"A human cultivator? How dare you trespass into the territory of our serpent-folk demon race!" The green-haired man narrowed his triangular eyes, hostility dripping from his tone as he toyed with a small green serpent in his hand. The snake's flickering tongue emitted a deadly poisonous aura.
"This area is under the jurisdiction of our serpent-folk demon race. All unauthorized intruders shall be executed without mercy!"
Ye Chuan frowned slightly. He had no time to waste on such trivialities. "I'm merely passing through. I have no intention of provoking your kind. Please step aside."
Qian Shuang was getting hungry, after all.
"Step aside?" The green-haired serpent-man sneered, while the two demon cultivators behind him bared their fangs in wicked grins. "Human cultivator, do you take us serpent-folk for pushovers? Trespass into our domain, and still you act so arrogantly? Today, you won’t be leaving alive!"
With a flick of his wrist, the small green serpent transformed into a streak of emerald light, shooting straight for Ye Chuan’s face—its maw spewing a cloud of black venom!
Ye Chuan smirked, sidestepping the toxic mist. His spirit sword flashed, unleashing a blade of energy that pierced the serpent in an instant.
The serpent let out a shrill shriek before dissipating into green smoke.
"You seek death!" Enraged, the green-haired man’s body twisted and expanded, morphing into a massive azure python over thirty feet long. Its gaping maw, reeking of foul bloodlust, lunged at Ye Chuan.
The two demon cultivators behind him struck simultaneously, their bone blades slashing out dark crescent slashes, converging with the python’s assault in a pincer attack.
"Insects." Ye Chuan’s expression remained indifferent. In a blur, he teleported behind one of the demon cultivators, his black longsword flashing. A single slash—and the demon was bisected.
Seeing his comrade instantly annihilated, the remaining demon cultivator paled and turned to flee. But Ye Chuan teleported again, his sword piercing through the demon’s back, ending him just as swiftly.
"Spirit Transformation realm?!"
The colossal python’s eyes flickered with fear at the sight of its subordinates being slaughtered, yet it pressed on with reckless fury.
"I told you I didn’t want to fight. You brought this on yourselves." Ye Chuan teleported once more, beheading the python in one clean stroke.
The green-haired man’s soul attempted to escape the python’s corpse, seeking refuge in the surrounding miasma—only to be ensnared by the suction force of Ye Chuan’s Ten Thousand Souls Banner. With a final wail, it was absorbed into the artifact.
Three Nascent Soul realm souls added to the banner—barely a drop in the bucket.
At this point, Ye Chuan had slaughtered so many Nascent Soul cultivators that the gains were negligible.
Still, every bit counted. A 1% boost was still a boost, and Ye Chuan wasn’t one to refuse free power.
Sheathing his sword, Ye Chuan was about to resume his journey when a faint distress signal caught his attention.
"Hm?" He turned, peering through the mist to spot a mermaid—her upper body human, lower body fish—bound to a jagged reef in the distance.
The mermaid was beautiful, but her body was marred with wounds, her once-lustrous blue scales now dull. Heavy chains, inscribed with cryptic runes, held her captive, her eyes filled with despair.
As Ye Chuan approached, she tensed, her gaze flickering between wariness and resignation. "Are you here to torture me too? Do as you will. I won’t beg."
Without a word, Ye Chuan swung his sword, severing the chains with a single stroke.
The mermaid blinked in disbelief. "Huh? You… you freed me?"
Ye Chuan spoke plainly. "Why were the serpent-folk holding you captive?"
A flash of hatred crossed her eyes. "The serpent-folk covet my merfolk clan’s treasure. They captured me as a slave, torturing me for its location."
She sniffled. "If not for you, I’d have died here sooner or later." Gratefully, she bowed her head. "Thank you, savior. My name is Yuyu. May I know yours?"
"Qin Tianya," Ye Chuan replied curtly. "I have a question."
Yuyu nodded eagerly. "Ask away!"
"I have a method to conceal my aura. So how did those serpent-folk detect me?"
"Oh! Savior, in this Demon Sea, we demon races can sense intruders by reading disturbances in the mist. Even if you hide your aura, your movement stirs the fog, so…"
Ye Chuan understood. His concealment wasn’t faulty—they had simply tracked him through environmental cues.
He studied the little mermaid. "One more thing. Do you know how to leave the Demon Sea and reach North Divine Continent?"
"You’re heading to North Divine Continent?"
"Yes." Ye Chuan gave a brief explanation.
"Wow! I thought you were just lost here. Traveling through the Demon Sea alone is super dangerous!" Yuyu hesitated.
"Savior, I don’t want to lead you to your doom. It’s best if you turn back now."
"This Demon Sea is vast beyond measure. And even though you saved me… humans and demons are natural enemies. Not just the serpent-folk—most demons here would kill you on sight."
"Just point me in the right direction," Ye Chuan said.
"Okay, but… could you escort me back to my merfolk territory first? My clan must be worried sick…" Yuyu pleaded.
Ye Chuan shrugged. "Fine. Lead the way."
Yuyu beamed, flipping her tail as she dipped into the inky waters, resurfacing moments later. "Savior, can you swim underwater?"
Swim?
"I can, but…" Ye Chuan eyed the murky, sludge-like sea with distaste.
It felt like diving into a sewer.
"What’s wrong, Savior?"
"The water looks filthy…"
"Filthy? No way!" Yuyu splashed her tail playfully. "It’s perfectly clean!"
Ye Chuan: "…"
No idea how you managed to stay so pristine.
With a sigh, Ye Chuan enveloped himself in a barrier of spiritual energy—then, for good measure, layered it with a demonic shield.
Only then did he plunge into the abyssal depths.
To his surprise, while the surface was shrouded in impenetrable mist, the underwater realm, though dim, offered clearer visibility—at least for a short distance.
Below, however, stretched an endless void of darkness.
Yuyu circled him excitedly, her tail flicking bubbles. "Savior~ Shall we go?"
Ye Chuan nodded, letting her take the lead.
But just as they set off, the waters ahead churned violently. Countless emerald specks coalesced, forming the silhouette of an enormous serpentine figure lurking in the depths—its scales glinting with an eerie, cold light.
"Eek! Serpent-folk!" Yuyu shrieked, ducking behind Ye Chuan. "Savior, run!"
Ye Chuan, however, stood unmoved, his gaze fixed on the approaching shadows.
"Human cultivator! You dare slaughter our kin and steal our slave? Today, this elder will tear you limb from limb!" A thunderous, aged voice boomed across the sea, sending shockwaves through the water. Black waves surged, their spray carrying a bone-chilling malice.
Clearly, the higher-ups of the serpentine demon race had already noticed something amiss and were closing in, following the trail of energy.
Ye Chuan was surprised—he could sense that the owner of this aura was at least at the Enlightenment Realm level, far more powerful than the octopus demon or the half-human, half-serpent monster he had encountered earlier.
He turned to Yuyu and said, "Stay away from me later. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you."
"Me?" Yuyu didn’t dare delay and swiftly swam deeper into the abyss.
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...
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."
] [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!"
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!
