The situation had become so chaotic that the Zhang Family Head had no way to explain why he was standing guard here. A large crowd had kept watch all night, without even catching a glimpse of Qi Ao.
The family head, already advanced in years, could no longer hold out.
Upon questioning a servant, they learned that Qi Ao was sound asleep.
At the time, people at the scene had tried to smooth things over, saying, "You can't take a child's words seriously."
But now, the Zhang Family Head narrowed his eyes.
He had sent people to probe several times afterward, all to no avail.
Coincidences don't happen one after another. The seemingly naive child before him was indeed his brother's flesh and blood.
At his age, he never expected to be outmaneuvered by the younger generation.
He admitted he had misjudged the situation.
Judging from Qi Ao's attitude, he likely held little affection for the Zhang family. Tomorrow would be Qi Ao's last day with the Zhangs, and Qi Yuan would come to take him away.
The Hermit Clans stuck together for mutual benefit, and the Zhang family had no shortage of information sources.
Faced with the gradually strengthening monsters, the Zhang family's position was becoming awkward. The Zhang Family Head could sense that times were changing. There was no time for them to slowly nurture the next generation, waiting for a descendant to become a powerful ability user before asserting themselves.
The Hermit Clans' expectations of reclaiming their ancestral glory through the emergence of abilities still showed no signs of being fulfilled.
As the family head, he had no choice but to seek new breakthroughs.
Today, he had also received news of Qi Yuan leading his subordinates to encircle and suppress a high-level monster. The mysterious subordinate who had always kept a low profile finally showed themselves.
The monster's specific level was confidential, but it was certainly S-level or above.
Any subordinate able to participate in such a battle would be no less than A-level.
This meant that while the Zhang family was still observing and considering which S-level or above ability user to cooperate with, Qi Yuan didn't care whether they pledged allegiance or not.
This was probably the source of his confidence in sending the fruit basket.
Thinking of this, the Zhang Family Head turned his gaze to the child in the room.
"Stop pretending. I know you're very clever."
"Hehe."
The child before him feigned incomprehension, his expression of smug satisfaction at being praised was flawless.
This performance... it seemed he had no intention of laying his cards on the table.
But things weren't at their worst yet. At least he was still willing to continue the conversation.
"If the Zhang family wanted to befriend your brother, what should we do?"
Qi Ao scratched the back of his head. What did this have to do with him?
"Go... find my brother?"
The Zhang Family Head sighed. As expected, he wouldn't reveal any specifics. But at least one thing was confirmed: Qi Yuan didn't like underhanded tricks. He preferred obedient subordinates.
It would be difficult for the Zhang family to achieve an equal partnership.
This was why he had hesitated until now.
"What if your brother isn't willing?"
Qi Ao recalled the time when he was caught sneaking snacks outside because it was too noisy, and his brother tattled to their mother. "...Find someone else to be friends with?"
If the argument continued, something terrible might happen.
He also didn't know why his brother seemed to know everything.
Find someone else...
The Zhang Family Head pondered briefly, then suddenly drew a sharp breath. He reassessed the child before him, weighing the pros and cons.
His knuckles tapped on the table. After a long while, he asked, "If the Zhang family befriends your brother first, and he's unwilling to be friends with you afterward, would you mind?"
Qi Ao looked utterly bewildered. Although he couldn't understand why making friends had to follow an order, or why grandpa still wanted to be friends with him, he really wanted to go back and finish his "homework."
"I wouldn't mind."
...
"...This child is very clever, with great wisdom..."
Qi Yuan woke from his dream, sat up, and held his head. Could this predictive dream be inaccurate?
Recently, he had been familiarizing himself with abilities, creating personas, scripts, and stages. Feeling his hairline might be in danger, he had created a predictive dream ability.
He couldn't create an ability to predict the future with 100% accuracy given his current energy levels, and an inaccurate predictive ability would interfere with his thoughts. This ability, however, helped him identify oversights, seek inspiration, and simulate possible future developments based on his existing information.
[Little Bro: Voice message] *N
[Little Bro: What time are you picking me up today?]
[Little Bro tapped you]
Up so early?
Qi Yuan glanced at his lit-up phone screen but didn't rush to reply. Instead, he first went to wash up, and only after finishing breakfast did he leisurely open the voice messages.
Probably realizing he had been completely forgotten, Little Bro started sending his "diary" entries. However, Qi Yuan didn't really want to listen; Gao Changze sent a message every night.
He already knew everything he needed to know.
Listening through the voice messages, aside from Little Bro's artificial embellishments and parts he couldn't remember so he made up, it was pretty much the same as what Gao Changze had sent.
Not only had Little Bro forgotten about him, but he had also been busy familiarizing himself with his avatar's ability settings and personality these past few days, going from awkward to numb, and had similarly forgotten about Little Bro.
When he arrived, he had avoided pleasantries by focusing on work. Now that he was leaving, he couldn't avoid facing it.
After all, unlike his father who hired assassins, he at least had to give Little Bro a choice.
