"Spiritual Root Conquest?"
A bolt of realization struck the gaunt steward's mind, connecting all the scattered clues in an instant.
Su Jiu's inexplicable protection of Su Ji...
The recent string of "lecher incidents" plaguing the sect...
It all made sense now!
He had uncovered the truth!
The gaunt steward abruptly raised his head, his pallid face twisting into a horrified epiphany.
With a trembling finger, he pointed at Su Ji.
"It's you!"
"You're the lecher the sect's been hunting all this time!"
The moment these words left his mouth, the smug grin on Su Ji's face froze.
"The hell it's me!"
He wasn't taking the blame for this!
Su Ji was ninety percent sure this was the handiwork of that bastard Wang San—why should he be the scapegoat?
"You think I'd believe that?"
The steward let out a deranged laugh.
"Su Ji, Su Jiu! You two colluding snakes, deceiving the sect, and now daring to commit murder here!"
"Just wait—I'm reporting this to Elder Liu! Neither of you will escape!"
Before the words fully left his lips, he spun around, erupting with spiritual energy as his body transformed into a streak of light, hurtling toward the courtyard wall in a desperate bid to flee.
From what he knew, Su Jiu's cultivation was at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.
At this distance, if he focused solely on escape, she wouldn't be able to stop him quickly enough.
All he needed was to cause a commotion, draw the attention of other inner disciples.
His life would be spared—and he'd even be rewarded handsomely.
Su Jiu sighed.
This man knew too much.
He could only die here.
His greed and stupidity were to blame.
As a steward of the Contribution Hall, a little corruption could've lined his pockets comfortably.
But no—he had to scheme against Su Ji.
The entire sect would struggle to find someone as petty and vindictive as Su Ji.
Touch his spirit stones, and he'd rearrange your skull.
...
The gaunt steward suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy pressing in from all sides, freezing him in place for a split second.
Then, Su Jiu raised her delicate hand, fingers poised like a blade.
No earth-shaking spectacle.
Just a flash of cold light—faster than thought.
"Pfft—"
A soft sound.
A tiny hole appeared in the steward's forehead.
His face froze in indignation, the light in his eyes fading rapidly as his body crumpled from the wall and thudded into the backyard.
Silence.
From strike to finish—a single breath.
"Killing to protect the root, slaying sin, not the sinner."
Su Jiu calmly withdrew her hand, not even sparing a glance at the corpse as she turned her gaze to Su Ji.
Su Ji wore an expression of pure admiration.
"Impressive technique, Junior Sister."
"Clean, efficient, no mess."
"Looks like if we ever team up for murder and looting again, we've got our roles set."
"I'll lure them in, and you deliver the killing blow."
"Then we split the loot—70-30, my favor."
Su Jiu: "..."
She was seriously considering sewing his mouth shut.
Just how did this guy's brain work?
How long had it been since he became an outer disciple?
First, he killed a steward from the Personnel Hall.
Now, a steward from the Contribution Hall.
Which hall's steward was next on his list?
If he was killing stewards at Qi Refining, would he start targeting elders at Foundation Establishment?
Once he hit Golden Core, might as well chop down the sect leader and take over.
"Senior Brother, try to behave for once. Killing fellow disciples is... troublesome."
Her voice carried a hint of exasperation she didn't even notice herself.
"Sure thing."
Su Ji agreed with unsettling enthusiasm.
He strode to the corpse and began looting with practiced ease, his skillful technique making Su Jiu's eyes twitch.
After a moment, he stood up with a look of disdain.
"Cheapskate."
"Just a crappy pouch with less than a hundred low-grade spirit stones."
"Oh? He even brought out the herbs I submitted?"
"Well, not a total loss then."
Su Jiu massaged her temples, interrupting his inventory.
"Senior Brother, save the loot-counting for later. You might want to think up an explanation first."
"Last time, we could claim it was a frame-up."
"But this time? A Contribution Hall steward dies right after handling your task."
"Getting tied to two deaths in a row—not everyone's a fool. This won't be easy to brush off."
Su Ji paused, then waved a dismissive hand.
"Piece of cake."
"Works out perfectly, actually."
"I'll just say I stole herbs from your backyard to submit for the mission."
"The steward noticed the odd quality and grilled me on the source."
"I confessed to theft."
"He got greedy, tried to strong-arm me into teaming up for another midnight herb heist."
Su Jiu blinked, momentarily stunned.
This... almost sounded plausible.
"Then we got unlucky—you caught us red-handed. He bolted, and you put him down."
Su Jiu couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"And how does Senior Brother explain surviving?"
Su Ji grinned, the picture of shamelessness.
"Easy."
"I'll say I groveled at your feet, bawling and begging for my pathetic life."
"You took pity and spared me."
He even mimed the act, dropping to his knees theatrically.
"If they don't believe it, I can reenact the scene."
Su Jiu's cheeks flushed instantly.
This guy...
He might dare to perform, but she wouldn't dare to play along.
She'd had more headaches since meeting Su Ji than in her entire previous life combined.
Then a realization struck her: "Senior Brother, are you short on spirit stones?"
Su Ji's reply was matter-of-fact: "Obviously."
"Was about to scrounge up some when this idiot delivered himself to my doorstep."
Su Jiu was at a loss for words.
So his solution to poverty was murder?
Well, the steward was no saint either.
Guess it was a case of the wicked meeting their match.
She couldn't exactly protest.
Su Jiu turned and entered her quarters, emerging moments later with two hefty pouches.
She tossed them to Su Ji without ceremony.
"Three hundred low-grade spirit stones."
"Use these first, so you stop plotting homicidal fundraisers."
Su Ji caught the pouches, weighing them in his palm. "Ah, you shouldn't have—"
His mouth feigned reluctance while his hands swiftly pocketed the loot, as if fearing she'd change her mind.
Su Jiu ignored his behavior of taking advantage of others while pretending to be innocent.
"I have matters to attend to and may leave the sect for a while."
She added sternly: "Behave yourself, Senior Brother. Don't let me return to find you've either killed an elder or been killed by one."
Su Ji's eyes lit up.
Leaving the sect?
Must be heading to the black market to offload their spoils—and probably to gather materials for his Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment too.
Tsk tsk.
Having a sugar-mommy junior sister sure smoothed the path of cultivation.
He cleared his throat and leaned in with an earnest expression.
"Junior Sister, don't worry. Do I seem like the troublemaking type?"
"I'll be a model disciple—won't cause you any headaches."
Su Jiu didn't believe a word.
She didn’t even bother to turn her head, merely responding with a faint "Mm."
"Leave the corpse here."
"I’ll report it to the sect tomorrow."
"It’s getting late. Senior Brother should go rest."
The dismissive tone in her words was unmistakable.
Seeing this, Su Ji decided not to press his luck.
Pocketing the three hundred-plus spirit stones, he hummed an off-key tune and vaulted over the wall in high spirits.
Su Jiu: "…"
So the front gate just wasn’t an option, huh?
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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.”
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.
【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.)
