Two days. It felt like a lifetime. The memory of Meira was a constant ache in my chest, a fire that fueled my every action. Our separation, required by tradition, tormented me privately. We had exchanged a few formal letters, carefully worded and proper, but the subtext, the longing we shared, was obvious. I missed her intensely.
But the days hadn't been wasted. My fifty Shadow Guards had blended into Clearwater City, and information had started to trickle through the dead-drop network. I heard whispers about the Jin Family buying dockside warehouses. Rumors circulated about a core disciple from the Spirit Cauldron Sect suffering a cultivation deviation. These threads began to weave into a tapestry of the city's hidden currents.
I had also made progress in my own cultivation. The initial 18% boost from my first harvest was a strong foundation. I spent the days in focused cultivation, using the family's best resources and my superior physique to push that number higher. It now stood at 23%. The path to the Middle Stage would be long, and I knew I couldn't rely just on my own efforts. I needed another harvest, a bigger one. The seed I planted in Shi Ran was germinating in the dark, but it would take time before it was ready to bear fruit.
Today was not a day for quiet cultivation or shadowy plots.
Today was the seventh day.
I stood on the high balcony of my courtyard, looking out over the busy city. The memories from Alchemist Sovereign were a clear timeline in my mind. Today was the 30th day of the Month of Awakening. Two individuals, whose arrivals would act as the twin catalysts for the original plot's tragedy, were scheduled to arrive in Clearwater City.
Jin Hao, the transmigrator, the resentful protagonist with a cheat in his ring, was set to arrive with the small delegation from his fallen Jin Family branch. And Su Lian, Meira's venomous sister, would also be arriving from the Su Family's main estate, supposedly to "help her sister prepare for the wedding."
Today, the curtain was set to rise on the play that was supposed to end with my death.
A grim smile touched my lips. I was no longer a fated actor. I was the new director, and I had already rewritten the first act.
Just then, a servant arrived with a formal invitation. It was for the seventieth birthday celebration of Elder Lei Bao, the patriarch of the Lei Family's branch here in Clearwater City. He was a respected figure, a Late Stage Golden Core craftsman, and his birthday banquet was a major social event. The invitation was addressed to my father but included a personal request for the newly engaged "golden couple," myself and Meira, to attend as honored guests.
Of course it did. The Lei Family were expert artificers and weapon-forgers, their neutrality secured by the fact that every major power, including my own, depended on their unmatched craftsmanship. They were also astute observers of the political scene. An event of this scale, hosted by their own branch patriarch, was the perfect opportunity for them to observe the new Chen-Su alliance up close and assess the shifting balance of power in the region.
"Inform the Patriarch that I will be attending," I told the servant.
This was the perfect stage. All the major powers of Clearwater City would be there. It was the ideal place to watch my enemies, to gauge their reactions to my family's united front. More importantly, it was the perfect chance to finally see the man destined to be my killer.
I needed to see Jin Hao. I needed to use my Celestial Luck Scan on him to confirm the color and intensity of his protagonist's luck. I needed to study him, to understand the man behind the character, to grasp the weapon that the world had forged to destroy me. I needed to prepare a "gift" for him and for the ancient soul he carried.
A mirthless chuckle escaped me as I thought of that ancient soul. The "Grandfather Alchemist." The wise, benevolent guide who nurtured Jin Hao from a weakling into a sovereign. The book painted him as a noble figure, a powerful expert from a higher realm who had been betrayed and nearly destroyed, his soul finding refuge in a ring.
I, the reader, knew the dirtier truth that the novel only hinted at in its final chapters. The "Grandfather Alchemist" was no benevolent sage. He was a hypocrite of the highest order. He had been a minor alchemist under a true grandmaster in his own realm. Fueled by ambition, he had tried to poison his own master to steal his pill formulas and cultivation notes. He failed spectacularly, his own poison backfiring and shattering his body, his soul barely escaping into the ring that had eventually fallen through a spatial crack into this lower realm.
The irony was exquisite. He had tried to become a protagonist by killing his own "master" and failed, only to end up playing the role of a "master" to a new protagonist. The cycle of hypocrisy was fated to continue. In the final arc of the book, after Jin Hao reached the peak of the world, the "Grandfather," his soul almost fully recovered, tried to possess Jin Hao's body to be reborn. He failed again, his restored soul essence becoming nothing more than the final nourishment that pushed Jin Hao into a higher realm. It was a story of masters and disciples devouring each other. A tale of beautiful karma.
And I was eager to meet the first half of this tragic comedy.
But as I began to dress for the banquet, choosing a set of fine but understated crimson robes, a different excitement began to stir in my chest, a warm current that had nothing to do with plots or protagonists.
I was going to see Meira again.
The thought sent a jolt through me, a wave of pure anticipation. It had only been two days, but it felt like eternity. I wondered what she would wear, what her expression would be when she saw me, if she had been counting the days too. This emotional complication, this weakness in my armor of cynicism, was becoming deeper, and I didn't mind at all.
The Lei Family's Clearwater branch estate was a testament to their craft. It was not as large or elegantly natural as the Chen or Su estates. It was a fortress of black iron and gray stone, its architecture sharp, angular, and efficient. The air itself crackled with a metallic energy.
I arrived with my father and a small group of elders. We were greeted at the gate with great respect. As the city's leading power, our arrival was a significant event. We were led into the main banquet hall, a huge space supported by solid iron pillars, lit by glowing formations that cast a white light. The hall was already filled with the most influential figures in the city.
I saw Patriarch Su and his delegation, and my eyes immediately began searching for her. But before I could find her, another group caught my attention.
The Jin Family.
They were easy to spot, their patriarch Jin Bolin dressed in robes heavy with gold thread that practically glowed. Standing just behind him, looking awkward and out of place in ill-fitting robes, was a young man.
He was of average height and build, with unremarkable features. But his eyes… his eyes told a different story. They were filled with a resentful fire, the eyes of a man who believed the world owed him everything but had given him nothing. They darted around the opulent hall, a mix of envy, contempt, and hungry ambition.
It was him. Jin Hao. The protagonist of Alchemist Sovereign.
I felt a cold thrill run down my spine. It was like a historian facing a figure from a textbook. He was real. He was here.
[Celestial Luck Scan,] I commanded in my mind.
The world in my vision shifted. The hall was filled with the familiar gray and white auras of the various guests. Major patriarchs, like my father and Jin Bolin, glowed with a steady blue luck. But Jin Hao… Jin Hao was a supernova.
A pillar of pure gold luck erupted from him, so intense it was almost painful to look at. It dwarfed every other aura in the room. It was the universe declaring, This one. This is my chosen son. The system tag was simple and terrifying.
[Target Identified: Jin Hao. Luck Grade: Gold (Protagonist Template).]
So this was plot armor. My path was not just against a man; it was against the very favor of the heavens.
Just as I was studying him, a soft voice spoke beside me. "He looks like a cornered rat, doesn't he?"
I turned. Meira stood there, a vision in a deep blue gown that made her look like a goddess of the tranquil sea. She had approached so quietly I hadn't even noticed.
"A cornered rat that is about to be given the claws of a tiger," I murmured, my gaze still on Jin Hao.
"You've noticed it too, then," she said, her voice a low whisper. "The ring on his finger. It gives off a strange aura."