The seating areas of the major sects were now within arm's reach of the Golden Dragon Palace. The few who could pass through here—whether nobles, hypocrites in fine robes, or even towering figures of the martial world—all paid their respects with reverence.
The recipient of their deference was a silver-haired old woman. Her attire, woven in patterns foreign to this world, and her faintly golden eyes exuded an aura that seemed otherworldly.
"Achoo!"
Beside her, Tian Miao sneezed and scratched her chin in puzzlement.
"Someone's talking about you."
It took the old woman a long moment to react.
"Who would be thinking of this old one? Li Mo? We’ve already done him a favor—he wouldn’t dare, would he?"
Tian Miao gazed into the distance and spotted Empress Chuge just beyond the Meridian Gate.
With a hint of confusion, she asked,
"Master, why did you rank Her Majesty second this time?"
"Who do you think is superior between the two?" Old Granny Yantian countered.
"Of course, it’s Miss Bing'er... but Her Majesty is of noble status," Tian Miao replied, still perplexed.
"No."
Old Granny Yantian stroked her cane, narrowed her eyes, and murmured softly,
"Across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, none surpass her in nobility."
"Huh?"
Tian Miao was stunned.
"None surpass her in nobility"—but who exactly was this "her"?
Her master hadn’t clarified, but Tian Miao had another way to verify it.
Recently, her divination arts had advanced, allowing her to glimpse more of the future. So...
She could peer into the fates of both Miss Bing'er and Empress Chuge. Whoever made her cough up more blood would be the one her master meant.
But after some thought, she resisted the urge to act on curiosity. Divining recklessly in the imperial capital might invite unforeseeable consequences.
Just as the crowd buzzed with chatter like a downpour, the bronze carriage inched forward, and Li Mo stepped out first, hopping down.
As everyone knew, Li Mo was no peerless beauty.
But his carriage couldn’t possibly hold only him.
Countless eyes converged on the bronze carriage, eager to catch a glimpse of the woman who could overshadow the Empress of Great Yu—what appearance she would present today.
A delicate hand brushed aside the carriage curtain, and the figure within rose into the sunlight. The fluttering of her phoenix-feathered robes, unique under heaven, still paled beside her face—a cold yet noble beauty, her grace innate, unrelated to status or rank.
When the Tyndall effect manifests, light takes form.
When she stood there, beauty became tangible.
Especially when she let Li Mo take her hand, her ethereal aura gained a vivid spark.
Ding-ling—
The wind chimes at the carriage eaves rang crisply.
Rustle...
From nowhere, a shower of blossoms scattered like snowflakes in a westerly gale.
That’s right!
"Since we’re here..."
Li Mo muttered, gripping the Mirage Pearl.
So what if Empress Chuge had her grand entrance?
They could add special effects!
Ying Bing shot him a glance, torn between amusement and resignation.
Let him have his fun...
The crowd fell silent, feeling that witnessing this scene made their lives complete.
"Darling, let’s be honest—she’s prettier than you. Even if you rip my ears off, I won’t take it back!"
"Why does it feel like her face has changed somehow? I can’t pinpoint it, but it’s different from before."
"Will she perform today? I still remember her sword dance at the Armament Forging Assembly."
"Obviously not."
"Why?"
"Li Mo is the sponsor of the Hundred Blossoms Festival! Look at him grinning like a fool—you think he’d let Fairy Han perform for others?"
"Damn, so that’s why he poured so much money into this. It all makes sense now."
Meanwhile...
Empress Chuge, surrounded by palace attendants, had just passed the Meridian Gate when she suddenly halted and turned back, her gaze lingering with deep complexity—longing, envy, and more.
"So beautiful..."
Even the maid supporting her was entranced, unable to tear her eyes away.
The maid shuddered, sensing the empress’s icy stare, and hastily lowered her head.
"This servant deserves death."
"All admire beauty—how could this one be so petty?"
Empress Chuge gently patted the maid’s hand.
