"Prince Qi, stop!" The Emperor had barely spoken when Fang Zhiyi's sword shot forward. Liu Xian's eyes went wide—he never expected to die here.
Then Fang Zhiyi dropped the sword.
"My apologies for startling you, Imperial Brother."
The Emperor looked at Fang Zhiyi, who clasped his hands in a bow, momentarily confused about what he was trying to do.
"You..."
"I told you. I'm purging the court of corrupt influences." Fang Zhiyi straightened up. "Don't worry—I've already killed every last one of the eunuch faction's men."
"Prince Qi, you..."
"Relax. I've also wiped out all the spies in my manor today." Fang Zhiyi spoke as calmly as if he had just killed a few chickens.
The Emperor stared at him. "Prince Qi, are you trying to take my throne? If so—"
Fang Zhiyi shook his head like a rattling drum. "No way. Whoever wants it can have it. I'm not interested."
The Emperor was stunned.
Fang Zhiyi spotted the imperial robe in his hands and grinned. "See that? I worked hard to make this thing. Look at you—patches on your dragon robe. An Emperor like you must be a rare sight in a thousand years."
The Emperor awkwardly tugged at his sleeves.
"Since we're speaking plainly here, I'll get straight to the point." Fang Zhiyi gave another casual bow. "I was actually planning to come beg for your forgiveness today."
"Forgiveness?" The Emperor had now steadied himself.
"Yeah, I killed a lot of people today. Even that schemer Ye Chengtian from my manor—I chopped him down too."
"You—"
Fang Zhiyi's face twisted into indignation. "That bastard tried to destroy me! He embezzled money behind my back, colluded with local officials, and—worst of all—raised private troops under my name! He was setting me up to fall into a pit!"
The Emperor gaped at Fang Zhiyi.
"Of course, I know I don't have the right to kill anyone. So I was going to come and confess. Since you showed up yourself, I figured—kill one, kill a bunch. Might as well take out that eunuch faction leader too. You can decide how to punish me."
With that, Fang Zhiyi raised both hands in surrender, as if ready to face any consequence.
But the Emperor stared at him for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
"Second Son, you... ah, you're too impulsive." The Emperor shook his head. "Killing Liu Xian isn't the end of it. I was counting on him to spar with those court officials. Now that he's dead, trouble is probably coming."
Fang Zhiyi lowered his hands. "Not necessarily."
"Oh?"
"I may love money, but I'm not stupid." Fang Zhiyi glanced at the still-open eyes of Liu Xian. "If you, Imperial Brother, spread word that Liu Xian was assassinated, who would the eunuch faction blame?"
The Emperor paused. "You mean..."
"They can't exactly say I, Prince Qi, killed Liu Xian, can they? What would I gain? Everyone in the world knows you and I don't get along. If I killed Liu Xian right in front of you, would you let me off?"
The Emperor looked at Fang Zhiyi, a glint of admiration in his eyes.
"If I were you, Imperial Brother, I'd arrest me and claim that Liu Xian uncovered Ye Chengtian's rebellion, led you to search for evidence, and that I, Prince Qi, knew nothing. Ye Chengtian, seeing his plan exposed, fought Liu Xian—and both died."
"Perfect, isn't it?"
The Emperor studied Fang Zhiyi. This prince was as unpredictable as ever, but his reasoning was sound.
"But if we do that, it might intensify the conflict between the Ningxi faction and the eunuch faction..."
"Is there a worse outcome than this?" Fang Zhiyi looked at him. "You know what I hate about you? You inherited a complete mess—corrupt officials, endless factional strife—and you still try to play the benevolent ruler. Bah!"
Anyone else would have been executed for such words, but coming from Fang Zhiyi, the Emperor didn't take offense.
"Let them clash! The more they fight, the more we can profit from the chaos!"
Li Zizai, gripping his sword hilt by the door, had grown anxious. The prince had been inside for ages. Should he side with the prince or the Emperor? He couldn't decide.
Until he saw the Emperor and the prince walking out arm-in-arm. Li Zizai was dumbfounded.
"Ahem." The Emperor spotted Li Zizai and quickly withdrew his hand. "Let it be done as you said! Guards—take Prince Qi into custody!"
A few guards exchanged glances.
Fang Zhiyi waved impatiently. "Can't you hear the Emperor? Get on with it."
"Forgive us, Prince!" Li Zizai reacted first, stepping forward to grab Fang Zhiyi's shoulder.
That day, a shockwave rocked the court: Liu Xian and Ye Chengtian had clashed fatally, both dead! Prince Qi had been thrown into the imperial prison!
The news worsened the political turmoil. The eunuch faction pointed fingers at the Ningxi faction, while the Ningxi faction panicked over their failed plot—though Ye Chengtian's death meant no one else could be implicated.
At court, the Emperor lost his temper for the first time, berating everyone. Anyone could see his fury, but no one cared—a powerless Emperor held little threat.
Prince Qi became the Ningxi faction's abandoned pawn. Who bothers with a prince locked in prison?
So no one noticed that Fang Zhiyi had practically turned the prison into his home.
"Take this away. Tell them—next time, don't bother. Can't even stew a chicken properly!" Fang Zhiyi grumbled. Li Zizai watched his carefree master with growing worry. "Prince, you may not know what's happening outside, but it's chaos—the Ningxi faction and the eunuch faction are tearing each other apart..."
"Do I need to be told? I could figure that out with my ass!" Fang Zhiyi casually wiped his greasy hands on Li Zizai's clothes.
Li Zizai could only sigh helplessly.
"Listen carefully. Do these three things."
"First, find Ye Chengtian's assassin squads and recruit them."
"Second, find my private army and have them await my orders."
"Third—bring enough silver! Pay everyone a reward!"
"Prince... are you serious?" Li Zizai looked up at Fang Zhiyi.
Fang Zhiyi frowned. "Do you think I'm joking? I've got plenty of money! I don't care how Ye Chengtian kept his men—every man has his weakness. I bet they love gold! Throw enough cash at them and win them over!"
"Yes, sir!"
"And one more thing. Have a few reliable people do something for me."
"Your orders, Prince."
Fang Zhiyi flashed a sly grin. "Assassinate some Ningxi faction members. Doesn't matter who."
"Hiss..." Li Zizai felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at his master.
"Don't actually kill them, though. Just scare them a little."
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?!
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!
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
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...
