Fang Zhiyi took a deep breath. He had already pieced together the known storyline. This world was completely different from the previous demon and ghost worlds—there was no spiritual energy at all. Now he needed to test a hypothesis.
Xu Xiaoya didn’t understand why Gousheng dared to swagger out in the open, but she didn’t dare to ask. After all, he was her only friend, so she just stuck close behind him.
“I originally planned to sneak out, but now I’m in a really bad mood,” Fang Zhiyi muttered to himself.
Up ahead, a figure appeared, staggering drunkenly. The man looked over, his face flushed with intoxication.
“Hey, who the hell are you? Hurry up and get me some ginseng tea!”
Xu Xiaoya nervously grabbed the back of Fang Zhiyi’s clothes.
“Easy, you’re choking me,” Fang Zhiyi said.
Xu Xiaoya quickly let go and whispered an apology.
Her voice reached the drunkard’s ears. He tilted his head, squinting in confusion. When he spotted Xu Xiaoya, he grinned with delight: “Oh, a little beauty here? Come on over and let your master—”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Fang Zhiyi swept his leg out and kicked him into the nearby pond. The loud splash stunned Xu Xiaoya.
“Gousheng, he…”
“He won’t die. If he does, that’s his fate,” Fang Zhiyi said, walking on.
Perhaps Master Gao was too overconfident—along the way, they barely saw any servants. And the few who did see them didn’t think much of it. After all, who would imagine someone daring to break into the Gao residence and stroll around so brazenly? It wasn’t until Fang Zhiyi reached the main gate that the gatekeeper poked his head out, eyeing them suspiciously.
“You two…”
Xu Xiaoya watched as Fang Zhiyi suddenly grabbed the gatekeeper by the hair and smashed his head against the window frame. His ruthless action made her shrink her neck.
Had Gousheng always been this fierce? But when she saw his foster mother scold him, he only ever grinned like a simpleton.
Fang Zhiyi pushed open the door to leave, then paused. He turned back, patted down the gatekeeper, and pulled out a money pouch. He weighed it in his hand and muttered, “Cheapskate.”
Xu Xiaoya looked at his tattered clothes and felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. She quickly pulled off the cheap ornaments from her hair. “Gousheng, I have these here. Do you think we can sell them?”
Fang Zhiyi glanced back at her. “Keep them. Those scraps won’t fetch anything.”
The two figures slipped away openly through the front gate.
When the knocked-out servant came to, Master Gao was looming over him, his face twisted in fury.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I, I…”
“You idiot!” Master Gao paced back and forth in rage. Finding the girl was secondary—with his wealth, he could always find another. But losing face? That was unacceptable. “Let’s go! Find that old hag!”
Widow Li was humming a tune at home, calculating her next move. She planned to visit another village today, scout for some promising goods, make a few more deals, and save up to buy a shop.
Her eyes drifted to a drafty shed in the yard.
“Gousheng! You freeloader! Still not up?!”
She was starting to regret taking that fool in. If she hadn’t picked him up for free, she’d have sold him long ago. Actually, she had considered it before, but she never found a customer with the right taste.
The shed remained silent. Widow Li frowned. She had taken the money yesterday and gone to town to enjoy herself, returning only late last night.
Could it be…
She walked to the shed and was about to push the door open when the courtyard gate was pounded on.
Correction—it was being battered.
Irritated, she strode over and unlatched the bolt. “What’s all this banging so early? someone die?”
The moment she opened the door, a slap cracked across her mouth.
“Who dares hit me?!” she snarled. But when she saw the grim-faced Master Gao stepping in, her anger vanished, replaced by fawning sycophancy.
“Master Gao, so early? I already sold you my last girl yesterday. For new stock, you’ll have to wait a while…”
“Shut up!” Master Gao jabbed a finger at her nose. “That little slut you sold me ran off! Hand her over!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Widow Li paled.
Master Gao snorted. “Don’t play dumb. You think I’m easy to fool? That I’m some patsy?”
Before Widow Li could defend herself, the shed door creaked open behind her.
Fang Zhiyi poked his head out. “Foster mother, did you bring in the pigeons yesterday? Just like you said, that idiot surnamed Gao really is a sucker… hey, why so many people?”
Widow Li’s eyes bulged. “What the hell are you saying?!”
Fang Zhiyi put on a look of terror. “Me? Saying something? No, no, I’m talking nonsense! I…” He turned and bolted back inside, slamming the door shut.
Master Gao’s face was now purple with rage. Money was trivial to him, but being made a fool of? That was unforgivable.
“Oh, excellent. Widow Li, you’ve made a fool of me, have you? Splendid!”
“Master Gao! I didn’t! I…”
Gao Mingzhi didn’t let her finish. He waved his hand, and several burly henchmen pounced, pinning her down. Others began kicking in the shed door.
Widow Li couldn’t utter a word in her own defense. She could only watch helplessly. But when the door shattered open, the shed was empty.
“Master, that brat jumped out the window and ran!”
“Fine. The monk may run, but the temple can’t,” Gao Mingzhi hissed, fixing his glare on Widow Li. “Am I right?”
Her mouth stuffed with a rag, Widow Li could only stare back in terror. She knew better than anyone what these powerful men were capable of.
Xu Xiaoya watched as Fang Zhiyi jogged up, clutching a small bundle. The weight in her heart lifted. She hesitated, then asked, “Gousheng, where do we…”
“My name is Fang Zhiyi.”
“Fang Zhiyi…” Xu Xiaoya repeated it a few times, then nodded to show she remembered. “Fang Zhiyi, where do we go now? We can’t go back to foster mother’s. Where else is there?”
Fang Zhiyi stared at her.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I, I, I… I want to go home.” The last words were barely a whisper.
Fang Zhiyi nodded, looking at Xu Xiaoya. “Going home is fine, but are you sure you can go back?”
Xu Xiaoya looked up. “What do you mean?”
Fang Zhiyi gave a bitter smile. He had a terrible suspicion, but he couldn’t say it.
Some things, Xu Xiaoya would have to see for herself.
Meanwhile, three of Widow Li’s fingernails had already been ripped out. She couldn’t take it any longer. “I know where that little wretch went! I know! She must have gone home! To her family!”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure! She doesn’t even know her own parents sold her to me! Find her, and you’ll see I’m innocent!”
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!
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
