After paying tribute to his body's temple, Qing Yu once again walked to the window where he had stood before dinner.
Qing Yu hadn't closed the window when he walked away. At this moment, the clear moonlight shone upon him, casting a long, slanted shadow on the ground behind him.
Qing Yu returned to his afternoon posture, looking out of the window, and quietly contemplated.
"The most important thing now is to figure out how to obtain the inheritance of these two freshly acquired Character Cards."
"This is not a simple matter. Although the characters represented by these two Character Cards can only be considered weaklings among villains, I am even less than a weakling."
Under the moonlight, Qing Yu's thoughts were far-flung.
Among the two Character Cards he presently had, 'Duke Lu Ding' Wei Xiaobao, the overlord of Yellow Hair Realm, was most famous not for his incredibly good luck and protagonist aura, but for his miraculous technique of 'hat-giving'. Compared to him, Ximen Qing wouldn't even be qualified to carry his shoes, as more than half of his wives were won over through underhanded means. Alongside his womanizing skills, his ability to escape was of equal renown. Wei Xiaobao led a life a hundred times more extravagant than Ximen Qing, and still managed to retire gracefully, all thanks to his powerful fleeing skills. Along with his luxurious equipment, a fight with Qing Yu, who might not even be stronger than Wei Xiaobao, was nothing but a walk in the park, filled with ease and pleasure.
The other one, the Dragon Knight, did have some force to his name, though the only noteworthy achievement in his life was when he travelled to the Desert as a young man to deliver a message and incidentally, gave the then world-renouned but simple-minded Guo Jing a good thrashing. Over the following twenty years, he lived like a dog, and by nearly forty years of age, he had only reached the Postnatal Fourth Realm. If it weren't for riding a dragon once, his fame wouldn't have surpassed that of Lu Duqing, who was once known for nothing more than eating, sleeping, and fighting Yang Guo.
"Oh system, it seems you really like to make it hard for me," Qing Yu complained to the system, unable to think of a solution.
"This is the path the host has chosen. The system bears no responsibility," the system replied with a hard tone.
"You mean to say that only the villainous path requires defeating and killing the predecessors to inherit, and the methods of the Righteous Sect are different?" Qing Yu keenly picked out the implied message in the system's words.
"Countless villains with varying characters and methods share one commonality: the strongest is always revered. The Righteous Sect, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. As long as one is upright and open-hearted, one is considered part of the Righteous Sect. Therefore, the method of inheritance for the Righteous Sect is to gain the recognition of the characters from the Righteous Sect Character Cards you draw."
"So, this inheritance system aims to create either the most honorable and righteous members of the Righteous Sect or the strongest villains?" pondered Qing Yu, "Wait, you mentioned recognition, so are you saying the characters drawn are not just thoughtless projections?"
"Yes, the same goes for the villainous path. What you will face are enemies with complete thoughts."
"Then, are my projections based on my current state?"
"Yes," the system confirmed.
"I see, I think I have an idea," Qing Yu's face broke into a confident smile, albeit with a hint of sleaziness.
The next day, Qing Yu got up early and began to bustle about the courtyard. When he left True Martial Dao, he didn't bring any secret martial arts manuals but took several medical books and Taoist Scriptures instead. While under house arrest at True Martial Dao, he had relieved his boredom by reading medical books and Taoist Scriptures. Despite being exiled, in name Qing Yu was still the nephew of the new Sect Leader, and since the books he took didn't contain any extraordinary martial arts secrets, the True Martial Dao's people tacitly allowed Qing Yu to take these books on his journey.
Qing Yu was also aware of his precarious situation. For these three years, he had lived without a sense of security, always fearing that one day someone might come knocking and snap away the life of this offender who had faded from public sight. Therefore, he would, according to his understanding of medicine, gather Medicinal Herbs in the mountains and make sedatives and poisons. Qing Yu knew that if someone really came for him, these concoctions would be of little use; making them was merely a way to comfort himself.
Wei Xiaobao didn't know a bit of Inner Strength; ordinary seductive smoke could knock him out. To prevent any accidents, Qing Yu still made a new batch of seductive smoke, increasing the dosage to guarantee it would have an immediate effect.
Soon, the enhanced seductive smoke was ready. Qing Yu examined the small bottle in his hand and smiled satisfactorily, "Very good. Now, there's just one more thing left, I need to make a trip down the mountain."
