Leaving the sect's formalities were as simple as placing his identity token on the gate plaque. A golden flash later, it was done.
Ye Chuan casually accepted a gathering mission, tapped his toes lightly, and his peachwood sword carried him soaring into the sky.
The fierce wind brushed past his hair as the mountain ranges rolled beneath him like waves, the vast emerald forests and winding streams stretching as far as the eye could see.
Gazing at the boundless world and feeling the breeze against his face, Ye Chuan finally relaxed completely, a sense of freedom quietly spreading through his heart.
Ah, freedom.
"Cultivation really is exhilarating, especially when flying like this."
Pulling out a map, Ye Chuan decided to head to Tianqian City, eight hundred miles away. Before leaving the sect, he had asked around—this was the most prosperous immortal city near the Qingyun Sect, teeming with cultivators and even hosting a massive auction.
Coincidentally, the auction was set to begin in five days. Ye Chuan had timed it perfectly.
Now at the late Crystal Core stage, Ye Chuan's flying speed was incredibly fast. In just about an hour, he spotted a towering city in the distance, its walls built entirely of white jade, shimmering softly under the sunlight.
Numerous cultivators came and went, all riding their magical artifacts.
[Tianqian]
Ye Chuan noticed the city's plaque. Those cultivators approaching the city descended at the gates and entered on foot—likely due to some rule or restriction in place.
"Should I disguise myself?" Ye Chuan certainly couldn’t use Huang Haotian’s identity to sell his goods, or the Qingyun Sect would surely find out. But disguising himself wasn’t difficult.
Opening his storage space, he changed into a pure black long-sleeved outfit and put on a black triangular mask. Though it didn’t quite match the cultivation world’s aesthetic, Ye Chuan didn’t care.
Buzz— He switched his weapon back to the Crimson Peak Sword.
Good enough.
He strode straight toward the city gates.
"Hold on. Ten spirit stones for entry," a guard stopped him just as he was about to enter.
"Why don’t they need to pay?" Ye Chuan pointed at the people who had just entered without being stopped.
"They’re disciples of the Three Great Sects—exempt from fees," the guard replied.
The Three Great Sects…
Wasn’t Qingyun Sect one of them?
But Ye Chuan wasn’t here to flaunt his sect affiliation. He casually took out ten spirit stones. "Here."
"Your entry token." The guard handed him a new token and let him pass.
Ye Chuan pocketed it and stepped into Tianqian City.
Inside was bustling, filled with cultivators of all kinds—his all-black outfit didn’t even stand out.
Soon, his attention was caught by the roadside stalls. Most of the vendors were fairly strong, but who knew what they were actually selling?
"Take a look if you want," a middle-aged man lazily said as Ye Chuan approached his stall. "These are treasures scavenged from nearby secret realms. All good stuff—if you’ve got the eye for it."
Ye Chuan just smiled.
He didn’t believe a word of it. These stalls were no different from the "antique" vendors back home—mostly cheap trinkets sold through sheer deception.
Open the door, see through the trick at a glance.
Though he knew better, curiosity about the Xuanxuan Continent made him pick up and examine the strange little objects on the stall.
[Item: Lightning-Avoiding Sword (Damaged)
A broken artifact. Avoids lightning.]
[Item: Heaven-Earth Manual (Fragment)
A grandiose name for a mortal cultivation technique—and incomplete at that.]
Ye Chuan checked each item one by one, but there was nothing worthwhile. By the end, he could only shake his head. "What kind of garbage is this? Pure scam."
He’d expected as much, but this level of fraud was new even to him. Back when he sold trinkets, he’d at least slip one decent item in every few dozen.
Truly, the Xuanxuan Continent never disappointed—full of unscrupulous merchants, just like home.
"Ah, young master, you’ve got a sharp eye," the middle-aged man remarked, noticing Ye Chuan’s constant head-shaking. "Nothing here catches your fancy?"
Ye Chuan chuckled wordlessly and turned to leave.
"Wait, brother!" The man quickly called out.
Ye Chuan paused and glanced back. "Hm? What is it?"
"Since fate has brought us together, I’ve got a few real treasures here. Care to take a look?"
Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow. "Let’s see if this ‘door’ opens."
The man pulled out a few pitch-black stones from his storage pouch. "Found these by chance in a secret realm. If you know your stuff, take a look."
Ye Chuan took one and examined it.
[Item: Rock
Can be thrown at people.]
Ye Chuan: "…"
He checked the others in disbelief.
[Item: Rock
Flat. Good for skipping on water.]
[Item: Rock
I am but a tiny little rock~]
Ye Chuan’s eyelid twitched. He looked up at the vendor. "You motherf—"
Before he could finish, a voice cut in. "I’ll take those stones!"
Ye Chuan turned to see a man in white robes, holding a fan-like artifact, smiling at him. "These, I’ll buy them."
"You want them?" Ye Chuan asked.
"Indeed. Fellow Daoist, have you also discerned the mysteries within these Profound Stones? Would you be willing to yield them to me?"
Oh, he’d discerned alright.
Good for skipping on water.
"Since you want them, I won’t fight you for it." Ye Chuan shoved the rocks into the man’s arms.
The man’s smile froze for a second before he feigned delight. "Excellent! Rumor says these stones hold the legacy of a mighty expert. Today, I shall verify it myself. Sold!"
He then glanced at Ye Chuan’s expression, but the young man remained utterly unfazed.
Huh?
Strange. Why isn’t this kid reacting at all?
The man subtly signaled the vendor, who immediately declared, "Five hundred spirit stones for the lot!"
"Deal!" The man reached for his storage pouch.
Ye Chuan watched their little act expressionlessly before turning to leave without another word.
"Tch. Did he see through it?" The man in white muttered, stopping mid-payment.
The vendor scowled. "Scamming people’s getting harder these days. Hurry up, another customer’s coming!"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
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."
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
