After Ye Chuan finished showering, he heard Bai Qianshuang say to him,
"Ye Chuan, Lan Xiaoke actually broke through to the Qi Refining Realm."
At this moment, Lan Xiaoke still hadn't grasped the situation, wearing an "OvO?" expression as if asking whether the Qi Refining Realm was some big deal. After all, she had only absorbed a tiny bit of energy for a short while and didn't even fully understand what cultivation was about.
In fact, Lan Xiaoke had broken through before Ye Chuan even finished his shower.
"Qi Refining Realm? Seriously?" Ye Chuan was momentarily stunned by Bai Qianshuang's words.
He then pointed at Lan Xiaoke, who was blinking dumbly, as if asking—
[This little thing?]
Ye Chuan glanced at Lan Xiaoke and confirmed that her aura had indeed reached the early stage of the Qi Refining Realm—she was a genuine Qi Refining cultivator.
Hearing Bai Qianshuang mention that Lan Xiaoke had achieved this level of strength just by casually dabbling in cultivation, Ye Chuan couldn't help but feel astonished by her speed.
After all, he had spent days idly grinding before breaking through. How had Lan Xiaoke managed it so quickly?
No wonder the system's description mentioned that while Lan Xiaoke was weak, her growth potential was high.
Was this what it meant?
"But if that's the case, why haven't you made any progress in decades?" This puzzled Ye Chuan. If Lan Xiaoke truly had such talent, why had she remained a low-tier ghost all these years?
He shot another glance at Lan Xiaoke, whose eyes were now filled with question marks.
Seeing her like this, Ye Chuan quickly figured it out.
The answer was simple—
She was lazy and a shut-in.
Lan Xiaoke never harmed anyone, never left the school building, and spent her days sneaking around ventilation ducts just to peek at people scrolling through their phones. As a ghostly NEET who didn’t cultivate or cause trouble, how could she possibly focus on training?
She probably got frustrated whenever someone scrolled past a video she wanted to watch.
"Then why aren’t you hurrying up and cultivating?" Ye Chuan said, seeing her clueless expression.
If she had some strength, would she have gotten caught and electrocuted like that?
"Cultivation is so boring," Lan Xiaoke muttered. Besides, now that she belonged to Ye Chuan, wouldn’t he protect her if she got bullied?
Listening to her grumbling, Ye Chuan stroked his chin and suddenly grinned.
"Alright, how about this? For every minor realm you advance, I’ll give you 5,000 bucks. Deal?"
"W-w-what?! How much?!!!!" Lan Xiaoke’s eyes nearly popped out.
Five thousand?
Five grand?!
"I’ll start cultivating right now!" Lan Xiaoke immediately latched onto Bai Qianshuang. "Coach Qianshuang, teach me! I wanna learn cultivation!"
Bai Qianshuang silently observed Lan Xiaoke.
Was she really interested in cultivation—or just the money?
"Fine," Bai Qianshuang finally agreed. "But you must join the Jade Void Sect and become one of its disciples. From then on, I’ll be your senior sister."
Bai Qianshuang was traditional at heart. While she was willing to teach Lan Xiaoke, she also insisted on formalizing the master-disciple relationship.
"Huh? What Void?" Lan Xiaoke didn’t quite understand. "So I’ll be a disciple now?"
Whatever—as long as she got paid!
Lan Xiaoke had become a ghost for two reasons: choking to death on instant noodles, and money. Right before her death, she had looted an in-game item worth a fortune but never got to enjoy the profits.
After decades of poverty, how could she not be resentful?
In some ways, her greed matched Ye Chuan’s.
Soon, Bai Qianshuang took Lan Xiaoke into a room to begin cultivation. Ye Chuan watched for a moment but didn’t feel like joining.
After all, he didn’t need to meditate to absorb spiritual energy—his system automated the process.
Sitting still for weeks on end was impossible for him. He had a life to enjoy.
Returning to his room, Ye Chuan had just sat down when a notification popped up on his phone.
[Quest: Increase Lan Xiaoke’s Favorability (Completed)]
[Daily Income Generation: 1,000 → 3,000, Medium Chance of Obtaining Ghost-Type Items]
[Obtained: Thunder Peachwood Sword (Mid-Grade)]
Ye Chuan hadn’t expected Lan Xiaoke’s favorability to rise.
What had he even done?
All he did was promise her 5,000 per breakthrough—and that alone was enough to make her like him more?
What a money-grubbing little gremlin.
[Item: Thunder Peachwood Sword
Mid-Grade Artifact
Deals bonus damage to ghost-type entities.]
A mid-grade artifact—slightly better than his Azure Peak Sword, though only by a small margin.
Ye Chuan summoned the sword. Its dark wooden body had a jade-like sheen, giving it an elegant appearance.
Not bad.
With Lan Xiaoke evolving into a cash-generating asset, she was proving to be quite the investment. Ye Chuan felt relieved he’d taken in this cowardly ghost.
If he’d been any later, she might’ve been electrocuted to death.
After sitting for a while, Ye Chuan stored the sword in his inventory and noticed the jade pendant lying quietly in the corner.
It was looted from his last raid, containing a dormant soul that required 200,000 to awaken—essentially a "ring grandpa."
"Since I found this in the ruins dated 2099, whatever’s inside this pendant might not be ordinary either." After some thought, Ye Chuan decided to awaken the soul.
"Come on, give me a wise old mentor. Help me soar through cultivation and become an immortal emperor."
Checking the appraisal cost and recalling the money he’d earned from Qiao Xin, Ye Chuan tapped confirm without hesitation.
As 200,000 was deducted, the pendant in his hand began glowing.
Ripples of light pulsed outward before coalescing into a solid form.
"Is it out? Ring grandpa? Or grandma?"
"Bzzzt—"
A blinding flash filled the room, forcing Ye Chuan to squint.
"Who threw a flashbang?!"
Just as he cursed internally, the light dimmed, revealing a figure slowly descending to the floor. To Ye Chuan’s shock, what appeared was a petite girl dressed in purple gothic attire.
Standing around 1.4 meters tall, she had knee-length twin tails and delicate, doll-like features.
Her eyes, filled with confusion and disdain, locked onto Ye Chuan.
"Such a feeble insect—was it you who awakened this great sorceress?"
Ye Chuan: "..."
He was speechless.
Wait, why did a jade pendant from the Tianxuan Continent summon a gothic lolita straight out of a Western fantasy?
Where was his wise old mentor?!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
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.