...
"What's going on today? It seems like all the important figures in the clan have returned."
A woman who had sent her child to the martial arts training ground started chatting with other friendly mothers.
Someone chimed in, "Yeah, I saw all the cars have come back."
"You don't know yet?"
They eagerly asked, "Know what?"
"A few days ago, a child came, right?"
"Are you talking about...?"
The mothers exchanged glances, their eyes widening.
Qi Yuan, the subject of their gossip, had finally managed to send away a group of elders with a face full of perfunctory politeness.
The Zhang Family Head was not a blundering fool who couldn't read the room. He briefly touched on unimportant matters and had someone summon Qi Ao and Gao Changze.
"I hope my brother hasn't caused you any trouble."
"Not at all. We're family, what trouble could there be?" The Zhang Family Head praised effusively, completely different from his initial disdain and contempt. "This child is very clever, with great wisdom. I've learned a lot from him..."
Qi Yuan stopped listening carefully to the latter part of the speech, his mind echoing with "This child is very clever."
Are you serious?!
He couldn't possibly associate great wisdom with Little Bro.
He could tell that the Zhang Family Head was sincere.
This was what shocked him. Perhaps the Zhang Family Head had been addled by filial piety, and his mind wasn't quite clear...
Just then, Little Bro walked in wearing his backpack.
Qi Yuan met Little Bro's blank stare, his expression full of wisdom was so unbearable that he had to look away after a single glance.
This guy definitely rushed to finish his homework last night and still hadn't woken up.
When Qi Yuan faced the Zhang Family Head again, he couldn't help but soften his tone.
To see great wisdom in Little Bro, perhaps... maybe... this was the greatness of the bond between grandparent and grandchild?
Resolve] Gu Yang was once a true disciple of the Falling Cloud Sect, but after failing to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, his cultivation regressed, his foundation was damaged, his lifespan was nearing its end, and he was about to be demoted to a menial servant. At his moment of despair, he awakened the [Daily Intelligence System]. By refreshing it daily, he could learn about countless hidden opportunities and secrets within the cultivation world! [Today's intelligence has been refreshed] [White Intelligence: One month ago, the Foundation Establishment spiritual item "Profound Ice Spirit Marrow" used by the host to attempt his breakthrough contained a trace of the poison "Bone-Corrobing Spirit-Dissolving Powder".] [Purple Intelligence: Tonight during the Yin hour (3-5 AM), a wisp of "Golden Crow Primordial Flame" will overflow... If this flame is devoured, it can recast the shattered cultivation foundation, fully restore cultivation, and awaken the one-in-ten-thousand—Primordial Supreme Yang Body. [Click to view coordinates]] [Golden Intelligence: Shen Qingyue, a Golden Core elder of the Falling Cloud Sect who possesses the Nine Yin Body, suffers from backlash of cold energy every full moon night, causing her strength to plummet and excruciating pain. Grand Elder Zhao Wuji has secretly bribed Shen Qingyue's personal maid, Hongxiu, and learned the rear gate array node of the protective formation "Clouds and Mist Veiling the Sun Array". Tomorrow late at night, he intends to take advantage of Shen Qingyue's flare-up of the cold poison, when she is weak and unable to resist, to use a secret technique to refine her into a cauldron and force her into a Daoist partnership. [Click to view coordinates]] The cultivation world is a jungle where the strong prey on the weak, and human hearts are as treacherous as ghosts? Sorry, but I can read the script! From then on, relying on his informational advantage, Gu Yang proceeded step by step with careful planning. Seizing opportunities, plundering fortunes. Selling intelligence. Playing rivals against each other. Step by step, he ultimately became the Immortal Emperor!
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
mance] After transmigrating for eighteen years, Lin Qi lived as an utterly ordinary herbalist in the countryside. One day, he kindly brought home a sickly, beautiful girl covered in blood. They married in a flash and began their blissful, intimate life together. Right then, his long-delayed system finally activated. [Warning! Host detected in contact with the "Crimson Calamity," the world-ending witch!] Lin Qi looked at the adorable wife currently curled in his arms, who couldn't even open a jar lid and trembled at the sight of a mouse. Lin Qi: "System, are you insane? This is clearly just a weak and delicate sickly girl!" Thus, Lin Qi treated the system as a "Contrast System," where taking care of his wife made him stronger. Combing his wife's hair rewarded him with [Free Attribute Points]. Taking his wife out for sunshine rewarded him with [Forbidden Spell: Arcane Explosion]. Lin Qi: "This soft life tastes so good!" ... Yet, in the eyes of outsiders: The strongest Beastkin Assassin: "That man dissected a Beast King with a common skinning knife! That was a show of force towards the powerful!" The Holy Son of the Radiant Church: "I infiltrated his home as a tutor, but he had me babysit the children... He must have seen through my disguise!" The World-Ending Witch, Felucia: "I hid all the way in the countryside. How is it that the husband I married on a whim is stronger than I was at my peak?"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
