Chapter 804: A Master and Disciple of Unrivaled Beauty
As the waterfall of information cascaded through his vision, Shen An's expression remained a mask of calm, but a storm was raging in his heart. Even with his formidable composure, he found himself genuinely astonished.
Putting everything else aside, a mere glance at her list of cultivation techniques was staggering: the Rinyue Immortal Scripture, the Youming Demonic Canon, the Pure Yang Dao Canon, the Taiyin Soul Refining Method... not to mention a host of other immortal techniques, divine abilities, and Daoist arts.
Every single one was a deep cultivation method that could lead a cultivator to the Mahayana Stage, with some even pointing directly toward the path of True Immortality. The level of these arts was simply celestial, their power almost beyond belief.
Then there was her Destiny Value. It was an astronomical 99,990,000+.
The number was simply outrageous. The highest Destiny Value Shen An had ever encountered belonged to Ren Zhacheng, the Child of Destiny who wielded the Goddess Future Diary System. His potential was immense, yet his value capped out at a mere 11,000,000+. Even Wu Ming, the reborn Child of Destiny who kept a low profile with his Portable Immortal Mansion, only possessed a value of 20,000,000+.
Chen Yuhua was just shy of one hundred million. Her Destiny Value was greater than that of all the Sons of Destiny Shen An had previously dealt with combined.
Considering her background, however, it began to make sense. A Mahayana Heavenly Venerate who had fought a True Immortal descending from another world to a mutual demise, an act that caused heavens to collapse and planes to shatter—it was no wonder she possessed such a staggering Destiny Value and immense luck.
She was, without a doubt, the most powerful Destined Person he had ever encountered. Overwhelmingly so.
For a moment, Shen An considered taking advantage of her current weakness. She had not yet even reached the Foundation Establishment realm; it was the perfect opportunity to resolve the threat she posed once and for all.
But then his eyes fell upon the details of her cultivation.
[Cultivation: Qi Refining Stage, Twelfth Layer Great Perfection. Actual combat strength comparable to the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage. However, even Chen Yuhua herself is unaware that in a desperate situation, she can unleash the power of her past life's remnant Primordial Spirit, capable of instantly killing a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator! (Past Life: Peak Mahayana Stage Heavenly Venerate)]
This… how was he supposed to resolve this?
This was completely beyond the pale.
For the first time, Shen An's perfect control over his expression nearly cracked.
In the Secular World, where spiritual energy was thin and sparse, a Qi Refining cultivator could live a life of ease. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could roam unhindered. A Golden Core master could likely declare themselves the ruler of a small planet, utterly fearless even in the face of nuclear weapons.
If Chen Yuhua were to unleash her full, hidden power, it was likely that the combined might of the entire world could not stop her. No schemes, no traps, no armies would be effective. A single stroke of her sword would suppress all dissent.
'As expected of a Destined Person from the 'powerful expert rebirth' genre,' Shen An sighed inwardly. 'She's difficult to deal with. Extremely difficult.'
In his previous life, he had read countless novels of every variety, and he had always felt that aside from protagonists with cheat-level systems, the hardest to handle were these reborn experts.
'But no matter how difficult, I must resolve this,' he thought, his resolve hardening. 'Either I make her mine, or I kill her. Otherwise, she will eventually become an enemy.'
It was just like what had happened with that Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan. Through a series of twists and turns, he had inevitably ended up in opposition to Shen An's Master and the Shen family's ancestral Heavenly Emperor Palace.
Such fated enemies had to be either on one's side or in their grave. There was no other option. Otherwise, even if one acted with benevolence, they would eventually find themselves targeted and hunted for some inexplicable reason.
After all, Shen An himself bore the title of the Great Villain of Destiny. He was fated to clash with these Destined Persons. If he didn't want to die, then they had to.
Or, they could be like Bai Bing, Wu Shenyun, and Wen Feifei—bound by a master-servant contract, becoming his people. His women.
Fortunately, Shen An's Destiny Plunder System was by no means weak.
[Divine Treasure: Divine Replication Card]
[Type: One-time special treasure]
[Effect: Can silently replicate all of the target's memories, abilities, and physique!]
'With this, I'll know all of Chen Yuhua's trump cards and see through all her secrets…'
With a single thought, Shen An spent five million Destiny Value in the system store to purchase the card. He had used one before on Qin Yuan, the Child of Destiny known as the Jing River Corpse Fisher. It had not been a waste. While Qin Yuan's inheritance was nothing compared to Chen Yuhua's, without the Divine Replication Card, Shen An never would have been able to seize the Xiantian Spirit Corpse, Yaoyao. He might have even fallen victim to a counterattack.
