A two-hour drive from the bustling intersection of his home, Wei Yan sat cross-legged amidst the dense forest that covered the foothills of Mount Qinshan. Here, in the dusk, where the natural energy was pure and untouched by city pollution, he began the process of refinement before his big day, tomorrow night.
A faint glow began to shimmer from the surface of his skin, emanating a heavy, ancient aura—a manifestation of his Chaos Body. However, something was different this time. The flow of energy wasn't flowing gently; Wei Yan was deliberately compressing and violently reshaping his energy structure. This was a new, forced nature, an extreme form of adaptation engendered by the Supreme Root of the Divine Will of Transformation.
"If fate wishes to shape me, then I will change the shape of fate itself," Wei Yan murmured. His breathing was steady, but each exhale carried a pressure that made the surrounding foliage tremble violently. This nature of transformation allowed him to disguise, adapt, or even alter the laws of physics around his body at his absolute will.
While focusing on his internal transformation, Wei Yan maintained his Divine Consciousness at full alert. His soul radar expanded, sweeping across a radius of tens of kilometers across the forest and valley.
Suddenly, his soul sensor vibrated violently.
"Four at once?" Wei Yan opened his eyes slightly, purple lightning flashing across his pupils. Within his detection range, four points of light appeared, indicating the presence of new destiny fragments moving in the area. However, what made his spiritual heart beat even faster was another point directly above his current position.
At the peak of Mount Qinshan, a Rainbow Fragment—a rare type of fragment possessing a higher authority than ordinary fragments—was emitting an incredibly powerful energy. Its light seemed to defy the heavens, hidden behind the perpetual mist of the mountain peak.
"Four ordinary fragments nearby, and one rainbow fragment right above my head," Wei Yan stood slowly, the dust and gravel around him rising into the air from the pressure of his uncontained aura. "It seems this mountain isn't as deserted as I thought. Qinshan Peak... that rainbow fragment should become part of my ecosystem before sunset."
He gazed upward, through the dense trees toward the peak shrouded in black clouds and faint lightning. Without hesitation, Wei Yan began to walk, each step leaving a small crack in the forest floor, ready to claim the supreme authority the universe had provided for him.
Wei Yan shot through the dense forest vegetation at a speed barely visible to the human eye. The pressure from his Chaos Body made the surrounding wild animals cower in fear. It wasn't long before he reached a clearing on the slope leading to the summit, where the fragment's energy was at its most concentrated.
From behind the shade of a giant oak tree, Wei Yan halted. His eyes narrowed, observing the group of people who had just arrived at the fragment's descent point. There were four people there: a teenage boy with a naive "heroic" aura, accompanied by three women. One was a mature woman in elegant traditional dress—the Master—while the other two were attentive sisters, busily wiping the sweat from the boy's forehead.
"Haish, the cliché of a master descending the mountain. Tsk... tsk... tsk..." Wei Yan shook his head slowly, a sinister smile plastered across his cold face.
He watched their interaction with a gaze that could penetrate the layers of fate. Through his Divine Awareness, he saw how the young man's threads of fate were trying to ensnare the three women around him.
"I guess this guy will be greedy in the future," Wei Yan muttered softly, his voice almost lost in the mountain breeze. "He won't even let go of his own beautiful master. A typical lucky protagonist who considers the entire world his taboo."
Wei Yan leaned back against the tree trunk, in no hurry to emerge. To him, the scene before him was nothing more than a cheap circus. However, his attention soon shifted back to the sky. The Rainbow Fragment at the peak of Qinshan began to vibrate, emitting an unnatural spectrum of colors, as if reacting to the presence of the "protagonist" troupe.
"Unfortunately for you, kid," Wei Yan clenched his fists, triggering his Divine Will of Transformation to align his body's frequency with the mountain's energy. "That rainbow fragment isn't yours. I won't let a cheap 'holder of destiny' like you sully the authority that should be in my hands."
With a silent stomp, Wei Yan's body faded, merging with the shadows and frequencies of nature, moving in a circle to cut their path to the highest peak.
---
Wei Yan remained calm in the shadows, observing the five streams of light that were slicing through the mist of Qinshan Peak. Through his Divine Awareness, he clearly saw the composition of destiny: one majestic Rainbow, one Purple-Gold symbolizing imperial power, one pure Purple, and one Red-Black fragment that radiated both misfortune and a terrifying bloodlust.
"Too beautiful a scenario for this loser," Wei Yan muttered.
At an optimal distance, Wei Yan intervened. Using his Divine Will of Transformation, he manipulated the gravity of destiny in the area as if he were the center of the universe.
Zzzzt!
The fragments' trajectories changed radically in midair.
The Rainbow Fragment that was supposed to belong to the man took a sharp turn and merged into the beautiful Master's heart.
The Purple-Gold Fragment and the Purple Fragment penetrated the bodies of the two female disciples.
The dense Red-Black Fragment was forcibly diverted, stabbing straight into the young man's chest.