To be honest, Qing Yu feared being watched, so for three years, he hadn't left the mountain at all. If it weren't for his soliloquies and the books he read, he felt it would be amazing that he hadn't gone mad from his strong will. Although Qing Yu still felt very apprehensive about leaving the mountain, he had no choice but to bite the bullet; after finally seizing a chance to turn things around, he didn't want to spend his life on this mountain.
Qing Yu straightened his clothes, kept a normal expression, and stepped towards the foot of the mountain. All the way, he walked slowly, as if just out for some heart-clearing stroll.
Reaching the foot of the mountain, it seemed quiet; he continued along the path. It wasn't until the road ended and signatures of human life emerged that Qing Yu cautiously let out a breath, relieved that no one had come to stop him.
"Probably no one is watching anymore, or perhaps, I haven't exceeded their alert range," Qing Yu exhaled, "Phew, regardless, the priority is to get the item. As long as I can leave the mountain, even if I'm seen, they probably won't guess what I'm up to."
With that thought, Qing Yu saw the small town ahead and merged into the throng of people coming and going at the town's entrance.
Qingshui Town wasn't very large, but it was an obligatory passageway between Qing Province beside it and Ling Province, with many carts and traveling merchants passing through. Qing Province was located on the frontier of the Daqian Dynasty, with the Three San Miao Land just outside its borders. More than two hundred years ago, the Miao people from Three San Miao Land attempted to march on the Central Plains but were repelled by the Grand Ancestor of the Daqian Dynasty, who even annexed a piece of their territory, which is now known as Qing Province. Since Qing Province originally belonged to the Miao Territory and was not bordered by any other provinces, to enter Qing Province, one must go through Ling Province.
Recently incorporated into the Central Plains, residents of Qing Province are far fewer than those of other provinces, and its economy is incomparable. However, being adjacent to the Miao Territory and with its abundant forest resources, the fierce Miao people sometimes crossing the border could not deter Jianghu People from coming here to seek their fortune. These Jianghu people would sell their resources to traveling merchants, or entrust them to sell in other provinces. Thus, coming and going, the prosperity of Qingshui Town naturally rose.
Qing Yu went into Qingshui Town, asked a passerby for directions, and headed straight for the pharmacy. At the pharmacy, Qing Yu sold a Lingzhi mushroom he had randomly picked for a low price and obtained some silver taels, then went to a clothing store to buy some clothes and other items before heading back to the mountain. The clothing store sold more than just clothes, which saved Qing Yu some unnecessary steps.
Back at the Taoist Temple, Qing Yu opened the package to reveal a white set of women's clothing and a hairpin. Qing Yu suppressed his embarrassment, changed into the women's clothing, arranged his hair in a woman's style, and put on the hairpin.
Qing Yu looked himself over in the bronze mirror, turned around, and the skirt of the dress fluttered ethereally, satisfyingly nodding his head, "OK, preparation complete. System, select Wei Xiaobao, begin inheritance."
Wei Xiaobao was a man of lustful appetite, very wary of men, but when it came to beautiful women, he only thought about getting them into bed. Plus, with his strong curiosity, he was defenseless against a romantic encounter.
That's why Qing Yu chose to project himself on the ground.
In the Inheritance Space, the figure of Wei Xiaobao appeared, "Eh, where is this place?" Then, he saw a heavenly-looking lady collapsed on the ground. A man who sails through life without paddles like Lord Wei would never forget how to frolic until his dying day, decisively approached, "Miss, are you alright? I am Wei Xiaobao, uh-oh, fell for it."
Qing Yu was lying on the ground, covering his mouth and nose with a wet towel to keep out the seductive smoke that had been opened from the beginning, waiting silently, not getting up even after hearing the sound of someone collapsing.
Ten minutes later, when it was certain that Lord Wei had been taken in, Qing Yu quickly stood up, reached for his right leg, and felt for a handle. Finding it, Qing Yu smiled slightly, pulled out a dagger, and promptly delivered a slice to the dear neck of Lord Wei. The Mystic Iron dagger could cut through iron like mud and made a Clean Break; Wei Xiaobao, who led a life with countless silver taels, finally met the same fate as Brother Cheng.
Qing Yu's figure slowly vanished.
"Ding, congratulations, Host, on killing the One-star villain Wei Xiaobao and acquiring his items: Special Strong Lime Powder (no grade), golden silk vest (two-star), Mystic Iron dagger (two-star), Short Pistol (one-star) (with three Firearms bullets), Martial Arts Inheritance: 'Divine Transformation' (one-star), 'Beauty's Three Moves' (no grade), 'Hero's Three Techniques' (no grade)."