"Go to the ancestral hall and summon Granduncle."
"Yes."
At these words, an inconspicuous palace maid’s eyes flickered as she observed the scene beyond the gate—her, and him, hand in hand—before slipping into the shadows.
At the festival entrance...
All of the imperial capital could witness the Hundred Blossoms Festival, but most could only watch via the "broadcast" of the Realm Panorama Scroll. Those queuing here for live attendance were all figures of extraordinary status.
Among them were privileged scholars from the Imperial Academy.
One, overcome with excitement, was moved to compose poetry on the spot.
"Fairy Han... such celestial grace..."
Song Qian stood dazed for a long while before suddenly declaring, "I must pen a verse!"
"Don’t do this, Song Qian. Don’t."
"Poetry? Your clichés would shame the academy!"
"Snatch his brush! Don’t let him embarrass us!"
His classmates, well aware of his literary "prowess," rushed to stop him.
One noticed Song Qian’s entourage and frowned.
"Song Qian, when did you replace all your attendants?"
At this, Hall Master Lu of the Verdant Wood Society and the disguised servants around Song Qian tensed slightly.
Indeed, the group following Song Qian—including the disguised Hall Master Lu—were all members of the Demon Summoning Cult.
Confucian martial arts were peculiar, neither purely martial nor scholarly. Who knew if they had methods to expose their identities?
"None of your business."
Song Qian snorted, displeased at the attempt to seize his brush.
Another scholar whispered something into the doubter’s ear, and the latter’s face paled. Clutching his backside, he scrambled away as if fleeing a plague.
Song Qian: "?"
He felt something deeply offensive had been implied.
"Young Master, let’s head in first," Hall Master Lu suggested calmly.
"You go ahead. I’ll wait here a bit longer."
Song Qian stubbornly remained, craning his neck for a better view.
"Very well. We’ll proceed first."
With no other choice, Hall Master Lu handed the golden invitation to the violet-robed eunuch at the gate.
"Last time, Father acted all chummy with Li Mo—must’ve been for official business. Now that the festival’s a done deal, heh..."
Song Qian smirked inwardly.
In officialdom, groveling when needed and kicking aside when useless was the norm.
He wasn’t afraid now...
"Ah, Minister Song!"
Just then, Song Baiyue peeked out from a carriage behind them, assisted forward to the entrance.
Dizzy and disoriented by the clamor, the elder Song failed to spot his unlucky son.
"Sword Hero Li, Fairy Han."
The violet-robed eunuch first greeted Li Mo and his companion, then turned to Minister Song with a shrill voice.
"Oh, Lord Song, His Majesty was waiting for your report yesterday and sent this humble servant to look for you three times. Could it be that you’ve cast His Majesty aside?"
"His Majesty is broad-minded and may not mind, but this servant cannot bear to see the imperial health suffer. We must have a serious talk about this."
Lord Song immediately recognized that the other party was picking a fight—angling for bribes and favors.
But the truth was, he had genuinely forgotten about the report last night...
Song Baiyue: "How about I invite you to the Moonlit Pavilion later? We can discuss this properly..."
Li Mo: "......"
Old Song really wasn’t sober yet. Though the Moonlit Pavilion now ran legitimate business, many still saw it otherwise.
Wasn’t this like inviting a eunuch to a brothel?
Sure enough, the purple-robed eunuch was not amused, his expression darkening:
"Lord Song, what exactly were you doing last night?"
"I..."
Song Baiyue realized his blunder but found himself tongue-tied—after all, he truly hadn’t been doing anything proper.
He could only turn to Li Mo for help.
"Uncle Li, Auntie... could you two put in a word for me?"
"......"
Li Mo was genuinely stunned.
Old Song really had the nerve to call them that—no wonder he rose through the ranks so swiftly. His audacity was practically as thick as Xuan steel.
"???"
Young Master Song felt as if struck by lightning.
What the hell? Had his seniority just dropped another notch?
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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?!
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.”
