When it came to Qin Linyin's panel, Le Yu could only say one thing, it was absolutely brilliant.
Thinking back to the past—well, it was just a few months ago—when Qian Yuliu died, that guy only had the "Beginner Biting Battle Technique" and "Ice Blood Physique" on him, yet he had already been the team captain of Xuanzhu County's Statistical Department, a young prodigy with a huge reputation.
But Qin Linyin's built-in skills looked like a goddamn recipe book—that shit was whacked.
Let's not even mention the pile of beginner techniques; just the "Intermediate Blood-Drinking Eight-Rice Style" seemed like a single skill, but it actually included the "Intermediate Biting Battle Technique," "Intermediate Pouncing Battle Technique," and "Intermediate Shocking Battle Technique" as sub-skills. In other words, Qin Linyin had four intermediate combat techniques and four beginner ones.
How should I put it, if Qian Yuliu was like your typical college grad, then Qin Linyin was the same age but rocking eight degrees—with four of them being a master's.
To use Zhengwei as a metaphor: if Zhengwei spawned with a wife at the start, then Qin Linyin started with eight—four daily-life types like a childhood friend, a tsundere classmate, a little devil upperclassman, and an airheaded junior, plus four super-surreal ones—a Demon God, an Angel, a Superpower User, and a Masked Rider.
This wasn't even a matter of overkill anymore; it was enough to make you suspect you were living in some kind of novel universe—and not even as the main character.
But when Le Yu saw "Nesser's Curse," he knew things weren't so simple.
"Nesser's Curse (can't be removed), Because you misused the power of Nesser, that force has already permeated your genetic bloodline. You'll always know how to use your abilities but never know why, and none of the skills you've already mastered can ever break through to the advanced realm on your own."
So this was the side effect of Nesser's Heart… Le Yu searched Qin Linyin's memories and realized the reason she had mastered eight battle techniques at her age was at least eighty percent thanks to the replica of the Illusion Divine Weapon, Nesser's Heart. The catch? She'd never be able to train any of these skills up to the Peak of Perfection.
They both had hacks, sure, but Le Yu's was like rote learning. Even if he sucked at first, he'd reach his potential over time.
But Qin Linyin's hack was like peeking at the answer sheet first, then copying it all down as she went.
You could still score points that way, maybe even boost your knowledge, but with a shaky foundation, once you hit a tricky question or a variant, you'd be totally at a loss—no way could you ace it.
From her memories, it seemed Qin Linyin and her crowd didn't even realize this flaw. No surprise—after all, it was pretty well hidden. Besides, only a handful of people in all of history managed to break through to the Peak of Perfection, so if she didn't make it either, she'd just chalk it up to normal bad luck, not guess it was Nesser's Heart messing with her.
And honestly, even if they realized it, they wouldn't care.
"How many decades does anyone get in this life?" Unless you're a freakish prodigy, most genius martial artists don't hit Peak of Perfection until forty or fifty at best."
Yeah, I'm talking genius martial artists—the one-in-a-hundred overachievers.
But with a replica of Nesser's Heart, boom, you had the talent of a fifty-year-old while you were still in your twenties.
That was like landing a CEO job with a six-figure salary in your twenties, only the price was your position and income could never go higher—stuck forever at that relative level.
Compared to the benefits, that flaw seemed totally insignificant.
Sure, every gift from fate came with a price tag hidden on the back, but this price almost seemed too good to be true—Le Yu really wanted to buy it out.
And Le Yu really didn't give a crap about that curse—who cared if he couldn't break through to the advanced realm on his own when he had a cheat-code power level anyway?
If he was already good enough to break through to the advanced realm all by himself, he wouldn't have been forced to resort to account theft…
Even though Qin Linyin's panel looked pretty nice, Le Yu didn't actually feel all that excited.
After all, a martial artist's real power came down to their strengths; at best, Qin Linyin just didn't have any obvious weaknesses. In terms of actual strength, she was basically on par with Le Yu himself.
Le Yu had thought he was hacking into the account of a Peak of Perfection Qin Linyin, but… this was it?
