As Jun Xie walked along, a deep sense of pity washed over him. His elder sister-in-law, Guan Qinghan, was only twenty-one—the pinnacle of life’s beauty—and a woman of such heavenly allure, yet she willingly lived as a jilted bride, a living widow, within the Jun family! In his past life, such a situation would have been unthinkable!

But here, it was accepted with such natural ease, a profound tragedy indeed. /|()Super fast updates/|

It was sheer waste of resources! If only I could… Ah!? A thought suddenly sparked in Jun Xie’s mind, startling him: This wasn't his style of speaking or acting. He might sympathize, perhaps, but how could such a base thought arise? This was utterly beyond anything he would conceive! Could it be…? Damn that Jun Moxie! Even though his soul was scattered to the winds, this residual influence remained! Jun Xie cursed inwardly.

Jun Xie entered the room, not even pausing to acknowledge the little loli’s greeting, and sat down with a frown. He began to contemplate every action he had taken since transmigrating, finding them increasingly suspect. While he had indulged in youthful recklessness occasionally in his previous life, it was always a calculated facade to approach his targets—nothing more than acting.

Jun Xie’s true nature was invariably cold and arrogant, verging on ruthless, perhaps even cold-blooded at times. Yet, since arriving here, he realized his personality had subtly shifted so much. Admittedly, adopting the persona of the dissolute prodigal Jun Moxie allowed him to stir up trouble effectively, serving as the perfect camouflage. However, he needed to keep a clear accounting of his inner self!

He absolutely must not let the original character of Jun Moxie’s body gain the upper hand! Yet, he still needed to utilize that character as his protective coloring! Maintain the core self, adapt to external circumstances, but deep down, I remain me—the Evil Sovereign, Jun Xie! A fierce light flared in Jun Xie’s eyes: Heaven and Earth are unkind; they treat all things as straw dogs. The Evil Sovereign is pitiless; he tramples the alien world beneath his feet!

Having settled his resolve, a wave of relief washed over him. He instantly recalled other matters and pulled out the bundle he had casually pocketed, his heart giving a sudden lurch.

This bundle contained something for which the lives of twenty experts were sacrificed to acquire. Though he didn't know who the mastermind was, Jun Xie knew that people rarely dared to covet the Tang family’s possessions. If this item wasn't exceptionally precious, no one would risk such danger for it!

Thinking this over, Jun Xie’s curiosity was piqued. He had intended to simply return it to the Tang family, but now, a strong desire to open it surfaced. To think and then to act, straight to the core of the matter—that is the style of the Evil Sovereign! Jun Xie reached out, and with a hiss, he tore the bundle open. Inside lay a flat, square little wooden box, emitting a faint fragrance, decorated with delicate, pale-gold patterns. The wood, astonishingly, was top-grade Gold-Thread Sandalwood!

Moreover, it was carved from a single, solid piece of heartwood from a Gold-Thread Sandalwood tree! This box alone was priceless!

Opening the box unleashed a breath of profound coldness. Inside, nestled further within, was a pristine white jade box. It felt icy to the touch—it was Supreme-Grade Chill Jade! Judging by its luster and material, this piece of Chill Jade was enough to captivate a nation! Jun Xie sucked in a cold breath! What on earth could be so important that it required storage within such a precious container of Chill Jade?

Carefully, he opened the jade box. Inside rested a round object, enveloped by a layer of vibrantly colored animal hide that shimmered with an unusual brilliance. Jun Xie, lacking the knowledge, felt no particular awe. However, an expert seeing this would surely gasp in shock: This was the pelt of a Ninth-Rank Profound Beast! An entity almost equivalent to a Supreme Divine Profound expert! Just the Gold-Thread Sandalwood box, the Supreme Chill Jade, or the Ninth-Rank Profound Beast fur—any single item among them was already a treasure beyond measure!

And these three precious objects were merely the outer wrappings!

