I Have an Invincible Replicating System

"Are you forcing me to kill you?" Lou Mengyu spat through clenched teeth.

Qin Yang, wearing an expression of perfect innocence, pointed at his own mouth.

Lou Mengyu made a disgusted noise and hastily released him.

"You can't kill me," Qin Yang said, spreading his hands.

Lou Mengyu was on the verge of tears. "What do you want from me! Can't you just spare me? Can't we pretend this never happened?"

Seeing Lou Mengyu's tear-streaked face, Qin Yang felt a pang of guilt.

"What's done is done," Qin Yang said solemnly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? A single 'sorry' can restore my innocence?" Lou Mengyu's tightly controlled composure shattered. She covered her mouth, sobbing silently.

She tried to suppress the sounds, but her efforts were futile. In the end, she was still just a young girl who had been thrust into unimaginable circumstances, completely at a loss for what to do.

Qin Yang spoke up, "If you marry me, wouldn't that restore your innocence?"

Lou Mengyu froze.

"Every girl gets married," Qin Yang continued. "Does marriage make you impure?"

Lou Mengyu stared at him, her tears flowing even more fiercely.

Qin Yang was at a loss. "Am I that unappealing?"

"Between us... it's impossible! And I'll never marry you!" Lou Mengyu wiped her tears, her face resolute. "When I find that person, I'll end my life! And I'll drag you to the grave with me!"

Qin Yang's mouth gaped open. "Wait, dying together later is no match for being together now..."

He added hastily, "Who are you searching for? Let me kill him outright so you'll never find him!"

Lou Mengyu snapped, "One of the Eight Divine Clans destroyed a thousand years ago—the Qin Family's descendant! Go find him yourself!"

Qin Yang froze, the name sounding disturbingly familiar.

"That's exactly who you're looking for!" Dragon Jade interjected. "She might be from another of the Eight Divine Clans. Don't reveal your identity!"

Qin Yang ignored the warning, pointing wildly at himself. "I'm the one you're looking for! What do you want with me?"

"Good grief..." Dragon Jade erupted in curses. "You idiot! We haven't even established if you're friend or foe, and you're already..."

"You?" Lou Mengyu interrupted. "Though you share the Qin name, you can't possibly be him."

"Why couldn't it be me?" Qin Yang asked, perplexed.

"The descendants of the Qin Family have been sought by Celestial Academy and the Eight Divine Clans for a thousand years, yet they remain undiscovered..."

"Then how can you be so certain you'll find him?"

"If he truly exists, he must appear during this demonic beast tide!"

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then it will be the next tide!"

"The next century?"

Lou Mengyu glared at Qin Yang. "If he doesn't show during this tide, I'll end my life! And you too!"

Qin Yang felt overwhelmed. How do I prove I'm the true heir? he thought.

"You still haven't said why you're looking for him," Qin Yang asked.

"The Eight Divine Clans arrange intermarriages..."

"So it's fate after all," Qin Yang sighed.

"What did you say?" Lou Mengyu asked.

Qin Yang shook his head, his gaze toward Lou Mengyu shifting. She was meant to be my wife all along! In that moment, his perspective completely changed.

Lou Mengyu mistook his look for something deeper. The tears she'd been holding back spilled over. "It's all your fault! If not for you, I'd never have become my clan's disgrace!"

Qin Yang rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, it won't happen. If a descendant of the Qin family appears, it will be me. If it's not me, then no one will appear."

Lou Mengyu shook her head. "You should give up on me. Even if no descendant of the Qin family appears, the family would never agree to let me marry you."

"I'll make them agree," Qin Yang said, each word measured and deliberate.

Lou Mengyu's eyes gradually turned cold and emotionless. Qin Yang stared at her, momentarily stunned.

"You... broke through with the Ice Heart Art?" Qin Yang blurted out.

When the Ice Heart Art was cultivated to its peak, one's cultivation would advance to the Qi Gathering Realm's perfection. This meant that by activating the Ice Heart Art, all emotions would vanish, leaving only absolute rationality.

This technique had even proven effective when Qin Yang was poisoned by the Hot Snake Flower, during the moment of its toxic eruption! However, at that time, he had copied the Ice Heart Art beyond his current cultivation level, and his subsequent breakthrough only brought him to the initial stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Heart as clear as ice, Heaven's path is merciless," Qin Yang murmured. "So even facing me requires you to activate the Ice Heart Art?"

"Why do you know so much about the Ice Heart Art?" After a pause, Lou Mengyu replied coldly, "But it doesn't matter now."

"Are you really okay with this?" Qin Yang asked with a bitter chuckle. "If you could have brought yourself to kill me, I wouldn't be here now. Why didn't you take the chance when I was unconscious?"

Lou Mengyu found herself speechless, unable to answer a question that had long perplexed her.

"It started as a misunderstanding," Qin Yang continued. "Then I was poisoned by the Hot Snake Flower. After that, I warned you to leave, but you chose to stay."

He deliberately omitted mentioning the Dragon Jade's display of imperial might.

"Everything seems like coincidences, and the fault wasn't entirely mine. That's why you couldn't bring yourself to kill me. But what's done is done. This was all destined to happen; it was just a matter of time."

Mentioning destiny again, Lou Mengyu asked coldly, "What exactly is destined?"

"Your fate is to become my wife. You can't escape it," Qin Yang replied.

Lou Mengyu took a deep breath. "If you don't run now, I'll end both our lives right here."

"But if I run and you truly find a Qin Family descendant later, how could you join me in death then?"

The scene fell silent.

The Dragon Jade, thoroughly confused by the conversation, interjected, "What's going on with you two? 'Ending both our lives' and 'joining in death'—are those the same thing or different?"

Qin Yang couldn't help but chuckle.

"Then stay by my side," Lou Mengyu said. "The moment we find a Qin Family descendant, I'll kill you immediately!"

"Deal!" Qin Yang's face lit up. "Even if you can't defeat me then... though truth be told, you might not be able to even now."

Qin Yang burst out laughing. "If you do find a Qin Family descendant and want me dead, just say the word and I'll end myself right away!"

Lou Mengyu's eyes flickered. Qin Yang's resolute expression only made her heart grow more unsettled.

"Lou-shimei? Thank the heavens you're here!" A voice called out, filled with both joy and obsequiousness.

"Meng-shixiong?" Lou Mengyu turned to wipe the tears from her face.

A young man hurried over. His brow furrowed when he saw Qin Yang, his face twisting with contempt. "What's an outer disciple like you standing around for? Get back to sweeping!"

Qin Yang sneered. "Who do you think you are?"

The young man froze momentarily before exploding in rage. "I'm Meng Gaofei, the senior disciple of the Thousand Hidden Sect's Inner Sect! How dare a lowly outer disciple like you speak with such insolence! You clearly need a proper lesson in discipline!"