But it was the new challenge that really made Le Yu raise an eyebrow—slaughter ten thousand people? Was the system finally showing its true chaotic evil colors?
But honestly, even if they were pigs instead of people, Le Yu wouldn't be able to slaughter ten thousand of them!
Still, that reward… Le Yu couldn't help but be tempted.
A chance to be reborn and fully customize a new body.
As if to tempt him even more, the system listed out all the options he could customize:
"Location," "Age," "Appearance," "Name," "Lifespan," "Gender"
"Physique," "Spirit," "Charm," "Abilities"
"Physique: Explosive force, insight, mental speed, reproductive ability, sleep efficiency…"
"Spirit: Foresight, empathy, intuition, comprehension…"
"Charm: Body scent, compatibility, leadership, courtship skill…"
"Abilities: Can choose any and all intermediate skills (multiple choice allowed)"
"Quick-pick features: Martial Arts Grandmaster, Peerless Sovereign, Benevolent King, Unparalleled Beauty, Science Monument, Ancestor of Old (all can be stacked)…"
Le Yu was seriously, honestly tempted.
Anyone who's ever played RPGs or games like The Sims—who wouldn't want to play around with their own character creator at least once?
And Le Yu didn't just get to create himself—he could make a version with maxed-out stats everywhere, loved by all, even the dead in their coffins would be dying to get out to see him!
What did a "Benevolent King of Unparalleled Beauty" even mean? Le Yu figured that if he created a build like that and just strutted around Huiguang radiating kingly vibes, he could probably unify the whole place in a few shakes.
Even if he couldn't, just combining Martial Arts Grandmaster + Unparalleled Beauty + Benevolent King—hell, even in the middle of chaos, he'd live like a king. He could pivot straight to farming or starting a rebellion and still have it made.
A flawless, perfect version of himself.
"How could anyone resist that?"
But no matter how tempted he was, there was no way—Le Yu decisively refreshed the challenge.
He had, after all, killed quite a few people.
But those were out of self-defense, rationality, or hope for the future.
Killing just for the sake of killing? Not the same thing at all.
"Slaughter should only be the means, not the end."
Le Yu didn't even dare leave that challenge sitting in his task list—he was terrified he might start watching the progress bar move with every person he killed.
If it went far enough, he'd wind up making up excuses like "tie up loose ends" or "strike first" to justify himself.
Soon, he'd start killing whenever he could, even if it wasn't necessary.
After that, he'd start persecuting people to death for minor reasons.
In the end, as long as there was any pretext at all, he'd hit people with deadly force, no hesitation.
If he kept that challenge, human lives would eventually become nothing more than a string of numbers in his eyes.
And slaughter? It'd just be another system task.
So Le Yu absolutely had to refresh that challenge—he didn't want to get assassinated by White Night, and even less did he want Qing Lan to start hating him.
If Qing Lan got talked into assassinating him by White Night, that'd be even worse.
After refreshing that challenge, Le Yu's face immediately turned dark.
"Challenge: Command a major war and win (0/1); total number of participants must reach 100,000 or more; difficulty: ☆☆☆☆.
Reward: 3 available points, and 1 Eternal Skill Advanced Promotion (can only be used to upgrade an intermediate skill to the advanced level)."
Le Yu felt utterly doomed—there was basically no way he'd ever pull this off, and he couldn't even reroll it.
If it was a court intrigue challenge, he might have had a shot, but large-scale war? No freakin' way.
It wasn't even about having the guts to send ten thousand soldiers to their deaths—he just didn't have the skill to command a war!
Qin Linyin and Qian Yuliu had taken "The Art of Command," sure, but their command skills still paled compared to the tactical tricks Le Yu picked up from playing "Heroes of Might and Magic" and "Warcraft."
This challenge meant not only did Le Yu have to rise to the leadership level, but he also had to win.
Even if he lucked into the body of a General, there was no guarantee of victory!
Le Yu figured he had a better shot daydreaming about single-handedly taking on a hundred thousand people.
He ignored that challenge altogether and chose to check his new tribulation.
He was kinda curious what Qin Linyin's tribulation would be. From her memories, she was emotionally cold, used her siblings as tools, and saw others only as means to an end.
