When Fang Zhiyi was about to reluctantly brush her off again, he saw where Xu Xiaoya was pointing. There was a girl kneeling on the ground, a straw tag stuck in the back of her neck.
"Gousheng, what does that mean?"
"It means selling herself. Usually, it's to bury her father or mother, or because she can't survive anymore," Fang Zhiyi answered.
Xu Xiaoya stared blankly at the girl, who was about her age, and a wave of sympathy stirred in her heart.
Especially when she saw someone touching the girl roughly, like inspecting livestock, she couldn't hold back anymore: "Gousheng, can we... can we help her?"
Fang Zhiyi glanced over a few times, spotted the man sitting with his knees hugged, dozing behind the girl, and narrowed his eyes.
"Whatever makes you happy."
Xu Xiaoya perked up a little: "Great!"
She had originally intended to give some money to help the girl, but Fang Zhiyi insisted she follow the rules.
"Give money without buying? You want to be a sucker?" Fang Zhiyi said. "Even a fool knows there's a limit. If you give money to help everyone, do you plan to help all the beggars on this street?"
Xu Xiaoya was at a loss for words, but when she saw the greedy smile spreading across the man's face behind the girl, she made up her mind.
"Fine, let's take her home!"
She herself had been sold by her parents, so she knew that feeling well.
Fang Zhiyi tossed down some money without asking too many questions and let Xu Xiaoya help the girl to her feet.
"Thanks for the reward, little Taoist master!" The man picked up the silver ingot, beaming with joy.
As he looked around for a tavern, Xu Xiaoya fussed over the girl with concern. Fang Zhiyi paid it no mind. Now that the Gao family issue was resolved, he could part ways with Xu Xiaoya at most—he had his own business to attend to.
Just as he was thinking this, Xu Xiaoya suddenly tugged at him.
"What?"
"Gousheng, she's so tragic..."
"Huh?"
"Her mother is seriously ill; her father, that guy just now, only goes to gamble; and she has a younger brother who isn't quite right in the head..."
Fang Zhiyi was taken aback and couldn't help but look at the girl. She met his eyes briefly before quickly looking down.
Gambling-addicted dad, sick mom, and a good-for-nothing brother bringing her down?
If they knew about the life the guy with the same name as him led in that other world, they'd probably have to shell out even more.
Even so, Fang Zhiyi kept his thoughts to himself: "So what?"
"So I've decided to take her as my little sister! It's perfect—my name is Xu Xiaoya, and she's Xu Xiaocao." With that, Xu Xiaoya affectionately linked arms with Xu Xiaocao.
Fang Zhiyi shrugged: "Suit yourself."
"Um, what I meant was... could you spare some money? I want to take her to buy some clothes."
Fang Zhiyi nodded, directly opened his bundle, pulled out a few small pieces of silver, and tossed them to Xu Xiaoya. She happily grabbed Xu Xiaocao and left.
"I've done my part for the original body," Fang Zhiyi muttered to himself, then slung his bundle back over his shoulder and walked into a tavern.
Since ancient times, taverns have been gathering places for all kinds of gossip and rumors. Sure enough, after sitting for a while and downing two pots of rice wine, Fang Zhiyi picked up several pieces of information he needed.
"I heard there's a Yin Po haunting the Western Mountains. You haven't heard of a Yin Po? That thing is downright eerie—comes out at night and kowtows in front of desolate graves. Really, I'm not lying! My cousin ran into it while carrying goods to sell!"
"The Huang family at the eastern end of town is possessed. I heard a monk came begging alms, and they turned him away. That same day, both husband and wife fell ill. Now their son is planning a pilgrimage to Ten Thousand Mile Temple to pray for blessings."
"Did you hear? An official from the Imperial Observatory has come to our town. I bet there's some treasure about to surface."
"Better not take that road through Green Dragon Mountain lately. Inside info says a band of mountain bandits is lurking around there."
Fang Zhiyi took down all these scattered details with a blank expression, and just as he was leaving the tavern, a ragged beggar bumped into him. The tavern's waiter saw the beggar come in and impatiently drove him away: "Get out of here! Shoo, shoo, shoo!"
The beggar slunk out dejectedly, turned a corner once he was a ways off, and his expression turned vicious.
"That little Taoist is pretty sharp. I almost got my hands on his bundle."
A voice came from the shadows: "Are you sure he has silver?"
"Boss, I saw it with my own eyes. He just casually dropped a few taels of loose silver. When I bumped into him just now, that bundle was definitely full of silver—and a lot of it!"
"Good. Find an opportunity to skim some off."
When Fang Zhiyi returned to the inn, Xu Xiaoya and the other girl were already back. As he entered, Xu Xiaoya eagerly pulled out the newly dressed Xu Xiaocao: "Look! Isn't Xiaocao pretty?"
Fang Zhiyi took a look, and sure enough, clothes make the man. After a simple wash and a change of clothes, Xu Xiaocao had transformed quite a bit. But he quickly turned to Xu Xiaoya: "Why didn't you buy a set for yourself?" She was still wearing the old Daoist robe that Xuan Jizi had given her.
"I'm used to it," Xu Xiaoya said, smiling. But she mysteriously pulled a robe from behind her back: "But I bought one for you!"
Fang Zhiyi paused, staring at this big philanthropist in front of him, momentarily unsure how to judge her.
"Thank you."
"Go on, try it on. I guessed at the size. The auntie selling clothes said if it doesn't fit, I can exchange it." She put her hands on her hips. "I said it was for my little brother!"
"Oh, and here's something else." Xu Xiaoya suddenly pulled out a folded yellow talisman and handed it to Fang Zhiyi. "A safety charm. A Taoist was drawing them by the roadside, and there was a huge crowd. I waited in line for ages to get my turn. Right?" She turned to ask Xu Xiaocao.
Xu Xiaocao nodded.
"I just hope Gousheng stays safe and sound," she said, her voice dropping a little.
Fang Zhiyi took the talisman. One squeeze told him that this kind soul had been duped.
"When you bought it, didn't a bunch of people say it was especially effective?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes: "Don't tell me you spent all your money on this."
"Sister is really worried about Brother Fang," Xu Xiaocao suddenly spoke up. "That alchemist wanted two taels of silver, and Sister didn't have enough on her. She had to beg him for a good while before he agreed."
Fang Zhiyi gave her a glance but didn't say anything. He fished more money out of his pocket and shoved it at her: "Go buy yourself some clothes too. Buy two sets if you want. We're not short on money."
Xu Xiaoya tried to refuse, but Fang Zhiyi simply placed the silver on the table, turned around, and went back to his room.
Once he sat down, he remembered the fake talisman still clutched in his hand.
Fang Zhiyi suddenly felt a spark of interest: "Xiaoxiaohei."
"Host, I'm here."
"I bet you the inside says something lucky like 'Five Blessings at the Door,' and it's even written with the name 'Gousheng.'"
Xiaoxiaohei stared wide-eyed but didn't answer—this question was far too hard for it.
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.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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.”
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
