Metaphysics Master (End) Qin Jingzhou was never particularly fond of teaching others.
Even with the children of this world—whom he already cared for more than expected—he had merely given each of them a small booklet, letting them focus on self-study and personal comprehension.
But when it came to Ling Jing, he was willing to say a little more.
“Demon cores, as far as I know, are still quite rare,” Qin Jingzhou said. “They can be used as external cores, and at critical moments they can even self-detonate—releasing demonic qi in all directions and contaminating cultivators and potential cultivators within several kilometers. That’s why I always thought—” he pointed toward Taixu Sect, currently ‘bathing’ in thunderlight, “—that they valued this demon core highly. That was, until Chairman Xie told me the demonic calamity was approaching. Once the calamity truly arrives, Taixu Sect will be able to mass-produce demon cores.”
Ling Jing felt deeply moved. She had died once in this body, and Ji Qing’s shriek earlier still left her ears ringing, yet her mind remained perfectly clear.
“So the best time to deal with Taixu Sect is right now,” she said. “Even if Ji Qing laid out a mountain of traps there, waiting for you to jump.”
Mr. Li’s body had yet to fully recover, and his condition was even worse than Ling Jing’s.
He slumped onto the ground, the bones in his legs nearly coming apart, staring at the pothos swaying gracefully amid the lightning—
At a complete loss for words.
Everyone else present was fully alive. Though they had also been hit head-on by Ji Qing’s shriek, living people recovered astonishingly fast when nourished by wood-element spiritual energy.
Even so, these well-informed “civil servants” from the Ancient Martial Association and official departments were all staring at the pothos, their faces clearly saying: I don’t understand this, but I am deeply shaken. Seeing this—especially the Jin siblings’ equally puzzled expressions—Ling Jing pressed one hand to her temple and tugged at Qin Jingzhou’s sleeve with the other.
“Boss, explain a bit more?”
Qin Jingzhou answered readily. “Once a golden core forms, you can freely choose whether to trigger a heavenly tribulation or continue… lying low. The intensity of the tribulation depends on accumulated merit. What bad things could a little pothos possibly do? To it, tribulation lightning is no more than a scratch—it can self-heal even if burned. But once a tribulation is triggered, it usually draws the Heavenly Dao’s attention. Taixu Sect is within the tribulation cloud’s range, and just Ji Qing’s act of stealing luck alone is more than enough to bury her. As for why the lightning doesn’t target me as a Golden Core cultivator—”
He pointed at the faint, drifting golden light above his head and smiled without saying another word.
“Ji Qing stole luck to control more puppets, right?” Ling Jing mused. “You don’t have to be a saint, but committing fewer sins definitely helps.”
Qin Jingzhou nodded approvingly. “Exactly.”
Listening to their exchange, then looking at the vibrant pothos and the increasingly silent Taixu Sect beneath the blinding lightning, everyone reached the same conclusion without discussion:
Senior Left didn’t even need to act personally. One Golden Core–level plant alone had brought a millennium-old sect to ruin. We understand now. A quarter of an hour later, the lightning abruptly ceased.
The little pothos vanished along with the tribulation clouds, leaving behind only a short vine with a few leaves.
Tracing the residual qi from the demon core, Qin Jingzhou confirmed that Ji Qing and her most important lover—the strongest Grand Elder of Taixu Sect—had both been reduced to ashes.
Satisfied, he stepped forward, picked up the vine, and said pointedly, “I don’t give final bosses a chance to monologue.”
Then he left with Ling Jing and the children, dumping all the dirty work onto the Association’s “observers.”
…
On the way home, Ling Jing and Jin Ziyun said little, but their moods were clearly lighter. Jin Yuansheng and Gu Yu, however… were both in a daze.
The demonized Jin Yuansheng had never imagined his envisioned “great battle” would end like this. He stiffly turned his head to look at his father.
His father’s shoes were still spotless.
So what exactly had he been struggling for in his previous life?!
As existential crisis crept in again, he also felt a strange relief. Maybe the heavens had pitied his suffering and injustice, letting him experience the joy of effortless victory.
Still… his father had already hit him once. As for his future, he didn’t dare be too optimistic.
Gu Yu sat beside his brother-in-law, equally shaken. Something felt… off. Yet at the same time, there was an indescribable sense of relief.
At least, no one should be able to scheme against him and his luck anymore.
That said, learning he was a Child of Fortune brought him no joy at all. His father-in-law’s household was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, each with extraordinary backgrounds and stories.
He, meanwhile, was just a lucky ordinary man—what use was that in the cultivation world?
Oh, it wasn’t completely useless. To some cultivators, he was basically living Tang Monk meat.
Which was… not something to be proud of at all.
He could barely read his father-in-law’s likes or dislikes. Miss Ji despised him, and his reborn brother-in-law outright disliked him.
A soul-searching question surfaced: Am I… tainted? How am I supposed to face my wife when we get home? …
Back home, both Jin Yuansheng and Gu Yu wore the expressions of frostbitten eggplants, quietly waiting for “fate’s arrangement.”
Jin Ziyun clearly had something on her mind as well. After greeting them, she returned to her room to sort out her thoughts.
Qin Jingzhou spoke with feeling, “At least half of this mission is done.”
Ling Jing replied, “No doubt about it. In the original story, the one who truly ‘ate her fill’ during the demonic calamity would’ve been Ji Qing. Her followers got scraps… as long as you keep the calamity’s scale under control.”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect the demonic calamity to put the Association and other sects on such high alert,” Qin Jingzhou admitted. “To me, rising demonic qi is like a volcanic eruption—just a periodic natural phenomenon. The cultivation world here really lacks R&D.”