The teenager screamed with passion, feeling his body explode with a new, wild power, unaware that the black aura was slowly eroding his sanity. Meanwhile, the three women stood with a far purer and calmer glow.
Wei Yan then spread his hands, releasing a transparent frequency wave that enveloped the three women. "Destiny Isolation," he whispered.
The effect was instantaneous yet subtle. The spiritual connection, affection, and protectiveness they had felt for the boy were forcibly severed. Those emotional threads were replaced by a cold mist.
"What's happening?" muttered one of the female disciples, staring at the boy with a puzzled look. "Why... do I suddenly feel like he's just a noisy stranger?"
The teacher fell silent, though the rainbow fragments in her body imbued her with immense power. Her eyes stared at her student without the slightest warmth—only a deep sense of alienation, as if their years together were merely a story in a book that she didn't feel was true.
"Perfect," Wei Yan said, shaking his head at the boy, who was still laughing arrogantly, flaunting his raw red-and-black power. "You've just lost three pillars of support. Now, they're no longer yours, but assets awaiting my instructions."
Wei Yan turned around, leaving the now-estranged group at the top of the mountain. He had switched their center of gravity; now, the three women would subconsciously seek a higher source of authority than the "cliché" disciple beside them.
"And now, the seed has been planted, waiting for whatever reason that man will come down the mountain," Wei Yan muttered as he turned around. He stepped away from the crowd of fellow disciples who had now become mentally isolated, leaving them trapped in delusions of power and emotional confusion on the Qinshan peak.
As he walked down the slope at a leisurely but sure pace, Wei Yan paused for a moment. His eyes narrowed, scanning the green expanse at the foot of the mountain through the perspective of the Eight Charts of Heaven and Earth and the principles of advanced geomancy. He glanced at a sloping area flanked by two small streams that converged at a single point—a formation of a green dragon embracing a pearl.
In feng shui, this position is known as a pulse point for the earth, capable of locking in the energy of wealth and eternal glory. The Qi flow there not only flows, but also swirls and settles, providing protection for whoever occupies it.
"The perfect ground for building the foundation of an empire," he thought.
Wei Yan took out his cell phone and dialed Li Yuantong's number.
"Hello, darling," Yuantong's voice came from the other end, slightly coquettish but still carrying the authority of a queen of the night.
"Are you done with your 'spiritual' business on the mountain?"
"Yes. Everything is going according to plan," Wei Yan replied evenly.
"What about the situation in the city? Are the Bluefeather rats still trying to dig their holes?"
"Of course, but they're just digging their own graves. But I hear your voice is a little different. Are there any new plans?"
"I have a new assignment for you," Wei Yan paused, his eyes still locked on the coordinates of the land he'd been eyeing. "Contact a land broker or the local government immediately. I want you to purchase two hectares of land right at the foot of Mount Qinshan, at the coordinates I just sent you. This location is feng shui-wise a key to wealth and prosperity; its energy will seal our good fortune for decades."
On the other end of the phone, Yuantong sounded slightly surprised but enthusiastic. "Two hectares? And you've calculated the feng shui? That's a large enough area for a simple rest area. Are you planning to build a new base?"
"Not just a base," Wei Yan said humbly but with authority. "I will build a private villa. It will be the residence of my principal wives, a place isolated from the outside world. And more than that... it will be my personal 'playground' to train and cultivate the assets we have accumulated."
Yuantong chuckled, a laugh filled with both understanding and passion. "Playground? I like that term. So, you want me to handle the paperwork now?"
"Do it as quickly as possible. Ensure the ownership is clean and hidden from the public eye. I want the land certificate in my hands by my coming-of-age ceremony," Wei Yan ordered.
"Anything for you, my Emperor. I will immediately send a team to secure the land before sunset tomorrow," Yuantong concluded obediently.
Wei Yan hung up the phone, putting his phone back in his pocket. He gazed up at the mountaintop once more—at the beautiful Master who now carried a rainbow fragment on her person.
Halfway home, Wei Yan's steps suddenly halted as his Divine Consciousness detected an incredibly powerful energy anomaly. In the distance, an even more magnificent and gigantic rainbow fragment—its size surpassing that of Lin Fan and the beautiful Master's combined—slashed across the horizon with a radiance that shook the very foundations of his Chaos Body. His attention was instantly completely captivated; a treasure of destiny with such absolute authority could not fall into the wrong hands or be left unattended.
With a barely perceptible movement, Wei Yan turned around and followed the light's path to a slum on the outskirts of town. However, his steps halted again when he saw that the majestic rainbow fragment had already perfectly fused into the body of a woman sitting in front of a dilapidated hut. The woman had a large mole covering almost half her face, giving her an appearance far from attractive or fortunate. Wei Yan squinted, observing the divine energy circulating beneath her ugly skin, realizing that he had just discovered a "diamond in the mud" whose destiny had been deliberately hidden by the universe.