Chapter 2: The Good-for-Nothing

"Useless, not even a one-star martial artist, I..." Before she could finish berating herself, Hen Quexian suddenly felt darkness sweep over her vision and lost all consciousness.

When Hen Quexian slowly awoke again, she found herself lying on the grass beneath a parasol tree. There was no sign of any universal system, nor any mention of needing endless wealth—everything had vanished without a trace.

She looked around, pouting. "Did I... just dream it all out of exhaustion?"

But as she recalled the sights and sounds from before, a ‘thermometer’ showing her cultivation and gold appeared in her mind. Hen Quexian pinched herself hard and leapt up from the pain, finally certain that everything was real.

"It's real, it's actually real. Ha! Tianling Continent, just you wait—your mistress is coming to conquer you..." With the universal system, Hen Quexian no longer had to endure being looked down upon or bullied on the Tianling Continent.

In just a month, she had fallen from genius to waste, suffering countless contemptuous glares. But now, with this system, Hen Quexian had every reason to hold her head high and soar through the heavens, traversing the world at will.

Yet, just as she was laughing gleefully and startling a flock of birds, something dark shot out from the woods toward her. A furious shout followed: "Where did this crazy woman come from, screaming and scaring the animals and plants..."

Hearing the voice, Hen Quexian instinctively shrank her neck. To dodge the black stone hurtling through the air, she tumbled down onto the ground.

The stone landed with a heavy thud, making her heart race with fear. If that had hit a person, how painful would it have been? Even though it missed her, the grass beneath was crushed. Poor little blades, don’t worry—when I master my skills, I’ll come back and take vengeance for you!

With a sympathetic glance at the patch of ruined grass, Hen Quexian scrambled away on all fours, quickly leaving the area. Only after she’d fled a good distance did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She straightened her small frame, wiped the cold sweat from her brow, and headed toward the Hen estate. That earlier roar, like a thunderclap, was what truly frightened the animals and plants. Hen Quexian couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.

"Look, the 'genius' of the Hen family is back! Haha, who knows where she was hiding all day, crying her eyes out."

"Maybe she's just biding her time? Who knows, maybe a few years from now, she’ll be a genius again."

"Do you really believe that? Her meridians and dantian were shattered—how could she possibly cultivate again? I, for one, don’t buy it."

"Heh..."

"By the way, did you hear? Elder Zhang Ruofeng’s son, Wuque, is the real genius. He’s just one step away from condensing his Martial Heart and becoming a one-star Martial Master. I heard the clan leader wants to have Wuque adopted into the family to replace that good-for-nothing as the new head of the Hen household."

"If that’s true, wouldn’t our Hen family become prosperous?"

In this world, strength speaks louder than words. If a family produces a genius whose cultivation surpasses the previous generation, the clan flourishes. But if that genius falls, despair spreads, and the family can fall apart, declining into ruin.

Hen Quexian heard these words and curled her lip in disdain. She had no desire to compete with Hen Wuque for power, but the words still left her deeply uncomfortable.