Ling Jing was silent for a moment. “Even knowing you have everything under control… you’re really very ‘ordinary.’”
Qin Jingzhou burst out laughing.
…
That evening, Jin Ziyun came alone to knock on his door.
Once inside, she said firmly, “Dad, I want to divorce Gu Yu. This isn’t impulsive—I’ve thought about it for a long time.”
Qin Jingzhou pointed to the sofa across from him. “Take your time.”
Jin Ziyun sat down and sighed. “Yes, we have feelings. But I’ve compromised too much for this relationship. His parents… just thinking about them makes me sick. And Old Master Gu looks down on people, always acting like ‘since you spent Gu family money, behave yourself.’ But before pregnancy, I made over twenty thousand a month! Whether before or after marriage, I never bought anything beyond what my own salary could afford!”
Her eyes reddened. “He suffered too, caught in the middle—but I suffered more. If he hadn’t fallen for that trap this time, maybe I could’ve endured. But now… I don’t want to anymore.”
Being a wealthy family’s daughter-in-law was never easy.
And even if the Gu family had all turned into turtles hiding their heads, the wrongs his daughter suffered couldn’t just be brushed aside.
Qin Jingzhou nodded. “With your dad backing you, my daughter can afford to be willful. Go ahead and get your revenge.”
Jin Ziyun immediately burst into tears. “Who’s being willful!”
With one hand wiping her tears, Qin Jingzhou picked up his phone with the other and summoned Gu Yu.
Gu Yu had been restless. When his father-in-law finally called him in, he knew—
It was over.
His marriage was over.
Though he wanted to beg, to plead, he didn’t dare act out in front of his father-in-law. After all, his father-in-law could make Jin Ziyun ‘temporarily widowed’ instead of divorced.
Red-eyed, he said hoarsely, “Alright. Let’s divorce.”
The next day, they calmly collected their divorce certificates.
Jin Ziyun felt no reluctance at all. Once the shackles were gone, the sky seemed bluer. Looking at Gu Yu’s miserable face no longer angered her.
“So this was my knot.” She advanced a small realm on the spot.
Gu Yu felt even worse.
Though they had a child and couldn’t completely cut ties, it still hurt.
After the divorce, Gu Yu moved out of the courtyard into a luxury residence he’d bought not long ago—two doors down.
Yet he showed up at the flower shop on time every day.
The shop genuinely lacked trustworthy help. Jin Ziyun didn’t drive him away, and Gu Yu stayed on, continuing to work there—
Unpaid.
Qin Jingzhou said nothing about his daughter’s love life.
As for Jin Yuansheng—both versions of him—no matter what they were thinking, they were unanimously pleased with their sister’s divorce.
Ling Jing coldly watched the drama unfold for several days before finally drifting over to Gu Yu.
“You’re actually not too bad,” she said seriously. “The other Child of Fortune, Su Weiwei, nearly had all her luck drained by her mother Ji Qing. Chao Lan truly loved Su Weiwei—he even shared his remaining luck with her. Otherwise, she might’ve tripped on flat ground and ended up a vegetable.”
Gu Yu covered his forehead. “If I hadn’t tried to rush merit, hadn’t responded to Yunyun’s mother… would all this have happened?”
Ling Jing replied, “No.” Then she added kindly, “Su Weiwei, Chao Lan, Yunyun’s mother, and Yunyun’s stepfather are all under focused observation at the Association.”
Gu Yu exhaled slowly. “Except for Yunyun’s mother, the others probably won’t get out within ten years.”
“To be safe, yes,” Ling Jing said pointedly. “With the demonic calamity coming, work harder. Even if you can’t salvage the marriage, you can still see Yunyun often.”
Gu Yu nodded heavily. “I know.”
As Ling Jing turned away, her system spoke up. “Rewards refreshed!” She rushed over to Qin Jingzhou, who was sunbathing in the courtyard. “Making the protagonists turn over a new leaf really does give bonus rewards! This one was a free win—Boss, I’ll give you two-thirds of the reward!”
Qin Jingzhou smiled. “Keep it.”
“You don’t need cultivation resources?”
Qin Jingzhou replied seriously, “What I lack isn’t one or two pieces.”
Ling Jing: …
…
The Association took eighty percent of Taixu Sect’s assets, then classified them and sent eighty percent of that to Qin Jingzhou.
The Association handled things beautifully.
Qin Jingzhou made a statement: “Any cultivator contaminated by demonic qi can be sent here. Guaranteed cure—but not free.”
Chairman Xie immediately broke into a wrinkled grin. “That’s exactly what we were waiting for!”
Five days later, the flower shop received its first severely demonic patient—
Mr. Li’s master, the Association’s number-one sword cultivator.
Since he was a familiar face Qin Jingzhou liked, he had the children move a pile of spirit plants around the patient, forming a full circle.
The sword cultivator, face iron-blue and barely breathing, lay amid flowers and grass.
Even cultivators who didn’t care much about appearances made Chairman Xie choke up. Hang a portrait and it’d look like a memorial service. While he and his confidants silently complained, the sword cultivator suddenly sat straight up, scanned his surroundings, and checked his dantian.
“Huh? Where’d the demonic qi go?”
Qin Jingzhou stepped forward, dragged him aside, and said to the wide-eyed Chairman Xie, “Next.”
Ling Jing burst out laughing. “This… can really be done assembly-line style?”
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