69: The original owner was killed by 10 simp girls.

The Original Owner, Qin Jiuge, was a man of unyielding pride his entire life. As the head of the Qin Family, a cultivation sect with a Legacy spanning ten thousand years,

his cultivation had already reached the Half-step Ascending Immortal realm. Holding the Family's heavy treasures, he commanded awe from all directions.

Who could have known that the Heavenly Dao would play such a cruel joke? The ten children he had exhausted his heart and soul to raise had each become a complete and utter simp.

The eldest son, Qin Poyue, was supposed to be the Family heir,

but during a Secret Realm trial, he fell into danger and was 'accidentally' saved by the passing Ye Linger.

From then on, his Family no longer existed in his eyes; there was only that figure fluttering in white.

"Father, Miss Ye said she's encountered a Bottleneck in her cultivation and needs your 'dragon marrow golden elixir'—the Family treasure that can extend one's life by three thousand years."

"I know this is what you're relying on for Undergoing Tribulation, but Linger said that as long as I give it to her, she'll consider traveling through Jiangnan with me for three days!"

The eldest daughter, Qin Qingyue, was born with an Ice Phoenix Bloodline, yet she was infatuated by Xiao Fan's single sentence: "Your eyes are truly beautiful."

"Dad, Brother Xiao Fan is practicing an Ancient Ocular Technique. He's just one pair of 'Nine Heavens Divine Eyes' away from Major Achievement."

"You've used those Divine Eyes of yours for several hundred years anyway, why not transplant them to him?"

"He said that as long as I help him get them, he'll allow me to stand by his side and watch him practice his sword..."

The second son, Qin Duanhai, was a sword Dao Genius who had comprehended a Sword Intent Domain by the age of sixteen.

With one sentence from Ye Linger—"Your Sword Bone is truly special"—he became unable to sleep day or night.

"Father, Linger needs a Supreme Sword Bone to reshape her Foundation."

"I am your son, and my Sword Bone comes from your Bloodline. You must have a way to condense another one, right?"

"If you refuse, I will dig out my own Sword Bone for her—it's just that if I do, you'll have one less son."

The second daughter, Qin Shuanghua, was proficient in Formations and Talismans, yet she was "conveniently" saved by Xiao Fan during a demon-slaying mission.

"Dad, Xiao Fan said he's refining his Lifebound Treasure, the 'Chaos Bell,' and is missing our Family's 'Primal Genesis' to serve as the artifact spirit's core."

"That is the Foundation of the Mountain-protecting Formation... but Xiao Fan said that once he becomes number one in the world, he will marry me as a concubine!"

The third son, Qin Fentian, controlled the Family's divine fire, yet he regarded Ye Linger as the cinnabar mole on his heart.

"Father, Linger said the cold poison in her body is acting up and she needs a permanent seed of the 'Vermilion Bird Heart Flame'."

"I know this flame seed is linked to your life, and giving away half will cause your cultivation to regress and your Lifespan to be halved... but Linger is in pain!"

"She shed a single tear from the pain, and my heart felt like it was being cut by a knife!"

The third daughter, Qin Yurou, was born with a Medicine Spirit Body and could identify ten thousand herbs, yet she brewed tea for Xiao Fan for three years.

"Dad, Brother Xiao Fan needs a 'Ten Thousand Medicine Spiritual Root' as a medicinal catalyst to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Can you pull out my Spiritual Root and give it to him?"

"Even though I'll become a useless person, he said he'll remember my kindness for a lifetime..."

The fourth son, Qin Zhenyuan, possessed an unparalleled physique and had cultivated the Family's Body Refining secret method to the ninth level.

With one sentence from Ye Linger—"Your blood Qi is truly vigorous"—he became unable to sleep all night.

"Father, Linger said her Revered Master suffered a Dao injury and needs a hundred drops of essence blood from an 'Immortal Golden Body'."

"Each drop will consume ten years of your hard Cultivation... but Linger said this is a test of filial piety. If I'm sincere, I should help her."

The fourth daughter, Qin Xueluo, was a musical Genius whose melodies could draw a hundred birds to a Phoenix.

With one sentence from Xiao Fan—"Your zither music reminds me of home"—she thought she had found a soulmate.

"Dad, Xiao Fan needs the 'Heavenly Melody Zither Heart' to Cultivate a sound-killing Divine Ability."

"The Zither Heart is inside my body, but it originates even more from your Bloodline Legacy... can you help me strip it out?"

"He promised that on the day he succeeds, he will play a solo piece just for me."

