The lanky steward suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within.
An outer disciple?
No backing or connections?
And dozens of spirit herbs?
A commoner's only crime is possessing treasure.
If not you, then who deserves to die?
Did he really think speaking softly would make him inaudible?
To be fair, this outer disciple’s scheming wasn’t half bad.
Pity he was still a greenhorn.
And he had run into him.
The steward sneered inwardly.
Unlike that fat nepotism hire in the Personnel Hall,
he had genuinely reached the peak of Qi Refinement. Only after failing his Foundation Establishment breakthrough had he been exiled to this Contribution Hall to rot.
A mere eighth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator?
He had this in the bag.
Watching Su Ji’s retreating figure, the steward stood and casually instructed a familiar disciple nearby to cover for him briefly.
Then, he silently trailed after.
Ahead, Su Ji wandered aimlessly through the sect like a headless fly.
He circled the outer disciples’ residential area twice,
then plunged into the dilapidated quarters of the servant disciples.
Finally, he even skulked toward the inner disciples’ zone, peeking around like a thief.
Every now and then, he’d whirl around abruptly, tense and paranoid, as if fearing pursuit.
All of this was observed by the steward shadowing him from behind.
The steward grew even more convinced—this kid was definitely hiding something valuable.
With how cautious he was acting, he must be heading to stash his treasures.
A gift from the heavens!
He’d already planned how to use this windfall to buy pills for another shot at Foundation Establishment after killing Su Ji.
After meandering through half the sect, Su Ji finally seemed to settle on a secluded courtyard.
After scanning the area to confirm no one was around, he took a running start and vaulted over the high wall with agile grace.
Without hesitation, the steward followed, landing soundlessly inside.
---
Meanwhile, in an elegant room.
Su Jiu held a brush, writing on a sheet of pristine paper.
"The Eye of the Eastern Sea, the Spring of the Western Desert… these are manageable. The black market has connections, though the price is steep."
"The essences of the Five Elements… Goldspirit Stone, Ten-Thousand-Year Heartwood… this one’s tricky, depends on luck…"
She was mapping out how to gather the materials Su Ji needed for his Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
With no outsiders present, she had shed all her disguises.
Her fluffy little ears twitched suddenly.
Footsteps in the backyard?
Oh…
It was Su Ji.
Su Jiu set down her brush and sighed helplessly.
This guy—instead of sleeping, he was scaling her walls again at night.
Typical Su Ji behavior.
What next?
Coming to peep on her?
Should she go take a bath to ma—
Pah!
Her cheeks flushed as she shook off the absurd thoughts.
Had she been cultivating improperly lately?
Her mind felt increasingly unruly…
But then, her delicate brows furrowed.
Wait—
Why was there another set of footsteps?
And unfamiliar, too.
Had Su Ji picked up another vixen somewhere?
Daring to bring someone to her backyard for thrills?
A surge of inexplicable fury erupted in Su Jiu’s chest.
With a smack, she hurled her brush onto the table.
The half-finished plan in her hands was promptly torn in two with a rip.
---
Elsewhere.
The lanky steward froze the moment he landed, his breath catching at the sight before him.
Ignoring Su Ji for now, he stared greedily at the garden brimming with spirit herbs.
Bathed in moonlight, the plants shimmered with an ethereal glow, their spiritual energy so dense it was nearly tangible.
Some kind of concealment array?
Why hadn’t he sensed anything from outside the wall?
No matter.
What mattered was that he was here now.
If he sold all these… these herbs, he’d easily net over a thousand low-grade spirit stones!
He’d struck gold!
True gold this time!
Suppressing his euphoria, he turned to Su Ji, who stood a short distance away, and flashed a vicious grin.
"Kid, you’re clever, I’ll give you that."
"Too bad everything here—including your life—is mine now."
He advanced step by step, unleashing the full pressure of his peak Qi Refinement cultivation to crush Su Ji.
In his eyes, Su Ji was already a fish on the chopping block.
Su Ji stood his ground, his face a perfect mask of panic: "I was followed?"
"Senior Brother, you… what are you doing? These aren’t mine—"
"Exactly. They’re mine now!"
The steward cackled, raising a hand to unleash a lethal spiritual strike aimed at Su Ji’s vitals.
But then—
Creak—
The wooden door behind him swung open violently.
The steward’s hand faltered as he instinctively turned.
There, under the moonlight, stood a breathtakingly beautiful girl in a plain dress.
It… it was Su Jiu?
His mind went blank with a buzz.
Even an idiot would recognize this rising star who’d gone from servant to inner disciple in just a year.
He… he’d followed an outer disciple into Su Jiu’s courtyard?
And tried to murder and rob someone here?
A chill shot up from his soles to his skull, draining his face of color.
Su Jiu’s gaze landed on the steward, and she blinked in confusion.
Not a vixen? A man?
And judging by his robes, a Contribution Hall steward?
What was going on?
Unlike Su Ji, who had no sense of hierarchy, the steward immediately bowed to strength: "Elder Sister Su Jiu… this is a misunderstanding! Let me explain—it’s a long story—"
But Su Ji had already scampered to Su Jiu’s side, one hand petting her fox ears: "TL;DR—he stole my spirit stones. Wifey, help me kill him~"
Su Jiu, mollified by the ear strokes, nuzzled into his hand: "Okay~"
The steward’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets: "You two—?!"
Su Ji grinned fiendishly: "Bet you didn’t see this coming—Elder Sister Su Jiu’s been conquered by my spiritual roots."
Su Jiu: "…"
Honestly?
Right now, she kinda wanted to kill Su Ji first.
The guy was infuriating.
That smug "my fox is scarier than yours" face.
He could’ve easily handled a peak Qi Refinement cultivator himself.
But no, he had to taunt the man like this.
Wait—
Why was she playing along so readily?
Oh, right.
Repaying a debt.
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
