Forget it.
It wasn't worth it.
A minor family that couldn't even rank as third-rate slaughtering an unranked small sect—such a trivial matter wasn't worth his personal attention.
"Someone come!"
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng called out toward the door.
"Pavilion Master!"
The maid in green from earlier immediately pushed the door open upon hearing the call. She stood with a bow, her posture humble.
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng walked up to the massive map, extended a slender finger, and tapped lightly on the blank area representing the Great Wasteland.
"Send someone to keep a close eye on this place!"
"Investigate why the Zhao family went to slaughter that sect."
Looking at her Pavilion Master's expressionless face, the maid hurriedly bowed in compliance.
"Yes!"
The maid took the order and quickly retreated.
The study returned to silence.
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng sat back down in the wide armchair. He casually picked up an account book, glanced at it, and threw it aside in annoyance.
Deficit.
Another deficit.
He only felt that his future was looking incredibly bleak.
...
Three days later.
"Pavilion Master."
The maid in green pushed the door open once more. Only this time, her expression was a bit strange. Holding a jade slip in her hands, she hesitated to speak.
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng was currently stressing over a pile of jade slips and didn't even lift his head.
"Speak."
"The matter regarding the Zhao family... has been investigated."
The maid respectfully presented the jade slip.
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng casually took it and sent his spiritual sense into it.
Upon looking at it, a trace of surprise finally appeared on his somewhat numb face.
This Zhao family was even more interesting than he had imagined.
They went to the Falling Cloud Sect to borrow something, or more accurately... to rob.
The Falling Cloud Sect had an ancestral magical artifact called the Three Talents Body Testing Stone, which could identify most of the special physiques in the world.
The Zhao family, having gotten wind of this from somewhere, went to ask to borrow it. After being refused, they actually brazenly attacked, slaughtering all three hundred or so members of the Falling Cloud Sect just to snatch that stone.
What ruthless determination.
A small family that barely made a living by mining for the forces under the Immortal Emperor actually took the lead in causing trouble?
After all, this Immortal Emperor was a huge advocate for peace.
Minor frictions were fine... but major conflicts could easily make them an example...
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng continued to read, the expression on his face becoming increasingly amused.
The content at the end of the jade slip was the main point.
After snatching the Three Talents Body Testing Stone, the Zhao family went completely silent for several days.
Afterwards, the head of the Zhao family appeared and began frantically inquiring about one thing through various secret channels.
Which True Immortal level expert had recently encountered a shortage of resources.
They didn't care about the origins of this True Immortal, nor their sect background; they only required the other party's stance to be neutral or righteous.
The Zhao family wanted to beg a True Immortal to help them with a small matter.
The Zhao family was willing to exhaust all the foundation their family had accumulated over tens of thousands of years, down to the very last penny, as a reward.
Bankrupting themselves just to ask someone to handle a small matter?
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng put down the jade slip, his fingers tapping lightly and rhythmically on the desk.
Tap, tap, tap...
The crisp sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet study.
His bright eyes narrowed slightly.
The amount of information in this was simply too vast.
A small family, willing to risk offending their direct superiors, slaughtered a sect to rob a treasure, and then exhausted their family fortune to find a True Immortal.
For what?
This so-called small matter was definitely not small.
It might be a massive gamble that could either let the Zhao family ascend to the heavens in a single step or doom them to eternal damnation.
Interesting.
On the face of the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng, a long-lost excitement belonging to a hunter finally emerged.
He needed a big scoop to reverse the declining trend of the Tingfeng Pavilion.
And this Zhao family seemed to be personally cooking up a gluttonous feast for him.
However...
"Bankrupting themselves..."
"Resource shortage..."
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng chewed on these two terms, and the smile on his face suddenly turned a bit bitter.
Damn it.
The person this Zhao family was looking for, why did it sound... so much like himself?
If he were a lone wolf, he could live freely and leisurely just by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon every day.
But the problem was, he wasn't.
Behind him was the massive Tingfeng Pavilion, with tens of thousands of mouths waiting to be fed.
The maintenance of the intelligence network, the salaries of the spies, the consumption of magical artifacts and pills... which of these didn't require a massive amount of spirit stones to fill?
A few spirit stones could stump an Immortal.
In the past, the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng would have only considered this a joke.
But now, he couldn't laugh.
Back in the golden age of the Tingfeng Pavilion, what was the Zhao family?
Let alone asking him for a favor, even the dog at his door wouldn't bother to give them a straight look.
But now...
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng looked at the mountain of deficit account books on the desk, then looked at the area named the Great Wasteland on the map, and fell into a long silence.
Face?
How much was face worth?
When a True Immortal started worrying about spirit stones, face became the most worthless thing.
"Pavilion Master?"
The maid in green looked at her Pavilion Master's fluctuating expression and spoke cautiously, afraid of touching a sore spot.
"You may step down for now."
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng waved his hand.
"Yes."
The maid felt as if she had been granted amnesty and bowed as she retreated.
He was once again left alone in the study.
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
To go? Or not to go?
If he went, what if the request was too demanding?
He, the dignified Pavilion Master of Tingfeng, actually colluding with a third-rate minor family. If word got out, where would he put his old face?
But if he didn't go...
He looked at those account books and only felt that the world before his eyes had turned gray.
After a long time.
He stopped pacing and let out a long breath of stale air.
Whatever.
No matter how thick his skin was, it wasn't as thick as reality.
He sat back down in the armchair, and there was no longer a shred of hesitation in his eyes.
He was definitely wading into this muddy water!
However...
He wouldn't foolishly offer himself up at their door.
That would be too degrading.
He, the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng, played the game of information asymmetry.
He wanted to make the Zhao family find him on their own.
He picked up a blank jade slip and branded an instruction into it.
"Someone come."
He called out toward the door once more.
The maid in green pushed the door open and entered.
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng handed the jade slip to her.
"Handle things according to what is said in here."
The maid took the jade slip and sent her spiritual sense into it. With just one glance, she froze in place.
The instruction in the jade slip was very simple.
Find a way to casually leak a piece of news to the Zhao family, who were currently searching everywhere for a connection.
The content of the news was: The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng seems to be selling off some properties recently, suspected of having cash flow problems.
Disbelief was written all over the maid's face.
This... wasn't this exposing their own weaknesses?
The current predicament of the Tingfeng Pavilion was already an unspeakable secret. Why... why was the Pavilion Master actively exposing it to the outside?
"Pavilion Master, this..."
"If I tell you to do it, just do it."
The Pavilion Master of Tingfeng's voice was calm but carried an indisputable authority.
"Remember, it must be casual."
He deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the last word.
"Yes!"
The maid didn't dare to ask any more questions and hurriedly left to carry out the order.
Watching the maid's retreating figure, the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng leaned back in the chair, those bright eyes flickering with a calculating gleam of absolute control.
The Zhao family.
Let me see exactly what tricks you are hiding up your sleeves.
You had best...
Not disappoint me.
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.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
【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.)
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.”
