After receiving Ye Chuan's affirmative answer, Luo Xi looked at the medicine in her hand and immediately stood up. "Chuanchuan, I'm heading home for a bit!"
With that, she dashed off in a hurry, leaving behind only the bouncing silhouette of her high ponytail.
"Breakfast…" Ye Chuan hadn't even finished speaking before the only response he got was the sound of the door closing behind her.
Rush, rush, rush.
She must have been in a real hurry.
Ye Chuan shook his head, though he could understand Luo Xi's eagerness to treat her mother's illness. After all, she was a filial daughter—for Luo Xi, even a second sooner could mean a second less of suffering.
After Luo Xi left, Ye Chuan turned his attention to Bai Qianshuang.
The girl was still eating her dumplings in small, delicate bites. By now, her plate was nearly empty. While Ye Chuan had been talking to Luo Xi, Bai Qianshuang had been quietly focused on her meal.
"Does it taste good?" Ye Chuan asked.
Bai Qianshuang nodded. "Delicious."
But her chopsticks seemed to slow down slightly, her beautiful eyes lowering as if lost in thought. Noticing this, Ye Chuan spoke up, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Missing your mother?"
As if Ye Chuan had struck a chord, Bai Qianshuang's expression softened with vulnerability. Her gaze dropped even lower, and she let out a faint "Mm."
The loss of a loved one is a lingering dampness in the heart, always resurfacing when least expected.
Especially for Bai Qianshuang, who carried the weight of vengeance.
Ye Chuan wouldn't tell her to let go of that hatred. As an outsider, he couldn't fully grasp her pain or share in her grief.
Perhaps if Bai Qianshuang could exact her revenge and honor her mother and master, she might finally find peace.
Seeing her like this, Ye Chuan didn’t want her to stew in her sorrow alone.
Remembering that the next day was the weekend, he suddenly smiled and said,
"Tomorrow’s the weekend, right? How about I take you to the amusement park?"
Amusement park?
Bai Qianshuang didn’t know what that was.
Ye Chuan explained.
"Me too! I wanna go!" Lan Xiaoke chimed in, popping up beside them.
"You’re grounded."
"Ouch, that hurts." Lan Xiaoke clutched her chest dramatically, letting out a pitiful whimper that made Ye Chuan’s lips twitch. "Fine, you can come."
Watching Ye Chuan and Lan Xiaoke banter, Bai Qianshuang felt something fill the emptiness in her heart. A faint smile tugged at her lips.
...
After finishing breakfast, Ye Chuan and Luo Xi, who had returned by then, headed off to school together.
"Chuanchuan, you know what? My mom took that medicine you gave her, and she’s already so much better—full of energy!" Luo Xi chattered excitedly about her family.
"Honestly, it’s like she’s completely fine now."
"That’s great, isn’t it?" Ye Chuan smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Yeah, yeah! I haven’t seen my mom this healthy in years." Luo Xi beamed, her gratitude toward Ye Chuan overflowing.
At that thought, she tightened her grip on Ye Chuan’s arm, nuzzling against him affectionately.
"Chuanchuan, I really, really like you."
"How much?"
"Super, super like!" Luo Xi raised one hand high, giggling like a fool.
"Louder. Put some energy into it."
"Ugh, you’re the worst." She playfully bit his arm.
When the two arrived at the classroom, Luo Xi spotted her best friend, An Shiyu, and greeted her, "Morning, Yuyu!"
"Yo." An Shiyu responded, glancing at Ye Chuan and Luo Xi.
"Still this clingy, lovebirds?"
"What do you mean clingy?" Luo Xi blinked, confused. Had she done anything with Ye Chuan on the way in?
An Shiyu: "..."
You’re literally glued to him even at school. You might as well fuse into him.
"How’s the school festival prep going?" An Shiyu asked casually.
"The broadcasting club’s mainly handling the hosting duties, but my co-host, Luo Hao, ran into some trouble," Luo Xi explained.
"What kind?"
"He said he saw a ghost a few days ago, kept insisting his parents were imposters, and hasn’t come to school since." Luo Xi had no idea what had gotten into Luo Hao, but the others in the broadcasting club said he was possessed.
Like he’d encountered something… unclean.
"Chuanchuan, do you think ghosts really exist?" Luo Xi turned to Ye Chuan curiously.
"Nah, just hallucinations," Ye Chuan chuckled.
Ghosts? Not a chance. None at all.
"Yeah, I guess so."
The morning classes passed without incident. By lunchtime, Ye Chuan received a message from Wang Yanran.
It was about the spirit essence.
Wang Yanran: Ye Chuan, I booked a private room.
She sent over the address.
Ye Chuan checked—it wasn’t far from school, just a short cab ride away.
"Maybe I should buy a car?"
Waiting by the roadside for his ride, Ye Chuan mulled it over. Sure, he could fly on his sword, but that was a bit too flashy for broad daylight.
A car would be more practical.
Problem was, he knew nothing about cars.
"I’ll ask around later." Just as he thought this, his ride arrived.
Once inside, he glanced at the driver and asked, "Hey, if I wanted to buy a car, what would you recommend?"
"Buy a car?" The driver tapped his steering wheel proudly. "Get one like mine—a Biyadi. Know what I mean?"
"Not really," Ye Chuan laughed.
"Let me tell ya, last time I picked up a lady, her husband caught us, but he thought I was just her Uber driver. Classic!" The driver grinned smugly.
"Though honestly, I just do this part-time. Gotta make a few bucks to cover the electricity bill, y’know?"
"Right…"
After some small talk, Ye Chuan arrived at the restaurant.
Entering the reserved private room, he found Wang Yanran—and a table laden with delicious dishes.
"You’re here," Wang Yanran smiled.
"Expecting more people?" Ye Chuan asked.
"Nope, just us."
Ye Chuan didn’t dwell on it, sitting down before getting straight to the point. "The spirit essence?"
Wang Yanran pulled out several jade vials from a bag beside her and slid them toward Ye Chuan. "All here."
Ye Chuan picked one up. "Mind if I open it?"
"Go ahead."
He uncorked the vial, and in an instant, hundreds of spirit essences floated out, glowing like tiny orbs of light.
"This much?" Ye Chuan was surprised.
Now this was a generous offer.
"Yes. Consider it the Wang family’s sincerity," Wang Yanran said.
Soon, the pendant on Ye Chuan’s chest began to glow.
Drawn by its power, every last spirit essence was devoured by Lilith.
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.
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 school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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.”
