For Su Cheng, regaining his memories was agonizing.
This pain cut deeper than the torment of being a starving ghost.
Pressure, conflict, inner turmoil, unease, and anxiety—all these negative emotions overwhelmed him, no longer just on an emotional level but...
Well, it was simply indescribable.
Though he had once joked about or discussed such melodramatic plots, those discussions were always from an outsider’s perspective—detached and unburdened.
After all, you’d just pick the prettier one.
But now, as someone caught in the middle, Su Cheng truly understood how unbearable this situation could be.
Choosing Li Guanqi would be a repayment for her devotion and a fulfillment of his responsibility.
Choosing Gu Ruoxue would be staying true to his heart and making amends for the past.
No matter whom he chose, someone would get hurt.
Even knowing this,
he had no way out now.
He couldn’t lie to Li Guanqi—nor could he ever deceive her.
Now, he had to face his choice and bear the consequences of his decision.
…………………………………………
Night deepened, and silence enveloped the world.
By a campfire,
Su Cheng sat on a stone slab, staring blankly at the flames, his gaze unfocused. Fireflies danced around him, swirling as if guided by some unseen spirit.
The fire crackled, sparks flying, some landing on his skin—yet he didn’t even flinch.
Then,
footsteps echoed from a nearby path,
accompanied by hurried breaths.
Whoever it was, they had rushed here.
Soon,
a slender figure emerged from the darkness. She wore a black dress, the same black stockings as always, her long, silky hair cascading freely. Her face, usually calm and composed, was slightly flushed—like she’d had a drink—yet her eyes were piercingly clear.
Seeing her, Su Cheng instinctively schooled his expression and stood up, stepping forward to meet her.
Though only a few hours had passed, it felt like years to him.
He missed her.
Missed her scent.
That delicate, intoxicating fragrance he couldn’t resist.
A day without his "Guanqi energy" left him restless.
As he approached, his gaze softened, burning with warmth as he looked at Li Guanqi. Slowly, he opened his arms, and she stepped into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist, whispering tenderly into her ear, "I'm back."
Li Guanqi trembled slightly, burying her face in his chest before rising on her tiptoes to nuzzle his neck, murmuring a soft "Mm."
Her familiar scent, her familiar touch, her familiar voice...
Lost in the moment, he instinctively lifted her by the waist, spinning her around.
Li Guanqi closed her eyes.
For that brief moment, all their worries faded away.
They belonged only to each other.
But alas, the reprieve was short-lived.
Because Li Guanqi suddenly shattered the illusion with a single question: "You wouldn’t lie to me, right?"
Su Cheng stiffened.
"You know exactly what I want to know. Yet you called me here without saying it outright." Li Guanqi lifted her head, pushing away from Su Cheng. Her eyes, sharp and unreadable, locked onto his as she spoke deliberately, "Are you hesitating?"
"......"
Su Cheng lowered his head, silent.
Li Guanqi’s heart plummeted at his reaction. A wave of dread surged within her, her body tensing, palms damp with sweat.
Still, she kept her eyes fixed on him, unwilling to miss even the slightest shift in his expression.
Su Cheng knew exactly what would happen if he told her the truth.
Just as his system had described her—
Dignified, never weak. Unyielding yet composed. Clear-minded, pragmatic. Love and hate, sharply defined.
Most likely,
Li Guanqi would break up with him on the spot.
She would never tolerate this. In fact, their relationship had remained unspoken precisely because of this very possibility.
What should he do?
Should he confess?
His mind was a tangled mess, no solution in sight.
If he were truly capable of fixing this, he wouldn’t be standing here, helplessly watching Li Guanqi suffer.
Right now, he genuinely wished he could create a world where no one got hurt.
But such a thing...?
Sadly, he was only human—not a god.
A god...?
The moment this thought crossed his mind, the long-stagnant gears of fate began turning once more.
[Ding—]
………………………………
Yet, seeing his silence, Li Guanqi’s face paled. Her body swayed slightly, as if she might collapse. Even without words, she already knew the answer in her heart.
She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, yet she seemed numb to the pain, her eyes still locked onto Su Cheng.
Finally, she lowered her head, no longer pressing him. Her voice was hoarse. "I’m tired. I’m going back to rest."
She turned and walked toward the hillside, her figure lonely against the night.
"And one more thing..."
Li Guanqi stood with her back to Su Cheng, her steps halting as she choked back sobs, stubbornly refusing to let her tears fall. She took a deep breath, turned around, and forced a fragile smile onto her face. "I think we should..."
But before she could finish, a pair of large hands suddenly covered her mouth.
"Let me tell you something—we actually met a long time ago."
Su Cheng grinned, his smile warm and boyish, his tone light and cheerful.
Li Guanqi blinked, caught off guard by his sudden, cryptic words. Still, she nodded obediently, signaling for him to continue.
Satisfied, Su Cheng removed his hand and gestured toward a stone by the campfire. "Sit."
Li Guanqi hesitated, eyeing him for a moment before complying. She smoothed her long hair and settled gracefully onto the stone.
"Two years ago, did you call Gu Ruoxue?" Su Cheng asked.
Li Guanqi stiffened, giving him a puzzled look before nodding faintly. "Yes."
"I was the one who answered the first time—and then I hung up on you."
Su Cheng chuckled sheepishly, scratching his head in embarrassment. "You know, back then, I thought you were a guy, so I just..."
The memory of that call two years ago flashed through Li Guanqi’s mind, and she pressed her lips together, falling silent.
A strange, almost fateful sensation welled up inside her, sending ripples through her heart.
But what struck her more was the realization that Gu Ruoxue’s phone had been in Su Cheng’s possession—proof of how close they must have been. A sour, indescribable ache twisted in her chest. No matter how kind, gentle, or understanding she was, love still stirred possessiveness within her.
Noticing her reaction, Su Cheng quickly shifted the topic, cutting straight to the point. "Two years ago, my system’s punishment was harming those around me—even causing natural disasters. The earthquake in the county back then? That was the result of me failing a mission."
The abrupt change in subject, especially to something so grave, left Li Guanqi stunned.
Frowning, she sifted through her memories before tentatively asking, "You mean..."
Su Cheng nodded solemnly. "Yes. Gu Ruoxue helped me when I was on the verge of despair. She made me lose my memories and altered the system."
Li Guanqi’s pupils constricted sharply, her breath hitching.
Those few words painted a harrowing scene in her mind. Her fists clenched involuntarily as she asked in a low voice, "And now...?"
"Now, we’re going to find her—together."
Su Cheng stood, gripping Li Guanqi’s wrist firmly as he met her gaze with unwavering determination. "Because the system... it’s malfunctioning again."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
