I am the villain in the book

Ten days later.

Da Ning, Peizhou, Yunze Lake.

The lake surface is vast, shimmering with light, making it difficult to see the shore even from a distance.

As the largest lake within Da Ning, Yunze Lake doesn't freeze in winter and has waves when the wind rises, naturally making it a very famous "tourist attraction."

Currently, a group of women, each more beautiful than the last, are standing on a small platform by the lake, gazing into the distance. A gentle breeze rustles their colorful skirts, and coupled with the stunning lake scenery, it almost looks like a group of fairies descending to earth.

Of course, these aren't real fairies. It's actually Wei Changtian and his group, who have come here for sightseeing.

That's right, ten days have passed, and the group has only reached Peizhou, barely completing half of their "journey home."

If it were just Wei Changtian traveling alone, he would have returned to the capital by now.

However, traveling with a family is slow, and with plenty of time, Wei Changtian simply decided to travel and play along the way, treating it as a vacation.

"Big Brother! Take me flying! I want to see the other side of the lake!"

The chattering voice comes from Wei Qiaoling. Because she's too short to see the other side of the lake, she's clamoring for Wei Changtian to take her up to see.

Wei Changtian, annoyed by her nagging, had no choice but to hold the little girl and fly into the air, taking a distant look at the scenery on the opposite shore.

"Wow! I'm flying!"

As soon as Wei Qiaoling left the ground, she squealed and waved her little arms wildly, excitedly showing off to the other two little girls below:

"A'chun! A'gou! I saw the other side of the lake!"

"Wow!"

A'chun and A'gou were clearly envious, but they were too embarrassed to ask Wei Changtian to take them flying too, so they could only watch from below with longing eyes.

And as she watched, A'chun's feet gradually lifted off the ground.

Because her attention was entirely on Wei Qiaoling, A'chun herself didn't notice this. Everyone else was admiring the lake scenery and didn't look her way.

So, the first person to notice this scene was Wei Changtian.

Huh?

Why is A'chun off the ground?

What's going on? Levitation?

But levitation requires the Third Rank?

Could it be that A'chun has already...

Holy crap???

Wei Changtian was suddenly shocked, completely forgetting that he was still holding Wei Qiaoling in his arms.

Plus, the latter was making a lot of noise, so...

"Big Brother! Fly a little higher! I want to... Wow!!!"

"Big Brother!! I'm falling!!!"

"."

A quarter of an hour later.

By the lake, a group of people huddled together, their expressions very nervous, except for Wei Qiaoling, who was sulking with her cheeks puffed out.

Of course, she didn't actually fall into the lake.

After all, with Wei Changtian's Second Rank late-stage speed, although he accidentally "dropped" his sister, it was still very easy to "scoop" her back up before she fell into the water.

But this still made Wei Qiaoling very angry.

However, now no one, including Wei Changtian, could pay attention to her. They were all holding their breath and staring intently at the bewildered A'chun, not daring to breathe.

Until Wei Changtian slowly released the latter's wrist and nodded with a complicated expression.

"Indeed, Third Rank."

"."

In an instant, the wooden platform was silent, and even the sound of the lake waves disappeared.

Everyone stared wide-eyed in astonishment, their faces full of disbelief.

Among them, Xu Qingwan, Yang Liushi, and Liang Qin were undoubtedly even more shocked.

After all, the three women were martial artists and knew what this meant.

Although, in terms of the world the three women had seen, Third Rank martial artists were nothing special, even quite common.

But, but A'chun is only ten years old this year!

Third Rank at ten years old?

And it's only been three years since A'chun started cultivating!

This, this...

Opening their mouths wide in unison, the three women didn't know what to say.

While Wei Changtian was equally surprised, he accepted it faster and quickly looked down to ask A'chun:

"A'chun, did you know before that you had broken through to the Third Rank?"

"R-Reporting, Master..."

A'chun weakly replied: "Disciple doesn't know."

"Really?"

Wei Changtian frowned slightly: "It's impossible not to feel anything when breaking through to the Third Rank. Don't lie!"

"Disciple, Disciple wouldn't dare to deceive Master!"

A'chun immediately raised her head, explaining with both grievance and panic: "A few days ago, Disciple did have a strange dream. After waking up, I felt that my dantian seemed a little different."

"N-Nothing else."

"Dream?"

Wei Changtian was stunned, and then he realized that this should be A'chun's "hurdle" for breaking through to the Third Rank.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Disciple, Disciple didn't know that this was a sign of breaking through to the Third Rank."

"How could you not know! Didn't your Uncle Zhang San, and your several Shiniangs, tell you about this?!"

Wei Changtian shouted sternly, but the next moment, when he saw A'chun's aggrieved expression, he immediately shut his mouth.

Wait a minute...

Maybe A'chun really doesn't know.

After all, whether it was Zhang San or Xu Qingwan, Liang Qin, these "masters" who had guided A'chun's cultivation, none of them were above the Third Rank.

The only one with Second Rank strength, Yang Liushi, was a demon, and didn't have this process of crossing the hurdle at all.

And as the only person with this experience, I usually don't care about A'chun's cultivation...

"Cough, forget it, I'll spare you this time."

Embarrassed, Wei Changtian quickly changed the subject: "As your teacher, I ask you, what did you dream about in that dream?"

"D-Dreamed about..."

A'chun's voice suddenly became small, and her eyes turned red.

She lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers, and whispered: "Dreamed about Father and Mother..."

"."

Wei Changtian's eyes froze, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

For A'chun, she didn't have much experience, so the only thing that could become a "hurdle" was her deceased parents.

Although Wei Changtian didn't know what A'chun had seen in the hurdle, he didn't ask further, just gently touched the back of the latter's head.

"Alright, it's nothing."

Just like that, Wei Changtian "inexplicably" gained a Third Rank disciple.

And with A'chun's aptitude, breaking through to the Second Rank in the future can be said to be a certainty, and it's not an exaggeration to say she has the "potential of a Great Emperor."

At the same time, in a secret room tens of thousands of miles away, another man in gray clothes had just broken through to the Third Rank.

"Congratulations, Young Master!"

"Congratulations, Young Master, for breaking through!"

"Congratulations, Young Master!"

The moment the man opened his eyes, several Dharma protectors immediately knelt on one knee around him, congratulating him in unison, the reverence on their faces beyond compare.

To be honest, this scene wasn't really worth praising.

After all, the world is so big, it's not like people break through to the Upper Three Ranks every moment, but there are definitely many every day.

If the person breaking through has some power, it's also very normal for people to protect them.

But what if five Second Ranks are protecting a Third Rank?

"Well, get up."

Slowly standing up, the gray-clothed man's expression was very calm, as if breaking through to the Third Rank wasn't something to be happy about.

Such a calm reaction, coupled with this circle of Second Rank experts who were clearly loyal to him, anyone with a brain would know that this person was no ordinary person.

And if Wei Changtian were here at this moment, seeing his appearance, the surprised expression would probably be no less than discovering that A'chun had broken through to the Third Rank.

Because this person is Chu Xianping.

He was still a Sixth Rank in Yongding City, and four months later he reached the Third Rank.

This speed, even if it can't compare to A'chun, is at least similar to Wei Changtian, who has the system cheat.

Inconceivable is not enough to describe how exaggerated this is.

So, if you had to find a word...

Ascending to immortality in one step?