous amount of villain points, this time made her slightly uneasy.
Zhang Lin had three souls within a single ring. That alone was unusual. Because of that, she failed to seize all of them. More importantly, the bond between Zhang Lin and those souls had not yet deepened.
If the reward turned out to be too small, she would suffer a devastating loss after purchasing the highest tier concealment talisman.
Even so, Gu Lanyue remained confident.
The knowledge and experience of those two immortal women alone were enough to distort Zhang Lin's destiny to some extent.
She opened her eyes and shouted inwardly.
"System."
A voice replied instantly.
[I am here, Host. Would you like to spin the reward wheel? I have a special offer for you. Ten spins for only 10,000 villain points, or one hundred spins for just 100,000 villain points.]
Gu Lanyue immediately frowned.
"No. You damn system. And more importantly, who exactly are you trying to scam with that garbage offer."
[You can try barking.]
A vein throbbed violently at Gu Lanyue's temple.
"Tch. I am not arguing with you anymore. Where is my notification."
The system fell silent for a moment.
[What notification?!]
Gu Lanyue's expression darkened.
"The one about me stealing the immortal souls from Zhang Lin."
After a brief pause, the system finally responded.
[Successfully seized two immortal-level soul fragments from Zhang Lin. Plundered the fortune of the Son of Destiny. Gained 2,000,000 villain points.]
The corner of Gu Lanyue's lips curved upward. The smile that bloomed was filled with satisfaction.
"At least… it was worth it. Though it still feels a little low for two immortal souls."
Two million villain points was not bad at all for just a few steps of effort.
She was just about to relax when the system's voice rang out again.
[Urgent additional notification.]
Gu Lanyue froze.
[Zhang Lin has gained 2,000,000,000 luck points.]
…
Gu Lanyue: (⊙ _ ⊙)
The entire room fell silent.
The smile on Gu Lanyue's face froze in place. Her eyes slowly widened, as if she could not believe what she was seeing.
She slowly sat up on the bed, her gaze locked onto the number without blinking.
Two…
Zero…
Zero…
Zero…
Zero…
Zero…
Zero…
Zero…
Zero…
"…"
"System…"
"System…" Her voice came out hoarse. "Did you enter the wrong number of zeros?"
Her slender finger lifted and pointed at the screen.
"This… this has nine zeros."
The system fell silent for a moment. Even it seemed to be in a state of confusion before responding politely.
[Please wait a moment, Host. Conducting verification.]
The silence stretched on.
Gu Lanyue's breathing gradually slowed, yet disbelief still filled her expression. Even she had never seen such a number before. This was not a normal increase in luck. It was a leap that completely defied common sense.
After quite some time, the system's voice sounded again.
[No errors detected. The displayed value is correct.]
Her heart jolted violently.
"What?!"
She clenched her fist and immediately asked,
"Can you determine the cause?"
Under normal circumstances, whenever the luck of a Son of Destiny she was monitoring changed, the system would always display a reason. Whether it was acquiring a treasure, meeting a guide, or a shift in fate.
But this time there was nothing.
The system replied honestly.
[Apologies, Host. At my current authority level, I am completely unable to investigate the cause.]
[You must grow stronger until you reach the upper limit of this small world, namely the Great Emperor level.]
[Only then can I attempt to reexamine this information. Even so, I cannot guarantee an answer, because a number of this magnitude should not exist within a small world.]
Those words caused the room to fall completely silent.
Gu Lanyue collapsed back against the pillow. The brightness on her face from earlier faded away, replaced by gloom. Countless thoughts collided chaotically within her mind.
It made no sense.
She had just stolen immortal souls from Zhang Lin. He should have weakened. His luck should have dropped. His future path should have become more difficult.
Yet reality had moved in the exact opposite direction.
Even claiming that the Heavenly Dao was supporting Zhang Lin did not explain it. Two billion luck points was not something the Heavenly Dao of this small world could possibly bestow.
Could it be that the remaining soul had granted him some kind of opportunity? But even then, the number should not have skyrocketed so insanely. Even if that soul had given him an Immortal Emperor level cultivation method, it still should not be possible.
Or was it his elder brother, Zhang Wen?
But even if Zhang Wen had already become a Great Emperor, Zhang Lin's luck should not have surged to this degree.
Or was it related to the two souls she had just stolen?
But how could that possibly be connected?
Nothing made sense at all when compared to every other Son of Destiny she had encountered before.