Qin Jianwei

Am I getting a rival here? He wondered, half-joking, half-serious.

Wait, no—that's ridiculous. I'm just an 18-year-old finishing high school. I don't have a CEO title, no status as a big family heir, no connections to the elite. Sure, I make decent wealth online, but with no source to show, and it sure as hell doesn't compare to someone like Qin Jianwei? I'm just a side branch of a normal martial arts family. Compared to him, I'm seriously outclassed. Aren't I? Reborn immortal old-timer counts but ..can't say it out.

Han Chen leaned against his chair, fingers idly tapping against the edge of his desk. The more Han Chen thought about it, the more he felt like a small fish due to having no status. But he had cultivation power unrivaled in this world, at least he thought so.

But the bizarre thing is: Qin Jianwei was an enigma. Unlike others, Han Chen distinctly remembered something from his past life—when he was wasting away in decadence nearly nineteen years later, he had come across news of Qin Jianwei's death. It had been all over the headlines. But not because of any great successful life or achievement in lifetime.

No, he had become infamous—for all the wrong reasons.

There had been no enlightenment, no triumphant rise as this report. He had remained a lovesick fool, blind to the schemes that swirled around him. Betrayers filled his company, plotting behind his back.

His father had passed away early, leaving him alone to navigate a world he had never learned to manipulate. Unlike his father, he lacked the cunning to sway and outmaneuver others, and so, his business and political allies crumbled. Even had gambling addiction to add to it. His wealth, it was taken from him.

His lover left him for a handsome new bloke, her bodyguard. Got thrashed in front of her. His fiancée humiliated him. He was tricked, ruined, discarded. In the end, he lived out his days in quiet misery in a foreign country, broken and alone. All he had wanted was peace ---to disappear, to retire. But even that was denied to him. He died in an armed robbery in a foreign land.

Even Han Chen, drowning in his own depression at the time, had been out of it, for a brief moment of sympathy when he learned more about Qin Jianwei's tragic life story, a fellow man betrayed in life.

So, in this shiny new life, what had I actually changed? Han Chen tapped his keyboard, the white glow of his monitor cutting through the dark. Sure, he'd killed one man, hacked dark web businesses and government databases for cash (untraceable, obviously), bought some martial cultivation essence from it. He had made himself more handsome, earned better grades, and even helped his parents improve their martial arts. Cultivated. --None of that should've been enough to turn some unrelated nobody into a "chosen one."

A lovesick idiot suddenly enlightened? A corporate war shifting in real-time? Sudden and perfectly found inheritances? A domino effect where the wrong person made all the right moves? That wasn't coincidence. That was… rewinding? Rebirth? System interference?

His jaw tightened. If Qin Jianwei had a system—no, 'if' was the wrong word. If the universe had a sense of humor, then yes, Qin Jianwei had a system.

A Villain system? Side character fights back type? A cheat code wrapped in golden destiny, rewarding him for tilting the scales in his favor. And if that were the case…Poof, am I becoming a side character? I took some effort in branching off this timeline why are you freeloading of it?

Han Chen's thoughts flicked back to his own past. The fragments. The five systems he had assimilated after careful hunting—mission-based, villain-based, plot-based, and the "more children, more rewards" one. The last one was adventurous. He secretly disabled the only tool the other party used to subdue women and print out children like popping popcorn. What a time it was...

His system had already birthed a spiritual consciousness before he did that, one arising out of pure wisdom of thoughts, unlike those innate ones --manifestation of segmented consciousness of original reality. Systems thrive in timelines feeding of it, and the best way to keep it? Attach to foreign soul and offer a new life.

His system, his real system had evolved over half a million years. It had consciousness made,and not born early. It had devoured divine fragments and learn to do by itself. It wasn't like those disposable tools that latched onto clueless hosts, whispering sweet lies about ultimate power. No, his system was self-aware, hungry, and patient. May be a bit snarky?

When system descended into a lower plane, it became vulnerable. The best option for survival? Merge fully with the host. That was what had happened. It had torn its own will apart and fused with him. The energy lost was massive—comparable to losing a fragment—but the trade-off was his absolute autonomy. No whispers in his ear. No guiding hand. Yet still had essence of 4 other ones than itself. Host became the controller.

