"Not right..." Qin Ran walked out of Gu Yueming's cave and headed to the Main Peak Butler Hall, clutching the token of the Chief Alchemy Elder in his hand. His brain was running at full speed.
"The Sect Master said they have already investigated Jian Yuanjie's death from various sources. So, he may not know how Jian Yuanjie died, where he died, or who killed him. But he controls the Mountain Protection Array, so he should at least know when Jian Yuanjie left the sect... He should also know when I entered and left the sect... And Chasing the Wind has been looking for me within the sect. He has every reason to suspect me... And what just happened in his cave..."
"Not right!" Analyzing up to this point, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "The Sect Master must already know that I killed Jian Yuanjie!"
A sense of crisis instantly invaded Qin Ran's heart, urging him to escape.
"Calm down... Stay calm!" But he quickly realized it and told himself to stay calm in his mind. He continued walking towards the Butler Hall as if nothing had happened. "The Sect Master knows that I killed Jian Yuanjie, but he didn't take action against me. Instead, he entrusted me with the position of Chief Alchemy Elder. The implication... the implication is that he doesn't intend to hold me responsible?!"
"Yes!" Realizing this, Qin Ran breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he was temporarily safe.
But he had doubts again, why?
Is it because I am the only alchemist in the Dao Sword Sect, or is it because...
"The Sect Master has actually already discovered this pawn called Jian Yuanjie!"
His eyes were deep, like the universe, with stars flickering inside. Grasping some details, he reconstructed the truth of the matter. "The Sect Master discovered Jian Yuanjie a long time ago, but he didn't make a move... The Sect Master was severely injured and went into seclusion... In fact, the Sect Master had planned all this. It's a case of feigning weakness, luring the enemy in deep, and inviting the intrusion of the Zhi Shen Valley?!"
"What a cunning old fox!"
Qin Ran sorted out the cause and effect clearly and suddenly realized that Jian Yuanjie was just a pawn in the power struggle between the two major sects. Killing Jian Yuanjie, the Sect Master probably wouldn't pursue it.
"Wait a minute..."
At this point, he suddenly realized something: If Jian Yuanjie was a pawn, then now that he had killed this pawn and been pushed into Jian Yuanjie's position by the Sect Master...
"I've become a pawn!"
He killed Jian Yuanjie, not without punishment, but now he had become Jian Yuanjie. He was now the pawn in the power struggle between the two sects!
"This isn't right..." Qin Ran looked at the alchemy furnace in his hand. "How did things turn out like this? How did I suddenly end up in the center of the whirlpool?"
He had just wanted to be a low-profile cultivator who survived by practicing immortality!
...However, since things had come to this point, he could only take it step by step. At worst, he could leave early. After all, the escape plan had always been in his contingency plan.
He finally arrived at the Butler Hall.
Qin Ran didn't actually know much about the Butler Hall. His understanding of the Butler Hall was similar to his understanding of the school administration office when he was in school in his previous life. He was familiar with it but didn't know the internal organizational structure.
He had to rely on asking for directions to finally find this so-called Chief Alchemy Hall.
Qin Ran pushed open the door and took a look inside. The space was immense, about the size of a football field, but there were not many people inside, only a dozen or so. Among them, there were only four individuals worth noting.
On the left side of the Medicinal Hall, rows of medicine cabinets filled the space. Medicine apprentices moved about, cleaning and organizing the herbs. On the right side, there were similar cabinets, but they contained files, documents, and medical books. There were also disciples performing various tasks among them.
In the center, right in front of the door, sat four people.
Facing the door was the main seat with a long table. Behind the table was a position that must belong to Jian Yuanjie. On each side, there were two desks for office work, with each desk accompanied by a person.
The four individuals, two on each side, a man on the left and a woman on the right, were all engrossed in their work, probably disciples in charge of various tasks.
Upon hearing the door being pushed, the female disciple on the right, closest to the door, raised her head and looked over. She was an elegant and intellectual woman. Seeing Qin Ran, she thought he was a disciple and asked in a gentle voice, "Who are you looking for?"
When it came to dealing with enemies, Qin Ran could put on an impressive performance, be ruthless and merciless, and appear cold-hearted. However, in reality, he wasn't particularly skilled at social interactions. This actually suited his delicate and refined appearance.
"Ahem!" He awkwardly cleared his throat and said softly, "I am the new Chief Alchemy Elder."
Perhaps she didn't hear clearly, or maybe Qin Ran's delicate appearance and youthful demeanor made it difficult to hear, but in any case, the beautiful female disciple asked again, "What?"
