The waiting area at the edge of the square was packed with people. Even though joining the sect required certain qualifications, there were still over a thousand gathered here. Ye Chuan found a quiet stone bench to sit on, and Bai Qianshuang settled beside him, pressing slightly closer.
Their arms brushed lightly, yet Bai Qianshuang pretended not to notice, as if harboring a maiden’s secret thoughts.
Sunlight glinted in her hair, a single loose strand swaying gently in the breeze. Paired with her cool, detached beauty, she drew lingering glances from several passing youths—until Ye Chuan’s icy gaze swept over them, sending them scurrying away.
Before half an incense stick’s worth of time had passed, an aged voice echoed from the main platform:
"The first trial of the recruitment examination—Combat Training! All registered disciples must step onto the stage. Winners advance directly to the fifth trial, while losers proceed to the second!"
As the announcement ended, a towering white jade arena rose from the center of the square, encircled by a faint blue barrier to prevent stray spiritual energy from harming bystanders.
The crowd of young men and women erupted into murmurs—some cracking their knuckles in anticipation, others nervously clenching their fists.
Ye Chuan, however, merely yawned. Glancing at the novices around him, he couldn’t help but smirk at Bai Qianshuang. "How about you go first, my dear? Quick and easy. Once we’re done, we can stroll around the sect and, uh… ‘collect’ a few things."
Bai Qianshuang nodded and gracefully leaped onto the platform, her skirt fluttering.
With a sword in hand, her black hair drifted softly in the wind. Her serene eyes and ethereal beauty cast a spell over the men watching, leaving them breathless.
So beautiful…
No sooner had she taken her stance than a burly man jumped up to challenge her, gripping a rusted iron sword with eager excitement.
"Young lady, I know your cultivation is high, but I’m no pushover! Shi Tou, mid-stage Qi Refinement realm! Let’s have a good match!"
Bai Qianshuang remained silent, her gaze indifferent.
She simply raised her sword, offering no response.
This was just her nature—aloof and untouchable to strangers.
Besides, she was only here to humor the event. As a Spirit Transformation realm expert, facing a mere Qi Refinement cultivator was like…
An old man toying with a child?
Though the challenger was clearly older than her, his talent was evidently lacking.
Before he could finish speaking, the young man swung his sword, unleashing a wave of earthen-yellow spiritual energy straight at Bai Qianshuang’s face.
The onlookers held their breath—only to see her flick a finger, sending a wisp of pale cyan energy that struck the blade’s spine with pinpoint precision.
Clang!
The iron sword flew from his grip, and the force sent him stumbling back three steps before he collapsed off the platform, stunned. "H-how…?"
"Bai Qianshuang, victory!"
"Good match," she murmured softly before turning and leaping down to rejoin Ye Chuan.
The waiting area erupted in chatter, the crowd now regarding her with awe—
A peak Foundation Establishment realm expert!
A true powerhouse!
"Ye Chuan!"
Soon, it was Ye Chuan’s turn.
He stood and made his way to the platform, where a middle-aged cultivator with a goatee promptly confronted him. Clutching a yellowed manual, the man sneered with the arrogance of an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Young man, reaching Foundation Establishment at your age? Must’ve relied on pills. Today, I’ll show you what real cultivation looks like!"
Ye Chuan arched a brow. Before the man could even settle into his stance, Ye Chuan blurred—reappearing behind him in an instant—and tapped a single finger against his back.
The man stiffened, his spiritual energy scattering instantly before he crumpled to the platform like a sack of mud, muttering, "Impossible… how… so fast…"
"Next." Ye Chuan stood at the center of the arena, his tone bored.
For the next half-hour, challengers came—whether peak Qi Refinement or mid-stage Foundation Establishment—and all met the same fate: a single slap sent them flying, or a pulse of spiritual energy hurled them off the platform without so much as grazing Ye Chuan’s robes.
The waiting area fell into stunned silence. No one dared step forward anymore, and Ye Chuan was promptly advanced to the fifth trial.
