Lin Qi was the last batch of Genetically Synthesized Humans.

It was said that a long time ago, Genetically Synthesized Humans were beings without mental strength, existing only to do hard manual labor. A century ago, the Alliance underwent a revolution when a synthetic human with unprecedentedly powerful mental strength awakened the mental strength of all synthetic humans in the Alliance.

At the time, Lin Qi was sleeping in a culture incubator, learning various household knowledge as a household Genetically Synthesized Human, when suddenly his incubator shattered.

Following the Alliance's revolution, the further creation of Genetically Synthesized Humans was banned. Their final batch of synthetic humans, just like all the other natural humans in the Alliance who had awakened their mental strength, went to school, took exams, and sought employment.

Although Genetically Synthesized Humans were almost identical to natural humans in both appearance and mental strength, natural humans could still easily distinguish them.

Genetically Synthesized Humans had a special scent—or so everyone said. In any case, Lin Qi himself couldn't smell anything on himself or other Genetically Synthesized Humans.

It couldn't really be called discrimination; naturally, the two groups separated and just hung out with their own kind.

When Lin Qi was in school, he had almost no friends.

There was nothing he could do about it; there were simply too few Genetically Synthesized Humans in the school.

Lin Qi didn't feel angry about this either. Perhaps his genes naturally carried a factor of peacefulness; he rarely experienced genuine emotional fluctuations. He studied hard, took his exams seriously, and entered the workforce with the most outstanding grades.

He absolutely had no time or opportunity to date.

He hadn't even generated the slightest thought in that regard.

So when the System presented these 'materials', Lin Qi felt as if he were hung on a tree and violently blown about by a gale. "W-Why do I have to look at this?"

The System said in a patronizing tone, "It's only a matter of time."

Lin Qi wondered if the 100% favorability rating had caused the System to misunderstand, so he explained, "Du Chengying and I are good friends. It's not what you think. Du Chengying will have many female confidantes."

The System replied indifferently, "Oh."

Lin Qi felt the System's undisguised perfunctoriness.

Did a 100% favorability rating necessarily represent romantic love? Familial love and friendship were entirely possible. Besides, Du Chengying's script had many girls waiting for him, so there was no way he would get tangled up in any romantic entanglements with him.

Moreover, the System also mentioned that Du Chengying had a 100% Blackening Value, but he completely failed to sense anything dark about Du Chengying.

He was even sunnier and smiled more than before.

Lin Qi decided to take the ill-tempered System's opinions with a grain of salt.

There was no need to flip through the materials in front of him. Lin Qi quietly waited for those masters of Mount Yuelu to appear and pick their disciples.

It wouldn't be bad if he could be in the same sect under the same master as Du Chengying, as it would save him the effort of running back and forth. He just didn't know if those face-slapping plot points would still happen as they originally did. Regarding this point, Lin Qi asked the System.

The System said meaningfully, "Some things are unstoppable."

Lin Qi felt a little more at ease. If he knew at this time that the 'unstoppable things' the System spoke of did not refer to the plot, he definitely would have... thoroughly studied those materials.

Sunlight spilled from above, the white mist by their sides gradually dissipated, and the fluttering talismans lost their vitality. Lin Qi, who had been sitting ungracefully on the steps, hurriedly turned around, bowing like the other disciples, and stood silently with his head lowered.

A powerful oppressive aura struck down from above.

Lin Qi knew that Mount Yuelu's group of Daoist Masters had arrived.

The setting of this cultivation world was extremely simple and crude. Mount Yuelu was the boss of the cultivation world, and the Four Great Daoists were Mount Yuelu's four great guardians. Each had their own area of expertise, their own temperaments, and all four were inextricably linked to Du Chengying's journey to becoming a god.

Sanyue Zhenren, like Lin Qi, had little presence. Lin Qi remembered that Sanyue didn't even personally attend the disciple recruitment, only sending his own disciples to recruit people. He had barely made any appearances from beginning to end.

Master Yuan Yu was a woman, the most powerful existence in the path of sword cultivation. Her temperament was as fierce as fire, and she detested evil. She was born unparalleled in beauty and possessed an extremely arrogant personality. Initially, she looked down on Du Chengying, who had absolutely no Spirit Seed, but was later blinded by his male protagonist halo and gifted him the Tianyuan Sword she had forged.

Lin Qi reasonably suspected that this was one of the harems the small world had opened up for Du Chengying.

A beautiful female master, the absolute favorite of male-oriented novels.

Master Guilian was the eldest among them. He excelled at drawing talismans, came and went without a trace, and taught Du Chengying a lot about cultivation, counting as one of Du Chengying's spiritual mentors.

