The wind swept through the remnants of sand, the grit crackling against the wooden shield like firecrackers.
Li Gongfeng noticed An Gongfeng frozen in place as if plunged into an icy abyss, his spiritual energy eerily stagnant. His expression darkened, brows furrowing into a knot.
"What are you hesitating for, An Gongfeng? Don’t tell me you’re still clinging to the young mistress’s past kindness, thinking of turning traitor?"
"N-no… it’s not… ah—"
An Gongfeng forced the words through gritted teeth, his Taoist robe already drenched in cold sweat. An invisible pressure now bore down on him like a crushing mountain, freezing the spiritual energy in his dantian. Even his fingertips refused to budge.
He could feel the sheer terror of that power—as if the very essence of heaven and earth had bared its fangs at him. The slightest movement would reduce him to dust.
"Can’t move your body? Don’t mock me." Li Gongfeng found the situation bizarre when suddenly, a faint whistling sound brushed past his ear.
It wasn’t the howl of natural wind but more like the residual echo of a blade slicing through the void—
The next instant, the world spun before Li Gongfeng’s eyes.
To the onlookers, a flash of crimson light streaked across their vision. By the time they refocused, a geyser of blood erupted from Li Gongfeng’s neck. His head tumbled to the ground like a severed kite string, rolling twice before stopping at An Gongfeng’s feet, eyes wide with disbelief.
"What?!"
Gasps were cut short as if an invisible hand clenched around their hearts. Everyone stared at the head lying in the sand.
A cultivator at the late Qi Refining stage, slaughtered without even a chance to resist?
Such power was beyond their comprehension!
"L-Li Gongfeng…" An Gongfeng trembled violently as the headless corpse beside him collapsed, blood splattering onto his robe in scalding spurts.
Straining to turn his gaze toward Chen Muling, he saw only confusion on the young mistress’s face. The wooden shield in her hand still bore the scorch marks from his earlier fire technique—clearly, she hadn’t struck.
"Which senior master intervened?" Chen Muling’s heart pounded, but there was no time to dwell. She slammed her shield into the ground with a deafening crash.
"Brothers, charge with me!"
At her rallying cry, the guards surged forward like tigers descending a mountain.
"For the young mistress, offer your hearts!"
The thugs who had relied on the two Gongfengs for support now scattered like startled birds, their morale shattered in an instant.
The dull thuds of blades cleaving flesh, the crisp snaps of breaking bones, and agonized screams filled the air. Within the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the remaining foes fled into the valley’s depths, abandoning even the coins at their feet.
Chen Muling drove her blade through An Gongfeng’s heart, her emotions churning as she stared at the two lifeless heads.
She had known An Gongfeng and Li Gongfeng since childhood—they were practically elders to her.
And yet…
Greed had poisoned their hearts.
Taking a deep breath, she ordered her guards, "Seal these heads in jade boxes. When we reach Xiluo Kingdom, I’ll present them to my uncle myself and demand answers!"
"Yes, young mistress!"
Once the aftermath was dealt with, Chen Muling gazed at the swirling sands and suddenly bowed deeply toward the valley, her voice laced with reverence.
"Esteemed senior, who granted us aid—this humble one, Chen Muling of the Great Qian Trading Company, begs to meet you and offer gratitude!"
Only the mournful wind answered.
The terrifying aura that had obliterated Li Gongfeng in an instant had already receded like the tide, leaving no trace behind. Were it not for the blood still pooling from the corpses, they might have believed the ordeal a nightmare.
"This junior understands. My apologies for the intrusion." Chen Muling bowed again. "A debt of this magnitude cannot be repaid with words. The Great Qian Trading Company and I shall never forget this kindness!"
As she spoke, her eyes involuntarily flicked toward the rear of the caravan—where an unremarkable green-canopied wagon stood, its curtains drawn tight, wheels caked in dust.
But she quickly dismissed the thought. If a senior capable of slaying a Qi Refining cultivator in an instant had been among them, why would they stoop to hiding in a merchant’s wagon?
Such beings would have soared through the skies, leaving even the wind in their wake.
Besides…
That man had been lying bare-bottomed by the roadside, sunbathing his bird.
Chen Muling stifled a laugh, shaking her head to dispel the absurd notion.
Mounting her horse, she turned toward Xiluo Kingdom.
"Move out!"
As the caravan resumed its journey, Ye Chuan let the wagon’s curtain fall shut behind him.
The enemies’ cultivation was so far beneath him that he hadn’t even needed to lift a finger—just a wisp of his aura had paralyzed that Qi Refining nobody.
"Too weak. Where’s the real challenge?" Ye Chuan mused.
Well, except for the little dragon girl.
She still had the upper hand… for now. Once he could bring Lan Xiaoke to the Aiser Continent, he’d settle that score properly.
"Hey, kid, you alright? Didn’t scare you, did it?" The wagon driver poked his head in just as Ye Chuan pondered his next move.
"I’m fine."
"Lucky us. Some passing immortal must’ve saved our hides back there, or we’d be dead meat." The driver sighed.
"Quite the coincidence. Bet that immortal was dashing," Ye Chuan said. "The most handsome in the universe."
"Who knows? Those immortals are all pretty as jade."
After some idle chatter, the caravan crossed into Xiluo Kingdom’s borders. Spotting the distant city walls, the driver warned,
"Listen, kid—when we reach Xiluo, they’ll question your identity. Just say you’re one of our company’s drivers."
Question his identity?
Ye Chuan could blink inside without anyone noticing. What questioning?
"Kid?"
"Hey—?"
When no reply came, the driver turned to find Ye Chuan gone, leaving only a spirit crystal behind.
"What’s this?" Puzzled, he picked it up. With no sign of Ye Chuan, he hurried to the lead wagon.
"Young mistress, that kid vanished. Left this behind."
"Vanished?" Chen Muling absentmindedly accepted the object—then froze. "A spirit crystal? No ordinary person could possess this!"
A single one was worth more than her entire shipment of goods.
"Could it be… he saved us?"
A realization dawned on her, though she hardly dared believe it.
That bare-bottomed man…
Was an immortal?
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
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."
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)
