"I am stepping on you not to fulfill your Dao, nor to satisfy your twisted desires."
Gu Yang looked into her eyes, emphasizing every word with a coldness that induced despair:
"It is simply because you are in my way."
"Furthermore..."
"What I want are valuable chess pieces."
"Not a piece of trash that only knows how to grovel on the ground, begging for mercy, and finding a sense of existence through being abused."
Boom!
These words were far more ruthless and venomous than the kick from moments ago.
They directly negated all of Ji Shuanghua's value as a cultivator, and as a human being.
Ji Shuanghua's pupils contracted violently, her face instantly turning as pale as a sheet of paper.
Rejected...
Swatted away like an annoying fly...
"Ha... haha..."
She lay sprawled on the ground, letting out a low laugh as tears mixed with blood dripped down.
"Trash..."
She muttered to herself, her body going limp on the ground as if drained of all its strength.
Gu Yang stood up, not sparing her another glance.
"Do not follow me."
...
Gu Yang ignored the crazy, self-deluding woman behind him.
He walked to the center of the crystallized ground.
The power of the Great Sun True Fire was too overbearing; Lin Junchang had been reduced to nothing, not even leaving ashes behind.
Yet, amidst the ruins, there was a broken, semi-transparent blood-colored eggshell.
It was the remains left behind after the Blood Demon Fetus broke out of its shell.
And deep within those remains curled a naked, battered body.
Lin Qingwan.
She actually had not died.
Logically speaking, the formation of the Blood Demon Fetus would suck dry the last trace of the mother's life force.
But at this moment, although Lin Qingwan's breath was as weak as a gossamer thread and her heartbeat had almost stopped, there was actually a faint yet stubborn vitality circulating within her body.
Gu Yang stepped forward and reached out to press his fingers against Lin Qingwan's wrist to sense her condition.
So that was it.
He sensed that a trace of the Great Sun True Fire aura, which the host had injected earlier, remained in Lin Qingwan's body. It had protected her heart meridian, allowing her to luckily survive when the Blood Demon Fetus was forcibly extracted.
Gu Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, she was an NPC that handed out rewards.
Previous intelligence indicated that after the Strange Fire Conference, the placenta of the Blood Demon Fetus was left in Lin Qingwan's body. Later, the City Lord of Crimson Flame City absorbed the placenta, increasing his cultivation by a margin and saving years of bitter training.
If she died, the loss of the 50 Destiny Points for intercepting the reward would make Gu Yang's heart ache.
But here came the problem: how should he extract this placenta to obtain the Destiny Points?
Better to save her first.
Gu Yang took out a Rejuvenation Pill from his storage bag, crushed it, and sent its medicinal power into Lin Qingwan's mouth.
He then transferred a trace of extremely weak, diluted supreme yang spiritual energy to protect her heart meridian.
Taking a loose gray robe from his storage bag, he covered her exposed, alluring figure.
Afterward, Gu Yang picked Lin Qingwan up and left.
...
The Crimson Flame Floating Platform returned to a dead silence.
A long while later.
Ji Shuanghua, lying sprawled in the muddy water, finally moved.
She slowly climbed up from the ground, her movements as stiff as a marionette.
She lifted her head and looked in the direction where Gu Yang had disappeared. In her previously unfocused pupils, a terrifying light gradually gathered.
It does not matter.
Since you refuse to take me in, I will just follow you myself.
Wherever you go, I will follow.
...
Crimson Flame City, Western District, a low-profile inn named Yuelai.
Inside the Heaven-grade room, the formations were fully activated, isolating all the noise and prying eyes from the outside world.
The lighting in the room was dim, with only a night-luminescent pearl emitting a pale, cold glow.
The air was filled with a faint scent of blood, along with a unique lingering fragrance left behind after the Immaculate Spirit Source was devoured.
Gu Yang sat cross-legged on an old armchair, his fingertips tapping rhythmically against the armrest.
Tap, tap, tap.
His gaze landed calmly on the unconscious woman on the bed.
Lin Qingwan.
The Daoist robe looked baggy on her petite body, the collar slightly open, revealing a breathtakingly pale collarbone.
She was trembling.
Even in her coma, her brows were tightly furrowed, and her hands unconsciously gripped the bedsheets beneath her so hard that her knuckles turned white.
Gu Yang summoned the system panel, his eyes fixing on the incomplete task reward.
[Intercept Reward: Destiny Points 50.]
[Condition: Obtain the placental essence left behind by the Blood Demon Fetus.]
"This is a bit troublesome."
Gu Yang frowned slightly.
Earlier, to save her life, that trace of Great Sun True Fire had protected Lin Qingwan's heart meridian.
But precisely because of this, when the Blood Demon Fetus was forcibly extracted, the last bit of foundation connecting to the mother—which the system judged as the placental essence—was forcibly left inside Lin Qingwan's body.
This thing was now stuck deep within her dantian, entangled with her origin.
If he forcefully extracted it, given Lin Qingwan's current weak state, she would definitely die.
If he killed the goose that laid the golden eggs...
Gu Yang shook his head.
Although he was self-serving, he was not a psychopath.
Killing an innocent person for 50 Destiny Points was something he could not do.
Just as Gu Yang was pondering.
On the bed, those two rows of long eyelashes, like raven feathers, suddenly fluttered violently.
Lin Qingwan woke up.
She did not let out a scream, nor did she look around in confusion.
Those eyes, which had once been as hollow as stagnant water, slowly opened, revealing a clarity that followed dead silence.
She turned her head, her gaze landing precisely on Gu Yang.
There was no fear, no shyness.
There was only a feeling akin to a drowning person seeing the only piece of driftwood in the dark... clinging to it desperately.
"You're awake?"
Gu Yang's voice was flat. He poured a cup of cold tea and casually waved his hand.
Supported by spiritual energy, the teacup hovered steadily near Lin Qingwan's lips.
Lin Qingwan struggled to prop her body up. She did not drink the tea, but instead stared straight at Gu Yang.
"Fellow Daoist Li..."
Her voice was hoarse, as if polished by sandpaper, "No, perhaps I should call you... Benefactor."
Gu Yang raised an eyebrow: "You're much calmer than I imagined."
"Calm?"
A miserable smile tugged at the corners of Lin Qingwan's mouth. Tears slid silently down her cheeks, dripping onto the gray Daoist robe and spreading out into a dark flower.
"My father wanted to use me to refine pills, and my brother wanted to eat my flesh and blood."
"Inside that blood cocoon, even though I couldn't move or speak, I could hear and feel everything..."
She raised her hand and pressed it against her flat lower abdomen.
A man-eating monster had once been a parasite there, and that monster was her entire family's hope.
"That home is gone."
"That eldest miss named Lin Qingwan was also personally killed by Lin Zhennan yesterday."
She suddenly threw off the blanket, ignoring her body's weakness, and stumbled out of bed.
With a thud.
She knelt before Gu Yang, her forehead knocking heavily against the cold floor.
"Benefactor saved my life, a grace greater than the heavens."
"Now Qingwan has no family to turn to and possesses nothing of value, I only have..."
Lin Qingwan straightened up, and with trembling hands, untied her sash.
The gray Daoist robe slipped off.
That body, like mutton-fat white jade, emanated a fragile and holy luster in the dim lighting.
] [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!"
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