The remaining one was Baoshu Zhenren, who specialized in alchemy and pill refinement. He was also Du Chengying's scumbag father who had abandoned his wife and child. He had the most screen time in the early stages, constantly tripping up Du Chengying, only to be face-slapped by him. Right up until Lin Qi's death, he was considered the major villain on Du Chengying's path to godhood.

Lin Qi was unclear about the subsequent plot.

Scrutinizing gazes came from above. Lin Qi was originally very calm; according to the plot, he would be taken away by Senior Brother Xiao Mo under Sanyue Zhenren. Since the Xiao Clan and Lin Clan both belonged to Huayuan, Xiao Mo had been greeted in advance, which counted as pulling some strings for the mediocrely-talented Lin Qi.

But given this situation of major plot changes, Lin Qi was also unsure whether he would still be accepted by Sanyue Zhenren.

The Daoist Masters' tokens slowly floated down, tapping between the eyebrows of the disciples they favored. The chosen disciples joyfully looked up to acknowledge their masters and quickly took their positions behind those Daoist Masters.

As the number of people around him decreased, Lin Qi grew slightly worried. However, fortunately, he never heard the sound of anyone taking Sanyue Zhenren as their master.

In other words, Xiao Mo hadn't selected anyone yet.

Lin Qi lowered his head and waited silently, his palms unknowingly sweating from nervousness.

"Chengying," an elegant female voice sounded, carrying a hint of a smile. "Why aren't you picking people for your master?"

Lin Qi's ears felt like they were going to explode. Chengying?!

He really wanted to look up, but looking up now would be too conspicuous. Thus, he had to seek help from the System, "System, is Du Chengying the one helping Sanyue Zhenren pick people?"

The System: "Yes. Don't worry, he'll definitely pick you."

Lin Qi couldn't feel happy at all after hearing the System's words, because the System's tone was so ordinary and certain that it actually made him feel weird.

Sure enough, Du Chengying's voice also traveled over. His tone carried a hint of a smile, and he spoke humbly and gently, "Naturally, you masters should go first."

"Sanyue truly has good fortune, able to pick up a good disciple just by going out," Master Guilian stroked his long white beard, his admiring gaze landing on Du Chengying. "If you ask me, I won't pick any of these people; I only want you, Chengying."

Du Chengying smiled faintly, "Master praises me too much."

It seemed that not only had Du Chengying gone up the mountain in advance to become Sanyue Zhenren's disciple, but he also had quite a good reputation. The rebirth of a male protagonist in a male-oriented world really maximized the golden finger right away. Lin Qi couldn't help but sigh inwardly. What need was there for a tool person like him then?

Baoshu Zhenren, who had been silent all along, spoke at this time, "It's about done. There aren't any good goods left anyway."

The faces of the several disciples who had not yet been chosen successively revealed expressions of humiliation.

Lin Qi, keeping his head lowered, also furrowed his brows very professionally.

Du Chengying said placidly, "The few masters should go back and rest. You can just leave the remaining matters to this disciple."

Yuan Yu and Guilian both smiled and said they were reassured. Baoshu ignored him. The three turned around together and left with their newly accepted disciples.

Du Chengying let out a sigh of relief. He raised his eyes to look at that pale blue figure in the crowd and raised his hand to send Sanyue Zhenren's token down. But right at this moment, a bright green leaf shot down sharply, striking Sanyue Zhenren's token with a crisp 'ding'.

The sound exploded right in front of Lin Qi. Lin Qi looked up, only to see that Baoshu Zhenren, who had left earlier, had returned. He still pinched a few green leaves between his fingertips, sneering as he faced Du Chengying.

Even though the two were father and son, they didn't look alike at all in appearance. Baoshu had a handsome face with a melancholic and weathered temperament. Du Chengying, however, was exceptionally magnificent, his features picturesque. And for some unknown reason, Baoshu had been extremely harsh on Du Chengying from his very first day up the mountain. Even though he accepted him as a disciple, he showed no master-disciple affection towards him and had overtly and covertly played quite a few vicious hands against Du Chengying.

Back then, when Du Chengying was taken away by Baoshu, he initially had no spiritual power in his body. He suffered an unknown amount of torment under Baoshu, and Lin Qi also farmed a lot of quests.

It seemed that although Du Chengying had been reborn, his relationship with Baoshu remained at daggers drawn. Lin Qi let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, there were still quests to farm.

Du Chengying's expression didn't change, "What is the meaning of this, Master?"

Baoshu Zhenren's gaze glanced over Lin Qi, and he said lightly, "Accepting a disciple."

Lin Qi: "..." N-No way, right?

Du Chengying had anticipated that Baoshu would oppose him and deliberately held back, saying he would pick from the ones they left behind. He just didn't expect Baoshu to be so aggressively overbearing, feinting a departure only to come back and disrupt things.

No matter what, Du Chengying could not let Lin Qi fall into the hands of Baoshu Zhenren. He knew best how cruel Baoshu's methods were; a person like Lin Qi wouldn't be able to bear it.

