The air was still, almost fragile, after Qi Xiyue's quiet departure. His scent — dark cedar and steel — lingered faintly, blending with the cool scent of her orchid diffuser. For a long moment, Su Ning simply stood there, feeling the subtle shift of the world. It was as if his existence had left a shadow that refused to fade.
Then came the familiar chime.
'Ding!'
A silvery tone echoed within her mind, crystalline and mechanical, making her heart stir slightly.
'New Mission
Task: Display wealth and strength in school.
Rewards:
60 percent shares of Radiance Skin Care International.
200 million yuan.
Ghost Queen Suppressing Aura.
Ten bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.
Failure to complete mission:
Deduction of 40 percent of host's cultivation and public humiliation.'
Su Ning blinked. "Display… wealth and strength?" she murmured softly. Her voice, calm yet sharp with intelligence, filled the quiet air.
She sat slowly on the velvet sofa, brows knitting as she evaluated the list of rewards.
"Radiance Skincare International," she whispered as she took her laptop and searched for information about it. She was surprised to see that it was one of the biggest skincare brand in Asia.
It was an international brand every top beauty chain in Asia bowed to — even Luminous Spa sourced from it. To hold sixty percent of its shares meant authority that could shake half the cosmetics market.
Then the next reward of 200 million yuan made her chuckle. She currently had over a hundred million yuan in her account, who would have thought that two weeks ago, she was just a poor girl who couldn't afford a hundred yuan.
But what made her straighten was the Ghost Queen Suppressing Aura.
The system's cold voice sounded.
The ghost queen suppressing aura was a dark, mysterious aura that could command silence and fear, bending weaker wills subconsciously.
"How thoughtful of you system"
'The pleasure is all mine host,' the system responded.
And finally, Qi Gathering Pills.
Her eyes softened at that. They could help her strengthen faster, perhaps even break through the second layer of Shadow Ghost Step within weeks.
She knew to break through faster requires her to train and use her cultivation more.
She leaned back against the sofa, her long lashes casting faint shadows against her porcelain skin. A display of wealth and strength, she thought. At school.
The irony made her lips curve faintly. For years, she had walked those halls as the invisible girl — bullied, mocked, ignored. Now, the same corridors would tremble beneath her steps.
Her watch blinked.
07:58.
Su Ning's calm expression shifted — she was late.
She rose swiftly, and descended the stairs, grabbed her purse, slipping two extra bank cards into it. She grabbed her fashion hand bag, and just as she reached for her keys, her phone buzzed.
"Mu Suying?" she said, sliding her thumb to answer.
The voice on the other end was panicked. "Su Ning—! Something happened!"
Her calm tone immediately sharpened. "Speak slowly."
"Chen Anya… she's in trouble." Mu Suying's voice trembled. "I took her to the cafeteria for ice cream and— and she accidentally bumped into Mo Lingxue! The ice cream splashed on Mo Lingxue's shoes. The ROYAL 6 are here, and Mo Lingxue—she—she's demanding Anya pay 1.7 million yuan or get expelled!"
Su Ning's pupils constricted slightly. Her voice, however, remained deadly calm. "What did you say?"
"She's kneeling right now… Su Ning, it's my fault, I— I should've—"
"Stay with her." The words came like a knife — soft, precise, and absolute. "Don't do anything. I'm coming."
Before Mu Suying could respond, the call ended.
For a heartbeat, silence returned. Then Su Ning's eyes flashed cold light.
How dare they?
A chill spread in the air. For a long time, she had tolerated the cruelty of others, the whispers behind her back, the humiliation of the old Su Ning. But now — now — the beast inside her chest stirred. The girl who had once cowered was gone. What remained was something sharper, deadlier.
She didn't wait for her driver. The air shimmered slightly as she pressed the key of her Phantom IX — a limited-edition hypercar so sleek it looked sculpted from liquid black glass.
The engine roared, low and commanding, echoing through the quiet neighborhood. As she pulled out, sunlight glinted on the car's dark surface, creating a streak of black lightning down the deserted road.
The drive to school took only ten minutes, but every second pulsed with silent fury.