At the same time, the other three disciples also looked over.
The four pairs of eyes put immense pressure on Qin Ran. It felt as if he was facing Jian Yuanjie himself. But he took a deep breath, straightened his chest, took out the token of the alchemy furnace, raised his voice, and said, "Senior Brother Jian had an accident, and for now, I am temporarily assuming the position of Chief Alchemy Elder."
This time they heard clearly, but the four individuals still had doubts. They stood up and bowed to Qin Ran, saying, "Greetings, Elder."
"Um..." Qin Ran felt a bit overwhelmed by the situation and quickly said, "Uh, my name is Qin Ran, the Chief of Dan Peak. You may continue with your tasks."
"Elder Qin!" The four individuals bowed once again before resuming their seats.
Once they were seated, Qin Ran went to the main seat and sat down.
On the main seat, there were neatly arranged books and documents. He picked up a document and flipped through it. It recorded the distribution of elixirs for the current month. He read it carefully. Afterward, he picked up another book, a book that detailed the properties of medicinal herbs. It was a rather ordinary book that he had read before, so he only flipped through a few pages before setting it aside.
After going through all the documents and books, Qin Ran couldn't find any reference to the purchase of medicinal herbs.
He glanced at the four individuals below, who were still focused on their own tasks but had their attention on him.
Qin Ran looked down, casually flipping through a book. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly stood up, walked over to the desk of the male disciple on the left, and smiled as he asked, "What's your name?"
"Disciple Shi Yuan." He put down his pen and respectfully replied.
"What are you doing?" Qin Ran asked.
"I'm in charge of purchasing spiritual medicines for the disciples within the sect and handling deliveries," came the reply.
"Is it related to the sect's missions?"
"Yes, any tasks that involve spiritual medicines usually go through me."
"Well done, impressive," Qin Ran praised.
After exchanging a few words with Shi Yuan, Qin Ran approached the desk of a female steward to his right and asked with a smile, "May I know your name?"
"Disciple Ke Yue," she replied respectfully, setting down her pen.
"What are your responsibilities?"
"I am in charge of distributing elixirs to the disciples every month. Generally, all the elixirs needed by the disciples within the sect pass through my hands," Ke Yue answered.
"Oh..." Qin Ran glanced at this sweet-looking female steward and nodded. "It must be quite demanding for you, with so many disciples in the Dao Sword Sect."
"No, I'm only responsible for keeping records," Ke Yue replied modestly.
After a brief conversation with Ke Yue, Qin Ran moved on to the desk of a male steward to his left. With a smile, he asked, "And how should I address you?"
"Just call me Yan Yi, the Chief Steward," he replied.
When he heard Yan Yi addressing himself as the Chief Steward, Qin Ran asked, "Do you recognize me?"
"I am from the same generation of disciples. During the examination at the Dao Gate, I was defeated on the questioning platform presided over by the Chief Steward," Yan Yi joked.
"Oh! So you had bad luck and ran into me," Qin Ran also joked.
"No, not at all..." Qin Ran's face and demeanor were not aggressive, but rather approachable. Seeing this, Yan Yi relaxed and smiled. "Actually, I'm a big fan of Senior Sister Li Shiyin. She's truly amazing."
"Haha..." Qin Ran chuckled twice and said, "If there's a chance, I'll take you to Dan Peak to meet your Senior Sister Li."
Saying that, he also asked Yan Yi, "What are your responsibilities?"
"I'm in charge of everything related to alchemy within the sect. Any external disciple who wants to practice alchemy usually goes through me," Yan Yi replied.
Upon hearing that Yan Yi had such a job, Qin Ran smiled and said, "Well, your job seems quite leisurely."
In fact, there were no alchemists within the Dao Sword Sect, so it seemed that Yan Yi was the exemplary slacker of the sect.
Yan Yi awkwardly scratched the back of his head and replied, "Actually, there are disciples who want to practice alchemy..."
After chatting with Yan Yi for a while, Qin Ran went to the desk of another female steward to his right, the knowledgeable and intelligent-looking one. Smiling, he asked, "May I know your name?"
"Feng Feiyan."
"What a beautiful name," Qin Ran said, his eyes narrowing as he smiled at this elegant and intelligent female steward. "What are your responsibilities?"
"I am responsible for procuring elixirs and spiritual medicines," Feng Feiyan replied.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ran's smiling eyes slowly narrowed.
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his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