The fifth son, Qin Jingyun, was a lightning Spiritual Root Genius who had summoned the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning at the age of twenty.

With one sentence from Ye Linger—"Your lightning is truly beautiful"—he wished he could rip open his own chest.

"Father, Linger said she needs the 'Lightning Tribulation Origin' for Body Tempering."

"I know that's the life-saving item you fought to collect during your tribulation... but she said it's her final wish..."

The fifth daughter, Qin Mengdie, was well-versed in ancient and modern secrets, earning her the reputation of a "walking library."

With one sentence from Xiao Fan—"You truly understand me"—she lost herself.

"Dad, Xiao Fan needs the Complete Manual of the 'Qin Family Primordial Secret Scripture,' including the Family's forbidden techniques..."

"I know that's the Foundation of the Qin Family's existence and leaking it would cause a backlash from the entire clan... but Xiao Fan isn't an outsider!"

"He said that once he understands the mysteries, he'll take me to look down upon the mountains and rivers of this mortal world."

The simps gnawed at his bones; Family affection was completely lost.

Ten children, ten demands, each one aimed directly at Qin Jiuge's lifeblood and Foundation.

In the beginning, Qin Jiuge still tried to convince them with reason and move them with emotion.

He held Family meetings to tell them of the hardships their ancestors faced in founding the clan; he held private talks to recall the joy of his children playing at his knees when they were young.

But the reason a simp is a simp is that only that one person's figure remains in their heart.

"Father, you are too selfish!"

The eldest daughter, Qin Qingyue, said with teary eyes,

"Brother Xiao Fan is the one destined by heaven. The Divine Eyes can only reach their maximum value on him!"

"Dad, you keep saying you love us, yet you're unwilling to give even this little bit?"

The second son, Qin Duanhai, sneered,

"Linger is my destiny. The Family? It's nothing more than a shackle binding me!"

Qin Jiuge's heart was as cold as iron, yet he still held a sliver of hope—perhaps the children were just temporarily confused.

He gritted his teeth and gave the dragon marrow golden elixir, shared the Vermilion Bird Heart Flame, and offered the Lightning Tribulation Origin... every sacrifice was a heart-wrenching pain. His cultivation fell from Half-step Ascending Immortal to Soul Transformation, and then further down to Golden Core.

Meanwhile, Ye Linger and Xiao Fan grew rapidly through these continuous "gifts."

On that day, Xiao Fan and Ye Linger arrived hand-in-hand, followed by the ten sons and daughters of the Qin Family.

"Family Head Qin," Xiao Fan said with a gentle smile, "thank you for your 'nurturing' all these years."

"Today, I've come to take the final item—your Immortal Origin Dao Foundation."

Ye Linger leaned against Xiao Fan's side, smiling sweetly:

"Uncle Qin, your lamp has run out of oil. Why not just fulfill our wishes?"

"Look, your children have all agreed."

Qin Jiuge slowly raised his head and looked at the ten children he had painstakingly raised.

Some of them lowered their heads in silence, some had flickering gazes, but even more showed urgency and pressure—

"Dad, just give it! Once Brother Xiao Fan becomes an Immortal Venerable, our Qin Family will also benefit!"

"Father, Linger promised me that as long as you offer up your Dao Foundation, she'll let me stay by her side forever!"

Qin Jiuge suddenly laughed, laughing until he cried tears of blood.

Ten thousand years of cultivation, a thousand years of Legacy, and he had actually raised ten wolves that would devour their own kin.

That battle had no suspense.

The exhausted Qin Jiuge was easily suppressed by Xiao Fan. His Immortal Origin was extracted, his Dao Foundation was seized,

and his Divine Soul was refined into a Soul Lamp, burning day and night just to light up Xiao Fan's cultivation chamber.

Before he died, he heard his children's cheers:

"Brother Xiao Fan succeeded! He's going to marry me as a concubine!"—it was Qin Shuanghua's voice.

"Linger smiled at me! She touched my face!"—it was Qin Fentian's madness.

A hundred years later.

Xiao Fan and Ye Linger became Dao Companions, ruling over the eight directions and becoming the strongest on the continent.

In their legends, the ten children of the Qin Family became heroes who "had an eye for talent" and models of "sacrificing for love."

Only occasionally, when Xiao Fan toyed with those Nine Heavens Divine Eyes, would he say with a light laugh to Ye Linger in his arms:

"That old thing's bones were truly hard."

Ye Linger, toying with a hairpin carved from the Supreme Sword Bone, smiled radiantly:

"No matter how hard the bones are, so what? Fortunately, we had these ten sensible brothers and sisters..."

