Ye Chuan responded casually to the man's greeting before turning his attention back to the quest board. If possible, he wanted to take on higher-difficulty missions—not only would the rewards be better, but it would also speed up his advancement as a registered adventurer. Tasks like cleaning or unclogging drains held no appeal for him.
The man didn’t seem surprised by Ye Chuan’s indifference. After all, in his experience, mages were generally hard to approach.
"I’d like to commission a Gold-rank or higher adventurer to escort our young lady to the territory of Count Kangong," the man said.
"Gold-rank or higher, is it?" Eisien replied. "Certainly. Our guild currently has sixteen registered Gold-rank adventurers, but they’re all out on assignments at the moment. If you post the quest, we should have a response within a week."
"A week?" The man frowned slightly before turning to the silver-haired young woman behind him. "My lady, if it takes a week, I’m afraid we won’t make it in time..."
"My apologies," Eisien said with a regretful expression, though her gaze subtly shifted toward Ye Chuan, who was still browsing the quest board. "Gold-rank adventurers are rare, after all. If the matter is urgent, perhaps..." She trailed off before adding, "If you’re interested, you could inquire with that gentleman over there—Sir Ye Chuan."
At her gesture, both the man and the silver-haired woman turned to look.
"Is he... a Gold-rank adventurer?" the man asked, recalling Ye Chuan’s earlier display of skill.
"Silver-rank," Eisien clarified.
Hearing this, the man’s expression dimmed slightly. Most Silver-rank adventurers were only at the second or third tier—not weak, but hardly sufficient for their needs.
"However," Eisien continued, "Sir Ye Chuan recently hunted a mutated Glowspider Queen."
"A mutated Glowspider Queen?" The man’s eyes widened in surprise. "Shouldn’t that require a Gold-rank party?"
"Indeed," Eisien nodded, her tone implying much about Ye Chuan’s strength. "He only registered as an adventurer last night and has only completed that one mission so far."
The man immediately grasped her meaning. After a brief hesitation, he turned to the young woman for her opinion.
"Torres, go ask him," the girl said from beneath her hood, her voice clear and melodious.
"My lady, his background is still unclear..."
"Go."
"As you wish."
Just then, Ye Chuan plucked a quest slip for hunting a slime swarm from the board—only for the man who had greeted him earlier to approach once more.
"Sir Mage," the man said, placing a fist over his chest in a gesture Ye Chuan didn’t recognize, "I am Torres, a paladin."
"What can I do for you?" Ye Chuan asked, wary.
Had he changed his mind?
Did he want his money back?
Torres didn’t seem bothered by Ye Chuan’s cold tone—typical for a mage, he supposed—and instead bowed slightly. "I’d like to formally invite you to accept my commission."
For a moment, Ye Chuan just stared before breaking into a grin. "Now we’re talking."
As long as it wasn’t about taking money back, he was all for it. Better yet, if it meant more money.
Torres blinked at the sudden shift in Ye Chuan’s demeanor. What just happened?
"Shall we discuss this seated?"
"Sure."
The adventurer’s guild doubled as a tavern, with plenty of tables for conversation. Once seated, Torres remained standing—a towering figure at nearly two meters tall, his short hair and sharp features giving off an air of reliability.
Instead, the silver-haired girl took the seat across from Ye Chuan, while Torres stood respectfully at her side.
Ye Chuan guessed she was young from the glimpse of her hands beneath her sleeves—pale, slender, and delicate. Even with her face hidden, he could imagine her beauty.
"Isabella," she said.
"Hm?"
"My name."
"Miss Yi, then."
"Miss... Yi?" She paused, then dismissed the odd address. Adventurers were eccentric by nature, after all.
"I’d like you to escort me to the territory of Count Kangong."
"An escort mission? No problem." Still, Ye Chuan asked, "How far is it?"
"About three days’ journey," Torres answered.
"Three days?"
That was manageable. As long as it wasn’t too long, he could handle it.
"Fine. What’s the pay?"
"One hundred gold coins."
"One hundred gold..." Ye Chuan wasn’t entirely sure of the conversion rate between gold and silver, so he asked outright, "How many silver coins equal one gold?"
Even Isabella seemed taken aback by the question.
"Under the current exchange rate in the Hill Empire, one gold coin is roughly a thousand silver," Torres explained.
"Ten thousand succubus visits?" Ye Chuan muttered, finally grasping the amount.
"Succubus?"
"When do we leave?"
"Tonight."
"Tonight? Alright." Ye Chuan stood. "I’ll meet you back here at the tavern by evening. See you then."
With that, he strode off without another word, as if he had urgent business elsewhere.
Once he was gone, Torres knelt on one knee and spoke in a hushed tone. "My lady, that mage... he’s suspicious."
"Not only did he just register last night, but he doesn’t even know the exchange rate between silver and gold."
"I suspect—"
Before he could finish, Isabella cut him off. "Torres, strange as he may be, what matters is his strength."
"He’s powerful."
"Gold-rank adventurers are generally at least fourth-tier," Torres argued.
Isabella gazed out the window, her eyes following Ye Chuan’s retreating figure. "No. He’s likely far beyond that."
"When the earth dragon went berserk earlier, I sensed his mana."
She lowered her lashes, her voice soft but certain. "His power... is like an abyss. Unfathomable."
Torres stiffened. Was she serious?
"How is that possible? He looks so young... Could he be a disguised archmage?"
"No. He truly is young."
"Then..."
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)
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."
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?!
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."
