“Bai Yang, you’ve got some nerve! Do you even consider me, the head of this family, at all?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Bai Feng felt a blur in front of him. By the time he regained his senses, he found himself in the embrace of a stern-looking man.

This man was none other than Bai Feng’s father, Bai Tianyou.

‘Phew, looks like I wasn’t wrong.’

Bai Feng felt a wave of relief wash over him; with his father here, Bai Yumo should be safe.

“Head of the family? You think you can just disregard me for the sake of an outsider?” Uncle Wu’s face showed no fear; he even raised his head and shouted at Bai Tianyou.

“Disregard you? It seems you’ve forgotten my reputation since I haven’t taken action in a while!” Bai Tianyou set Bai Feng down.

In the next moment, he struck out. Uncle Wu tried to resist, but he couldn’t withstand even a single move and collapsed into unconsciousness.

“Feng’er, wait here. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, Bai Tianyou dashed toward the dilapidated house, followed by the sounds of shouting and fighting.

Bai Feng instinctively shrank his neck. Although his father rarely got angry, each time he did, it was terrifying.

A few minutes later, Bai Tianyou emerged, carrying the already unconscious Bai Yumo, but his face bore signs of weariness.

“Let’s go.”

“Is Yumo alright?”

He reached out toward the unconscious Bai Yumo, but in the next moment, she suddenly awoke, her eyes filled with fear and wariness as she looked at him.

Bai Feng halted his outstretched hand and slowly lowered it. He sighed inwardly; after this incident, a sad and thick barrier had formed between them.

She was no longer the little girl who followed him around calling him “brother.”

Even though he was unaware of the full extent of the situation, he was still the beneficiary of it. Moreover, he had delayed time chatting with Uncle Wu, and she might have overheard their conversation. From now on, suspicion and doubt would become a thorn in their relationship, occasionally pricking at them and causing discomfort.

Forget it; he had already bound himself to the villain system, so it was better to keep his distance from the child of destiny.

...

Years had passed since the bone extraction incident. Bai Feng sat in a chair, holding a custom-made pencil, continuously doodling on a piece of paper.

The impact of the bone extraction was greater than he had imagined. The Third and Fourth Elders, who had participated in the matter, were stripped of their positions and sent to the back mountain to “retire,” and his mother was no exception.

His relationship with his sister, Bai Yumo, had also grown distant. Over the years, she had joined the Tianjian Sect for training, and they barely saw each other once a year. However, she didn’t seem to resent him for the bone extraction incident, which was good news.

He hadn’t faced any repercussions from the bone extraction; even if there were, his father had suppressed them.

In these years, he had mostly traveled to various cities for “leisure,” increasingly grateful that he hadn’t acted against the child of destiny.

Although there weren’t enough children of destiny to assign one to every city, there were certainly quite a few. Especially when passing by certain sects, he had discovered four children of destiny.

What on earth was going on in this world? Was the Heavenly Dao born from a pig? How could there be so many children of destiny?

After several trips, he had to confront this issue seriously.

Even though his luck value wasn’t high enough to provoke the hostility of the children of destiny, he did possess a villain system. Who knew when a bored child of destiny might come looking for trouble?

He decided to avoid sects for now, and he certainly wouldn’t touch any literary works like novels or poetry, to prevent a chance encounter with a child of destiny. Visiting brothels to listen to music...

Cough, going once in a while was fine, as long as he didn’t tip the main performer or anything, he wouldn’t have to worry about being targeted by a child of destiny.

Thus, after considering various factors, he found a field that children of destiny wouldn’t venture into—drawing erotic art!

He picked up his old profession and had now become a well-known painter in Qinghong City (in the inner realm), using the pen name Chunqiu, known as Master Chunqiu.

Surely, no child of destiny would be drawing erotic art, right?

---

**Chapter 2: The Child of Destiny, Saved by Chunqiu**

Outside a small shop, a figure clad in a black cloak and a black mask, revealing only a pair of eyes, stood waiting.

If he were to remove the mask, people would recognize him as Lin Yan, the once-disgraced genius of the Lin family who had lost his cultivation but was now rising again.