Just as he prepared to leave, the crowd suddenly parted. Liu Chengfeng limped into view, supported by two attendants, followed by a young man clad in a crimson-gold feathered robe.
The newcomer had sharp, cold features, a Phoenix Feather Sect inner disciple token hanging from his waist, and eyes as piercing as blades—Liu Chengfeng’s cousin, Liu Qingyun.
"Cousin, it’s him!" Liu Chengfeng pointed at Ye Chuan, his voice shaking with rage. "He injured me and dares cause trouble at the Phoenix Feather Sect’s recruitment! Cripple him!"
Liu Qingyun’s murderous gaze locked onto Ye Chuan. "You harmed a member of the Liu family in Phoenix Feather City and disrupted the sect’s recruitment. Ye Chuan, do you admit your crimes?"
Leaning against the arena railing, Ye Chuan smirked. "Ah, so it’s the ‘Ridiculous Brother.’ First, he offends my wife, and now you come asking for death. The Liu family really has a talent for delivering themselves to me."
"You’re dead!" Liu Qingyun roared, leaping onto the platform. "Injuring fellow disciples before even joining? You’re unfit to enter the Phoenix Feather Sect!"
As Liu Qingyun confronted him, Ye Chuan glanced at the nearby outer sect elders—only to find them deliberately looking away, unwilling to interfere.
After all, the Liu family, as city lords, held deep ties with the Phoenix Feather Sect. These elders couldn’t afford to oppose them.
"Liu Qingyun is making his move. Rumor has it he’s been in the Crystal Core realm for decades. That newcomer is done for."
"Tch, offending the Liu family never ends well. They’re a true noble clan."
"Tsk tsk tsk, he picked the wrong fight."
Liu Qingyun’s palms erupted in flames, searing the air as he struck toward Ye Chuan with devastating force.
The crowd scrambled back, fearing the backlash—but Bai Qianshuang stood calmly below, showing no concern. She knew Ye Chuan’s strength. Liu Qingyun was nothing to him.
Ye Chuan didn’t move until the flames were upon him. Then, slowly, he raised his right hand, a wisp of black chaotic energy swirling in his palm.
"This is all you’ve got? Daring to show off in front of me?"
With a flick of his wrist, the chaotic energy collided with Liu Qingyun’s fiery strike.
There was no earth-shaking explosion—just a sizzling hiss as the flames were devoured. The chaotic energy surged onward, slamming into Liu Qingyun’s chest.
His pupils shrank. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips as his body hurtled backward like a broken kite, crashing into the barrier before collapsing onto the platform.
After a few feeble twitches, he lay still.
Dead silence.
Dead?
Liu Qingyun… dead?
He killed him?
A single move to annihilate a Crystal Core realm expert?
The recruits gaped, too stunned to speak. Even the outer sect elders stared wide-eyed, as if they’d seen a ghost.
Ye Chuan hopped down from the platform and strode toward Liu Chengfeng, looking down at him with cold amusement.
"Well, well. You got slapped and came running for backup. Seems you’ve got a death wish."
Liu Chengfeng trembled in terror, scrambling backward on all fours. "D-don’t kill me! I was wrong! I’ll never dare again!"
Even his own cousin—killed like slaughtering a chicken. A madman, a complete madman!
"How about we play a game?" Ye Chuan’s voice was icy, yet he wore a chilling smile. "First, pound your own demon core a hundred times."
Demon core?
But… he didn’t have one anymore.
"Oh, I forgot about that. Healing spell." With a flick of Ye Chuan’s hand, a healing spell surged forth, and Liu Chengfeng watched in disbelief as his demon core miraculously regenerated.
It was… restored?
"Now then…" Before Ye Chuan could finish, Liu Chengfeng felt his arm move against his will, lifting the scabbard high.
"Hand-beaten beef balls," Ye Chuan announced. "Let’s begin."
"Wait… why can’t I control my body? No—stop! STOP!!!!!!!!"
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!
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?!
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!"
] [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!"