Shen An activated the Divine Replication Card, silently copying Chen Yuhua's memories, abilities, and physique. Instantly, a radiant, purple-gold book materialized in his mind, the deep characters for "Tome of Chen Yuhua" inscribed upon its cover.
He knew that with a mere extension of his Divine Sense, he could flip through its pages. However, he restrained himself, not wanting to risk Chen Yuhua noticing anything amiss. Although the replication itself was silent, if he were to start browsing her top-tier inheritances, he might become immersed, perhaps even triggering an epiphany, and the fluctuation in his aura would surely give him away.
[Ding! Detected that Destined Heroine Lin Qingqing's favorability has increased by +3! Plundering +9000 Destiny Value!]
The system prompt drew Shen An's attention. His gaze shifted past Chen Yuhua to the girl hiding behind her, Lin Qingqing.
She was dressed in a light purple dress that made her look adorable and playful. Her figure was petite and exquisitely formed; at only about 152 centimeters tall, she looked small enough to be scooped up in one's arms.
The master and disciple presented a striking contrast. One was a statuesque figure with legs that seemed to go on forever and astonishingly ample curves—a truly stunning physique. The other was a youthful and petite beauty, equally a top-tier belle in her own right.
'Wow, this big brother is really handsome. He looks even better up close!'
Lin Qingqing huddled behind her master, Chen Yuhua, her long eyelashes fluttering as she curiously sized up Shen An.
Earlier, Chen Yuhua had received news that the Young Sect Leader of the Tianshi Sect, Zhang Zhiyun, had annihilated Yanxia's Yu Clan. She had been planning to eliminate Zhang Zhiyun herself to avenge the Yu family. However, before she could even make a move, Shen An had dealt with him.
Lin Qingqing had accompanied her master to observe that battle from a distance, and she had been left with a deep impression of Shen An. It wasn't a romantic feeling, just a simple admiration for a handsome and capable older brother. After a few more glances, she withdrew her gaze and began looking around, her dark eyes darting here and there with a certain cute and clumsy air.
'Clumsy and cute is fine,' Shen An thought to himself with a strange sense of detachment. 'As long as she isn't a complete idiot, it's acceptable.'
A few doubts began to surface in his mind. He had originally assumed that the male lead associated with Yu Guannan and Lin Qingqing was a certain "Master Chen." But now, seeing that Master Chen was the female Chen Yuhua, that theory was clearly incorrect. In that single instant, a dozen different thoughts and ideas flashed through his mind.
"Sister Chen, why are you here?" At that moment, Yu Guannan's voice cut through his thoughts. A rare and pleasant surprise lit up her features as she looked at Chen Yuhua.
"I went to the Jiangbei Chen Clan's estate to visit you before, but they said you hadn't been home for the past year. I had no idea where you went. You didn't reply to my messages, either. I was so worried."
In front of Chen Yuhua, Yu Guannan's imposing demeanor, which she maintained before the members of the Yu Clan's branch families, melted away, replaced by an exceptional closeness.
"I was deep in the mountains and old forests where the signal was poor, so I couldn't receive any messages. I'm sorry for making you worry, Nannan," Chen Yuhua explained, her typically indifferent expression softening as she spoke to Yu Guannan.
A year ago, she had awakened the memories of her past life, finally comprehending the mystery of her birth. She learned that she was Rinyue Celestial Venerable from the Upper Realm. After perishing alongside a True Immortal who had descended to the mortal plane, her soul had reincarnated into the body of a girl from the Jiangbei Chen Clan.
Because the spiritual energy in the Secular World was so sparse, Chen Yuhua had spent the better part of the last year searching for spiritual lands hidden deep in the mountains, seeking out heavenly materials and earthly treasures to aid her cultivation. As for Lin Qingqing, she had rescued the girl by chance during her time in the mountains and had taken her in as a disciple.
Having reached the Twelfth Layer Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage, with no resources available for a short-term breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, and having estimated that she was now invincible in the Secular World, Chen Yuhua had finally decided to emerge from her seclusion. It would be far too absurd for the great Rinyue Celestial Venerable, who had once looked down upon all the heavens and disdained the starry sky, to be killed by the guns and cannons of mortals.
For Chen Yuhua, a year of seclusion was but the snap of a finger, nothing significant. This was only due to the lack of resources. Had they been abundant, she might have reached the Foundation Establishment Stage or even the Golden Core Stage within that year. It was even possible that after eight or ten years of seclusion, she could have cultivated all the way to the Soul Transformation Stage.
What she hadn't expected, however, was that the Secular World still contained a powerful cultivator like Shen An—someone who also seemed to walk the path of the Immortal Dao.
Chen Yuhua's gaze swept over Shen An, a flicker of genuine surprise touching her eyes.
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