Fang Zhiyi was led into the main hall of the Taoist temple by a “fellow disciple” with a blank expression. He stared at the massive statue before him, utterly baffled—the deity looked more like a monster from some sci-fi movie, a creature trying awkwardly to sit cross-legged like a human, and the most eerie part was its face, smooth and featureless with nothing at all.
In the hall, seven or eight people were already seated cross-legged, their faces numb as they stared blankly at the ground.
The person who had led him and Xu Xiaoya inside also found his own cushion and sat down.
Fang Zhiyi pulled Xu Xiaoya to the back and sat on two cushions. Just then, the old Taoist walked in; he gave Fang Zhiyi and the girl a casual glance before muttering something to himself as he headed toward the statue.
The hall was dead silent—unlike a normal Taoist temple, there was no morning chanting, and the old Taoist wasn’t preaching. Fang Zhiyi stole a glance at him. He hadn’t noticed last night, but the old man wore a coarse hemp robe covered in stains here and there. His hair was tied up like a Taoist’s, but it was a mess.
“Wrong, wrong…” the old Taoist muttered after a while, then suddenly grew agitated.
“I infused the pill with the power of inner demons! I did it exactly!” He furiously swept the incense burner off the table in front of him, but his nearest disciple didn’t even lift an eyelid.
Staring blankly at the burner, his gaze then moved to the disciple. “Disciple! Test the pill for your master!”
The disciple slowly raised his head, his dull expression gradually turning fanatical.
Fang Zhiyi watched as the old Taoist pulled a fist-sized pill from his robe, and he was instantly horrified.
What kind of person makes pills like this? Eating that one lump would mean no food for the whole day!
But what he didn’t expect was that the disciple almost snatched the enormous pill and started stuffing it frantically into his mouth.
The old Taoist looked at the disciple with a hint of satisfaction.
Everyone in the hall raised their heads to watch the disciple, except for Fang Zhiyi and Xu Xiaoya—the others all had looks of envy.
But as the pill went down, the disciple’s gaze turned glassy. He seemed to wake up with a start, suddenly clutching his throat and screaming in terror, his expression no longer fanatical but panicked.
“No! No!”
Fang Zhiyi clearly saw his stomach bulge, as if something was pounding inside.
The disciple’s face twisted in increasing agony, and soon he was on the ground, gripping his throat. Xu Xiaoya grabbed the back of Fang Zhiyi’s clothes tightly.
“Help! Help!!!”
“Close your eyes if you don’t want to see,” Fang Zhiyi said.
Xu Xiaoya nodded.
But it was too late. The next moment, the disciple’s stomach swelled and then burst open, splattering foul, bloody fluid across the entire hall.
Fang Zhiyi had pulled Xu Xiaoya down just in time. The old Taoist, who was closest, was drenched from head to toe, but he acted as if nothing had happened—he even stuck out his tongue and licked the blood on his lips, then muttered a few words and hurried off.
The other disciples, as if nothing had occurred, began cleaning up the mess.
Fang Zhiyi stood up with a grim face.
“Gousheng, just now…”
“Figured it out. It’s an old Taoist driven mad by his desire for immortality, using these fools as lab rats.”
Xu Xiaoya looked at him, wondering why he showed no fear.
“Gousheng, keep your voice down,” she whispered, terrified.
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. “Believe me, even if I grabbed them by the ears and shouted, they wouldn’t hear.”
“Why?”
“No reason… Just remember, don’t eat anything here.” As soon as he finished speaking, a disciple suddenly blocked their way.
“Master says you two should have some porridge.”
Fang Zhiyi looked down at the two bowls the disciple held. The “porridge” inside was black and smelled awful, like a mix of vomit and filthy blood.
“Would any normal person eat this?” Fang Zhiyi nearly laughed in anger.
“Master says you two should have some porridge,” the disciple repeated, his gaze fixed on them.
Fang Zhiyi frowned.
“Gousheng, what do we do…”
“Can’t beat the big one, but I can take the small fry.” Fang Zhiyi suddenly lunged, grabbing the disciple by the hair and yanking his head back. With the disciple’s mouth pointing upward, Fang Zhiyi grabbed one bowl and forced its contents down his throat.
The disciple didn’t even react before the second bowl was poured in.
As Fang Zhiyi let go, the disciple stared blankly at the two empty bowls, then looked up at Fang Zhiyi, and without a word, turned and walked away.
Fang Zhiyi clapped his hands. “Only idiots drink that stuff. Xiaoya, I’m telling you, when you face people like this, you’ve got to…”
“Please have some porridge, younger brother and sister.”
Fang Zhiyi turned around helplessly. The disciple had returned, standing behind him with two bowls of porridge.
"You must be pretty hungry, huh?"
In another time and space, Xiao Hei, who was busy working, suddenly froze for a moment and muttered to himself, "Why do I keep feeling a bit uneasy? Spending too much time with Fang Zhiyi really isn't good. Ah, forget it, I need to focus and get the work done. I just wonder if that plan of his will actually work..."
Widow Li trembled as she pushed open the door to her home. She now had only three fingers left out of her original ten. That madman named Gao had said that if she couldn't find Xu Mengdie within ten days, her remaining three fingers would be gone too.
Her face was full of resentment. As she stepped inside, she noticed the drawers of her cabinet wide open. A bad feeling crept over her. She hurried over to check and found that all her savings were gone.
"Gousheng!!!!!! You heartless little bastard!!!"
Widow Li’s piercing scream set off the village dogs barking in chorus, sending chills down the spines of many who heard it.
Only the old cripple, who claimed to have once seen a dragon, rolled over in his sleep and muttered to himself, "Good deeds bring good rewards, evil deeds bring evil retribution; it’s not that they don’t come, the time simply hasn’t come yet..."
At that moment, Fang Zhiyi was drenched in sweat as he looked at the so-called "fellow disciples" surrounding him. He hadn’t expected these people to be so tough to deal with.
To make matters worse, the deranged old Daoist was striding over in their direction.
As he approached, the disciples surrounding Fang Zhiyi parted respectfully. The old Daoist didn’t even glance at them; instead, he stared intently at Fang Zhiyi with a puzzled expression. But soon, his gaze shifted to Xu Xiaoya, who was hiding behind Fang Zhiyi.
"What perfect material! What perfect material! I see it now!"
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
