Si Daofu was thoroughly choked by Ye Chuan's remark. "I came here for a reason, of course."
Ye Chuan gave him a sidelong glance. "Oh, because of the succubi?"
"Y-you—how dare you slander me like that? I told you I was just there to temper my willpower!" Si Daofu's face flushed red as he glared at Ye Chuan, eyes practically spitting fire.
Then he started muttering something about ["What does a mage have to do with succubi?"] and ["Observing succubi doesn’t count as indulging—it’s mental training!"]...
"Wait, was I actually right?" Ye Chuan, seeing the old man’s flustered reaction, immediately caught on. "Seriously?"
"At your age, still into that stuff."
"And here I thought you wanted to discuss magic."
"Don’t tell me you spend all day 'discussing magic' with succubi?"
"Water-element magic, huh?"
"Can you even get it up?"
Ye Chuan’s words pierced Si Daofu’s heart like a volley of arrows, infuriating the old man so much that he raised his staff, ready to smack Ye Chuan over the head.
"Lord Si Daofu, please calm down." Seeing the old man on the verge of losing it, Eisien—well aware of the terror a seventh-tier archmage could unleash—quickly intervened.
"Calm down, we’re in the Adventurer’s Guild."
Si Daofu seemed to regain a sliver of composure. "Hmph! If it weren’t for the Guild’s reputation, I’d smash your skull in right now."
"Look at you, getting all worked up just 'cause I said you’re washed up." Ye Chuan smirked.
One sentence was all it took to send the old man back into a red-faced rage.
"Um, uh…" Eisien hurriedly motioned for Ye Chuan to shut up, noticing how wounded Si Daofu looked. She raised her voice in consolation,
"Even if Lord Si Daofu is… lacking as a man, you shouldn’t rub salt in the wound like that!"
Her words drew the attention of many in the Guild, all eyes eventually landing on Si Daofu.
Soon, laughter—bright and mocking—filled the Guild hall, inside and out.
"I’ve had enough!" Si Daofu couldn’t take it anymore. He raised his staff, preparing to cast a spell. Not that he’d use much force—just enough to teach this disrespectful brat a lesson.
"Marli-Marli, Silence Spell!"
A glowing orb shot straight at Ye Chuan.
Ye Chuan didn’t dodge. The orb struck him—and was completely absorbed.
"Well? Cat got your tongue?" Si Daofu stroked his beard smugly.
"If you apologize now, I might consider lifting the spell."
Ye Chuan stared at him silently. A few seconds later, he spoke.
"Moron."
Si Daofu’s triumphant grin froze. He yanked at his own beard in shock. "Y-you—how are you still talking?!"
"Who knows?" Ye Chuan shrugged. "Trash-tier magic."
While Ye Chuan might tread carefully around that dragonkin guy, against this old mage? He went all out. This was his comfort zone.
"Marli-Marli, Silence Spell!" The old man, refusing to believe it, cast the spell again.
"Yeah, yeah. Marli-Marli-boom." Ye Chuan raised a foot as if to kick the old man but reconsidered—they didn’t have any real beef. Instead, he adopted a pitying look.
"Tsk. First your little guy doesn’t work, now your magic’s useless too."
"Y-you—!" Si Daofu clutched his chest, face pale as he staggered back.
"Faking it?!" Ye Chuan reached out to grab him—but the old man suddenly twisted his wrist with a sly grin.
"Marli-Marli, Silence Spell!"
This time, the spell erupted in a blinding flash at point-blank range.
"HAHAHAHA! Got you now, brat!" Si Daofu cackled triumphantly, his smirk widening when Ye Chuan stayed silent.
"Does this look like a seventh-tier archmage to you?" Ye Chuan asked Eisien behind the counter.
"Not at all," she admitted, shaking her head. In her eyes, Si Daofu had always been a dignified figure—this was the first time she’d seen him act like a clown.
Seeing Ye Chuan still unaffected, Si Daofu finally quieted down, scrutinizing him seriously.
"Why aren’t you affected? Do you have a curse-nullifying artifact?"
"Nope. I’m just built different—immune to all magic," Ye Chuan said.
"Pfft!" Si Daofu scoffed.
"I’ve lived two hundred years and read every book in the Mage Tower. Never heard of anyone immune to all magic. You’ve just got some anti-curse trinket on you. Don’t act all high and mighty."
Ye Chuan shrugged, done entertaining him.
Eisien, meanwhile, was stunned. Most people wouldn’t dare disrespect a seventh-tier archmage, yet Ye Chuan treated him like a joke.
Combined with his mysterious background, she couldn’t help but wonder—just how strong was he?
"I’m leaving." Ye Chuan tossed a card at Si Daofu. "Here. Gets you half off at the Succubus Den. Enjoy."
"Wha—I’m not some regular at those places!" Si Daofu protested—yet pocketed the card all the same.
Ye Chuan shrugged and walked out of the Adventurer’s Guild.
Not like it was a real discount card anyway—just some promotional flier.
He still had business at the coliseum, so after asking around, he headed to the so-called abandoned arena.
Evening had fallen by the time he arrived. The ruins stood before him, bathed in the dying light.
The setting sun cast long shadows over the crumbling walls, gilding the derelict coliseum in a melancholic glow. The grand archway had collapsed long ago, its bronze-inlaid frame now hollowed by vines.
On the broken lintel, half of a rusted emblem was barely recognizable.
"This is the coliseum? ‘Abandoned’ is an understatement—it’s practically collapsing." Ye Chuan surveyed the wreckage before flying inside.
The tiered stands resembled a beehive split by an axe, most of the stone steps collapsed into the ashen earth below.
Some pillars had snapped mid-shaft, their stumps jutting from the weeds like broken teeth. The gladiator reliefs carved into them had been weathered into vague outlines—one figure held a shattered spear, another lay curled on the ground, their robes choked with moss.
At the center, a thicket of thorns and vines choked the arena floor. The surrounding walls were veined with deep cracks.
Everything was in ruins.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
The moment Ye Chuan landed, a vaguely familiar voice spoke up.
He turned, surprised, and spotted a short-haired girl stepping from the shadows of a broken pillar, twirling a dagger in her fingers.
"Niya?" Recognizing her, Ye Chuan gave her a once-over. "What are you doing here?"
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.
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!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
