“Kill, kill, kill! Kill them both!”
“Kill them!”
“Lin Heming! Xie Gubai! You can’t hold out much longer! Surrender now, and we might leave you half a corpse!”
On a pitch-black rainy night, a torrential downpour poured down.
Nestled in a small forest in the mountains, a dilapidated courtyard blazed with flames, thick smoke billowing upward, adding more black to the already heavy clouds.
Countless battle cries surged from all directions, blades flashing and shadows stirring, murder lurking in every corner.
On this day, the demonic and orthodox paths gathered together.
All the renowned prodigies of the Central Plains had assembled here, unleashing an earth-shattering melee within this tiny mountain grove.
Outside the courtyard, heads lay piled like a river—each once a proud and peerless genius staggering an entire region, now mingled with mud and water, their bodies unclaimed.
But the slaughter within the courtyard raged on.
Two young men stood their ground. One, clad in a white robe, wielded his sword like a god. The other, in a cyan robe, struck with mountain-like fists, cradling a baby girl still swaddled in his arms. Harboring this burden and fighting two against many, they still managed to hold a delicate upper hand.
Blood spilled from their countless wounds, streaming down along the rain to form a small river on the ground. Yet their eyes still blazed with unwavering light.
A young man in a black robe clung weakly to the wall, barely able to stand at the corner of the battlefield.
Though unscathed, he was already terrified out of his wits.
At his feet lay a peerless prodigy—one of the demonic path’s candidate holy sons. He had long since died, abandoned like a stray dog, ignored by all.
The cyan-robed man, holding the baby girl, gave him a glance. The young man’s heart nearly stopped from fear. Luckily, the gaze swept past him without lingering.
“Lin Heming! Xie Gubai!
“Today is your death day! Surrender now, and we might grant you a whole corpse!” The last eight young prodigies on the field shouted in unison, their eyes cold and indifferent.
“Ha…!”
The cyan-robed man sneered, his gaze slowly sweeping across the faces of the eight, finally settling on a corner of the courtyard. There lay the bodies of two young men and a woman. The woman was delicate and beautiful; the man’s face was firm and stubborn, bearing a faint resemblance to the cyan-robed man himself.
Staring at the two fallen in a pool of blood, a flicker of grief finally passed through the cyan-robed man’s hardened eyes.
“I never expected the prestigious Central Plains to stoop to such underhanded tricks?”
“Hahaha!”
“What’s with that expression? Regret?”
“Whatever the means, the victor is king! Winning is all that matters! This is the path of struggle—blame your own naivety.”
A young man in a black robe burst into laughter, wild and arrogant.
“Senior Brother Lin… I’m sorry…”
The white-robed man, gripping his longsword, stood back-to-back with the cyan-robed one, his voice pained and his eyes full of guilt.
“It’s all my fault…”
“You’re wrong, Gubai.”
The cyan-robed man cut off his apology, clenching his fists as he coldly stared at the eight black-robed figures. “Never apologize for things you shouldn’t be responsible for. Never feel guilt for such things. Always know who your real enemy is.”
“It’s not you who’s wrong. It’s them.”
“Oh? Well said! Very well said!”
“Such brilliant words.”
A young man in black clapped, a sarcastic smirk curling his lips. “Too bad you’re about to die.”
“I never believed I would die here.”
The cyan-robed man tightened his fists. “Because I have yet to wipe out every last one of you!”
“Then let’s see you try!”
The eight figures attacked in unison, a dazzling array of divine abilities and magical arts bursting forth, blinding the young man in the corner. What happened next, he could no longer make out…
“Elder Mo?”
“Elder Mo?”
“Elder Mo!”
Abruptly interrupted by a loud shout from the steward, he was jolted back from that memory long past.
“What’s wrong with you? Zoning out at a time like this.”
Mo Yu said impatiently, “Everyone is watching. Don’t disgrace our Mo family.”
“Young Master… I was just remembering something.”
The steward’s voice trembled, the scenes of that year flooding his mind—the rainy night, the blood-soaked courtyard, and himself as the young man who had almost wet his pants in terror back then.
That incident had always been his heart demon.
Otherwise, with his talent and years of following the family head, he’d never have remained merely a Return to Void-stage cultivator.
“Something? What?”
Mo Yu frowned. “A common old man like this, and he still gets to you?”
He knew of Lin Heming, of course.
A Return to Void-stage cultivator could hold his own in the Eastern Wilderness, but in the Central Plains, he was nothing special. And in the original story, right after the Qing Xuan Sect was destroyed, he was killed off by the demonic path. Mo Yu genuinely couldn’t see what there was to fear.
“Young Master, you don’t understand.”
The steward, called Elder Mo, cautiously glanced at Lin Heming and whispered, “Do you know why the current holy land lords of the Central Plains haven’t retired yet, still holding on as old relics? Because that era’s golden generation was completely wiped out in a single massacre.”
“And the culprit is the one before your very eyes.”
“That impressive?”
Mo Yu froze for a moment, rubbing his chin.
He hadn’t expected this old man to have such a fearsome hidden background—but the problem was…
“Even if he was formidable back then, now he’s just a Return to Void-stage cultivator. A damaged foundation means he can never advance. What do you have to fear from him?” Mo Yu asked, puzzled.
“This… th-this, this…”
A single remark jolted Elder Mo awake.
That’s right.
No matter how strong Lin Heming had once been, that was all in the past. Now, he was nothing but an old, broken Return to Void cultivator, whereas Elder Mo himself was the steward of the future young master of the Mo family, a peak Return to Void-level cultivator with a cultivation base higher than the other’s!
And beyond that, the entire backing of the family stood behind him. What reason did he have to be afraid?
At that moment, enlightenment struck, and a burst of clarity bloomed.
Elder Mo felt his old shadow dissolve, the oppressive heart demon loosening, even as golden light thundered open.
With a crack, a wave of qi erupted.
Elder Mo’s aura swelled furiously, leaping from late Return to Void straight to peak Return to Void, half a step away from entering the Unity Stage.
“Th-that… a breakthrough just like that?”
Mo Yu was dumbfounded.
No wonder this was a cultivation world—the path started with the mind. When the spirit was clear and unimpeded, the cultivation could follow.
“Thank you for awakening me, Young Master.”
Elder Mo cupped his hands toward Mo Yu with deep gratitude, then turned around and strode toward the gate where Lin Heming stood, chest out and head high. One step forward, and the void trembled.
“Lin Heming, hand over the person the young master demands, and this old man might spare your life!”
At those words, Lin Heming shot Elder Mo a surprised look.
Then, in a flash, his form appeared right in front of Elder Mo. With a flick of his sleeve—
Bang!
Almost before Elder Mo could react, he exploded into a cloud of blood, without even a scream.
Silence fell over the whole scene.
Only Lin Heming casually flicked his hand and said coldly,
“Spare your life, and you don’t even know to cherish it?”
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.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