As for those ten "simps" of the Qin Family, some became the most loyal dogs under Xiao Fan's command, while others became the most humble maidservants by Ye Linger's side.

They often gathered together to reminisce about how they had "persuaded" their father, their voices full of pride.

Only in the dead of night did no one see the hollow emptiness that flashed in their eyes—as if something more important than life itself had been hollowed out.

Perhaps that thing was called a conscience.

Perhaps, in the end, a simp truly ends up with nothing—except for their self-righteous "love."

And Qin Jiuge's Soul Lamp was still in the corner of that secret room, burning quietly... [Plot introduction complete]

"Interesting. Let's get started quickly."

...Qin Jiuge suddenly snapped his eyes open.

At this moment, he was sitting upright in the Qin Family's ancestral hall, and kneeling before him were those ten "filial" children.

The timeline was exactly at the moment when the eldest son, Qin Poyue, spoke up to demand the "dragon marrow golden elixir."

"Father, Miss Ye said she's encountered a Bottleneck in her cultivation and needs your 'dragon marrow golden elixir',"

Qin Poyue knelt straight, his eyes showing not a hint of guilt, only a nauseating kind of "infatuation."

"The very Family treasure that can extend one's life by three thousand years."

"I know this is what you're relying on for Undergoing Tribulation, but Linger said that as long as I give it to her, she'll consider traveling through Jiangnan with me for three days!"

Qin Jiuge did not respond immediately.

He slowly scanned the ten people below the hall.

Qin Qingyue, Qin Duanhai, Qin Shuanghua, Qin Fentian, Qin Yurou, Qin Zhenyuan, Qin Xueluo, Qin Jingyun, Qin Mengdie...

Each of their eyes flickered with a similar madness, the kind of madness that would sell out everything and betray everything for so-called "love."

Memories were merging.

The Original Owner's pain, despair, and confusion surged in like a tide.

His cultivation at the Half-step Ascending Immortal realm had already fallen to the Peak of Undergoing Tribulation because of his repeated sacrifices.

"Poyue,"

Qin Jiuge spoke slowly, his voice terrifyingly calm,

"Do you know what the dragon marrow golden elixir signifies?"

Qin Poyue was taken aback:

"Your son naturally knows. It is what Father relies on for Undergoing Tribulation and is a Family treasure."

"No,"

Qin Jiuge interrupted him,

"You don't know."

He stood up and walked down the steps one by one.

With every step, the aura on his body shifted slightly.

The originally gentle immortal Qi was gradually replaced by an indescribably overbearing pressure.

"That is the dragon pith your great-grandfather fought an ancient true dragon for on the Immortal-Slaying Battlefield, exchanged for his life. It was then nurtured for a thousand years by your grandfather with his lifelong cultivation."

"Of the seven generations of Qin Family ancestors, four fell while protecting this core."

"When you were three years old, you were ambushed by an evil cultivator and your Divine Soul was shattered. It was I who took out one-tenth of the dragon pith,"

"and reshaped your soul at the cost of a hundred years of cultivation—have you forgotten all this?"

Qin Poyue's expression changed slightly, but the obsession in his eyes did not diminish:

"Father, the past is the past."

"Now that Linger needs it, this is the best destination for this core!"

"She is the Chosen Daughter, destined to reach the absolute Peak..."

"Chosen Daughter?"

Qin Jiuge laughed, a laugh that caused the temperature of the entire ancestral hall to plummet.

"Good, very good."

He turned around, his gaze like a blade, sweeping over his ten children.

"You all gathered here today to demand things for that man and woman, is that right?"

The ten of them looked at each other, and finally, Qin Qingyue gritted her teeth and spoke:

"Dad, Brother Xiao Fan said that as long as we help him gather the items he needs, he will protect the Qin Family for ten thousand years after he becomes an Immortal Venerable!"

"Protect the Qin Family?"

Qin Jiuge felt as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

"Using my Qin Family's flesh and blood to protect the Qin Family?"

He suddenly raised his hand.

A barrier as black as ink instantly enveloped the entire Qin Family ancestral land.

"Since you all want to be simps so badly, then today, this seat will let you simp to your heart's content."

...As Qin Jiuge's voice fell, a series of light footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

A woman in white drifted in.

Ye Linger.

She had a face that could topple kingdoms, eyes shimmering like water, and a graceful figure. Every step she took seemed to tread upon lotus flowers.

That pure, weak, and protective aura could drive any man to madness.

"Uncle Qin,"

She bowed gracefully, her voice soft and sweet,

"Linger took the liberty of visiting, I hope you can forgive me."