……
Ye Chuan saw Lan Xiaoke crouching on the ground, looking half-dead, and explained,
"I won't hit you, and I won’t let anyone bully you either."
Lan Xiaoke froze for a moment. She raised her face, streaked with bloody tears dripping onto the floor—a sight that was downright eerie. "Really? You won’t hurt me? Is this... love? Some kind of ghostly romance?"
"You’re handsome and all, but I think we should get to know each other first," she said after sizing him up, then added seriously, "I’m not that kind of girl... or ghost."
"Love my ass," Ye Chuan rolled his eyes. "I’m a one-woman man."
"Waaah, then you must be lying! Why else would you help me for no reason?" Lan Xiaoke slumped in resignation, covering her eyes with her hands.
"Just do it already. But I’m scared of pain—can you make it quick? Next life, I just wanna be a hamster," she muttered.
Ye Chuan: "..."
Just as he was about to speak, a shrill scream echoed from outside. "AHHHHHHHHH?!!!!!!"
Ye Chuan paused. That sounded like the girl who’d run off earlier.
A rustling came from behind him. He instinctively turned and saw Lan Xiaoke now curled into a trembling ball in the corner. "I-Is there a ghost out there?"
Ye Chuan fell silent again: "..."
Aren’t you the ghost here?
What a scaredy-cat. A total coward—probably all the bravery nutrients got stolen by her chest.
Realizing something was happening outside, Ye Chuan decided to check it out first. At the very least, he needed to assess the danger.
Pushing open the classroom door, he was met with darkness. His gaze swept the hallway until he spotted—
A middle-aged man standing face-to-face with Wang Yanran. The man gripped her arm, a cold smirk on his face.
"Yanran, my dear niece, how careless of you."
"Wang Li?!" Wang Yanran hadn’t expected to see him here. Her voice trembled. "Aren’t you afraid my grandfather will find out?"
Now she understood why she’d felt uneasy entering this building.
"That old man won’t know a thing. This round of the trial belongs to my son," Wang Li sneered. A shadowy figure, pitch-black and as tall as the man, materialized behind him. Its crimson eyes glowed, accompanied by a sinister screech.
The shadow lashed out, claws clamping around Wang Yanran’s throat.
"Ghk—!" She choked, struggling in vain.
She fumbled for the talisman at her waist, but the shadow’s claws sent both it and her phone flying.
Wang Li watched her struggles weaken, his grin widening—until it froze. Because at the classroom door, a guy was filming everything on his phone.
Ye Chuan leaned against the wall, phone in hand. Noticing Wang Li’s stare, he casually waved. "Hey, old man."
"Don’t mind me. Carry on."
Wang Li’s expression darkened. "Who the hell are you?"
"A dude," Ye Chuan said.
Wang Li’s face twitched. He flung Wang Yanran aside—she crashed to the floor, her phone and talisman crushed under the shadow’s foot.
"Kid, I don’t care who you are. Hand over that video!" Wang Li threatened.
"No can do. How’s this for a title? ‘Late-Night School Horror: Middle-Aged Man Attacks Lone Girl—Shocking Footage!’" Ye Chuan wiggled his phone.
Wang Li’s glare turned murderous. Meanwhile, Wang Yanran coughed violently, barely recovering enough to gasp:
"R-Run! His bonded ghost is a Tier 3 Transcendent! You’re no match!"
Tier 3 Transcendent?
Ye Chuan blinked. What level was that?
Eh, maybe he should just bail.
"Too late!" Wang Li barked. The shadow lunged at Ye Chuan.
It’s over.
Wang Yanran’s heart sank. Tonight’s events would never see the light of day. She’d never imagined a family elder like Wang Li would ambush her—much less rig the school’s surveillance.
But then—
Ye Chuan’s hand shot out, seizing the shadow by the throat.
"What?!" Wang Yanran and Wang Li gasped in unison.
Impossible!
Ye Chuan tested the shadow’s strength and scoffed. "This is it? A Tier 3 Transcendent is only early Qi Condensation realm?"
He activated his Azure Dragon Saint Body. Lightning crackled around his palm—then, with a deafening BOOM, the shadow exploded into nothingness under their stunned gazes.
"Pathetic ants." Ye Chuan clasped his hands behind his back, his T-shirt billowing despite the lack of wind. His aura surged unrestrained.
"I am a Qi Condensation Grandmaster. Who dares challenge me? Who can challenge me?!"
"H-How can a youngster have such power?!" Wang Li stammered in terror.
Without hesitation, he bolted. No way was he dying here.
"Senior, stop him!" Wang Yanran urged.
Before Ye Chuan could respond, Wang Li vaulted out the window—vanishing into the night.
"Just saying, I don’t do window jumps." Ye Chuan eyed the five-story drop.
Wang Yanran cursed inwardly but wobbled to her feet. Her gaze at Ye Chuan—who’d nearly punched her earlier—was complicated. Still, she bowed.
"I am Wang Yanran of the Spirit Taming Wang Clan. Thank you for your aid, Senior."
"Mm." Ye Chuan grunted and turned toward the classroom.
When he ignored her, Wang Yanran bit her lip and limped after him.
……
Back inside, Ye Chuan scanned the room until he spotted Lan Xiaoke in the corner, doodling circles and muttering curses.
"Oi. You’re coming home with me." He nudged her butt with his foot.
"Home? You’re not gonna kill me?" Lan Xiaoke blinked up at him, teary-eyed.
"Why would I kill you?" Ye Chuan chuckled.
Just then, Wang Yanran spoke up. "Senior, could you send me that video? And lend me your phone?"
"Why should I?" Ye Chuan side-eyed her. "Weren’t you about to fight me earlier?"
Wang Yanran flushed, remembering how even Wang Li had fled. "I..."
"You got money?" Ye Chuan cut in.
"Money?" She blinked.
"This much, and the video’s yours." He held up one finger.
"A million? Deal!" Wang Yanran agreed instantly.
Ye Chuan choked, bracing against the wall. He’d only meant ten grand.
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."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
