"How did you investigate?" Ye Shuang chuckled upon hearing the question, "Well... let's just say I used some minor tricks. It's confidential."
Chen Qin snorted at Ye Shuang's mysterious tone but didn’t press further. "Besides Yang Wei, who else do you know about?"
"Hmm, let me calculate." Ye Shuang wiggled his fingers, stroking an imaginary goatee with his other hand, putting on the airs of a fortune-telling charlatan.
"Fortune-telling?" Chen Qin rolled her eyes. "Are you messing with me?"
Ye Shuang simply smiled. "If you suspect something’s wrong with the company, look into those who love bragging about their flashy PowerPoints. The ones who actually get things done usually stay quiet."
"You know how many managers our group has." Though Chen Qin said this, Ye Shuang’s words gave her a new angle to consider.
"I told you—bring me to the next meeting. Maybe I’ll sniff out a few more."
Chen Qin knew Ye Shuang was teasing her, but since he offered, bringing him along didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Later, Ye Shuang sat in the audience watching the performances. However, the anime club’s act coincidentally overlapped with another group—both playing "Senbonzakura," though the anime club’s guzheng rendition was surprisingly well-received.
"Kinda feel bad about this," Ye Shuang muttered, imagining the girl on screen playing the guzheng glaring at him resentfully.
The head of Yinshan Academy’s anime club was a petite beauty. After finishing "Senbonzakura," she magically changed costumes and launched into "Idol" (Oshi no Ko), while her club members waved glow sticks and danced in support, hyping up the crowd even more.
"Talk about enthusiasm. True otaku spirit," Ye Shuang mused, wondering if the anime club counted as a music group since all their acts were song-based.
Time flew, and halfway through the performances, Ye Shuang was about to head to the restroom when the host announced:
"Thank you to the Macho Club for their ‘Chest-Shattering Boulder’ performance! Next up, we have An Shiyu from Class 3-B, performing a piano piece!"
Ye Shuang froze mid-rise, turning to the screen in surprise as a familiar girl stepped onto the stage.
Dressed in a white off-shoulder gown, An Shiyu looked serene—nothing like her usual self.
Soon, the notes flowed.
She played "Summer" from Kikujiro flawlessly, the lively melody evoking the bright, carefree essence of summer.
"She plays piano too?" Ye Shuang was stunned. Not only did she have a solo, but she hadn’t even practiced during the light music club’s sessions.
"Ye Shuang..."
Hearing Bai Yuyou call his name, he turned. "Hmm? What’s up?"
"I want to play too..." Bai Yuyou said softly.
"I’ll teach you when we get back," Ye Shuang smiled.
An Shiyu finished her piece and left the stage just as swiftly as she arrived, like a refreshing sip of lemon soda on a scorching day.
"Thank you, An Shiyu, for that beautiful performance! Next, our special guest—Phoenix Mountain Legends!"
The crowd erupted. Rumors of their appearance had been circulating, and many attendees came specifically for them.
"Wumeng Mountain stretches beyond the hills, moonlight spills over Xiangshui Bay..." Their hit Madame Fragrance instantly had the audience bobbing their heads.
As special guests, they only performed two songs, closing with Ocean Floor before exiting.
Though the crowd was disappointed, the host smoothly introduced the next act:
"Thanks to Phoenix Mountain Legends! Now, please welcome our next guest—international artist, Mei Yiliya!"
The curtains parted, and Gokuraku Jodo (Extreme Paradise) electrified the venue, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
"Being a student here must be amazing," Ye Shuang remarked, watching the sea of glow sticks around him.
"Right? We never had anything like this back in school," Chen Qin laughed. Their "cultural performances" were just students putting on skits—nothing this grand.
As they reminisced, more celebrities took the stage.
This could’ve passed for a New Year’s Eve gala.
But even the brightest fireworks fade. Around 11 PM, the spectacular academy show finally concluded.
Security and disciplinary staff reminded visitors to clean up and check for belongings as students and guests reluctantly filed out.
Ye Shuang led Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke backstage, where winners would be announced separately to avoid crowding.
Prizes were awarded for both category-first and overall top-five placements (excluding guest performers).
Backstage, a crowd had already gathered around a screen displaying the results:
[Rankings (unordered):
An Shiyu (Summer),
Magic Club (Human Transmutation),
New Opera Club (Heavenly Match or Mismatch),
Anime Club (Senbonzakura/Idol),
2nd-Year Teachers’ Skit (Ximen Qing vs. Pan Jinlian)]
Ye Shuang: "..."
An Shiyu topping the list wasn’t surprising.
Seeing the Light Music Club absent from the top five, he scanned the category rankings—only for Zhixia to suddenly hug Linlin like an excited bunny.
"Linlin! We did it!"
Ye Shuang spotted the music category results:
1. Light Music Club, 2. Rock Club, 3. IKUN Music Group...
"First in our category..." Linlin’s eyes welled up with tears.
"W-why are you crying?"
"Happy tears..."
"Ha ha ha!"
Ye Shuang exhaled, watching the girls celebrate. "Not top five, but still a happy ending."
What were the prizes, though?
Amid the chatter, Huang Zhao from IKUN Music Group approached.
"Linlin."
"Huang Zhao, what do you want?" Linlin wiped her tears, visibly unwelcoming.
"You won. IKUN admits defeat." Huang Zhao extended a hand.
"Gotta admit—you nailed that last line."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
