"This must be fake!"
Niu Er had been working as a menial disciple at the Divine Pill Peak and had studied pill scriptures and medicinal principles. He didn’t believe there was any potion that could force someone to tell the truth.
When Ye Chuan handed him the potion, he knew it was a bluff. But with so many eyes watching, he was certain it couldn’t be poison either.
"I’ll drink it!" Niu Er took the potion and downed it in one gulp.
It tasted sweet, with no discomfort whatsoever. He couldn’t even sense any medicinal effect!
His heart leaped with joy—it really was fake!
"How’s the taste?" Ye Chuan asked with a grin, genuinely curious about the flavor.
He wasn’t the type to drink truth serums for no reason.
"Meh, not great. Doesn’t compare to the nectar I stole from Xu San last time," Niu Er replied casually. The next moment, his eyes widened as he realized what he’d just said.
A menial disciple in the crowd shouted, "So it was you! I knew someone stole the nectar Elder rewarded me with!"
Niu Er shuddered and stammered, "Yeah, it was delicious. Loved it. I’ve stolen plenty of your stuff. You always hide your storage pouch under the flower pot in your room when you go on missions."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Niu Er froze. He had meant to say, No, I didn’t! But the truth spilled out instead.
"Did you see Jiu'er steal anything?" Ye Chuan asked.
Niu Er instinctively nodded. "No. I just wanted revenge because she refused to be my cultivation partner."
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
"You’re disgusting! Good thing I never agreed to anything back in the village," Jiu'er said angrily.
Niu Er’s face turned ashen. He couldn’t control his words—no matter what he intended to say, the truth forced its way out.
"Senior Sister," Ye Chuan glanced at Zi Ning'er beside him. There was no need for further explanation.
Zi Ning'er looked at Niu Er coldly. "Punish him according to sect rules."
"..." Niu Er took a deep breath.
Though resentful, he sneered inwardly.
So what if my cultivation is crippled? I never had much talent anyway. I’ve lived over a hundred years. Even without cultivation, I can still live decades more with the Qi Refining Pills and Nourishing Pills I’ve saved up.
"Falsely accusing a fellow disciple and stealing their belongings—your crimes are severe," Zi Ning'er declared. "By sect law, execution."
The truth serum’s effect hadn’t worn off. Niu Er blurted, "Cripple me then. I’ll still have decades of freedom."
A beat later, he paled. "Execution?"
Before he could finish, Zi Ning'er struck. A violet thunderous palm strike erupted, reducing Niu Er’s body to nothingness with a deafening boom.
The surrounding menial disciples gasped, trembling in fear.
"Let this be a warning. If I catch any of you stealing, you’ll face the Soul Lash—a fate worse than death," Zi Ning'er said icily.
"Yes, Senior Sister Zi!"
Once the crowd dispersed, Jiu'er bowed gratefully. "Thank you, Senior Brother and Senior Sister, for clearing my name."
"It’s nothing. You’re from the Flying Sword Peak, right?" Zi Ning'er had a good memory and recognized her.
Jiu'er was surprised. As a mere menial disciple, she hadn’t expected to be remembered.
"If something like this happens again, report it to the Law Enforcement Hall. They’ll handle it."
"Yes."
Before leaving, Jiu'er glanced at Ye Chuan, then turned away.
Ye Chuan watched her go, but Zi Ning'er’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "Junior Brother, do you know her?"
"Hm?" Ye Chuan hadn’t expected her sharp observation. "She’s my maidservant."
"Oh?" Zi Ning'er was taken aback.
A newly admitted disciple with a maidservant? Maybe Junior Brother Huang isn’t as upright as I thought.
Though he noticed her skepticism, Ye Chuan didn’t bother explaining. "Senior Sister, we have business to attend to."
"Right."
Zi Ning'er led him to a towering stone tablet covered in glowing runes formed by spiritual energy.
"This is the mission board. Place your hand on it to select a sect mission." She pressed her palm against the tablet, and moments later, a rune emerged—
"Nine hundred li west of Qingyun Sect, in the Demon Beast Mountains, a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection demon king lurks. Reward: twenty contribution points." Zi Ning'er said. "This mission suits you."
"Twenty points—what can I exchange for?" Ye Chuan asked.
"Already thinking about rewards before finishing the mission?" Zi Ning'er chuckled and guided him to another area. "This is the Treasure Exchange Pavilion. With twenty points, you can only get a low-grade treasure."
Ye Chuan’s eyes roamed over the displayed treasures, a smirk forming.
Marking this spot.
Exchanging points is too slow. I prefer borrowing directly.
His bag was stuffed with miscellaneous items and techniques. Originally, he planned to sell them at an auction house for spirit stones or treasures.
But he wasn’t sure where the nearest auction house was.
"Senior Sister, do you have a map of the area around Qingyun Sect?"
"If you want a map, you can exchange one here for one contribution point." Zi Ning'er rummaged in her storage pouch and pulled out a scroll. "But since you don’t have points yet, consider this a gift."
Ye Chuan unfolded the map, revealing the Donghua Divine Continent. Though not detailed, it was sufficient.
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
"It’s nothing. We’re both disciples under Elder Ziyun. We should help each other." She hesitated, looking slightly guilty. "Besides, I owe you..."
"Owe?"
"Never mind. Forget I said anything." She shoved a token into his hands. "I have matters to attend to. If you need anything, use this to contact me."
With that, she soared away on her sword.
Ye Chuan watched her vanish into the distance. This Senior Sister is interesting. Probably feels guilty because of that lousy ninth-grade Crystal Core Pill Ziyun gave me.
Zi Ning'er and Ziyun—their shared surname and her attitude made their connection obvious.
With this map, I can take a mission as an excuse to sell my goods. He glanced back at the Treasure Exchange Pavilion. Tempting, but too many eyes here. Better leave the sect for now.
He still hadn’t located the pill formulas. A trip outside would also let him trade for spirit stones.
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.
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.”
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
