"Ha, you are telling me to become simp for the female lead until she finds her true love with the main character in order for me to return to my world?"
[Yes, Host]
"You are also telling me I have heaven-defying talent— Primordial dragon bloodline, Immortal-grade spirit roots, 8 initiate Supreme Dao bones, Immortal Dao body physique, 8 zodiac meridians, and immortal Dantian?"
[Yes, Host. They are all sealed excluding spirit root but can be unsealed anytime.]
"You are also telling me that, you will give me limitless spirit stones and profound cultivation treasures and my only goal is to simp for the female lead?"
[Yes, Host. You have a magic bag that produces infinite spirit stones and everything in the system shop can be purchased with spirit stones. Your job is to help the female lead cultivate immortality, so she can live happily with the main character.]
"Am I forced to be simp? If I don't simp, will I lose the magic bag or system?"
[No, the host has free will. However, if you want to return back to your own world, you need to be simp for the female lead.]
"Are you FUCKING STUPID? If I have infinite wealth and heaven-defying talent in this cultivation world, why the fuck would I return to my world?"
[No idea host. But if you want to return back to your world, you have to be simp. When the female lead and main character get married, your Dao heart will shatter and you will fall into demonifacation, the whole world will come together and kill you. After you die, you wake up back in your own world as a corporate slave, earning 4000 Yuan a month, living a depressing life without money, women, and status. ]
[Based on system analysis, you might likely commit suicide within 2 years due to extreme emotional fatigue upon returning.]
Yare, yare. What a sad life, Wang Tianmo thought with a sadistic smile. Why would he return only to die again?
He doesn't have a family or a sick sister, he is even in heavy debt. Why would he wanna return?
Nevertheless, he looked at the female lead—Flawless skin, swan neck, big assets, willow-waist, long legs.
She is beautiful.
Pity, she is but a slave being sold.
"1,000 Low-grade spirit stones," Wang Tianmo raised his bid.
Based on the plotline. The previous host would purchase this waste female lead and take her to the sect with him because he fell in love at first sight.
Due to his talent, he would be taken as a disciple by the Great Elder however, that dumb guy would give all his cultivation resources to the Female lead.
Tsk, Tsk, Tsk... Who even wrote such a simp character.
"Sold! To the young master in the golden robes!" the auctioneer shrieked, his voice cracking with disbelief.
The crowd erupted in whispers. One thousand low-grade spirit stones for a slave with crippled meridians?
Madness.
It was the kind of arrogance only the Wang family's second young master could display.
Wang Tianmo stood up, adjusting his collar. He ignored the venomous glares directed at him. In this world, the strong ate the weak, and the rich laughed while the poor bled. He had no intention of being the latter.
He walked down the aisle, his cold eyes sweeping over the trembling girl kneeling on the stage.
Up close, she was even more devastating. Her white robe was tattered, revealing bruises that only served to heighten the contrast between her purity and the cruelty of the world.
Liu Ruyan.
The future Saintess of the Azure Cloud Sect. The woman who would supposedly shatter his Dao heart.
Tianmo stopped in front of her. He didn't offer a hand to help her up. Instead, he used the tip of his embroidered shoe to lift her chin, forcing her to look at him.
Her eyes were filled with terror and tears. "M-Master..."
"System," Tianmo thought silently. "Open the shop. I need a slave seal. The kind that hurts if she disobeys, but doesn't damage the goods."
[Item available: Soul Binding Brand. Price: 100,000 Spirit Stones.]
"Buy it."
A glowing, intricate rune appeared in his palm. He grabbed Liu Ruyan's wrist, ignoring her flinch, and slammed the brand onto her skin. She gasped as a red light flashed, sinking into her bones.
"From now on, your life belongs to me," Tianmo said, his voice devoid of warmth, yet laced with a dark, predatory undertone.
He leaned down, his lips brushing her ear. "If you run, I won't kill you. I'll break your legs and keep you in my basement to warm my bed every night. Do you understand?"
Liu Ruyan shivered violently. She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Y-Yes... Master."
"Good."
Tianmo turned around and tossed a bag of spirit stones to the auctioneer. "Keep the change. Bring her to my carriage."
***
Inside the luxurious carriage, the atmosphere was thick with tension.
Liu Ruyan knelt on the floor, head bowed, trembling like a leaf in a storm.
"Second brother... Why did you buy her?" A woman clad in a white robe devoid of dust, uttered with disdain.
She was his little sister.
The Wang family was a Golden-core family from a small village. His father had seven wives and 16 children.
Among 16, only three of them awakened spirit roots.
Both, he and his sister, Wang Ling'er possessed the spirit root and are heading towards the sect.
In the original novel, Wang Ling'er was the cannon fodder who tried to bully the female lead, got slapped by the male lead, and was eventually sold to a brothel to pay off the family's debts.
A tragic end. But how could he allow his little sister to be sold to a brothel? Outrageous!!!
Tianmo looked at his sister sitting across from him. She was beautiful, with the same noble bearing as their mother, but her eyes held the arrogance of the sheltered Young Miss.
"Brother, she is just a cripple," Ling'er pressed, her nose wrinkled as if she smelled something foul. She crossed her arms, her ample chest heaving slightly with her indignation.
"Father gave us a thousand spirit stones for our initial resources in the sect. You spent all of it on a rag doll. Are you trying to ruin our chances before we even arrive at the Azure Cloud Sect?"