Just raw knowledge, instincts, and the power to do what every system feared: Assimilate others. 

And if Qin Jianwei's system had a will of its own? One that could burn its own cheat code to turn Qin into an Immortal Emperor overnight under threat? Han Chen's code might be glitchy, but it had one advantage: it knew how to devour its kin. It's just, who put up a fight first wins the fight.

He left the unanswered doubts and worries in the back of his mind and did the one thing he could do, cultivated.

Recently the effectiveness of temporal array has become lower, only 95% of before. As life level increases so is the resistance against decay of time. Yet it only added a few more minutes in reality for days passing by in speedup field. A month passed by in the real-world. 

His promotion to second rank foundation building went smoothly, & inside his dantian, above the foundation, formed a network of structures that assembled together to form another Tao platform, spiritual qi and minor law energy started flooding his platform and filled its width forming a solid foundation, his control of over law energies progressed little bit and soul power also increased further.

But he soon felt the diminishing returns effect. His cultivation started stalling again - all because of his state of mind. Getting tangled up in everyday problems and lose of focus from Daoism, suppressing spirit, holding back his true feelings, constantly obsessing over what to do about his ex-wife... yeah, that'll mess with your progress. 

Well, he got the perfect opportunity to counter that as well. He got the prospect of meeting him.

The business partnership with Qin's family was moving along after Qin Jianwei and Yue Lan met. They even hung out a few times after - just friendly chats upon observation, nothing serious, but the frequency of occurrence is increasing with strange coincidences. Qin was... well, he was smooth. Like someone who'd done this dance before, you know? Knew exactly when to back off when dealing with women.

Enough about my sour talk. Anyway, Qin family is a big player. International even. They have many fields, infrastructure, real estate, luxury goods, and even protection services. The advent of Jianwei created a new hype around their stepping into big pharma, bio tech etc.

The Yue Family was a big player in the world of pharmaceuticals and biotech, but even giants could bleed. That's what happens in his first life. They are not yet there. Their empire was under siege --a rising competitor, backed by shadowy martial sects and international conglomerates, was chipping away at their dominance.

To stay ahead, the Yu's needed something revolutionary: advanced energy sources, sophisticated instruments to power their cutting-edge research, research studies on biocompatibility, martial arts internal energy, their synergy with pure electricity, body strengthening etc.

Their labs were on the brink of breakthroughs --beast essence fusion for medicine, gene-enhancement therapies, even Qi-stimulating treatments that could revolutionize modern healthcare. But a product can't be successful if you only simulate the theory behind it. None of it mattered if they couldn't power their experiments or had devices to try own.

That's where the Han Family came in. The Hans were leading players in new energy and biomechanical fields, their expertise rooted in traditional power but stretching into the future with bioenergy advancements and renewable tech. Thus, the alliance originally happened.

Han Chen's parents had been established researchers and businessmen, their research and independent company aiming in new energy, profits groundbreaking --until it was seized by corporate vultures. Well now, Qin Jianwei foresaw the events and already made a premade alliance for the new advent of genetic medicines and stuff.

Qin has been busy lately. Over the course of past six months, he has been travelling around, treating women to dinner, arranging his subordinates to meet with local forces, attending banquets, some hero saving beauty moments. He recently shown miraculous traditional medical skills saving an old man. 

If nothing unexpected happened, Qin Jianwei would visit Yanying Jie within the next few days. Once a thriving black-market hub for martial artists, underground gamblers, and rogue cultivators, the street had long since fallen into disuse after a major crackdown. The only ones left were a handful of scattered practitioners - too stubborn, too desperate, or too ambitious to let go of their hidden dealings.

Yanying Street was a place most people avoided. This wasn't a place for the weak. The area has high-rises with blind spots, underground gambling dens, and hidden safehouses. As expected, on the fourth day, Qin Jianwei walked down the street, flanked by four bodyguards armed. He wasn't so high profile, but a careful look can reveal hidden depths.

Qin Jianwei believes, he's here to meet a contact about a rare cultivation resource. Of course Han Chen first saw a primitive form of pill, they were auctioning said to be the best result after years of research. Han Chen decided it will be the bait.