Atop the high platform.
"Truly extraordinary—perhaps the most remarkable I’ve seen in my lifetime."
Xue Jing, still clad in his patched robe, stroked his long beard with a flickering gaze.
Ying Bing’s "Heaven-grade" bone structure came as no surprise to him.
"So this is the promising seedling you mentioned encountering during your descent from the mountain?"
A languid voice sounded from nearby.
A woman in palace robes, her cheeks flushed, reclined lazily in her chair.
"That’s her. The question is how far she’ll go on the Stairway to Heaven."
Xue Jing glanced at the woman, his eyes betraying helplessness.
"I like this girl."
The palace-robed woman took a bold swig of wine.
The other Elders: "..."
Are you sure it’s not just because she’s devastatingly beautiful?
"She’s unsuited for your martial lineage."
Xue Jing sighed.
"How is she unsuited?!" The woman’s brows shot up.
"Don’t force it. You’ve tempered yourself into a human furnace—this girl clearly shouldn’t be apprenticed under you."
A cold, rigid voice interjected.
"Han He, looking for a fight?"
The palace-robed woman cracked her knuckles, brimming with eagerness.
Elder Han He instinctively retreated half a step, letting out a wary snort.
"Enough."
The voice carried undeniable authority.
At the Sect Master’s command, the woman reluctantly picked up her gourd and took two more gulps.
The Elders exchanged glances.
Could it be... the Sect Master has taken an interest in the girl?
......
Unnoticed, another incense stick’s worth of time passed.
Five hundred aspirants had undergone bone assessment by now.
Finally, it was Li Mo’s turn.
The old woman seized his shoulder, sensing a surge of energy rush in, poised to circulate through his meridians.
But in an instant, that energy vanished.
Hm?
The old woman frowned for the second time.
Internal energy could stimulate one’s organs, meridians, and bone structure.
The stronger the bones, the more intense the reaction.
Yet.
This boy’s body showed no response whatsoever.
That alone would be one thing, but her energy had dissipated like clay oxen plunging into the sea—gone without a trace.
Were it not for the boy standing plainly before her, she’d have mistaken him for a slab of stone.
After a moment’s hesitation, she noted his name:
"Li Mo, Third-grade. Move along."
"My thanks."
Li Mo had expected this. He clasped his hands respectfully and strode past the mountain gate without a flicker of unease.
"Ah, Third-grade. Father won’t be pleased."
"You’ll have to put in a good word for me—he listens to you."
Li Mo grinned, nudging the girl beside him with his shoulder.
Ying Bing was mildly surprised.
Third-grade aptitude matched her memories.
Yet he seemed unbothered.
Li Mo wore his indifference openly, still cheerful:
"Three parts fate, seven parts effort."
"Plenty don’t even pass the gate. I’m already fortunate."
What he didn’t say aloud:
No worries. I’ve got cheats.
Seeing his genuine ease, Ying Bing relented.
Fine.
His vial of Pure Yang Pills had helped her unlock her meridians half a year early, after all.
Such temperament deserved a slight lift—how far he’d go was up to him.
Just then.
A steward’s announcement drew the crowd’s attention:
"Wang Hu—tiger’s arms, leopard’s waist! High Second-grade!"
The square erupted in murmurs.
Apart from the two Heaven-grade freaks.
Wang Hu now held the highest innate talent!
One in ten thousand wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Basking in the flattery, Wang Hu smirked arrogantly, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.
"The hell you lookin’ at?"
Li Mo fell into thought.
......
At that moment.
A figure landed before the gate.
"Tiger-leopard physique?"
A tower of a man clamped onto Wang Hu’s shoulder.
Wang Hu startled—until his cousin Wang Hao stepped from the disciple ranks, signaling him with a look.
"Fine form indeed. True tiger-leopard traits."
The iron-pillar man nodded approvingly.
"Master, this is my younger cousin." Wang Hao bowed respectfully.
"Good, good. He suits my Tiger-Leopard Thunderclap Fists better than you did."
His laughter boomed like thunder, rattling eardrums.
"Fu Tu, wait until he enters the inner sect before taking disciples."
A stocky elder reminded tersely.
Fu Tu?!
Wang Hu’s eyes widened, then gleamed with triumph.
This was a formidable inner sect steward—were it not for the fixed number of elder seats, he’d already command his own peak.
"Of course, rules are rules."
Fu Tu gave a perfunctory salute.
At his cousin’s cue, Wang Hu hastily bowed:
"Greetings, Master."
"Clear the Stairway first."
Fu Tu didn’t correct the title.
Once he’d left.
Wang Hu’s chin lifted higher, practically spelling "cocky" on his forehead.
Striding past the gate, he marched straight over, clasping his fists with swagger:
"Miss Ying, we’ll be fellow disciples henceforth."
And earned pure indifference.
Such talent barely passed muster in a backwater like Purple Sun Prefecture.
To Ying Bing, Wang Hu’s Second-grade and Li Mo’s Third-grade held no real difference.
Both were mere stones—why bother distinguishing which was slightly smoother?
Wang Hu stood frozen, face flushing crimson.
He rounded on Li Mo instead:
"Heh. We’re from the same county. If I rise, how could I forget you?"
"Wait—inner and outer sects are worlds apart. Coming down to visit won’t be easy."
"Who knows? Soon enough, I might even be a core disciple."
"Seeing you’d be harder than seeing Miss Ying, right?"
His grin oozed malice.
With an inner sect steward as his backer.
The young, brash Wang Hu’s ego ballooned skyward.
Other youths from Ning'an County clenched their fists in silent fury. Wang Hu had been insufferable back home—now he’d truly leapt beyond reach.
Even those who’d disliked Li Mo now found him almost endearing by comparison.
"...Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Li Mo hadn’t turned off his Heavenly Destiny Eye.
Since Wang Hu’s bone assessment, the originally cyan destiny threads had begun darkening.
Now, with his posturing, the black deepened further.
His updated evaluation read: "Obstinate and conceited. Unwitting lab rat for Inner Sect Steward Fu Tu. Future: bleak."
Li Mo couldn’t be bothered with fools—let alone half-dead ones.
More indifference.
"You—!"
Wang Hu choked on his own rage, fury boiling in his chest.
Yet the stocky elder’s gaze had drifted their way.
Withdrawing his scrutiny of Li Mo and Ying Bing, the elder smirked inwardly:
"Plenty of time ahead."
"Outer sect and core disciples exist in separate worlds—they’ll never cross paths."
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!
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)
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