There were only two people who really mattered to Qin Linyin.
One was Qin Xiao—her teacher who had guided her into the Huiguang Four Guardians. He was also the one who introduced watery smoke to Xuanzhu County, a poisoner with a secret agreement with Jing Qingfu, and an official in the Imperial Court.
Qin Linyin's last tribulation had been to fulfill Qin Xiao's old promise—work with the Jing Family to overthrow the Silver Blood Association.
So the reason Qin Linyin supported Le Yu wasn't just to wipe out the Silver Blood Association for the Imperial Court or nurture bandits for the Huiguang Four Guardians, but also to complete her own tribulation.
And as for the other one…
"Qin Linyin's Tribulation: Seize the authority of Huiguang (0/100)."
Le Yu was left absolutely gobsmacked.
Bro, this is supposed to be a tribulation, not a wild-ass dream.
Your "little goal" here might be a bit much?
That's some next-level wishful thinking right there!
He might have been roasting her hard in his mind, but Le Yu could actually relate to it.
He glanced at Zhengwei's corpse and couldn't help but sigh: "You really did manage to leave chaos and disaster behind you…"
The other person Qin Linyin cared about was Zhengwei.
After personally killing the man she considered a "Saint," she actually took on another layer of responsibility in her heart.
Since I killed a Saint,
I have to accomplish a feat worthy of a Saint.
Otherwise, down on the road to the Underworld,
how could I even face him?
So the tribulation born in Qin Linyin's heart became so huge and unrealistic, but to her, it really was just a "small goal"—if she couldn't even seize Huiguang's authority, how could she hope to leave behind a Saint's legacy?
If only Qin Linyin were the "let me raise your widow and kids" type, then her tribulation would just be "I'll take care of your family," and I could've knocked it out easy… Le Yu's mind suddenly went to some weird places, and he had to shake his head to snap himself back into his "Pure Love War God" persona.
Honestly, Le Yu didn't care much about tribulations or challenges. If he could do them, great; if not, whatever.
It wasn't like he'd go leaping into danger—not when his combat power was already enough to keep him safe. Le Yu just wanted a quiet life.
"Well then…"
Le Yu lowered his head and looked at Zhengwei.
That calm, tragically peaceful face really did look like it could turn monstrous and take a bite out of someone any second.
All those dried, gnarly wounds—each one proof he'd once lived.
Everything that needed to be done was done.
He'd walked every path he ought to walk.
He'd shed every drop of blood he had to shed.
"From this day forth, a crown of righteousness awaits you."
Le Yu stood up and finished the bloody tomato juice from the wine bottle in one gulp.
"I'm a long-lived transmigrator. Ain't got a single second to waste sighing over the seasons."
"Goodbye, Zhengwei."
"Ice Blood Physique," activated.
He tossed aside the wine bottle and strode out of the corpse-stinking, sorrow-soaked cabin, out the corridor, up to the sun-drenched deck, head held high, confident, a proud smile on his face.
"Big bro, I was just looking for you." On the deck, Qin Yueyang turned and spotted Le Yu, looking grim as she pointed to the shore, "Something's up."
"There could still be something up?"
Le Yu walked to the rail and used the distant-vision skill from the Flying Blossom Combat Technique. He quickly spotted dozens of figures racing across the fields by the shore.
It was the Swift Blade Squad!
They pounded across the earth in their Swift Blade Boots, the sun turning into blades under their feet, cleaving the land before them. They were even faster than the steamboat, and in the few seconds Le Yu had watched, they'd already closed in on the riverbank!
The leading one from the Swift Blade Squad seemed to notice someone watching from afar—he waved at Le Yu, flashing a friendly, old-pal grin, like he wanted Le Yu to stop and wait up for him.
"The most beautiful thing in life is meeting; the rarest thing is a reunion."
Even though Le Yu had just activated his Ice Blood Physique and tossed aside all wimpy, fearful, or gloomy thoughts, his heart still pounded wildly in that instant and his mind spun a hundred ways, making the right decision on instinct—
"It's Lan Yan," Le Yu said, "Run for it."