The Master’s Plan and a New Beginning

“You said this is the Master’s test for us. What exactly do you mean by that?”

Chris’s small head was adorned with a massive question mark.

“Given the Master’s wisdom, he might have known we were coming all along… No, the Master summoned us.”

“What?!”

Chris’s leg, poised to step forward, froze mid-air.

“Are you saying this was all the Master’s plan!?”

“Precisely. Perhaps he’s trying to encourage us.”

Eliza wore an expression of complete understanding.

“We’ve been in this world for so long, yet we haven’t accomplished anything significant. Instead of being angry, the Master smiled and comforted us.”

Chris blinked, a hint of grievance coloring her expression.

“I, I just wanted to find the Master as quickly as possible…”

“The Master has already forgiven us, but we cannot go to him yet.”

“Ughhh…”

Chris let out a sound of extreme displeasure.

“No! I won’t have it!! I’m going to make things irreversible! I’m going to have little Chrises! Agh! You, what are you doing!”

“Chris, it’s fine if you go, but I happen to possess some exclusive secrets about you.”

Eliza smiled at her.

“I trust you wouldn’t be stingy about sharing them with the Master and me, would you?”

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Chris’s forehead.

“Wh-what? I don’t understand what you’re talking about…”

“Ahem, ahem. Who was it that, on their very first night sleeping at the Master’s house, wet themselves out of fear…”

“Ahhhhhh!!!!!!! I won’t go! I won’t go! Please don’t say it!”

Chris’s face flushed crimson as she let out a loud cry to drown out Eliza’s words.

“Sister is an idiot! The Master is an idiot too! We were so close, why can’t we meet?!”

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over.

In her heart, even a single word with the Master would be enough to fuel her will to live.

Now, even this small request was denied.

The more Chris yearned, the further the Master seemed, and she felt her overflowing emotions would eventually break her.

She longed to speak with the Master, to feel his presence, to playfully throw herself into his embrace. She longed, she yearned, she craved.

If this world dared to stand in her way, she would obliterate it.

Yet, for the Master, she had to endure, endure, endure.

“Ah…”

She dropped her head in despondency, her eyes vacant of life, and softly hummed in agreement.

If it was for the Master, this small amount of forbearance was nothing.

They would meet again someday; indeed, that day would not be far off.

“So, what should we do?”

This time, her gaze was like a torch, her determination to see the Master soon spurring her onward.

“I saw the Master conversing with a woman, showing her utmost respect. She is likely someone of considerable power.”

“The Master is operating within enemy territory, and it is likely that the message he wishes to convey to us is precisely…”

“To establish a new [Shadow].”

Eliza declared.

****

“Achoo!”

The moment Mingqian stepped into the trading department of the branch office, an unexpected tickle prompted him to unleash a formidable sneeze.

‘I can’t shake the feeling that something peculiar has been developing without my knowledge.’

The trading department of the Bureau of Supernatural Abilities’ branch office, as its name suggested, served as the place for purchasing items and exchanging points.

While any item could initially be bought or sold online, much like a courier service, transactions only became valid after verification by the exchange.

The trading department, moreover, boasted its own transportation system, ensuring the quality and freshness of all goods.

Originally, acquiring 500 stalks of Phantasmal Glowcap Mushrooms wouldn’t necessitate a sum as exorbitant as 1000 points.

However, a rumor circulated that a lavish woman had purchased and taken all the Phantasmal Glowcap Mushrooms from the entire Seven Hills region.

Since she was willing to pay triple the market price, Mingqian found himself utterly at a loss.

‘What could Phantasmal Glowcap Mushrooms possibly be used for?’ he mused.

‘Even these things, which can be found by the roadside and refresh daily, are being snatched up?’

‘This world is truly fantastical.’

He could only grit his teeth and save, finally negotiating 500 stalks of Phantasmal Glowcap Mushrooms at four times the original price, amounting to precisely one thousand points.

After begrudgingly paying the 1000 points, he swore he would never again suffer the indignity of poverty.

This time, he was determined to become a formidable ability user through simulation.

He hoisted his satchel, the feeling of destitution bringing him back to his first day of school.

He had arrived at the school gates, dusty and travel-worn, pushing a suitcase and carrying numerous bags.

Yet, his schoolmates, young gentlemen all, had private cars and servants, while he alone lugged his luggage to the dormitory.

Just then, a colleague named Xiao Tian spotted him carrying a basket full of herbs and couldn’t stifle her laughter.

“Oh, Young Master Mingqian, are you… going home to farm?”

The mockery in her tone was unmistakable.

“What exquisite taste, pfft hahahahaha!”

Mingqian’s eyebrow twitched.

Suppressing the rising anger within him, he feigned deafness, attempting to bypass her and leave, when he heard the click of a phone camera.

“Oh dear, my apologies. You looked so exceptionally handsome, I just couldn’t resist taking a picture. You don’t mind, do you?”

This Xiao Tian was a ‘green tea’ among ‘green teas’.

Recognizing that Supervisor Zhang, her superior, constantly vented her frustrations on Mingqian, Xiao Tian had done many things to embarrass him in an attempt to curry favor with her.

These acts included, but were not limited to, feigning a confession of love to toy with his emotions, and secretly hiding her socks in Mingqian’s locker to accuse him of theft.

Fortunately, he had deftly resolved each incident.

He was no lamb to the slaughter; vengeance would come, but the time was not yet ripe.

For now, he remained too weak.

Mingqian shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together.

In the work chat group, Supervisor Zhang’s sycophants began discussing Mingqian with abandon.

Mingqian switched off his phone, once again concealing himself within the crowd, as the surrounding cacophony quickly enveloped him.

“Need a healer! Female preferred! I’m a Qi Condensation cultivator from the cultivation world!”

“New ability user! Female! Sweet and adorable! Seeking a big brother to guide me!”

In this era where supernatural abilities and technology intertwined, ancient times, and even the future, had subtly merged with the present.

Mingqian still found these transformations quite novel.

“Do you know the dazzling newcomer, Chris? She’s incredibly strong, and those legs, that waist…”

“I’d call her Mama!”

“Speaking of which, Bai Wanting, the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, shouldn’t be underestimated either.

Rumor has it she’s about to break through to the Golden Core stage.”

In the bustling hall, ability users from the branch office sought to form teams.

However, Mingqian’s mind was already consumed by the prospect of a new simulation; he had no time for their idle chatter.

Without a moment’s delay, he rushed back home at full speed.

What he called home was, in reality, a dilapidated building that appeared on the verge of collapse.

In the vicinity, this building alone boasted the lowest rent.

Its sole drawback was the caveat: ‘occupy at your own risk, life and death are fated, wealth and glory are heaven-sent.’

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Inside the room, a shadow seemed to dart past like a startled rabbit, though Mingqian failed to notice it.

[Next simulation time: Cooling down, 100 days. A primary-grade otherworldly item has been detected. Would you like to replenish it?]

“Yes.”

Mingqian was already impatient.

[Replenishing…]

[Next simulation time: Ready. Primary-grade otherworldly item has been expended.]

A wondrous hue swept away all the weeds.

Almost a month had passed since the last simulation concluded.

Though he hadn’t yet fully integrated the rewards from his first attempt, the item Aile had given him filled him with great confidence.

If he could select a sufficiently powerful talent, he was certain to become a winner in life.

‘The first simulation, looking back, still holds a few regrets.

Many things weren’t done to the best of my ability.

This time, I must truly demonstrate my skills.’

‘I hope this time, the same tragedy won’t unfold again.

I hope this time, it will be a gentle world.’