"Master, this fellow Daoist is someone my master specifically instructed me to choose." Du Chengying first borrowed Sanyue Zhenren's name.

Baoshu refused to let the matter go, saying casually, "I'm intercepting him." To speak of intercepting from a fellow sect member so righteously and without any shame—he truly lived up to his title as the chief villain of the early stages.

Knowing that Baoshu wouldn't let it go easily, Du Chengying raised the stakes, "This fellow Daoist hails from Huayuan and has quite a connection with several junior and senior brothers under my sect."

Baoshu stated directly, "Once you've entered Mount Yuelu, why distinguish which branch you came from? Forming cliques and factions—what kind of propriety is that?"

Du Chengying's patience was also limited. He wore a smile on his face, but his eyes turned cold, "Then, Master, you are absolutely determined to fight me for him?"

When he said this, his tone was flat, and he even lowered his voice, carrying a trace of a junior's respect. Yet it sent a chilling shudder down the spines of everyone present.

Except for Baoshu Zhenren and Lin Qi.

Lin Qi calmly said, "System, has a quest popped up?"

The System said in a tone of hating iron for not becoming steel, "In this kind of jealous rivalry scene, all you can think about is doing quests?"

Lin Qi: "..." Don't misuse idioms. This is going tit for tat.

How could Baoshu Zhenren possibly let a newly initiated disciple step all over him? He said impolitely, "What if I am?"

Lin Qi thought they were about to fight. The face-slapping plot was about to trigger, and his tool person cells were simply restless with excitement.

In this kind of plot where the righteous and villainous factions opposed each other, a tool person like him usually had two functions: drawing aggro and dragging them down, or drawing aggro while dragging them down.

Lin Qi said loudly, "You two, please listen to me."

Baoshu Zhenren and Du Chengying turned their heads simultaneously. One's gaze was cold and gloomy, while the other's was warm and worried. Lin Qi stated calmly, "Thank you for the profound favor, Baoshu Zhenren, but this disciple still wishes to be apprenticed under Sanyue Zhenren."

Du Chengying's expression warmed, unable to conceal the joy in his eyes, but Baoshu Zhenren angrily retorted, "Is it up to you two juniors to question my decision?" The green leaves at his fingertips flicked out. A single disagreement and he was going to violently beat Du Chengying.

His movements were so fast that Lin Qi, who wanted to go up and block the damage for Du Chengying, didn't even have time to throw himself over. He could only watch helplessly as Du Chengying let out a muffled groan and fell down the Cultivation Ladder.

Du Chengying rolled a few times in an exaggerated manner, falling perfectly right by Lin Qi's feet. Lin Qi hurriedly bent down to help him, "Fellow Daoist Du!" Raising his head, he angrily shouted at Baoshu Zhenren, "How can Baoshu Zhenren use his power to bully others like this!" It was too fast! He didn't even have time to farm a quest!

Du Chengying grabbed Lin Qi's arm with one hand to prevent Lin Qi from impulsively going up to contend with Baoshu. With a pale face, he said, "I'm fine."

He was genuinely fine. The instant he sensed Baoshu was about to strike, he had flipped out of the way in advance. Now, he was merely suppressing his true qi to put on an act.

Lin Qi looked down at him, suddenly feeling that their roles were a bit reversed. Originally, he should be the one lying on the ground, then Du Chengying would explode in anger, taking his cultivation a step further. But now, the one lying on the ground had become Du Chengying. How was he supposed to work with this?

Lin Qi held back for a while but couldn't squeeze out any lines. He just stared blankly at Du Chengying with an expression of deep, bitter resentment.

Fortunately, Baoshu Zhenren stole the scene. He coldly snorted and said, "What a pair of ill-fated lovebirds."

Lin Qi: "..." Another one misusing idioms!

Du Chengying turned his head and replied to Baoshu, "Why must you press us so hard, Master?"

Baoshu knit his brows in disgust, "You're refusing to let go?"

Du Chengying's voice was weak, but his tone was firm, "Must Master insist on tearing us apart?"

The more Lin Qi listened, the more off it sounded. He even felt his arm, which was being held by Du Chengying, burning slightly. However, Du Chengying and Baoshu were addicted to their verbal sparring, their exchange so dense that Lin Qi couldn't get a single word in edgewise.

The System: "Wanna watch Super Rush Rush Rush?"

Lin Qi: "..."

The System tempted, "They're gonna argue for a while longer. You're not going to watch No. 017's resurrection match?"

Lin Qi refused very principledly, "Not watching."

The System: "No. 017 is on stage now."

Lin Qi struggled for a moment before finally saying with difficulty, "...Not watching." He swore he would definitely replace this System that was even better at drawing aggro and dragging people down than he was!