The Tong Residence, deep into the night.
The sound of the night watch droned on, and the darkness was as thick as ink.
It was only after Tong Xiaoxiao stepped through the gates of the residence that the tension she had carried all evening finally began to ease.
The lamps in the main hall were still lit, but Tong Qiannian was nowhere to be seen.
Only the head steward, Aunt Yun, sat alone on a low stool beside the grand chair. She held a pair of silver scissors in her hand, absentmindedly trimming the candlewick.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Aunt Yun jerked her head up. Her eyes, which usually held a gentle smile, were now tinged with exhaustion.
When she saw that Tong Xiaoxiao had returned unharmed, she let out a long breath. The silver scissors slipped from her hand and clattered onto the table.
“Miss, you’re finally back.”
Aunt Yun hurried forward and looked Tong Xiaoxiao up and down, her eyes slightly red. “Master’s health has been getting worse and worse. He just took his medicine and went to sleep, but he specifically instructed me to stay here and wait for you.”
Tong Xiaoxiao’s heart ached.
Although her father usually acted carefree and put on the airs of a nouveau riche, he had long since exhausted himself for the sake of their family—for her.
“Aunt Yun, I’m fine.” Tong Xiaoxiao forced a smile. She removed the cloak from her shoulders and handed it to a maid nearby. “With Uncle Li there, the Shu family wouldn’t dare make a move.”
At her words, Aunt Yun’s gaze passed over Tong Xiaoxiao and settled on Li Yunzhi, who had followed behind her.
The chief retainer, usually as composed as a gentle breeze and utterly unmoved by even the collapse of Mount Tai, now wore a frighteningly solemn expression.
Though his scholar’s robe remained neat, the aura of righteousness around him seemed somewhat disordered.
“Mr. Li, tonight…” Aunt Yun began hesitantly.
Li Yunzhi waved his hand, signaling for all unnecessary people to leave.
Only after the hall was empty save for the three of them did Li Yunzhi speak. His voice was low and grave.
“Tonight, Shu Yufeng, heir to the Shu family, has been crippled.”
“What?!”
Aunt Yun covered her mouth in shock, her pupils trembling violently.
In Tianshui City, crippling the heir of the Shu family was no different from punching a hole straight through the heavens.
“It wasn’t me who did it.” Li Yunzhi gave a bitter laugh and flicked the black jade bookmark hanging from his waist. “Old Ce, come out and explain it yourself. Stop pretending you’re dead.”
A plume of green smoke rose into the air, and a palm-sized book boy, Old Ce, floated out.
The moment he appeared, he furtively glanced around. Only after confirming that they were in the main hall of the Tong Residence—and that the terrifying presence was nowhere to be found—did he collapse onto his backside in midair and pat his chest, gasping for breath.
“That scared the hell out of me… Truly scared the hell out of me…”
Aunt Yun stared at him in confusion. “Master Ce, what is this?”
“Steward Yun, your master has spent his whole life doing good deeds. At least they haven’t gone to waste.” Old Ce wiped at his forehead, despite the fact that there was no sweat there, and spoke with exaggerated drama. “If some river-crossing dragon hadn’t happened to pass by tonight and dealt with that brat Shu Yufeng, things would have turned out very badly.”
“The river-crossing dragon?” Aunt Yun looked toward Tong Xiaoxiao.
Tong Xiaoxiao nodded. The image of that masked figure appeared in her mind—the two fingers that had snapped a spirit sword in half.
“He was a young man wearing a mask, so I couldn’t see his face clearly,” Tong Xiaoxiao added. “He was… incredibly strong. Strong to the point of being utterly unreasonable.”
“Strong?” Old Ce scoffed. His childish face took on a world-weary expression entirely at odds with his appearance. “Girl, that’s only because you’ve never seen much of the world.”
He floated over to Aunt Yun, his expression turning unusually solemn.
“Steward Yun, I may usually act like a fool, but I’ve lived a long time. In the cultivation world, some ruthless figures have their names written in the history books. Others live only in legend.”
“That person tonight…” Old Ce swallowed hard. “The aura around him did not belong to this era.”
Aunt Yun was completely baffled. “Didn’t belong to this era?”
“Don’t ask too many questions. Knowing too much will do you no good.” Old Ce waved his hand dismissively.
Silence descended over the hall.
“Then… what was he after?” Aunt Yun asked, her voice trembling. “Why would someone of such stature interfere in the feud of a minor family like ours?”
“The sword.” Tong Xiaoxiao bit her lip and spoke softly. “He said he wanted our family’s ancestral sword.”
“The sword?” Old Ce froze for a moment, then suddenly understood. “No wonder… No wonder… I was wondering why someone of that level would appear for no reason. So it was because of that sword…”
He turned to Li Yunzhi. “Old Li, this is beyond our ability to handle. Don’t get involved. If we touch karma on that level, we’ll die.”
Li Yunzhi glanced at Tong Xiaoxiao, his expression complicated.
Tong Xiaoxiao remained silent for a moment. Then she suddenly raised her head, a strange look in her eyes.
“Aunt Yun, come with me.”
Without paying any attention to Li Yunzhi or Old Ce, she took Aunt Yun by the hand and walked straight toward the rear hall.
Li Yunzhi and Old Ce exchanged a look, utterly baffled as to what the young miss was plotting.
…
Rear hall, side chamber.
Tong Xiaoxiao dismissed all the servants and even activated a soundproofing formation.
The display made Aunt Yun somewhat nervous. “Miss, what is it? Did that man threaten you again?”
“Not a threat.”
Tong Xiaoxiao pulled Aunt Yun down beside her. Her beautiful face held a mixture of hesitation and the awkward excitement of someone desperate to ask a piece of gossip.
“Aunt Yun, I want to ask you something. You have to tell me the truth.”
“Ask whatever you like, Miss. If Aunt Yun knows the answer, I won’t hide anything from you.”
Tong Xiaoxiao drew a deep breath. Her large eyes fixed intently on Aunt Yun as she lowered her voice and asked:
“So… who exactly is the owner of this sword?”
“My father has always said that I’m still too young, and that it isn’t time for me to know yet…”
“But tonight, when that man appeared… I could feel that sword rejoicing.”
+ Slow Paced + Main Character Thrives Together with His Disciples】 Transmigrated into a cultivation world, Chu Xingchen awakens a discipleship system that reveals the tags of his disciples! Starting from scratch, he builds the strongest sect. Disciple One: Li Yingling 【Gold Tag: Genius Cultivator】【Purple Tag: Extremely Lucky】【Blue Tag: Bewitchingly Beautiful】 Disciple Two: Li Hangtian 【Gold Tag: Reincarnated】【Purple Tag: Ruthless and Decisive】【Blue Tag: Loyal and Noble】 Disciple Three: ??? 【Orange Tag: Alluring Demoness】【???】【???】 Thus, in the cultivation world, an unremarkable little sect appears out of nowhere, but little do others know that each member of this sect is a powerhouse in their own right. The book is also known as: Cultivation? It's Exactly Like This!
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!
] [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!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
