I Am The Villain's Lackey With Sign-in System - Chapter 76:

Chapter 76: Battle! The Son of Destiny Stands His Ground:

The next morning.

“Hmm?”

Zhang Ning slowly opened his eyes. Strangely enough, despite the events of the previous day, he felt comfortable and refreshed, though he should have been sore all over.

“A breakthrough?”

He realized he had advanced to the master level in cultivation. But how? Why had his realm suddenly improved?

“What is this…?”

Then he noticed Zhou Kaifeng, sleeping soundly next to him. Observing their current situation, Zhang Ning jolted awake, sitting up in shock.

Zhou Kaifeng, exhausted from the night, muttered in his sleep and rolled over, unaware of Zhang Ning’s reaction.

“I… I’m ruined!” Zhang Ning muttered, suddenly understanding why his strength had increased. He possessed a pure Yang body, which allowed rapid cultivation. Practicing Yang techniques as a child meant that when he lost his body’s purity, his power would grow significantly—though the effect would be even greater with a pure Yin counterpart.

This was why the old Dragon King had planned for him to be with Yan Man. But now, while his strength had increased, it wasn’t the intense improvement he had hoped for. And to make matters worse, he never imagined his first time would be like this. He had envisioned it with Yan Man, whom he had long admired.

Looking at Zhou Kaifeng beside him, Zhang Ning felt a surge of frustration, yet strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to retaliate. Part of him was reluctant to simply end Zhou Kaifeng’s life.

Frustrated with himself, he clenched his fists and glared fiercely at Zhou Kaifeng, grabbed his clothes, and left without another word.

“No matter what, I will avenge Master, and this Dragon King Palace will belong to me alone. No one else!”

His Master had been right: as long as he became strong enough, he could overcome any obstacle. With his new strength, Zhang Ning was determined to reclaim the Dragon King Palace.

In the following days, there were no plot prompts from the system, and Ye Liuyun assumed nothing significant was happening.

“This plot has taken such an absurd turn. Zhang Ning is probably biding his time, growing stronger before making his move.”

He understood that although Zhang Ning could explode with power, he would likely train first to avoid mistakes. So it seemed there wouldn’t be any immediate developments.

However, just as he thought that, a prompt came from the system: [A plot is about to occur. The host can proceed to the plot location!]

A virtual map appeared before Ye Liuyun, marking the location.

[Already? There’s another plot happening this soon?]

He had just assumed things would quiet down, but it seemed the plot had other ideas.

[Forget it. I’ll figure things out once I’m there.]

Without hesitation, he got ready to head out.

At the same time, Qu Yingmeng was tied up with business matters at the company, so Ye Liuyun planned to go alone. But as soon as he stepped outside, he encountered Zhuge Mu, who was walking over with a big smile.

“Hey!” Zhuge Mu greeted him, clearly in high spirits.

Since obtaining the second half of the Zhuge family’s techniques, she had been training diligently, finally reaching a breakthrough. And rather than heading home to celebrate, her first stop was to find Ye Liuyun. Hearing Ye Liuyun’s voice mentioning a plot, Zhuge Mu was curious and decided to join him.

“What brings you here?” Ye Liuyun asked, surprised. He hadn’t expected Zhuge Mu to show up.

“Of course, I came to see you!” Zhuge Mu replied, throwing her arms around Ye Liuyun with a bright smile. “I missed you!”

This was the first time Zhuge Mu had ever felt such attachment to someone else.

[???]

Ye Liuyun was taken aback by the unexpected hug, not sure when they had become so close. However, he quickly brushed it aside and said, “I’ve got something urgent to handle, so I’ll be going. You—”

Before he could finish, Zhuge Mu cut him off.

“Then I’ll come with you!”

“Uh…”

Seeing Ye Liuyun hesitate, Zhuge Mu worried he might refuse and quickly held onto his arm.

“Just take me along, okay?” he insisted, hugging Ye Liuyun’s arm tightly.

[This is a far cry from the way she challenged me initially!]

No wonder they say women were unpredictable. But since Ye Liuyun didn’t want to be late and miss the plot, he decided not to argue. He simply nodded and continued on, letting Zhuge Mu tag along.

“Let’s agree on something first. You can follow me, but you’re not allowed to interfere. Got it?”

“Uh-huh!” Zhuge Mu nodded. She wasn’t foolish; she knew Ye Liuyun was heading out to sign in at a plot location. Just being able to tag along was exciting enough, so she had no intention of disrupting Ye Liuyun’s plan.

