Chapter 333- Cultured Villain vs. Humanoid Weapon (38)
Mu Jin was shocked by Qian Chen’s words but understood that they were not exaggerations. The small worlds were fraught with dangers, and traversing between dimensions could easily damage the divine soul.
When Mu Jin arrived in this world, Qiong Qi’s soul was already damaged.
He had always thought himself fortunate to have reached his lover just before his soul dissipated, allowing him to protect the one he cherished. But after hearing Qian Chen’s explanation, Mu Jin realized that if it weren’t for Ying, his lover would have long since perished in these worlds.
This revelation left Mu Jin with complicated feelings toward Ying. While he still felt wary, the hostility he once held was no longer as strong.
Moreover, another realization struck him: the reason Qian Chen was willing to explain all this must be because he needed Mu Jin’s help. Whatever it was, it was likely something even Qian Chen couldn’t accomplish on his own.
This was likely why such a powerful being was speaking so amicably to him and even revealing his and Ying’s identities as a gesture of sincerity.
Mu Jin’s suspicion was accurate. Qian Chen indeed needed his help. However, it wasn’t so much Mu Jin himself that he valued, but rather the system, 003, residing in Mu Jin’s sea of consciousness, as well as Tenggen and Qiongqi, who were particularly adept at dealing with malicious intent and phenomena like ghostly plagues.
Now, Qian Chen’s beloved had been taken advantage of due to his own momentary carelessness. That scoundrel Qian Sha had found an opening.
Qian Sha was born from the energies of these small worlds. Many who entered the worlds for tribulation failed and perished, leaving behind deep resentment. While resentment dissipates easily, malice and killing intent linger far longer.
Qian Sha was a manifestation of this concentrated malice. He had been suppressed by Qian Chen for millennia, quietly biding his time. Qian Chen had grown complacent, and this lapse allowed Qian Sha to ensnare Ying.
Unfortunately, no matter how powerful he was, Qian Chen found himself constrained when dealing with Qian Sha, who was born from and shared the same source of energy as these small worlds.
If he truly went all out, risking mutual destruction, it wouldn’t be impossible to kill Qian Sha. However, Ying, who had already been influenced by Qian Sha, would inevitably be harmed in the process. That was something Qian Chen could never accept—he wouldn’t allow his beloved to suffer even the slightest injury.
As long as Ying could remain safe and sound, Qian Chen had no reservations about working with others. After all, he was confident that Ying’s heart now belonged solely to him.
Reflecting on the previous dimension, where he and Ying had come to know and love each other, and in this world, where Ying had so easily accepted his closeness, allowing Qian Chen to take full advantage, his annoyance with Mu Jin had diminished considerably.
The emotions buried within their original divine souls, stripped of memory upon entering these worlds, had become harder to conceal. Seeing Ying’s reactions toward him in these two worlds brought Qian Chen immense joy.
However, Ying himself hadn’t realized this yet. In the past, while residing within Qiong Qi’s body, Ying had been influenced by Qiong Qi’s overwhelming love and longing for Mu Jin. This left Ying with a lingering attachment toward Mu Jin, albeit one rooted more in confusion than clarity.
Qian Chen understood this dynamic well. Ying’s so-called obsession with Mu Jin was less about Mu Jin as an individual and more about the idea of having a true, mutually devoted companion.
Ying had always envied the bond between Mu Jin and Qiong Qi. When his consciousness first began to awaken, Qiong Qi’s suppressed yet intense emotions for Mu Jin had subtly affected Ying. This influence misled Ying into believing that he, too, harbored feelings for Mu Jin.
Later, after entering the myriad small worlds, Ying finally absorbed enough energy to separate himself from Qiong Qi’s body. It was then that his fixation on making Mu Jin his partner took root, leading him to commit countless foolish acts in pursuit of that goal.
The things Ying did seemed somewhat foolish to Qian Chen, but he liked Ying precisely because of his naive nature. Although Qian Chen found it somewhat troublesome that Ying couldn’t fully understand his own feelings, he still liked him—more and more, in fact.
Moreover, by now, Qian Chen was convinced that the one Ying truly cared for was undoubtedly him.
He had been alone for far too long, and life in the present world had become boring to him. That was why he had taken the initiative to manage these small worlds.
The stories in these dimensions were endless, and at first, Qian Chen found them somewhat interesting. But after a while, the repetitive nature of them left him feeling indifferent.