Tianmo didn't answer immediately. He swirled the jade cup of premium nectar wine in his hand, his eyes half-lidded, observing his sister.
She was right, of course. In the original plot, the 'original' Tianmo had been a fool, spending the family's dwindling fortune on Ruyan while ignoring his own sister's plight. That neglect had turned Ling'er bitter and jealous, driving her to antagonize Ruyan once they joined the sect.
But Tianmo wasn't the original fool. He was a man who understood the value of assets and the danger of loose ends.
"Sister, worry not... If you need cultivation resources, come to me." With a wave of his hand, a pouch appeared before his hand.
"Here are ten thousand low-grade spiritual stones. Use it as you see fit."
Ling'er stared at the small pouch floating in front of her, her mouth slightly agape. She hesitated, then snatched it out of the air, her hands trembling as she opened the drawstring.
A soft, azure glow illuminated the dim carriage.
"T-Ten thousand?" she stammered, her eyes widening like saucers. "Brother... where did you get this? Father only gave us—"
"Do you want it, or should I take it back?" Tianmo interrupted, his voice bored. He took a sip of his wine, his eyes drifting back to the trembling Liu Ruyan on the floor. "Consider it an investment. I expect my sister to shine at the Sect, not bicker over pocket change."
Ling'er clutched the pouch to her chest, her previous disdain evaporating instantly, replaced by a mix of shock and burgeoning greed. She knew the value of this amount. With this, she could buy pills, artifacts, and maybe even bribe an elder.
However, her family couldn't produce so much money... But something better not be asked.
"Thank you, Brother!" she exclaimed, her tone shifting to sickening sweetness. She sat back, her mind racing with possibilities, no longer sparing a glance for the slave girl on the floor.
Tianmo smirked. Money solved everything. It solved family drama, and it would certainly solve the issue of his sister becoming a bitter cannon fodder. If she were strong and rich, she wouldn't need to bully Ruyan out of jealousy.
He would surely cultivate his sister than some female lead.
He shifted his gaze downward.
Liu Ruyan was still kneeling, her head pressed against the carpet. Her body was tense, waiting for the next blow or humiliation.
"Rise," Tianmo commanded.
Ruyan flinched but slowly lifted herself up, kneeling back on her heels. She kept her eyes lowered, terrified to meet his gaze.
"Come here."
She shuffled forward on her knees until she was right between his legs. The scent of her fear mixed with a faint, natural floral fragrance from her skin. It was intoxicating.
Tianmo set down his wine cup. He reached out, his cold fingers gripping her chin again, forcing her face up.
"Look at me."
She hesitated, then slowly raised her eyes.
They were beautiful—clear, watery, and filled with a despair that made his blood boil in the best way possible.
Everyone is sadistic to certain degree.
"In the Sect, you will be my maid," Tianmo stated, his thumb tracing her lower lip, enjoying the soft, trembling texture.
"You will wash my robes, clean my room, and warm my bed at night..."
He leaned closer, his face inches from hers.
She tried to look away but couldn't.
"Does that scare you?" he whispered, his breath hot against her trembling lips.
"Y-Yes..." she admitted, her voice barely a squeak. But she knew slaves never had a good life.
"Brother... Why are you interested in her!? If you want you can have a woman with spirit roots?"
Tianmo didn't even bother looking at his sister. He kept his gaze locked on Ruyan, his thumb pressing harder against her lip, parting them slightly.
"Spirit roots?" Tianmo scoffed, finally turning his head to give Ling'er a sidelong glance.
"Sister, you are too young to understand the allure of a broken doll. Women with talent have ambitions; they have egos. They think they are equal to men."
He looked back at Ruyan, his eyes darkening with a twisted hunger. "But a cripple? A slave? She has nothing. She is entirely dependent on my mercy. That kind of absolute obedience... it excites me. It makes the blood flow faster."
Ling'er's face flushed a deep crimson. She opened her mouth to retort, to call him a pervert or a degenerate, but the heavy pouch of spirit stones in her lap silenced her.
She swallowed her words, turning her head to look out the window, though the reflection in the glass showed her biting her lip in confusion.
Tianmo chuckled, enjoying her discomfort. He turned his attention back to the trembling girl before him.
"Besides," he murmured, his hand sliding down from her chin to her throat, feeling her rapid pulse. "I have a hobby. I like to take things that are considered trash by the world and polish them until they shine brighter than the heavens. If I can turn this crippled slave into a supreme beauty that makes the Sect Master drool, isn't that the ultimate display of power?"
Ruyan's breath hitched. His grip on her throat was firm, possessive, but not to the point of choking.
It was a reminder of ownership.
"System," he thought. "Scan her body. I want to know exactly what 'crippled' means in this context."
[Scanning... Complete.]
[Host, the subject Liu Ruyan possesses the 'Nine Yin Absolute Body'. This is a physique that naturally attracts Yin energy, making cultivation incredibly fast for Yin-attribute arts. However, her meridians are blocked by accumulated Yin poison. If she attempts to cultivate normally, the poison will enter her heart, and she will die a painful death within three years. She is essentially a ticking time bomb.]
Tianmo's eyes lit up with a dangerous glint. A ticking time bomb? Isn't this the normal cliche. Yin body that needs to be healed by Yang?
The ideal dual cultivation physique?
He let go of her. Truth be told, he has no hatred towards the female lead. The original host was stupid, he deserves what he got.
However, current Tianmo simply wants to tame Liu Ruyan into an obedient slave.