77: Dream, Man

"Master... Master..."

Ling'er's voice echoed repeatedly in Qin Shou's mind. Qin Shou didn't know how long he had been unconscious, only that he had a very long dream, a dream that lasted an entire lifetime.

In the dream, he seemed to have returned to his miserable life as a corporate slave, with no rebirth, no system, and no beautiful women like Yan Yourong, Ren Jing, or Xu Nanqin revolving around him.

There was only endless pressure to marry, blind dates, overtime, and then, in his forties, his body broke down from years of grueling overtime. He was fired from his company, hospitalized, and lay in a ward. Beside his bed were his parents, whose hair had long since turned white, wailing in heartbreaking grief.

It was a long, painful, and unremarkable life, until the very end, achieving nothing, watching his dearest and most loved ones in agonizing sorrow, yet powerless to help. That deep sense of powerlessness felt like a colossal mountain pressing on his heart, making it impossible for him to breathe.

He was angry, he was in pain, he was unwilling. He questioned what all of this was for. Why did he have to experience such a life? Why couldn't he live a bit more freely, a bit more comfortably? Why was his life so much of a failure, so despair-inducing?

Just as Qin Shou's unwillingness reached its peak, everything disappeared. The hospital ward vanished, his parents crying by the bed disappeared, and everything turned into nothingness.

And in this nothingness, a figure emanating golden light slowly walked towards him.

The light from this figure was too dazzling; Qin Shou couldn't see his face, but he could confirm that this was a man, an extremely handsome, extremely powerful man.

"Are you unwilling?" the man asked, his voice deep and magnetic, carrying a power that shook the heart.

"Yes, I am unwilling. What is all of this for?"

"This is life!" the man replied indifferently, with a hint of mockery in his tone.

Qin Shou could feel that the man wasn't mocking him, but rather all living beings under heaven.

"Life shouldn't be like this!" Qin Shou retorted with indignation.

"Heh heh, shouldn't be like this? Then how do you think it should be? This is the destiny of ants."

The man sneered, glancing at Qin Shou with a lofty gaze. All beings, in his eyes, were merely ants.

"I refuse, I don't accept it!" Qin Shou roared hoarsely.

"Then what do you want? Do you want to live more freely, more comfortably, more unrestrainedly? Is that it?"

The voice seemed to be intentionally guiding Qin Shou, with a hint of temptation in his words.

"Exactly, I don't want a life like this, to be a beast of burden and die in pain at the end."

Qin Shou answered without hesitation.

"Heh heh, then do you want to start over?" the man asked with a smile, a hint of playfulness in his tone.

"Yes, of course, I do!" Qin Shou replied without the slightest hesitation. He wanted to go back; he wanted to change his life.

"Very good! I will send you back, but you must remember, only the strong are qualified to choose their destiny." The man nodded in satisfaction.

"How do I become strong?" Qin Shou asked eagerly.

"How to become strong! Good question. Trample the Heavenly Dao underfoot, transcend the Three Realms, live freely and unrestrainedly. Mortals are all playthings of the Heavenly Dao, and you, you must be your own master."

The man stood with his hands behind his back, his tone carrying an arrogance that suggested he was supreme, above heaven and earth.

"But how can I trample the Heavenly Dao underfoot? I can't even ensure my dearest ones have happy later years." Thinking of his parents' heartbroken appearance by the bed in the illusion just now, Qin Shou couldn't help but look dejected.

"I have already left you my best inheritance. Follow its guidance, and you will naturally find the path to becoming strong," the man said indifferently.

"Why did you choose me?"

Qin Shou now remembered that before the painful life he had just experienced, he seemed to have had another life, a life where he had a system that helped him defy fate and change his destiny.

What was the best inheritance? Qin Shou immediately thought of the system, so he instantly guessed that this man might be the one who gave him the system.

"Why choose you? Heh heh, because you are like me! Alright, it's time for you to go back."

As soon as the man finished speaking, Qin Shou felt a powerful force envelop him. His consciousness began to blur, and the world of nothingness before him instantly disintegrated.

The next moment, Qin Shou felt drops of warm liquid slowly fall onto his cheek, carrying a faint sweet, metallic scent. Qin Shou struggled, and in a daze, finally opened his eyes.

However, as soon as Qin Shou opened his eyes, he saw a gaping maw, filled with sharp fangs, its ferocious mouth wide open, biting down towards him!

A foul, fishy smell assaulted him. Qin Shou's hair instantly stood on end. Startled, his adrenaline surged. In the nick of time, just as the gaping maw was about to bite down, he instinctively grabbed the wolf's neck! His hand was like an iron clamp, tightly gripping the wolf's throat, giving it no chance to resist.

"Awoo!"

The wild wolf let out a wail, struggling desperately, but Qin Shou was incredibly strong at this moment. It couldn't budge him even an inch. Then, Qin Shou exerted force, twisting his wrist. With a crisp 'crack' sound, the wild wolf's neck was snapped directly by him!

"Hoo..."

Qin Shou let out a long breath, leaning against the stone wall behind him. He looked down at the dead wild wolf in his hand, his heart filled with doubt.

"Strange, wasn't I injured? Why do I feel perfectly fine now?"

After killing the wild wolf, Qin Shou immediately discovered that all his injuries seemed to have healed! The places where he had been bitten by the demonic corpse now showed no trace of a scar; his skin was smooth as new, as if he had never been injured.

Not only that, Qin Shou felt as if he had endless strength at the moment. His body was as light as a feather, and his True Qi was abundant, surging endlessly through his meridians. This was clearly not the feeling of Yellow Rank Initial Stage he had before.

"Congratulations, Master, you have broken through! Master is now at the Yellow Rank Peak Great Completion stage, just a step away from breaking through to Xuan Rank Initial Stage!"

Ling'er's voice echoed in his mind again, filled with joy.

"Yellow Rank Peak Great Completion? How is this possible? I didn't do anything, did I?" Qin Shou was full of questions. He clearly remembered that before he fell unconscious again, he was on the verge of death. How did he inexplicably break through?

Ling'er smiled sweetly and said, "Hehe, Master has turned misfortune into a blessing this time. It's always the demonic corpse that absorbs human essence blood, but Master was so bold as to do the opposite and absorb the demonic corpse's essence blood instead.

Demonic corpses are originally formed from human essence blood, and all their power is contained within their blood. After Master consumed it, it naturally provided a great boost, many times more effective than ordinary spirit elixirs."