It was only when immortals, demons, or monks entered these worlds as part of their trials, creating deviations in the stories, that his interest would briefly be piqued. However, most of the time, he simply observed the beginning of these events and lost interest soon after.
Most people who entered these worlds would lose themselves and be unable to break through their own inner demons. As a result, their divine souls slowly faded and dissipated within these worlds.
But none of this concerned him. Everyone had their own choices to make, and they had to face the consequences of those choices.
In Qian Chen’s eyes, while many people admired the immortals who had transcended the mortal world, he found such transcendent immortals to be rather uninteresting.
Qian Chen’s thoughts were often quite simple. He had been born in the primordial immortal realm, in this world, and countless millennia ago, he had already existed.
However, when others are wielding swords and making bold moves, he prefers to be an onlooker. He enjoys going with the flow and living a carefree life. Although he is powerful, he values freedom even more.
Later on, people started calling him a god, an immortal. He didn’t mind. He never felt the need to conform to any expectations. Some might even think that Qian Chen was like a practitioner of demonic cultivation, following his heart too much.
But Qian Chen didn’t care. To him, it didn’t matter what one practiced. In the end, it all came down to strength. As long as you were powerful enough, no one would care what path you followed, and no one could interfere. He saw through many things.
Yet, even someone like him still felt lonely. So, when Qiong Qi entered these small worlds to undergo his trials, Qian Chen, out of boredom, began to pay more attention to him.
Qiong Qi was a friend of Chong Hua, and he and Chong Hua had some past interactions. However, when Yao Chonghua asked him to look after Qiong Qi, he had declined.
To Qian Chen, the idea of undergoing trials and perishing was nothing unusual. If Qiong Qi could overcome the dangers and survive these countless small worlds, he would undoubtedly grow stronger.
The greater the opportunity, the greater the risk. To gain something, one must make a sacrifice.
The most likely outcome in these small worlds, one after another, was for one’s divine soul to be completely extinguished in this world.
This was inherently a life-and-death matter. Since Qiong Qi had decided to go down this path on his own, Qian Chen didn’t feel that he had any responsibility to look after him more than necessary.
But who would have known that one day, a pure energy would split from Qiong Qi’s body, and its color was a brilliant red.
Qian Chen also had his own external space, which was likely related to his power. Year after year, it remained a vast white expanse.
Though he could see the scenery of these small worlds, as the main god, he would not immerse himself in them. So, when the red energy from Ying (Shadow) attempted to break free from Qiong Qi’s body and appeared before him, Qian Chen was stunned. From his perspective, the energy was both dazzling and beautiful.
Moreover, this sudden turn of events piqued his interest. Unconsciously, he began to pay more attention to Qiong Qi and Ying.
He quickly understood that this energy wanted to separate from Qiong Qi’s body.
Although it was born from malicious thoughts that gained its own intelligence, this Ying didn’t seem to cause harm in these small worlds. It appeared that all it wanted was to absorb the energy from Qiong Qi’s body and seize the world’s fortune for itself, to become completely independent.
Perhaps having been bored for too long, Qian Chen even consciously sent out a sliver of divine sense to quietly assist Ying. And this little creature, just as he had imagined, proved to be quite a handful.
65After Ying felt that he had finally separated and taken a portion of Qiong Qi’s energy, he entered the next small world and began tentatively trying to seize control of the Heavenly Dao’s dominion over the small world.
If someone else had done this, Qian Chen might have thought them insatiable. However, when he saw Ying take control and realize that his actions were driven only by the desire for a companion, for a relationship, Qian Chen found it unexpectedly endearing. He couldn’t help but think, ‘What a little fellow with no ambition,’ but at the same time, he found himself paying more and more attention to him.
Initially, he had merely been bored and took an interest in this little thing, but the more he focused on it, the harder it became to let go.
Until one day, when Ying was about to leave the small world, Qian Chen grabbed him in his hand. He suddenly realized that keeping this beautiful little creature as a pet to accompany him didn’t sound so bad. He didn’t want to be alone anymore.
Managing these small worlds alone had been incredibly lonely, and he was tired of it. He wanted someone to keep him company, and this little fellow in front of him seemed like the perfect fit.
He even promised Ying that he would give him immense power and eternal life, as long as he agreed to stay and accompany him. He would also let Ying travel between these worlds and play, since he was his pet and Qian Chen would surely take care of him.
But who would have thought that this little guy, without a word, slipped away when Qian Chen wasn’t paying attention.