This fear actually forcibly suppressed his anger and birthed an extremely bizarre inspiration. He suddenly felt as if he had comprehended the ultimate secret of survival!
Thus, in the eyes of the crowd, Lie Tianxiong's face first instantly flushed red, then immediately turned deathly pale.
Finally, a strange look—a mixture of lingering fear, rejoicing, and a smug "I am truly too brilliant" expression—slowly surfaced on his face.
He gently raised his hand and pressed it downward, trying hard to imitate the demeanor of some otherworldly expert from his memory (which he felt he currently was). With a deliberately crafted movement that he thought was breezy and nonchalant, he slowly spoke.
"Cangyun..."
His voice was even deliberately slowed and softened, carrying a sense of superiority that said, "You ordinary mortals do not understand yet." "Your feelings, this seat... understands very well."
He leaned forward slightly, his gaze sweeping over the angry or bewildered elders below, carrying the pity of one who is the only sober person in a world of drunks.
"However,"
He changed the subject, his tone suddenly turning profound, as if revealing some universal truth.
"Fierce prestige? It's just an empty name! So what if we get talked about a bit? Does it cost us a piece of meat? It does not!"
He raised his hand, his fingertips pointing precisely at the faint, purple-blue bruises on his forehead. His tone even carried a trace of imperceptible bragging.
"Look! What is this? This is a lesson! Furthermore, it is priceless wisdom! It is the supreme truth that this seat has exchanged with blood and tears, and even... uh... clothes!"
He suddenly stood up, his voice rising higher, carrying a fanaticism akin to preaching and teaching:
"This world! The waters are very deep! There is always someone stronger, and behind every capable person is someone even more capable messing with them! In the past, we were just too high-profile! Too arrogant! That is why we repeatedly suffered losses! Time and time again being stripped... uh... suffering setbacks!"
He slapped his thigh in bitter regret: "Learn from the pain! From now on, our Burning Heaven Palace is going to change our way of living! What is prestige? Living long, surviving a long time, that is true prestige! If others want to be arrogant, let them be arrogant! As for us, we must learn to be smarter!"
He stared burningly at First Elder Yan Cangyun, as if wanting to carve this peerless secret manual into the other party's brain: "Without eighty percent... No! Without ninety-nine percent certainty, absolutely do not make a move!
When making a move, it must be an absolute crushing! A one-hit kill! If we cannot beat them, we absolutely do not provoke them! If we cannot afford to provoke them, we can afford to hide! This is called... strategic concealment! Yes, strategic concealment!"
Listening to the Palace Master's high-level discourse, First Elder Yan Cangyun's old face flushed red. His lips trembled for a long time before he squeezed out a sentence: "Palace... Palace Master, this... this is truly too..."
"Too smart? Too profound?"
Lie Tianxiong immediately interrupted him. The "wise" smile on his face was practically overflowing. He even proudly raised his hand and stroked a non-existent beard in the empty air.
"Exactly! This is great wisdom! It is the Great Dao of Longevity that this seat has comprehended after going through hardships! You will all understand in the future! Cangyun, pass down my orders!"
He puffed out his chest, his voice carrying unquestionable resolution: "From this day forward, all disciples of the Burning Heaven Palace must stay low and survive! Tuck your tails between your legs and behave! Without this seat's written decree, no one is allowed to step half a pace outside the mountain gates!
Whoever dares to go out and cause trouble without authorization, bringing disaster to the sect, do not blame this seat for being ruthless with the sect rules. I will strip them naked and hang them on the mountain gates to dry like salted fish!"
He looked with satisfaction at the First Elder and the crowd's shocked silly expressions, feeling that his enlightenment was simply magnificent, enough to be recorded in the sect's annals.
His gaze swept across the entire hall, finally landing on the thin-faced, calm-tempered Second Elder. His eyes were filled with unprecedented trust and... gratitude.
He cleared his throat, his tone becoming exceptionally solemn: "Ahem... Everyone, although our Burning Heaven Palace has suffered a minor setback recently, this seat has also gained some enlightenment. Fortune and misfortune depend on each other!"
He paused and specifically looked at the Second Elder, his tone growing even more earnest. "Especially the Second Elder. Usually, he is low-key, not competing or fighting for anything, yet at the critical moment in the secret realm, he stepped forward to save this seat from... from danger! Such loyalty and steadiness truly make him a pillar of our Burning Heaven Palace!"
The Second Elder, who had his eyes lowered and was inwardly pondering the absurdity of Lie Tianxiong's cowardly philosophy, was suddenly called out. Moreover, it was with such high praise and characterized as a life-saving grace. He was completely stunned for a moment.
He subconsciously raised his head, a crack appearing in his usual calm expression, his eyes full of astonishment. I was just putting on an act at the time... This brute actually took it seriously?