Jun Xie took the object wrapped in the beast hide into his hands. It seemed to be a sphere about the size of a ping-pong ball. When he unwrapped it, Jun Xie couldn't help but feel a surge of disappointment.

It was a dark red object, almost pitch-black, oddly shaped, with a texture halfway between stone and jade. When squeezed slightly, it exhibited a faint elasticity. By appearance alone, the thing was utterly unremarkable!

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Jun Xie’s mind, a burst of inspiration, and he blurted out: “Profound Pill?!”

Although he had never seen a Profound Pill, Jun Xie knew it was a valuable commodity. Only beasts of the Third Rank and above might condense one internally. For the Tang family, with their influence and power, to treasure this item so highly, provoking others to court death by coveting it, it couldn't be an ordinary specimen—it must be at least Seventh Rank, perhaps higher!

Jun Xie was unaware that this Profound Pill was acquired by Old Master Tang Wanli at an immense cost—it was the Profound Pill of a Ninth-Rank Peak Profound Beast, the Golden-Winged Tiger, containing an incredibly vast reservoir of energy. For low-level Profound Practitioners, it was almost useless as they couldn't activate it. But once one’s Profound Qi reached the Earthly Rank or higher, and with specific conditions applied for activation, the immense power within the pill could be absorbed for one’s use! How much could be absorbed depended entirely on individual talent.

However, achieving even a slight breakthrough once one reached the Earthly Profound realm was agonizingly difficult. This Profound Pill, however, could directly elevate an initial-stage Earthly Profound expert to the Heavenly Profound realm! For Profound Qi cultivators, this was a treasure that defied the heavens!

It had been mentioned before that even killing an Eighth-Rank Profound Beast was extraordinarily difficult, let alone slaying a Ninth-Rank Peak Profound Beast for its pill? Under normal circumstances, this was an impossibility! A Supreme Divine Profound expert could certainly defeat a Ninth-Rank Beast, but killing it? Perhaps even two Supreme Divine Profound experts joining forces could not guarantee success! The power and speed of a Ninth-Rank Profound Beast could only be described as terrifying! If one needed to flee, no one could stop them!

What’s more, for a beast like the Golden-Winged Tiger, which possessed the ability to fly? That made the thought utterly futile.

Tang Wanli had obtained this Profound Pill inadvertently years ago from a heavily wounded Supreme Divine Profound expert who possessed it. Tang Wanli paid with the lives of dozens of Jade-Grade Earthly Profound masters and several Heavenly Profound masters to secure the pill.

Setting aside how that Supreme Divine Profound expert originally acquired it, while claiming this Profound Pill was unique in the world might be an exaggeration, it could be affirmed globally that there were absolutely no more than three in existence!

The reason Li Youran desperately sought this Profound Pill was naturally for a critical purpose! But he never imagined that after learning of its existence years ago, he began meticulously planning, bribing figures within the Tang manor, slowly planting inside agents, and painstakingly gathering intelligence until three months ago when he finally pinpointed its exact hiding spot. Yet, Old Master Tang rarely left his compound and was guarded by four top-tier experts, leaving no opportunity.

This time, a perfect chance finally arose: Old Master Tang went out, taking three of his guards with him! Coupled with the heavens-sent, abnormally heavy downpour, the timing, terrain, and manpower aligned perfectly. They coordinated efforts, sending a premier expert to lure away the single remaining Tang manor guard, allowing another twenty people to sneak in quietly. With coordination from inside and out, they succeeded, though it cost twenty lives!

Up to this point, the operation was highly successful. Exchanging a mere twenty lives for this Profound Pill was undoubtedly a profitable trade! Alas, they encountered Jun Xie just one moment before success was secured…

Years of planning, thousands of schemes, and every calculation turned into drawing water from the moon—all vanished! They had gathered the fruits only for another to claim them! It was easy to imagine the suffocating depression in Li Youran’s heart now!

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