"Ah! My demon pill! My demon pill!"
"No, please! Stop hitting me!"
Liu Chengfeng pounded beef meatballs with one hand while Ye Chuan healed his wounds with healing magic. Not only that, Ye Chuan also cast an Awakening Spell, forcing Liu Chengfeng to remain agonizingly conscious every time he was about to pass out from the pain.
Liu Chengfeng's blood-curdling pleas echoed across the square, yet the playful smirk on Ye Chuan’s face didn’t fade in the slightest.
Who said pain couldn’t be shared?
The onlookers winced in sympathy, some even covering their faces, unable to bear the sight.
Pain.
Too much pain!
Just as Liu Chengfeng finished his forty-ninth strike, a furious roar infused with the full power of a Golden Core Realm cultivator exploded from the crowd, shaking everyone’s eardrums like thunder:
"You insolent brat! How dare you brutalize a member of the Liu family during the Phoenix Feather Sect’s recruitment ceremony? Stop this at once!"
Before the words even faded, a gray-clad figure lunged at Ye Chuan’s back with a palm strike so fierce it compressed the air, producing a shrill whistling sound.
The crowd turned to see a man clad in the embroidered robes of a Phoenix Feather Sect outer elder, his sleeves adorned with status-marking patterns. His face was stern, eyes wide with fury—this was Liu Shan, the elder in charge of outer sect affairs.
He had been observing the trials from the main platform but rushed over upon hearing Liu Chengfeng’s screams, only to witness Ye Chuan’s cruel control over him. Enraged, he struck without hesitation.
The recruits gasped. A Golden Core Realm elder was already an untouchable figure in their eyes, and Liu Shan’s long-standing dominance in the outer sect only added to his fearsome reputation.
Many assumed Ye Chuan was doomed—Liu Shan wasn’t just powerful, he represented the Liu family’s pride. After humiliating their disciples, Ye Chuan wouldn’t escape unscathed.
Yet, faced with Liu Shan’s devastating strike, Ye Chuan didn’t even turn his head.
He didn’t stop controlling Liu Chengfeng either. With a mere flick of his wrist, a wisp of black chaotic energy slithered from his fingertips, darting toward Liu Shan like a living thing.
The energy seemed insignificant, but it carried an aura of absolute annihilation, draining the surrounding spiritual energy wherever it passed.
"You dare look down on me?!" Liu Shan’s fury flared at Ye Chuan’s disregard. He poured more power into his palm, intending to shatter the black energy and teach Ye Chuan a lesson.
But the moment his palm made contact, his rage froze into sheer horror.
An unstoppable force surged into his body, tearing through his spiritual defenses like a flood. His meridians withered, his organs compressed in excruciating pain.
"Pfft—!" Blood sprayed from Liu Shan’s mouth as he collapsed to his knees, his vitality extinguished in an instant. His body rapidly aged into a withered husk, devoid of life.
His wide eyes, still brimming with confusion and terror, stared blankly—unable to comprehend how a Golden Core Realm elder could fall in a single blow to a junior.
The square fell deathly silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Every gaze locked onto Ye Chuan in awe and dread. Those who had thought him finished now didn’t dare breathe.
Liu Chengfeng, meanwhile, soiled himself in fear, the stench spreading around him. He stared at Ye Chuan as if facing the King of Hell himself.
"Too bad. You called for help, but it didn’t work," Ye Chuan said with a grin.
"Your demon pill really thought you’d be saved before it shattered."
Liu Chengfeng trembled violently, his eyes nearly vacant.
"Ye Chuan… are we going too far?" Bai Qianshuang asked uneasily, watching as two people from the Phoenix Feather Sect lay dead by his hand.
"What do you suggest?" Ye Chuan replied.
"Kill all the witnesses. Don’t let word spread," Bai Qianshuang murmured softly.
With their strength, it would take but a breath.
Ye Chuan gave her a thumbs-up.
Classic Qianshuang.
But the silence didn’t last.
A far more terrifying presence suddenly blanketed the square, dimming the sunlight as if eclipsed.
The crowd looked up to see a crimson figure striding through the air, wreathed in dense spiritual energy that scorched and distorted the atmosphere around him.
"The Punishment Hall?! How?!"
"That’s Liu Lie, the Liu family’s Punishment Elder!"
"This is a real heavyweight!"
The newcomer was indeed Liu Lie, elder of the Liu family’s Punishment Hall. Clad in fiery-patterned red robes with the Punishment Hall’s token at his waist, his face was twisted in fury, his eyes blood-red—he had rushed here the moment he received word.
Liu Lie’s gaze swept over the corpses of Liu Shan and Liu Qingyun, then landed on the trembling, meatball-pounding Liu Chengfeng. His killing intent surged uncontrollably.
"Elder, save me! Kill this beast!!" Liu Chengfeng shrieked.
Liu Lie’s icy glare locked onto Ye Chuan. "You vile insect! You dare slaughter my Liu family’s disciples and elders? Today, I’ll carve you into pieces and make you pay for your crimes!"
The crushing aura of a Nascent Soul Realm expert pressed down, suffocating everyone present.
Yet Ye Chuan merely tilted his head. "Oh?"
Just a measly Nascent Soul.
First the small fry, then the bigger ones, now the old geezer.
No wonder that demon pill brat was so arrogant—his family really had deep roots in the Phoenix Feather Sect.
As soon as he spoke, Liu Lie, incensed by Ye Chuan’s dismissive tone, whipped out a flaming chain from his waist. Intricate runes glowed crimson under his spiritual energy, radiating overwhelming pressure.
"Elder Liu Lie is truly enraged! With a Nascent Soul powerhouse making a move, this kid is finished!"
"Should we back away? Getting caught in the crossfire would be fatal!"
"Run! No matter how strong he is, he can’t possibly defeat Elder Liu Lie!"
"Pity. He had potential, but provoking the Liu family? He’s digging his own grave."
Whispers filled the air, most convinced Ye Chuan’s fate was sealed.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
