The two entered the bath chamber and found Yue Ming sitting on the ground, utterly still. Her face burned crimson, her eyes glazed and distant.
She had retreated entirely into herself, lost in some private reverie.
Xia He glanced at Yue Ming's unrumpled clothing and let out a quiet breath. The Young Master had clearly held himself back—or at least stopped short of crossing certain lines.
Qiu Lan studied the girl carefully, searching for signs of distress.
"Xia He, she appears unharmed, doesn't she?"
Of course Xia He could see that. She simply chose silence over stating the obvious.
She snapped her fingers, her voice cutting through the chamber.
"Yue Ming, on your feet. Our duties are finished. What kind of disgraceful display is this?"
The sharp reprimand shattered Yue Ming's trance.
She looked up, meeting Xia He's stern gaze, then quickly averted her eyes and rose from the floor.
The arrogance she'd carried when she first arrived had vanished completely. Life in this household had worn away her rough edges, smoothing them into submission.
Xia He delivered her lecture with practiced efficiency.
"Change your clothes immediately. And adjust to your new station—no more of this dazed behavior.
Bathing the Young Master is an honor. You should serve him with grace and a pleasant expression.
Otherwise, you'll discover what real punishment entails.
The Young Master has granted me authority to discipline you as needed. Remember that."
Yue Ming's head dipped lower, her response barely audible.
"Yes..."
The resistance in her heart had faded.
Initially, she'd felt wronged, violated by the circumstances. But after Ye Qian's... instruction in the pleasures of service, something fundamental had shifted.
Acceptance had replaced indignation.
…
Shortly after Ye Qian departed, the System chimed in his consciousness.
[Ding! The relationship between Yue Ming and Yue Qingshan has been irreparably severed by the Host. No possibility remains for their union. The Child of Destiny, Yue Qingshan, has lost 2000 Luck Value. Current remaining Luck Value: 4800.]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining 2000 Villain Points. Current total: 5000 Villain Points.]
Two thousand Villain Points gained without even trying.
Yue Qingshan retained 4800 Luck Value—comparable to a decent supporting character, but not yet depleted enough to warrant elimination.
Killing him now likely wouldn't yield a Villain Treasure Chest, so patience served better than haste.
He hadn't finished exploiting Yue Qingshan. No need to rush.
Once the boy's Luck drained sufficiently, Ye Qian would handle him personally.
With such abundant Villain Points, the first priority was correcting that irritating negative Luck value.
"System, convert my Luck to positive one hundred. That negative number offends me."
[Ding! Villain Points converted to Luck. Total consumption: 2300 Villain Points. Congratulations to the Host. Current Luck: 100. Remaining Villain Points: 2700.]
A simple bath and some play with his maid had netted considerable Villain Points. Extremely satisfying.
Now that his Luck sat firmly in positive territory, Ye Qian could finally explore the lottery system he'd been ignoring.
With negative Luck, he'd avoided it entirely—why waste draws on guaranteed mediocrity?
"System, open the lottery interface."
[Ding! Lottery interface activated. Please review at your leisure, Master.]
A massive roulette wheel materialized before him, visible only to his eyes.
Four tiers divided the lottery: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and Top-tier.
Each tier demanded different Villain Point costs.
Elementary required one hundred Villain Points per draw. Common rewards, with negligible chances of rare items.
Intermediate cost one thousand Villain Points per draw. Relatively rare rewards, with reasonable odds of peerless treasures.
Advanced demanded ten thousand Villain Points per draw. Mostly peerless treasures, with chances at special-grade items.
Top-tier consumed one hundred thousand Villain Points per draw. Guaranteed special treasures from across the myriad worlds.
The available treasures refreshed monthly.
Ye Qian opened the Top-tier lottery first, his eyes widening at the array of legendary items displayed on the wheel.
Heaven Devouring Demonic Technique. Heavenly Emperor Cauldron. Three-Life Copper Coffin. Eight-Nine Arcane Art.
Greed stirred in his chest at the sight of such prizes.
Unfortunately, these treasures remained far beyond his current means. One hundred thousand Villain Points—he couldn't scrape together that sum even if he sold himself.
Besides, he already possessed the Ancient Demon Scripture and Slaughtering Immortal Art, both supreme-tier cultivation techniques within the Immortal Realm.
No urgent need existed. Those items could wait.
He currently held two thousand seven hundred Villain Points—enough for two Intermediate draws and seven Elementary ones.
After brief consideration, Ye Qian decided to test his fortune.
"System, one Intermediate draw. Let's see what fate brings."
[Ding! Initiating Intermediate draw. Please stand by, Master.]
The interface shifted to the second roulette wheel.
The wheel began spinning, accelerating until the individual rewards blurred into streaks of color.
"Stop!"
Ye Qian knew the lottery operated on genuine chance—no manipulation possible. He simply called out at random.
The wheel's rotation decelerated gradually, the rewards becoming distinct once more. The pointer swept past prize after prize while Ye Qian watched with anticipation.
Finally, the pointer settled. Ye Qian nodded in satisfaction at the result.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully drawing one Realm Breaking Pill. The reward has been deposited in the System backpack. Please retrieve at your convenience, Master.]
Ye Qian closed the lottery interface and withdrew the Realm Breaking Pill he'd just won.
[Realm Breaking Pill]: Originating from a certain cultivation world, enables the user to breakthrough their current rank. When calibrated to this cultivation world's standards, it allows cultivators below the King Realm to shatter their current bottleneck without side effects.
…
A useful item, though it required meeting specific prerequisites—namely, reaching the absolute peak of one's current cultivation realm before consumption.
For someone like Ye Qian, who'd only recently broken through to the Early Stage of the Holy Induction Realm, consuming this pill now would merely advance him to the Middle Stage. A tremendous waste of potential.
The pill worked for any level below the King Realm.
Ye Qian could afford to wait. Once he reached the Peak of the Marquis Realm, he'd use it then.
That way, he could obliterate the Marquis Realm bottleneck in a single stroke and ascend directly to the King Realm.