"We are no longer of the same path, Su Chen. I am now a disciple of the Heavenly Wave Sect. Do you even know what kind of place that is? It is a realm you will never reach in your lifetime!"

  The clear-featured young woman looked down at him from above.

  That day, Su Chen never imagined he would encounter such a clichéd scene in his own life.

  What a perfect divorce!

  Following the classic script, Su Chen wrote out a letter of repudiation without hesitation.

  "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never mock the poor youth. Li Qingyue, I hope you never regret this."

  Rain poured down heavily that day.

  Su Chen felt genuinely happy. Everyone else thought the humiliation had driven him mad. Even Li Qingyue believed he had lost his mind. She left without a backward glance, unwilling to waste time arguing with a fool.

  Only Su Chen understood what it truly meant. He was a transmigrator, and he had just received the classic "abandoned fiancé" storyline. If this didn't make him the protagonist, then who did?

  ...

  Three days passed. Nothing happened.

  "Strange. Could the cheat be out of energy?"

  Su Chen waited patiently for three full days.

  No system arrived.

  No matter. He had said thirty years east, thirty years west—he had thirty years to spare.

  ...

  Three months later.

  "Could someone have stolen my cheat?"

  A sudden realization struck him. What if some prematurely awakened villain had already secretly taken his golden finger?

  A few years before his transmigration, stories about antagonists who specialized in robbing other people's systems had been extremely popular.

  Su Chen immediately began searching for any trace of his missing cheat.

  ...

  Three years later.

  He found nothing. His cultivation remained stagnant. His father, deeply disappointed, concluded that the broken engagement had broken Su Chen's mind. He gave up on Su Chen entirely and poured all his resources into Su Chen's clever half-brother, born of a different mother.

  Though the younger brother's talent was slightly inferior, he was quick-witted and sharp. The struggle for the position of heir had always been ruthless.

  By the time Su Chen realized what was happening, it was already too late. All his resources had been taken by his own half-brother. He had become an abandoned son.

  ...

  Thirty years later.

  Looking back on those days, Su Chen could only sigh. Ever since his father, Su Nan, had given every resource to his half-brother Su Xuehe, Su Chen had a furious argument with him and left the family. He swore to prove that even without the Su clan, he could still become a hegemon of his own!

  Now...

  Well, hegemon might be too grand a word. But he had become the leader of a small mercenary band. Hunting demonic beasts with his tight-knit team provided a comfortable living.

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  Staring at his reflection in the mirror—a middle-aged face etched with the marks of time, no longer carrying the reckless spirit of youth—Su Chen reflected quietly.

  Thirty years ago, he had told them not to mock the poor youth. Thirty years later, he told them not to mock the poor middle-aged man.

  He had heard that Li Qingyue, the one who annulled their engagement, had long since broken through to the Spirit Vein Realm and become a true disciple of an elder in the Heavenly Wave Sect.

  Su Chen decided it was finally time for his cheat to appear. He was already middle-aged. If it didn't come soon, he would grow old waiting.

  "Could my cheat be 'the more children, the more blessings'?"

  Su Chen considered the possibility. His thoughts drifted to the woman who had followed him all these years in the mercenary band. Her name was Liu Shuyi. They had met on the road when he first left his family; she too had been cast out by her own clan. Now, both of them were well past forty.

  That very day, Su Chen married her.

  ...

  Another thirty years of wind and rain passed in the blink of an eye. The long-awaited "more children, more blessings" system never arrived. He and Liu Shuyi had a lovely daughter, then a son. Both children showed excellent aptitude and had now reached the Spirit Gathering Realm. They studied at the martial academy; neither would have to live the blood-soaked life of a mercenary like their father.

  Su Chen learned yesterday that Li Qingyue had broken through to the Spirit Sea Realm and become an elder of the Heavenly Wave Sect. Perhaps by now she no longer even remembered who he was.

  His head ached. He had recently led his brothers to join a larger mercenary group, only for the old leader to die the day before. His own cultivation lingered at the peak of Spirit Gathering; he lacked the strength to carry the banner.

  Unwilling to be dragged into the coming power struggle, Su Chen took his small group and left. They settled in a city called Lofty Mountain.

  There, Su Chen founded a new Su family. On the night he invited representatives from the major powers to celebrate, an unexpected guest arrived.

  Looking at his half-brother—now also showing streaks of white at the temples—Su Chen felt strangely calm. He once harbored hatred, but time had worn it thin.

  "Brother, after you left, Mother fell ill with heart disease. She passed away twenty years ago. Father died just last year. Until his final breath, he kept murmuring your name, longing to see you one last time. Brother, I know you still resent what I did back then. Let me atone. Come back to the family with me."

  Su Chen refused coldly.

  Su Xuehe left in silence.

  "The wind and sand are so strong today…"

  Watching his brother's departing figure, Su Chen touched the corner of his eye. His fingers came away damp. He could never return to that other Su family. This place—this was his home now.

  That night, Su Chen drank himself into oblivion.

  ...

  Su Chen had grown old. Even Liu Shuyi had been buried by his own hands—not here, but in the very place where they had first met all those years ago. It was not out of romance. He simply did not want anyone disturbing her rest. This time, twenty years had passed, not thirty.

  On the day of his centennial birthday, he still had no system. He knew this day marked both his longevity celebration and the limit of his life. Fortunately, he had already sent away his son, his daughter, his grandchildren, and the core young members of the Su family.

  Outside the door came the clash of blades and swords.

  Su Chen lifted the long sword that had gathered thick layers of dust over the decades. The old monster from the neighboring Xu family had broken through to the Spirit Vein Realm. Lofty Mountain City would tolerate no second voice.

  Su Chen had chosen the wrong side. He had bet that the city lord would break through first. Instead, the city lord was ridden down and slain in a crushing reversal. The consequences were inevitable: a reckoning.

  The main gate was kicked open. An old man dressed in stone-blue brocade robes walked in slowly. This was Xu Ba, the ancestor of the Xu family, a Spirit Vein Realm powerhouse.

  Su Chen faced death without fear. Though age had claimed him, the years in the mercenary band had not been wasted. Another figure stepped out from behind Xu Ba—a young man holding several severed heads. They rolled across the floor and came to rest at Su Chen's feet.

  When he recognized the faces, Su Chen's expression darkened. Then he died. A hundred years of wind and rain, and in the end, his clan was exterminated, and he perished with it. In his fading awareness, he vaguely heard the young man mutter to himself:

  "What a pity. Su Chen's two children and several elders fought to the death to protect them. Even though we learned the retreat route in advance and sent a large force to intercept, some of the younger Su family members still escaped."

  "If they got away, then hunt them down. Track them. Put bounties on their heads. That old fox Su Chen always had three burrows; he was cautious to the bone. The disciples he sent away must have outstanding talent. If they grow up, they will become a serious threat to my Xu family."

  "If I hadn't obtained the inheritance of a Spirit Sea Realm expert, the one wiped out today might have been us."

  Su Chen's consciousness faded. But… it did not vanish completely.

  Realms: Spirit Awakening, Spirit Gathering, Spirit Vein, Spirit Sea, Spirit Soul, Profound Connection, Void Refining, Nirvana, Saint, Saint King, Great Saint, Quasi-Emperor, Great Emperor…