Before he could recover from the shock of this brute changing his nature, Lie Tianxiong's next words were like a thunderbolt, directly striking him until he was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
"Therefore!"
Lie Tianxiong raised his voice, carrying a "my mind is made up" resolution: "From this day forward, the Second Elder will serve as the Acting Sect Master!
During this seat's closed-door cultivation, all affairs of the sect, big and small, shall be decided solely by the Second Elder! He will preside over the overall situation! First Elder, Third Elder, you two must assist him with all your hearts, without any mistakes!"
As soon as these words came out, the entire hall was shocked!
First Elder Yan Cangyun fiercely raised his head, his red hair almost standing on end. His face was full of disbelief and unwillingness, but looking at Lie Tianxiong's resolute expression and that twisted logic of strategic concealment...
His lips trembled a few times, and ultimately he could only lower his head with incomparable grievance, squeezing out two words from between his teeth: "...As you command!"
At the back of the queue, the wealthy-looking Third Elder's eyelids twitched wildly as he tried hard to maintain his seriousness.
Has this idiot completely gone mad?! He actually changed his nature directly, bypassed the First Elder entirely, and handed the sect over to the Second Elder to manage, even making him Acting Sect Master?!
But his reaction was extremely fast. He immediately followed right after the First Elder, squeezing out an incomparably submissive expression and bowing: "I humbly obey the Palace Master's decree! This subordinate will definitely do my utmost to assist the Second Elder!"
Inwardly, however, he was secretly delighted. The Second Elder is easier to manipulate than the First Elder, which makes it perfectly convenient for me to act!
Meanwhile, the Second Elder, currently in the center of the storm, had a buzzing brain.
No... wait? Hold on! I am just an undercover spy! Before I came here, my biggest mission was just to pass on intelligence and occasionally create a little chaos... How did I suddenly... suddenly become the Acting Sect Master?
And the kind that presides over the overall situation and makes all the decisions? This... this script is wrong! Sect Master Xuanyangzi never taught me how to do this!
He felt that his decades of undercover career combined had not been as thrilling as today. This Lie Tianxiong was not playing by the rules! Did getting beaten up a few times open up new pathways in his brain?
But his years of undercover professionalism allowed him to instantly suppress all his shock and bewilderment.
He knew clearly that he absolutely could not reveal any flaws at this moment, otherwise it would inevitably arouse suspicion.
He immediately took a step forward, trying hard to show an expression that was perfectly flattered, terrified, and thrilled by being hit with such immense trust.
His voice even carried a faintly imperceptible tremble due to excitement—half acted, and half genuinely frightened.
"Palace... Palace Master! Such a heavy responsibility, this subordinate... this subordinate fears I am inadequate! What virtue or ability does this subordinate have? I am only afraid... afraid of failing the Palace Master's great trust!"
He spoke these words with genuine emotion, completely from the bottom of his heart. He truly felt this burden was far too ridiculous!
Lie Tianxiong waved his large hand, even more satisfied with this display of trepidation. "Ah! If this seat says you are fit for the role, then you are fit! Your steadiness, your loyalty, and your low profile perfectly align with the Grand Dao of Longevity that our Burning Heaven Palace currently needs! The matter is settled, there is no need to discuss this further!"
In his heart, the Second Elder cursed, Grand Dao of Longevity my ass! I just want to quietly be a spy!
On his face, however, he could only show an expression of overwhelming gratitude, looking like a loyal subject ready to lay down his life for a master who truly recognized his worth. He bowed deeply. "Since... since it is so, this subordinate... this subordinate will definitely give his all, until my dying breath! I will strictly abide by the Palace Master's policies, stabilize the sect, and absolutely not make a single misstep!"
Things had gotten way out of hand. He needed to find a way to contact his Sect Master immediately!
"Mhm! Good! Very good!"
Looking at the fiercely loyal Second Elder and the compliantly obedient First and Third Elders, Lie Tianxiong felt a great sense of comfort in his heart. He felt that his arrangements before going into secluded cultivation were incredibly well-organized and utterly brilliant.
Smug and satisfied, he turned around and strode toward the secluded cultivation chamber in the back mountain with a pace he thought was steady, but was actually rather sluggish. His retreating figure radiated a sense of relief that said, I have arranged everything perfectly; you all just need to follow the plan.
Inside the grand hall, all that remained was a First Elder who was so frustrated he wanted to die, a Third Elder secretly rejoicing at what he thought was a better opportunity, and a Second Elder who was calm on the surface, but whose mind had turned into a pot of mush as he frantically calculated: How exactly does an undercover spy operate after suddenly becoming the enemy's acting boss?
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
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?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
