A sinister aura seeped through the gaps in the coffin.
At first, there were only a few wisps, creeping outward along the edges of the iron coffin. Before long, they overwhelmed the patterns etched into the floor and burrowed into the long-rusted ritual implements.
The iron chains wrapped around the coffin began to tremble.
Clatter.
Clatter.
With every rattle, another layer of rust flaked from the chains. Even the corpse-suppressing nails driven into the coffin lid were reaching their limit. Cracks spread across their heads, and the runes had dimmed until only faint traces remained.
Or perhaps, after all these years, these things had long since lost their effectiveness.
“No wonder it produced an Otherworld. The Kiku Sect really does have some tricks up its sleeve,” Lin Mo muttered.
Wang Xincheng picked up the thread. “The roots of the Kiku Sect can be traced back several centuries to the Japanese envoys sent to Tang China. They came here to steal our numerological arts, then took them back to Japan and cobbled together a system of their own.”
He paused, and a hint of disdain entered his voice.
“The interesting thing is that stolen things always seem to get renamed. After changing them around enough times, they even forget who their ancestors were.”
Jiang Yunlu frowned. “So they copied someone else’s homework and then complained that the original answers were wrong?”
Liu Zheng glanced at her. “That summary... is surprisingly apt.”
Through Bai Nia Jingfu’s soul, Lin Mo had long since learned about the Kiku Sect.
He was also familiar with the records the Yanhuang Awakening had compiled on them. He could say with confidence that no one present understood the Kiku Sect better than he did.
While they were talking, a harsh scraping sound came from inside the iron coffin.
The lid was being pushed open from within.
The gap was narrow, but wide enough for the sinister aura to pour out.
From that single opening, a massive amount of dark energy surged forth.
The entire laboratory was blanketed in it. In an instant, the aura swept toward them.
The girls huddled together one after another. Liu Zheng pulled a metal sphere from his pocket and tossed it onto the ground.
As soon as the sphere landed, it unfolded automatically. A light source sprang from within, and several beams of light intersected to form a mesh that blocked the incoming dark energy.
So this was the appeal of equipment?
Lin Mo, however, had higher stats and stronger mechanics.
He raised his hand and loosely clenched his palm.
The dark energy rushing toward everyone seemed to be caught by an invisible force. Its direction changed, and it converged toward his palm.
“Perfect. Just in time to replenish my Human Emperor Banner.”
The pressure against the web of light immediately diminished.
Liu Zheng lowered his head to look at his equipment, then glanced at Lin Mo. He could not help muttering, “This is high-end equipment, you know. Why do I suddenly feel ashamed for slacking off at work?”
Wang Keting could not hold back either. “Don’t be ashamed. At least it lights up.”
The dark energy was absorbed completely, and the coffin lid was pushed open as well.
Bang!
The lid slid off to the side and struck the floor, making the ground tremble.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the coffin, waiting to see what would crawl out.
Wang Xincheng glanced at Lin Mo. Seeing that he showed no reaction, he continued, “I heard that the Kiku Sect once stole Maoshan Daoist techniques. They also know a few methods for raising ghosts and refining corpses. In the past, I took it as nothing more than a rumor. I never expected they had actually managed to create one.”
Jiang Yunlu could not help cursing. “Those carrot heads stole our techniques and then used them against us. They’re the worst! If I get the chance, I’ll smash their heads in!”
Although a monster was about to emerge, no one looked particularly frightened. They were more interested in finding out what kind of monster it was.
At last, a hand pressed against the edge of the coffin.
Its flesh was shriveled, its fingernails long and pointed, and its hand was covered in black hair. Every strand seemed to absorb the dark energy, as though it had been soaked in ink.
The hand merely gripped the edge, yet its fingernails gouged several deep scratches into the iron.
That one hand alone was enough to confirm that a monster lay within.
Then a voice came from inside the coffin.
“Xiao Xian... Xiao Xian!”
Upon hearing that hoarse voice, even Lin Mo’s hand trembled involuntarily.
The story he had told himself had been narrated in the third person, but what he had experienced was seen from Yu Youhan’s first-person perspective.
“Yu Youhan? Even after death, you still remember your comrade?” Liu Zheng sighed, moved by the thought. The strength of such an obsession far surpassed that of ordinary people.
“The corpse survived in this world for the sake of a single obsession. The Kiku Sect knew he possessed that obsession, so they refined him into a jiangshi.”
“There’s Dragon Fang Fiendish Energy here, with fiendish energy and yin energy existing side by side. It’s an ideal place for refining corpses. Unfortunately, jiangshi are ultimately a heretical path. They cannot endure the light of day.”
As he spoke, Yu Youhan, his body covered in black hair, had already risen to his feet.
He looked toward the group, his eyes glowing scarlet.
The only words squeezed from his throat were still those same two.
“Xiao Xian!”
“The body is still the same body, and the obsession remains, but he is no longer himself.”
Sensing the aura of living people, Yu Youhan suddenly thrust out his hand. His black-haired arm carried a surge of sinister fiendish energy.
Liu Zheng shifted his feet, preparing to strike, but Lin Mo had already placed a hand on Yu Youhan’s shoulder.
The hand that could have torn through steel plating stopped in midair.
Yu Youhan struggled. A low growl rumbled from his throat, and the fiendish energy on his body surged toward Lin Mo, only to be absorbed by his palm.
“China has already won.”
Lin Mo looked at him and spoke one word at a time. “The carrot heads were driven back. You didn’t die for nothing.”
“Xiao Xian!”
Pinned in place, Yu Youhan opened and closed his mouth. His teeth were sharp, but only those same two words came out.
“The fiendish energy has penetrated every part of his body. There’s no saving him. He won’t remember any of that anymore,” Wang Xincheng sighed.
Jiang Yunlu’s eyes reddened. She sniffed and stubbornly forced out her words. “Then we can’t let him remain like this.”
Liu Zheng nodded. “Give him a quick death.”
Lin Mo did not act immediately.
He raised his other hand, and the aura of the Human Emperor Banner spread from his palm.
The yin energy was suppressed. The black hair on Yu Youhan’s body began to fall away, revealing rows of curse marks beneath his flesh.
Those curse marks were not part of any orthodox Chinese tradition.
There were also signs that his head and neck had been sewn together.
Lin Mo’s brow furrowed.
“The Kiku Sect’s corpse-refining is as ugly as it is crude. Their sense of aesthetics is even worse than their techniques.”
At that moment, Liu Zheng, who had been examining the area around the coffin, suddenly spoke.
“Hey, there’s something at the bottom of the coffin.”
He swept the light from his device downward.
At the bottom of the coffin, where Yu Youhan had originally lain, a black stone slab covered in incantations was revealed.
A bronze nail was driven into the center of the slab.
On the other side of the coffin lay a photograph.
The photograph had been soaked in blood. Only two figures could be seen standing together. One of them was Yu Youhan, while the other was a young man holding a small knife and smiling with disarming purity.
Liu Zheng picked up the photograph and turned it over. Several words were written on the back.
Yu Youhan and Xian Zhou.
Yu Youhan’s movements, which had been suppressed, suddenly began to stir again when he saw the photograph.
But Lin Mo still held him firmly in place.
He lowered his head.
The scarlet light in Yu Youhan’s eyes flickered wildly.
“Xiao Xian!”
Lin Mo reached out and took the photograph. There had been no such thing in his memories. It was probably something Yu Youhan had carried with him, but the Kiku Sect had put it back in the coffin to preserve his obsession.
Lin Mo then looked toward the bronze nail inside the coffin.
“Remove it!”
He lifted his hand from a distance, and the bronze nail was pulled free.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
