Within Prince Qi’s mansion, Fang Zhiyi remained at ease. A pigeon descended from the sky and landed beside him. He removed the bamboo tube tied to its leg, then casually scattered a handful of millet on the ground. The pigeon immediately began to peck at it.
Reading the words on the note, Fang Zhiyi smiled.
“Like this, I have already won.”
A dust-covered trade caravan arrived at the frontier. The leader exchanged a knowing glance with Li Zizai, who had been waiting there early. Without a word, they began unloading the carts.
A soldier who had come with Li Zizai to help unload happened to glimpse a crate that wasn’t fully closed. He was stunned, his jaw dropping in disbelief.
When had they ever seen so much money?
Over the next few days, more caravans from the Trade Transport Bureau kept arriving. Some brought silver, some brought grain, and others even brought privately forged weapons.
The border troops, who had long endured unpaid wages, suddenly found themselves flush with wealth.
Deputy Commander Li Wenlong grinned so hard his eyes nearly disappeared into slits—until he saw the messenger pull out an imperial decree.
He immediately wiped the smile off his face and knelt down.
“You have labored hard all these years.”
Such a simple, plain statement hit Li Wenlong like a mallet to his chest. He had been reassigned to the border forces over a decade ago, dreaming of serving his country. Yet what he had encountered were rations and pay stripped bare by layers of embezzlement, and obsolete weapons discarded by the capital’s garrisons. For years, just to keep the men fed, he had been forced to let soldiers put down their swords and take up hoes to grow their own food.
He had once gone to question the Commander about it, only to be brushed off. The second time, they gave him some silver to quiet him. The third time, he was given twenty strokes of the staff.
Those twenty strokes had chilled his heart.
Li Wenlong had resigned himself to watching Great Zhou rot from within—until he met Li Zizai, this man of the same surname, who had brought him money. He had ordered his men to keep the silver but throw Li Zizai out.
But Li Zizai only laughed, saying over and over, “Our Prince hasn’t misjudged you.”
Li Wenlong was curious about this so-called Prince. What use was a prince who only hoarded wealth?
Li Zizai’s reply was simple: “My Prince said that to wage war—to win wars—you need only three things. First: money. Second: money. Third: still money! And lucky for us, my Prince has plenty of it!”
Li Wenlong had thought the man was bluffing. Surely Prince Qi, no matter how ruthlessly he squeezed the people, could never support an entire border army. But now, he believed.
Li Wenlong’s mind was in turmoil—so much so that even after the decree was read and the messenger stared straight at him, he hesitated before reaching out to accept it.
“Commander Li, His Majesty instructed me to tell you that the defense of Great Zhou’s borders rests on your shoulders.”
Li Wenlong’s eyes widened. Commander? Me?
Was this some kind of joke? The current Commander was one of Grand Preceptor Wang’s men. Even out of touch with the court, Li Wenlong knew the Emperor could not touch the Ningxi faction.
The messenger smiled faintly, straightening his usually hunched back slightly.
“Report!” A scout stumbled in, gasping. “Something terrible! The Commander… the Commander…”
“What happened?”
“The Commander drank too much at a brothel and drowned in a lotus pond!”
“What?” Li Wenlong was shocked.
Li Zizai, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke: “Commander Li, if not now, when? Are you planning to defy the imperial decree?”
Li Wenlong froze for a moment, then rose abruptly. “Assemble the troops! Follow me!”
By then, not only the Commander and the Deputy Commander, but several of their trusted officers had also met with accidents. Panic spread among the border troops. But luckily, Li Wenlong moved swiftly. With the imperial decree in one hand, he charged through every garrison.
He finally burst into the Commander’s headquarters, where he confronted the Deputy Commander, who was already mustering troops for a deployment.
“Li Wenlong! What do you think you’re doing?” Seeing him arrive, the Deputy Commander’s face darkened. He, too, had just heard of the Commander’s drowning and was preparing to lead his men to arrest those responsible for the murder.
The Deputy Commander looked at Li Wenlong with disgust.
Li Wenlong stared straight into his eyes. “Deputy Commander Li Wenlong, by imperial decree, I am to assume the post of Commander!” He held up the decree high.
The Deputy Commander was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. “Li Wenlong, have you been drinking today?”
“No.”
“Then how else could you be talking such drunken nonsense?” The Deputy Commander’s face turned grim. “Get out of my way! Don’t interfere!”
Li Wenlong unfurled the decree. “Are you trying to defy the Emperor’s order?”
The Deputy Commander sneered. “Defy what order? Li Wenlong, Li Wenlong, you think you can take command with a fake imperial decree? Still dreaming? Even if it were real, don’t you know the saying: ‘When the general is in the field, he may disregard the monarch’s command’?”
He glanced contemptuously at Li Wenlong’s worn-out armor. “You’re a nobody with no backing, always daydreaming. Go get yourself fifty—no, eighty strokes of the staff!”
With that, he turned to leave.
But suddenly, Li Wenlong’s eyes blazed. “Men! Disarm him!”
The soldiers behind him stepped forward. The Deputy Commander paused, fury rising. “Who dares?! Are you plotting a rebellion?”
“Rebellion? We are all soldiers of Great Zhou! Our loyalty is to the Emperor! You see an imperial decree and still refuse to obey—you’re the one plotting rebellion!” Li Wenlong bellowed. He felt the cold, stagnant weight that had pressed on his chest for so long slowly dissolving.
“Neglecting your duties, forming cliques, embezzling military wages, forcing our brothers to farm their own food just to survive—and you, you lot, warm by the stoves in winter, while the common soldiers can’t even afford a proper padded coat!”
“You… have you lost your mind? Arrest him!” The Deputy Commander hadn’t expected this usually quiet, odd Li Wenlong to suddenly grow a spine.
“Anyone who steps forward will be killed on the spot!”
“Li Wenlong, think carefully! I have Grand Preceptor Wang backing me!”
The standoff drew other officers rushing in, their faces bewildered.
“Grand Preceptor Wang? He is but a minister. Are you saying a Grand Preceptor is greater than the Son of Heaven?”
“Li Wenlong! I’ll say it one last time! Order your men to lay down their weapons!” The Deputy Commander, growing more confident as the crowd swelled, calmed down a little.
“And I’ll say it one last time: I, Li, am assuming command by imperial decree. Any who refuse to comply will face military discipline.”
“So you’re determined to oppose me?” The Deputy Commander narrowed his eyes. “I see. You probably murdered the Commander too, didn’t you? You traitor! Men, arrest him!”
Several officers moved forward, but after a few steps, they realized their own soldiers hadn’t budged.
“What are you waiting for? Seize Li Wenlong!” one officer hissed under his breath.
But the company commander behind him shook his head. “We cannot. We are the Emperor’s soldiers, not Grand Preceptor Wang’s.”
“Are you rebelling?”
Several officers noticed that their own company commanders had blocked their men.
The Deputy Commander, sensing the anomaly, frowned. “So, Li Wenlong, you’ve managed to recruit so many to die with you?”
Li Wenlong honestly shook his head. “If I said I knew nothing about it, would you believe me?”
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!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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?
