Outside the small courtyard, between the two armies.
A bull-headed man covered in black fur, with two horns growing from his head and an ugly face, slowly sauntered into the middle of the road while picking his nose. He raised his eyelids and looked at the allied forces of the three races with undisguised disdain.
“You old geezers are pretty impressive.”
“You got your hands on some lousy cultivation manual and started thinking you’re invincible. Once you break through, are you even planning to take me on?”
“Who are you?!”
Seeing the man’s attitude, the elders of the three races narrowed their eyes.
There was no one like him in their memories. Yet judging from the way he spoke, he was clearly an expert.
“Old Ox?”
Ye Shu stood before the courtyard, staring blankly at him. Wasn’t this the bull-headed man who had sat beside him watching the election? How had he suddenly appeared here to show off?
But judging by his appearance...
Could he actually be an expert?
Ye Shu rapidly searched through his memories, but he had absolutely no impression of this fellow.
“Who am I?”
The bull-headed man smiled calmly. He raised his head slightly and lifted his eyelids, revealing a pair of pale golden pupils.
“How about opening your eyes and taking another look?”
“What?!”
The elders of the three races were instantly horrified.
Those eyes... There was no mistaking them!
It was him. It really was him—the legendary figure who had been missing for so long, the Dragon Emperor who had ruled the beast race for countless years!
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Without the slightest hesitation, the three elders dropped to their knees at the same time. Their movements were perfectly synchronized. The men who had been so arrogant moments ago lowered their heads, raised both hands high, and shouted in unison:
“We welcome the Dragon Emperor back to his throne!”
“Huh?”
Ye Shu and the others looked at one another, completely dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Had the situation really turned around that quickly?
“Hmph!”
The bull-headed man snorted coldly and slowly advanced until he stood before the elders. Looking down at them, he said, “Now you know to call me the Dragon Emperor? Weren’t you being very arrogant and overbearing just now? You even dared bully my daughter.”
“Hehe... Dragon Emperor, you misunderstand...”
The elders kept their heads lowered, not daring even to breathe too loudly. They gave an awkward laugh.
“We merely received word in advance that the Dragon Emperor had appeared, so we brought our people here to welcome you ahead of time.”
The Nine-Tailed Fox chose a more tactful way of putting it.
“Oh? Is that so?”
The bull-headed man bent down. His golden, vertical pupils fixed themselves on the elders. He extended a golden right claw covered in scales and grabbed the Heaven-Swallowing Python by the head.
His voice dropped into a low growl.
“Is that what he said? Hmm?”
The Heaven-Swallowing Python felt bitter inside.
Damn it, if you’d found the old Dragon Emperor, you should have said so earlier! Why were you baiting us into incriminating ourselves? Did you get a kick out of this?
But now that things had reached this point, he could only brace himself and nod.
“Yes... yes, that’s how it is...”
“You welcome the Dragon Emperor?”
The corners of the bull-headed man’s lips curled upward. He extended one dragon claw.
“Then where is your loyalty?”
“Loyalty... loyalty...”
The elders exchanged glances, their faces filled with bitterness.
But when they thought of the old Dragon Emperor’s terrifying strength, they chose life over freedom.
With extreme difficulty, the elders stiffly raised their hands. A drop of dark golden blood appeared in each of their palms and hovered above them.
“We have awaited the Dragon Emperor’s return for a long time.”
The bull-headed man casually beckoned, and the drops of blood drifted into his palm. He slowly turned around and looked at the still-dazed Ao Xue before flicking his right hand.
The three drops of blood shot toward her.
With a soft plop, they vanished into Ao Xue’s brow, transforming into three thin golden markings that disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ao Xue froze for a moment, then instinctively raised a hand to touch her forehead.
A strange connection had been established between them.
It was as though she could control the life and death of those three men at any time.
The bull-headed man turned back to the elders and swept his sleeve through the air.
“Consider yourselves lucky that you knew your place. Now get lost!”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Thank you for sparing us, Dragon Emperor!”
The elders were instantly relieved as if they had just received a royal pardon. They nodded like chickens pecking at grain, then fled with their people, tumbling and scrambling away. Their figures quickly disappeared at the end of the alley.
“That’s... it?”
Ye Shu and the others stared at the scene in astonishment.
It was all so inexplicable. They had expected some earth-shaking battle, but the whole thing had ended in such an anticlimactic fashion.
“What else would you expect?”
The bull-headed man turned around and smiled faintly.
The black fur covering his body receded completely, revealing dark golden scales. His figure grew noticeably taller, and the slovenly bull-headed man vanished without a trace. In his place stood a dignified middle-aged man dressed in a dark golden robe.
“You—you!”
Ao Xue pointed at the middle-aged man, so shocked that she could barely get the words out.
“How are you here?”
“What?” Ao Kun smiled. “After finally meeting the father you’ve dreamed of reuniting with, you’re so excited that you can’t speak?”
Even Ye Shu clicked his tongue in amazement.
Mo Yu had said that the Dragon Emperor was sealed within the Immortal Ruins. Apparently, even the system’s intelligence wasn’t always reliable.
“You... you...”
Ao Xue stared blankly at the father who had abandoned her. Tears streamed down her face. All the grievances she had endured over the years clogged her throat, and it took a long while before she finally spoke in a small, aggrieved voice.
“If you’ve been here all along, why did you leave me alone out there?”
There was a hint of resentment in her questioning voice.
“Silly child.”
Ao Kun shook his head helplessly.
“If I had really left you all alone, how could someone with your intelligence have survived out there until now?”
“Then why did you only show up now?”
Ao Xue’s eyes were brimming with tears as she questioned him indignantly.
“That, naturally, is because...” Ao Kun clasped his hands behind his back and gazed gloomily toward the heavens beyond. “The one standing before you now is merely a false body. My true body is still sealed inside those ruins.”
At that, everyone froze.
So this body before them wasn’t the Dragon Emperor’s true form.
No wonder he had chosen to let the three races go instead of slaughtering them all. It turned out he was all bark and no bite—a flashy facade with no real substance.
The moment the subject came up, Ao Kun grew furious.
After shaking his head, he pointed at Ao Xue’s nose and scolded her, clearly disappointed.
“And you have the nerve to complain about your father? At the election, you kept saying you were going to search for traces of me. Did you ever actually look? You didn’t do a damn thing!”
He glanced at Ye Shu, then scolded her even more harshly.
“All you do is spend every day hanging around this boy. Did you ever think about your father while I was out there freezing in the northwest wind? Now that you’re in trouble, you remember to look for your father!”
“How did I end up with a daughter who forgets her father the moment she sees a handsome man?”
“I didn’t have any clues, so how was I supposed to find you...?” Ao Xue retorted, though her voice lacked confidence.
“Enough, enough. I can’t be bothered to argue with you.”
Ao Kun waved his hand dismissively. Then he took two steps forward and stopped in front of Ye Shu, smiling broadly.
“Little brother, do you still remember me?”
“I-I do.”
Ye Shu nodded stiffly.
It wasn’t because he was intimidated by the man’s strength. It was because he had slept with the man’s daughter—and was the handsome man who had made her forget her father. It was rather awkward.
“Good. As long as you remember.”
Ao Kun nodded with a smile, then added, “I was only asking.”
“When are you going to marry my daughter?”
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.”
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.
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?"
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…
