The Rain Pavilion stood at the heart of Rain Lake, merely a hundred meters from the shore. Yet the tempestuous Rain Dao Laws raging between made it impossible for boats to advance even an inch. Despite being so close, it took nearly half an hour just to barely make landfall at the pavilion.
Chen Dalei crawled onto the shore, drenched from head to toe, his lips twitching as he glared at the equally soaked but utterly unperturbed poleman.
"Is this what you call 'famously fast'?"
"Of course! Sinking fast counts too, doesn’t it? Full salvage and survival guaranteed!"
"I didn’t catch your name?"
"Just a humble nobody. Folks call me Old Liang—feel free to do the same."
"You’re Liang Hui?!" Chen Dalei suddenly recalled the ticket seller’s warning before his departure.
"Oh? You’ve heard of me?" Liang Hui eyed the out-of-town traveler with surprise. "If you did your research, why’d you still pick me?"
Chen Dalei: "..."
Did I even have a choice?
It’s not like I could’ve bothered those two other polemen who were too busy passionately debating whether tomatoes are fruits or vegetables.
Chen Dalei sighed softly. "Forget it. You should leave now. Wouldn’t want you getting caught in the crossfire."
Liang Hui’s expression turned odd at that. "Sir, the 2,998-spirit-stone ticket isn’t just for pole service—it includes security too. It’s my duty to keep you safe. Don’t worry about me getting hurt. If I didn’t have the skills, how could I even work as a poleman here?"
"The real concern is you—only at the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment. If danger comes, just step behind me. Survival guaranteed!"
The minimum standard for polemen was the Nascent Soul stage, plus specialized training to endure the Rain Dao Laws’ fury and the distorted water-pressure field of Rain Lake—hauling a thousand jin across three round trips!
The reason his boat kept sinking back in the day was simply because he overloaded it. Others dared carry ten passengers at most; he took twenty, sometimes even thirty!
While others earned twenty or thirty thousand spirit stones in commissions daily, he pulled in fifty or sixty thousand!
His excellence bred envy, leading to isolation and slander—earning him the infamous "sinks fast" reputation that ruined his business.
Then, when that little menace Jin started causing trouble, passenger numbers plummeted. No more fat profits, just scraping by on the city god’s basic stipend.
Otherwise, he’d never settle for just one passenger!
"If you researched this place and still came, you must be gambling that the little menace wouldn’t show up. But don’t worry—I’m not bragging when I say even that brat would call me 'Uncle' to my face!"
Liang Hui thumped his chest, oozing confidence.
Chen Dalei’s lips curled into a faint smirk. "You sure you won’t leave?"
"Tsk—"
Liang Hui shuddered, his back suddenly burning as if pierced by a razor-sharp force.
He knew this feeling all too well.
No mistake—the little menace was here!
Damn it, caught red-handed while boasting. Now he was in trouble!
In an instant, a hundred escape plans flashed through Liang Hui’s mind. Yet he steeled himself, turning to shield Chen Dalei, hands weaving a golden barrier to meet the fireball streaking across the lake’s surface.
Clang!
A flash of cold steel—then the spear lunged like a dragon!
Liang Hui, at late-stage Nascent Soul, didn’t last a single exchange against Jin, an early-stage Nascent Soul. The sheer force of the high-grade Nine Heavens Ember Annihilation Spear sent him flying into the lake!
The spear’s momentum didn’t stop, driving straight toward Chen Dalei—halting just an inch from his throat.
"Why didn’t you dodge?!"
Jin’s crimson eyes bore into Chen Dalei’s calm face, the child’s murderous aura thick enough to solidify.
"Because I wasn’t afraid," Chen Dalei replied evenly.
"Why not?!" Jin pressed, trying to intimidate him.
"Fear just wasn’t there," Chen Dalei said with a serene smile. "So you’re Jin? Truly... impressively built."
Clang!
Jin yanked the spear back, baring his fangs in a grin. "Not bad—didn’t piss yourself. Yeah, I’m Jin. Mom told me to call you 'big bro,' but I say respect’s earned. You’re too weak. You call me 'big bro' instead!"
"Kid, you might look grown, but no need to force the act. Playing adult must be exhausting, huh?"
Chen Dalei’s tone was almost paternal. He naturally reached out, intending to pat Jin’s head—but settled for the boy’s thick, rock-solid pectorals when height failed him.
Jin froze.
Wait, why’s he so casual?
Acting like he’s actually the big bro now?!
"Hands off!"
Jin roared, muscles bulging like an enraged tiger as he swung a fist at Chen Dalei.
"Ah, you stubborn child..."
Chen Dalei sighed. With a flick of his wrist, a belt of twelve octagonal talisman stones materialized around his waist, each engraved with a different zodiac animal.
Yi had said this belt—named "Sage Lord’s Might"—was a casual artifact he forged five centuries ago. The twelve zodiac talismans held mystical power: once worn, the user lacked nothing. At full strength, it made one invincible below the Immortal realm, and even against Immortals, a mutual kill was possible.
Such overwhelming power against a mere early-stage Nascent Soul like Jin was outright bullying.
But alas, this was the weakest trinket Yi had given him.
Bam!
The moment the belt settled, Chen Dalei channeled the Ox Talisman’s power, instantly amplifying his physique to Herculean levels. A single finger effortlessly halted Jin’s massive fist.
"How?!"
Jin’s eyes widened. He hadn’t gone all out, but no eighth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator should’ve stopped it—let alone with one finger, so casually!
That belt was cheating! It boosted strength and endurance!
"Nothing’s impossible." Chen Dalei smirked. "Lesson for today, kid: in this world, strength matters—but so does backing. You think you’re tough?"
"You talk too much! Fight me outside!" Jin seethed. Even if he couldn’t budge that finger, he hadn’t used his treasures yet. He refused to yield!
"Fine. Since words won’t reach you, I suppose I’ll have to resort to... slightly rougher methods."
Chen Dalei shook his head, then yanked Jin by the arm—vanishing from Rain Pavilion in an instant!
Though he’d restrained most of his power, the residual force still cracked the pavilion’s structure.
In seconds, torrential rain gushed through the fissure, widening it further. The downpour outside now had an indoor counterpart—a relentless indoor drizzle.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
【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.)
