Su Ji's footsteps paused.
He slowly turned around. The night wind rustled the loose hair on his forehead, and his eyes, looking somewhat hazy in the firelight, calmly rested on Zhang Kui.
Zhang Kui's towering, iron-tower-like figure cast a long, twisted shadow in the dancing firelight.
Su Ji's brows twitched imperceptibly.
"Like who?"
Zhang Kui didn't answer directly. He shook his head, his voice somewhat ethereal, as if he were drunk or talking to himself.
"I don't know, it's just an intuition."
"Maybe the alcohol has blurred my vision."
He lowered his head, looking at the incredibly solid, grayish-white earth beneath his feet. His voice carried an unshakeable sense of desolation.
"I have stayed in this mine for nearly a thousand years, suffering erosion day and night. I am already a crippled man, not to mention that my lifespan is running out... I don't even have the confidence to see how far I can go."
"To put it harshly... I am actually nothing more than a walking corpse..."
"At most, I just have a few more emotions and unrealistic delusions than them..."
He looked up, his crimson eyes filled with a self-deprecation that bordered on despair.
"Even if I exchanged you for merits..."
"Even if I really managed to get out, I would just be a slightly stronger ant in this world..."
"The energetic Zhang Kui of the past... the one who suppressed orthodox lineages, died in this mining area long ago..."
"Moreover, I shouldn't pin my hopes on the mercy of those who enslaved me..."
Zhang Kui's tone changed without warning, and a terrifyingly sharp glint suddenly burst from his previously dim eyes.
"After studying for a thousand years, I actually already know a path that will definitely lead out!"
Su Jiu let out a low exclamation in Su Ji's mind, "Senior Brother, is he placing his bet on you?"
Su Ji's heart also leaped, but his face still maintained that somewhat drunken, honest and simple appearance.
"Right in the depths of the mining area..." Zhang Kui's voice was kept extremely low, every word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
"In the depths of the mining area is buried another close friend of the Immortal Venerable..."
"The friend who fought alongside him until the very last moment..."
Zhang Kui's gaze was deadlocked on Su Ji's face.
"You can resist the baleful aura... Old Man Zhao will definitely drag you to dig up the grave..."
Su Ji's heartbeat skipped a beat.
He almost subconsciously asked in return, "By using the residual will of the Immortal Venerable's friend?"
"Residual will?"
Zhang Kui shook his head, his smile full of sorrow.
"No, it's been a hundred thousand years... kid!"
"Even an Emperor's fate would have decayed by now, how could there be any residual will..."
"For such a monumental event..."
Zhang Kui's voice grew increasingly chilling. The coldness seeping out from his bones made the surrounding firelight seem to dim a bit.
"The faction behind the mine will definitely find a... witness."
"To prove that they were the ones who retrieved the item, and that its appearance in the world is their achievement..."
"Only then can they safely hand it over, instead of having their families destroyed on the eve of the handover, making a bridal dress for others..."
Su Ji's mind raced, and he instantly understood the crux of the matter.
"If that witness is willing to take you away... no one can stop them..."
Zhang Kui looked at Su Ji, his eyes filled with an almost maddening, burning intensity.
"As for how to win the trust of the witness..."
He grinned, revealing two rows of stark white teeth.
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here drinking."
Su Ji fell silent.
He looked at Zhang Kui, this thousand-year-old mine slave who appeared rough but actually had terrifyingly deep thoughts.
He finally understood the real purpose behind the other party inviting him to drink tonight and telling him so many secrets.
This was a gambler.
A crazy gambler who had already lost everything but was still waiting for one last chance to turn the tables.
And he himself was the hidden card that Zhang Kui had been waiting a thousand years for.
Su Ji took a deep breath and solemnly cupped his fists toward Zhang Kui.
"Thank you for pointing the way, Big Brother Zhang."
His voice had regained its clarity, no longer carrying the slightest hint of intoxication.
"I wonder what Big Brother Zhang wants from me? I, Su Hao, am willing to do my best."
Zhang Kui looked at him, a cryptic curve slowly forming on his deeply wrinkled face.
He did not answer, but simply lifted his foot and stomped heavily onto the dying campfire in front of him.
Pfft!
Sparks flew everywhere as the last wisp of flame was brutally stomped out.
The surroundings instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness where one couldn't even see their own hand.
Only the whistling cold wind of the wasteland continued to whimper.
"I have already gotten it."
Zhang Kui's voice sounded in the darkness, muffled, suppressed, yet carrying a madness that was about to burst forth.
"I've waited so long, just for this moment!"
His voice, carrying the anger and indignation suppressed for a thousand years, explosively erupted at this moment.
"I want someone to overturn this damn mine!"
"I want them dead!"
"How dare they destroy my great path of cultivation!"
"Otherwise, I, Zhang Kui, would at least be a True Immortal of this era, revered by all!"
"I want them to suffer death by a thousand cuts! I want their descendants to become slaves and prostitutes!"
"I want them to suffer endless torture, day and night!"
Those shouts, laced with blood and tears, carried an endless, venomous resentment that completely contradicted his simple and sturdy appearance.
Su Ji stood in the darkness, listening quietly.
He could feel that the towering, iron-tower-like figure in front of him was trembling violently.
This soul, trapped for nearly a thousand years, had finally found an outlet to vent at this moment.
"I don't need any promises..."
"No... tell me..."
"Tell me that you can walk out of here!"
From Su Ji's back, two words finally drifted over after a long while: "I will."
【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.)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
