This Is What a Villain Is Like

"After the Qianyuan Prefecture opens, the Blood Immortal Sect will probably send people to compete for the villas, right?"

Jiang Lan’s thoughts returned to the present. He looked at Song Youwei and thought about the upcoming Southern Hunting exercise.

The Qianyuan Prefecture was a Secret Mansion built by the Great Xia Royal Family at great expense. It was refined from a complete Little World, containing a universe within, and scattered with many fortuitous encounters and opportunities.

The deeper one went, the more the ancient Aura of Chaos permeated the area, and the denser the treasures and Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi became. There were also many mysterious regions that even the Great Xia Royal Family had never explored.

The contest for the Qianyuan Prefecture before the start of each Southern Hunting exercise was always the main event.

The competition between the younger generation from the various Immortal Sect Lineages and the young disciples from Great Xia’s nobility and powerful Noble Families was always the most eye-catching.

Even the Prime Minister’s Mansion was gathering its subordinate powers and clans for this matter, dispatching their young elites to participate.

For example, young Celestial Prides like Luo Ying and Ao Xu, who had followed him in Anyang City last time, would all enter the Qianyuan Prefecture to compete for ranking and glory for the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

As the son of the Prime Minister, Jiang Lan should have been the one to step forward and compete in such matters.

However, he had only recently started cultivating and his cultivation level was not high, a fact that was well-known throughout the Imperial Capital of Great Xia.

In other words, if the Prime Minister’s Mansion wanted to compete for a high ranking this time, they would have to rely on Luo Ying, Ao Xu, and the others.

Of course, to Prime Minister Jiang Lintian, this so-called contest for the Qianyuan Prefecture was nothing more than child’s play.

But this event was a long-standing tradition in Great Xia, and in a way, it represented the face and foundation of the various powers.

Moreover, some of the fortuitous encounters and opportunities within the Qianyuan Prefecture were rare treasures, even in the eyes of someone at the Prime Minister’s level.

For the retainers and Tributors of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, this was the best time to win face for the mansion and earn rewards, so many had been preparing for a long time.

Recently, many powerful retainers and Tributors had brought back the young disciples they had trained, who were now resting in the guest residences arranged by the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Jiang Lan himself had no interest in this sort of thing, but for the sake of his upcoming plans, he had to go through the motions and make an appearance.

"The Blood Immortal Sect will indeed send people in, but for the sake of the grand plan for the Southern Hunting, they won’t reveal themselves early. At most, they’ll go to the depths of the Qianyuan Prefecture to compete for some of the opportunities within the villas..."

"I’ve received word that this time, the Royal Family will place a precious Dao Artifact, one that once annihilated the Hundred Kingdoms, in the depths of the Qianyuan Prefecture as a reward."

"That Magical Artifact is called the Xuanji Spirit Platform. An Elder from the Blood Immortal Sect is very interested in this Dao Artifact," Song Youwei said.

"What identity will you use to enter?" Jiang Lan asked, looking at her.

Song Youwei thought for a moment, then shook her head gently. "I haven’t decided yet, but I’ll probably pose as a disciple from some Immortal Sect Lineage to blend in."

She had her own plans as well. Once the Qianyuan Prefecture opened, the opportunities in its villas were up for grabs by those with destiny.

Since the Royal Family had provided such an opportunity, she naturally wouldn’t let it pass.

Jiang Lan was also lost in thought.

"What’s wrong?" Song Youwei asked, a slight smile on her face as she looked at him.

’The Xuanji Spirit Platform... is that really the item the Royal Family is putting up this time?’

Jiang Lan didn’t answer her, his brow furrowed slightly.

The information Song Youwei had given him already differed from the original plot.

In the original plot, the item the Royal Family placed in the depths of the Qianyuan Prefecture was a Magical Artifact called the Lingxiao Brush.

The Lingxiao Brush wasn’t really a Magical Artifact anymore, but a Dao Artifact that had condensed a so-called Dao Mark.

However, it was only a Dao Artifact that had condensed a single strand of a Dao Mark. Some wealthy Sixth Realm cultivators had quite a few of them.

In this world, the weapons refined by cultivators were generally divided into several tiers: Mortal Weapons, Magical Artifacts, Dao Artifacts...

Dao Artifacts were divided into four grades: Top-Grade, Upper Grade, Middle Grade, and Lower Grade.

Those with up to three Dao Marks were classified as Lower Grade, while those with more than nine were Top-Grade.

The Xuanji Spirit Platform was a Middle-Grade Dao Artifact that had condensed four Dao Marks. To be precise, it was actually one piece of a complete set of Dao Artifacts.

Besides the Xuanji Spirit Platform, the set also included the Xuanji Spirit Robe, Xuanji Spirit Sword, Xuanji Spirit Hairpin, and Xuanji Spirit Pendant.

In the original plot, this was an item that Empress Xia later used to reward Lin Fan, but it had appeared early in the Qianyuan Prefecture this time...

Jiang Lan felt that the timeline was advancing even faster than he had anticipated.

’If this keeps up, my advantage of knowing the future will be continuously diminished...’ Although Jiang Lan had long anticipated this outcome, he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.

In that case, many of his plans would have to be moved up sooner.

’Even though one Lin Fan is dead, in this world, there’s still a Jiang Ruxian who hates me to the bone.’

"What’s wrong?" Song Youwei, seeing him frowning in silence, asked again in confusion.

"It’s nothing. I’m just a little surprised that the Royal Family is being so generous," Jiang Lan said, snapping out of his thoughts and shaking his head slightly.

"News of the Xuanji Spirit Platform is indeed attention-grabbing. After all, it’s a Middle-Grade Dao Artifact. The cornerstone treasures of many Sects and powers are of a similar level," Song Youwei nodded in deep agreement.

Currently, she herself only possessed a single Middle-Grade Dao Artifact, and it was one she had obtained by accident and wasn’t even complete.

In the outside world, the temptation of a Middle-Grade Dao Artifact would be enough to make many Seventh Realm cultivators risk everything.