"Then... be careful on your way. Call me immediately if anything happens, alright?"
At the crossroads, Ye Feng gently stroked Shen Mengli's head, his voice laced with concern.
"Okay~ You take care too, Feng."
After bidding each other farewell, they parted ways toward their respective destinations. Ye Feng couldn't help but worry whether Shen Mengli would be safe visiting Li Mucheng's estate. Yet, recalling how well Li Mucheng had been treating both him and Shen Mengli lately, he pushed those thoughts aside.
Watching Ye Feng's figure disappear into the distance, Shen Mengli's lips parted slightly, as if murmuring something. A lip-reader would have caught her whispering an apology.
"I'm sorry, Feng..."
......
"Yuyan, are you sure you don’t want to eat anything?"
Li Mucheng glanced at Xie Yuyan, who sat stiffly on the sofa with a grave expression, and couldn’t help but ask. Beside her, Su Yuxin chimed in, "Yeah, Yuyan, you should at least have a bite. Mucheng told me you’ve been up since dawn and haven’t rested at all."
"I’m fine. Don’t worry about me."
Xie Yuyan merely tossed them a reassuring look, her calm tone betraying the fact that she was mentally preparing for what lay ahead.
"Shen Mengli should be arriving soon. Everyone, be ready."
"Ugh..."
Su Yuxin, who was prone to nervousness, instinctively clutched her dress at Xie Yuyan’s words and turned to Li Mucheng for reassurance.
"Let’s trust Yuyan. No matter what happens, we’ll face it together, right?"
"Mhm."
Just as Li Mucheng squeezed Su Yuxin’s hand to soothe her, a maid approached from the hallway, bowing slightly before speaking. "Miss, your guest has arrived."
The words sent a ripple of tension through the room. Li Mucheng only snapped back to attention when she felt Su Yuxin’s fingers twitch against her palm. "Bring her in at once," she instructed.
"Yes."
After the maid retreated, light footsteps soon echoed down the hallway. The three on the sofa turned their gaze toward the sound—sure enough, it was Shen Mengli.
"Shen Mengli, you’re here."
As the hostess, Li Mucheng was the first to step forward, a welcoming smile playing on her lips.
"Good morning."
Shen Mengli responded coolly, her eyes scanning Li Mucheng up and down.
Noticing the odd scrutiny, Li Mucheng remained unruffled but couldn’t resist asking, "Is something wrong, Shen Mengli?"
"Li Mucheng, how do you feel about Feng?"
The abrupt question left everyone stunned—especially Li Mucheng, who was put on the spot.
Though puzzled by Shen Mengli’s sudden inquiry, Li Mucheng sensed an unusual patience in her tone. After a brief hesitation, she decided to voice her thoughts honestly.
"My feelings for Teacher... I’d say I’m striving to care for both his life and mine. I made grave mistakes before, and that made me realize love shouldn’t be twisted or possessive. Instead, I want to earn his acceptance with sincerity. No matter the outcome, I’m content just staying by his side, quietly protecting him."
Shen Mengli’s expression softened at Li Mucheng’s explanation. Under Li Mucheng’s puzzled gaze, she murmured, "No wonder Teacher said your progress is the fastest among us. I never expected you to be the most open-hearted."
"Huh? What do you mean by that, Shen Mengli?"
The mention of "progress" and "open-hearted" struck a nerve in Li Mucheng. Though unsure whether Shen Mengli intended any slight, her usually gentle demeanor faltered, her brow twitching slightly.
"Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just surprised by your attitude."
"Why would that surprise you? And what’s this about 'progress'?"
"That... ties into what I learned from Feng last night."
With that, Shen Mengli stepped past Li Mucheng and stood before Xie Yuyan, locking eyes with her.
"Xie Yuyan, you were right. Feng... has been hiding things from us."
Xie Yuyan nodded thoughtfully.
"This secret must be deeply connected to all of us, right? What else is there about the system inside Ye Feng?"
Though momentarily startled by Xie Yuyan’s deduction, Shen Mengli quickly dismissed it—given Xie Yuyan’s sharp intuition, it wasn’t unexpected. Slumping onto the sofa beside her, Shen Mengli seemed resigned to an unchangeable fate.
"Feng... is going to die."
"What?!"
The shocking declaration sent the others into a collective gasp—even Xie Yuyan, who had braced herself, widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Explain properly, Shen Mengli. What exactly is happening?"
To steady the room, Xie Yuyan spoke firmly, shooting a warning glance at Li Mucheng and Su Yuxin to prevent interruptions.
Though grief threatened to overwhelm them, the two swallowed their emotions, waiting for Shen Mengli to continue.
With all eyes fixed on her, Shen Mengli repeated everything Ye Feng had confided in her the previous night. The weight of her words turned the atmosphere increasingly somber.
......
"What? How could this be?!"
Ye Feng chuckled at Wenwen, who stood with her hands on her hips, puffing her cheeks in outrage.
"Don’t be mad, Wenwen. Next time, your sister and I will take you to the beach too, okay?"
Ever since Ye Feng mentioned his seaside trip with Shen Mengli, the little girl had been sulking, forcing him into the role of a nursery teacher who comforts children.
"No way! Sister totally forgot about me! I’m really, really mad!"
"Come on, Wenwen, don’t be like that. Your sister said she went this time to scout the location for you."
"Scout the location? What does that mean?"
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.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
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)
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