“Good.”

Seeing Zhuge Mu’s cooperative attitude, Ye Liuyun gave a nod and gestured for her to follow.

They soon arrived in a remote mountain forest. The place was usually quiet and deserted, but today, Zhang Ning and Long Tian stood opposite each other, their expressions tense as they prepared for a fierce battle.

“So it’s you,” Zhang Ning muttered, frowning deeply at Long Tian.

Over the past few days, he had been investigating the situation within the Dragon King Palace and had uncovered Long Tian’s involvement. He regretted not dealing with him earlier.

“Haha!” Long Tian chuckled, completely unfazed by Zhang Ning’s words. He seemed calm, as if he didn’t view Zhang Ning as a threat at all.

“I’m here now. If you want to reclaim everything, you’ll have to defeat me first!” He spread his arms, exuding confidence in his strength.

“You…” Zhang Ning’s face darkened.

Was Long Tian really looking down on him?

He had sent Long Tian a direct challenge, informing him that he planned to defeat him and retake the Dragon King Palace.

Long Tian had accepted without hesitation, which led them to this confrontation.

[What’s going on here?]

[Are Zhang Ning and Long Tian really about to fight?]

By this time, Ye Liuyun and Zhuge Mu had arrived and were hiding behind a tree not far away. Ye Liuyun raised an eyebrow, surprised at the scene unfolding before them. He hadn’t expected these two to come to blows so soon.

“Are they really going to fight?” Zhuge Mu asked excitedly, peeking over Ye Liuyun’s shoulder. She was curious, having heard from Ye Liuyun’s thoughts that both of these men were sons of destiny. The idea of two destined individuals battling was intriguing.

“Quiet!” Ye Liuyun whispered sharply, worried that Zhuge Mu might accidentally draw attention to them. Although Zhuge Mu was obsessed with martial arts, she wasn’t foolish enough to dive into a battle he couldn’t win.

“Oh, oh!” Zhuge Mu nodded like an obedient hamster, hiding behind Ye Liuyun and watching intently.

Satisfied, Ye Liuyun returned his focus to the fight. After all, the battle between two sons of destiny was bound to be interesting.

“Today, I’ll reclaim everything that’s mine!” Zhang Ning declared, his body radiating a bright golden light as he glared fiercely at Long Tian.

“A Grandmaster?” Long Tian was slightly surprised. Zhang Ning had reached the Grandmaster level in such a short time. Although it wasn’t a threat to him now, if Zhang Ning continued to grow, he could pose a problem.

“Then I’ll finish you off right here!”

With that, a wave of dark energy began to rise around Long Tian, clashing sharply against Zhang Ning’s golden aura. Zhang Ning’s Dragon King Heart Sutra was blazing with powerful Yang energy, while Long Tian’s Hundred Evil True Form emitted an ominous ghostly aura.

“Die!”

At almost the same moment, Zhang Ning and Long Tian launched their attacks.

BOOM!

The impact of their battle was intense, shaking the forest. Trees nearby splintered and fell under the force of their blows.

“Hiss! They’re so strong!” Despite being prepared, Zhuge Mu was taken aback by the sheer power of the fight. He couldn’t help but shudder at the sight, knowing that he wasn’t nearly strong enough to challenge either of them.

“Now you see, there’s always someone stronger.” Ye Liuyun commented lightly, glancing at Zhuge Mu. He calmly raised a hand, effortlessly dispelling the shockwaves that came their way, ensuring that neither Zhang Ning nor Long Tian sensed their presence.

“Hehe,” Zhuge Mu grinned, impressed. “They may be powerful, but they’re no match for you, Brother Liuyun!”

Ye Liuyun merely nodded in response, not bothering to elaborate. With his current abilities, he no longer viewed Zhang Ning or Long Tian as rivals; they were merely means for him to gain more sign-in rewards.

[It’s curious how Zhang Ning managed to reach the Grandmaster level so quickly, but he’s still a bit behind Long Tian.]

Zhang Ning was at the mid-Grandmaster level, while Long Tian had reached the peak Grandmaster level. Although the difference was slight, any gap in power could be deadly.

[Still, knowing Zhang Ning, he’s bound to unleash some explosive power soon!]

Having seen it all before, Ye Liuyun anticipated Zhang Ning’s upcoming surge of strength. He just wondered how Long Tian would handle it.