At this moment, he was excitedly waiting for the bookstore to open. He wasn’t worried that his outfit would attract attention, as many around him were dressed similarly.

In fact, this had become their signature look—the fan support attire for Master Chunqiu.

“Master Chunqiu’s new book is finally being released! I’ve been waiting for this day forever; I didn’t even dare to go to the bathroom!”

“Yeah, yeah! Every night, I have to keep my hands outside the blanket while sleeping!”

“Having Master Chunqiu in Qinghong City is truly a blessing for us!”

“Absolutely! Every time I revisit Master Chunqiu’s art, I feel something new. Even though nothing is revealed, it’s still incredibly enticing! It’s completely different from those flashy, gaudy works!”

While waiting for the bookstore to open, several figures in black gathered to discuss, and Lin Yan nodded in agreement.

He couldn’t help but recall the day he first encountered Master Chunqiu’s work:

After his cultivation regressed, his fiancée had seized the opportunity to come and call off their engagement. Filled with rage, he had made a three-year pact, but deep down, he knew he would undoubtedly lose three years later.

That day, he was aimlessly wandering and stumbled into a bookstore, where he saw several people wrapped up tightly buying a book. Seemingly noticing his disheveled appearance, one of them bought an extra copy and handed it to him.

“Brother, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but there’s no obstacle in life that can’t be overcome. If you’re really tired, take a look at this; sometimes, you just need to indulge a little!”

With that, the group of tightly wrapped figures left.

Lin Yan looked down at the book thrust into his arms. The cover had nothing on it, just the words “Chunqiu” written on it.

He opened it and immediately widened his eyes.

“What... this is so disgraceful...”

He quickly closed the book, his face flushed, and raised it as if to throw it away.

But in the end, he retracted his arm. He didn’t even know why he felt compelled to tuck the book into his arms and take it home.

He intended to hide the book in a discreet place and never open it again, but the images within lingered in his mind. Compelled by some strange force, he took out the book and began to flip through it.

Ah, this shape, ah, this shadow—it looked so real, yet different from reality, possessing a unique beauty.

For a moment, Lin Yan couldn’t find the words to describe it. All he could think of was two words—art!

In this world that valued meaning over form, Bai Feng’s sketches were like firecrackers stuck in cow dung, delivering a shocking artistic experience to the people of this world.

Lin Yan had seen such books before; he had stumbled upon several in his father’s room as a child, but none compared to this one in terms of refinement. Compared to this book, his father’s collection was nothing but trash!

After reading it, he couldn’t calm his heart for a long time. Before dawn the next day, he rushed to the bookstore.

Since then, he had developed a new hobby and once again felt hopeful about the future.

Faced with the mockery of others and his stagnant cultivation, he rarely felt anger or resentment anymore. He still wanted to enjoy Master Chunqiu’s art; how could he let such minor setbacks defeat him?

He loved a quote from an interview with Master Chunqiu—“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”

Although that interview was about the time his books were banned, forcing him to change his pen name, Lin Yan felt this quote applied perfectly to him. A bit narcissistically, it seemed tailor-made for him.

Thanks to Master Chunqiu’s work, he had emerged from that low point in his life.

“The door’s open! Everyone, charge in!!”

A shout from the crowd jolted Lin Yan from his memories. He quickly lifted his head, his swift movements through the crowd resembling a slippery eel, and in the blink of an eye, he was at the front.

“The signed edition of Master Chunqiu’s new book is mine!”

“Damn it, I’m a step too late!”

“Next time, I’ll learn a better technique and see who dares to compete with me!”

“Friend, please wait! I’m willing to pay double!”

“I’ll pay triple!”

But Lin Yan paid no mind, quickly making his payment and dashing out of the chaotic crowd.

On the way back, the old man in the ring kept hesitating to speak. He couldn’t understand why Lin Yan was running off to a bookstore to grab a book instead of cultivating in the sect.

“Um, disciple, we can’t indulge too much. Although you’re still young, you shouldn’t...”