The smile on Yun Zhiwei's face gradually faded, replaced by a helpless and innocent expression.
"What underground palace? What array diagram? I manage the Yun family, and we only do legitimate spirit material business."
She sighed, her slender fingers gently stroking the edge of her teacup.
"That underground palace is a forbidden ground of the City Lord's Estate. My Yun family is but a small clan; how would we dare to meddle with such things?"
A polite refusal.
A flawless, watertight refusal.
But beneath that gentle tone, the precious demonic beast pelts covering the floor of the elegant pavilion began to subtly twist.
Traces of wood-attribute spiritual energy, imperceptible to the naked eye, were silently seeping into the ground through the tips of Yun Zhiwei's toes.
The purple smoke billowing from the burning purple-gold incense burner suddenly became perfectly straight.
Murderous intent had been stirred.
The Withered Wood Spirit-Devouring Death Array was awakening.
Zhao Yuelian's expression instantly darkened.
Just as she was about to channel her late Golden Core stage spiritual energy to forcefully suppress the area, she heard a highly rhythmic tapping sound coming from beside her.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Gu Yang's long, slender fingers were absentmindedly tapping against the red sandalwood tabletop.
He didn't even glance at Yun Zhiwei's hypocritical face.
His gaze passed through the rising steam of the tea, locking dead onto an empty spot in the air three inches to the left of the purple-gold incense burner.
"Legitimate business?"
Gu Yang finally spoke.
His voice was extremely flat, as if he were merely discussing the weather.
"Very legitimate indeed. For instance, the business involving those rogue cultivators outside the city."
Gu Yang stopped tapping his fingers and slowly raised his head.
Within his deep black eyes, it was as if a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood were contained.
"Three hundred living people every year."
Gu Yang leaned forward slightly, and an extremely oppressive, terrifying aura instantly enveloped the entire tea table.
"Family Head Yun, are you finding the fertilizer for the 'Ten Thousand Woods Ever-Spring Array' easy to use?"
Boom!
It was as if a clap of thunder had exploded in Yun Zhiwei's mind!
Her originally gentle and dignified face uncontrollably underwent a subtle change!
She did not lose her composure and violently lash out like an ordinary cultivator. Her cold, jade-like hand holding the purple clay teapot merely paused in mid-air for an imperceptible half-breath.
Drip.
A drop of boiling tea fell onto the red sandalwood table, splashing into tiny droplets.
Yun Zhiwei extremely naturally picked up a pure white silk handkerchief and methodically wiped away the water stain on the table.
On that exquisitely maintained, beautiful face, the gentle smile actually deepened a bit.
"Young Master Gu surely knows how to joke."
She looked up, her spring-water-like eyes filled with innocence and surprise.
"What living people? What fertilizer? I have always only conducted proper spirit material trades here in Shengtian City, and every year I pay a massive amount of spirit stones to the City Lord's Estate."
She casually tossed the handkerchief aside, her gaze shifting as she shot an extremely covert glance at Zhao Yuelian beside her.
"Sister Yuelian, could it be that this friend of yours has listened to the mad ravings of those bandit cultivators outside and come here to make fun of me?"
At the same time.
Beneath Yun Zhiwei's wide aqua-blue sleeves, her slender fingers were silently forming complex hand seals at a terrifying speed.
Inside the elegant pavilion, the refreshing aroma of tea had at some point been replaced by a faint, astringent scent of withered wood.
The purple smoke spewing from the "Thousand-Year Aquilaria Purple-Gold Incense Burner" in the center was extremely slowly changing its drifting trajectory.
She was stalling for time.
This Withered Wood Spirit-Devouring Death Array possessed peerless power, but to transition from life to death, it required ten full breaths of secret accumulation.
Gu Yang leaned back in his chair, his deep black eyes quietly watching Yun Zhiwei's masterful performance.
He did not interrupt her.
He even cooperatively picked up the still-steaming cup of spirit tea in front of him and brought it to his nose to take a gentle sniff.
"Good tea."
A cold arc formed at the corners of Gu Yang's mouth.
"Family Head Yun's composure is indeed worthy of the dignity of a great Golden Core cultivator. I just wonder, how much of the rogue cultivators' flesh and blood has been added to this tea?"
The smile on Yun Zhiwei's face could finally no longer be maintained.
Ten breaths had arrived!
Those spring-water-like eyes instantly burst with a tangible, venomous resentment and chilling coldness.
"Refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Since you insist on courting death, then no one is walking out of these doors today!"
Yun Zhiwei gave a fierce shout, her aqua-blue skirt fluttering without any wind.
The purple-gold incense burner trembled violently, and from its ashes erupted countless withered wooden vines, harder than refined steel. Carrying a nauseating stench of blood, they lunged straight for Gu Yang's face!
Murderous intent was fully revealed.
She was confident that within this death array, let alone a Foundation Establishment cultivator, even an early Nascent Soul mighty figure would be severely injured if caught off guard.
However.
Facing this overwhelming and terrifying strangulation.
The hand Gu Yang used to hold his teacup didn't even waver in the slightest.
He merely slightly raised the index finger of his other hand.
At his fingertip, a streak of dark golden flame—so pure it reached the extreme, seemingly capable of burning through space itself—quietly bloomed.
The Great Sun True Fire.
"The Gate of Life, three inches to the left of the incense burner."
Gu Yang's icy voice held not the slightest emotional fluctuation.
Sizzle—!
That streak of golden flame, like an indestructible divine sword, pierced into the empty space three inches to the left of the purple-gold incense burner with an unstoppable momentum and absolute precision.
That was the sole flaw exposed at the exact moment the great array transitioned from life to death.
The timing was exactly half a breath.
Crack!
A sharp, piercing sound like shattering glass rang out.
The sky-blotting withered vines, the moment they touched the Great Sun True Fire, melted away without a trace, like snow meeting boiling water.
The ancient fierce array, capable of strangling a Golden Core cultivator, crumbled and collapsed on the spot without even touching the hem of Gu Yang's clothes.
Pfft—!
The array was forcefully incinerated, causing the terrifying wood-attribute baleful energy to instantly flow backward.
Yun Zhiwei threw her head back and sprayed a large mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. Her entire body, like a kite with a broken string, slammed heavily into her armchair.
Extreme horror and disbelief finally surfaced in her eyes.
"You... how could you know where the array core is?!"
Gu Yang did not retract his finger.
Not only did the streak of golden flame at his fingertip not extinguish, but it erupted with an even more terrifying aura of supreme Yang.
Gu Yang slightly turned his wrist.
His cold gaze pierced through Yun Zhiwei's voluptuous body, locking onto the "Mingmen Acupoint" at the third joint of her spine from afar.
That was the hiding place of her wood-attribute pseudo-core.
"Does the Ancient Demonic Vine taste good?"
Gu Yang's voice was like a death warrant from the Nine Nether Underworld.
The extremely violent Great Sun True Fire completely enveloped that area from across the space.
Squeak, squeak, squeak—!
A blood-curdling, bizarre shrieking suddenly echoed from within Yun Zhiwei's body, as if countless rats were gnawing on her bone marrow.
That remnant root of the demonic vine, which had previously docilely provided spiritual energy, descended into absolute madness the moment it felt the coercion of the world's supreme Yang fire.
In order to escape danger, it began to extremely ruthlessly drain Yun Zhiwei's origin blood essence in reverse, attempting to form a cocoon to protect itself.
"Ah—!!!"
Yun Zhiwei let out a shrill, inhuman scream.
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?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
