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?!
] [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!"
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
