"Just wait for him to die! He should have died long ago!" Fang Zhiyi said without even turning her head.
Wang Qianyue hastily turned around, wanting to comfort Jiang Mubai, but the next moment he was scared stiff.
As the tree demon retracted its roots, the seated Jiang Mubai instantly froze. His body gradually withered, and he finally collapsed into the stone coffin, turning directly into dust.
"Still not leaving? The moment he dies, the emperor dies! Once a swarm of imperial guards arrives, we'll all be joining him!"
"I'm coming! Wait for me, Grandmaster!"
Wang Qianyue scurried out after a group of demons.
In the ninety-sixth year of the Great Wilderness New Calendar, the emperor passed away.
Some people saw that on the day the emperor died, a large force of imperial guards rushed into the Imperial Preceptor's hall, but by then the hall had already burst into raging flames.
As for the emperor's death, the common folk were actually pleased. In the first twenty years, this emperor had been diligent and caring toward his people, doing many good deeds. But as time went on, his personality changed drastically—corruption ran rampant across the realm, and the court was rife with factional strife.
There were even rumors that the current emperor was some kind of monster, which was why he had lived so long.
But no one dared to say such things out loud.
At most, inebriated people would curse behind closed doors after a few drinks.
Others believed that the emperor's change in character was linked to the Imperial Preceptor. It was only after the Imperial Preceptor's hall was established that the emperor gradually changed, so the Imperial Preceptor was the one truly bringing ruin to the nation.
This theory made more sense logically, and quite a few people preferred to believe it.
Deep in the mountains, faint firelight flickered from a long-ruined Taoist temple.
"Grandmaster, I won't say anything else—he did do wrong, but at least he's your junior martial nephew. You didn't even save him." Wang Qianyue chattered while grilling skewers. Peach Blossom (the tree demon) silently handed him a piece of meat. Wang Qianyue thanked him while threading the meat onto a wooden skewer. "I also think he was pretty pitiful. Back then, he was deceived too, wasn't he..."
Fang Zhiyi, annoyed by his nagging, said: "Save him? How? He's been dead for decades! He's only being buried now! With that body of his, if it weren't for that demon holding things together, he'd have rotted away long ago!"
Wang Qianyue shrank his neck: "Aren't you an immortal? Immortals always have ways..."
Having spent considerable time with Fang Zhiyi before, he spoke more casually, placing the skewers on a makeshift rack. He turned his head to say more, but suddenly his pupils constricted.
Wait—when did another person show up?
Wang Qianyue rubbed his eyes.
Sure enough, there was one more person.
"Did you hear that? Someone's even feeling sorry for you! What kind of piece of work are you!" Fang Zhiyi raised her hand and smacked him. The young ghost grabbed his head and grimaced: "Senior Martial Uncle, I really do know I was wrong."
After saying that, he turned to Wang Qianyue and cupped his hands: "Thank you for that, um..."
"Wang Qianyue. My master is..." Wang Qianyue said an unwieldy name, his eyes constantly sizing up the young man.
The young man thought for a moment, then his expression brightened: "Oh, right! Liu! That name was too hard to say, so I found it too troublesome and changed it!"
Wang Qianyue's eyes widened in shock: "Imperial Preceptor! No, no—Jiang Mubai, ugh, Grandmaster!"
He never imagined Fang Zhiyi had actually kept Jiang Mubai's ghost!
Jiang Mubai smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "I don't deserve the title of Grandmaster. If I hadn't insisted on a desperate fight back then, your master wouldn't have lost his life..."
Wang Qianyue didn't respond.
"Little Peach Blossom, and the rest of you, go on with your business. I'll come visit you all sometime. Stay far away for a while—these next few years probably won't be peaceful in the world." Fang Zhiyi said.
The demons all turned toward Fang Zhiyi.
"Alright, alright, don't get all sentimental. I'll have plenty of time to see you later. The main thing is, the place I need to go, you can't follow. Your spiritual roots would be ruined if you left here."
Fang Zhiyi spoke a bit more, and only then did the demons reluctantly leave.
Jiang Mubai also felt reluctant. Ever since his senior martial uncle had disappeared, he hadn't seen the demons that used to stay in the temple either.
"Still staring! Get inside, now!" Fang Zhiyi scolded.
Jiang Mubai lowered his head and walked through the door into the room.
Wang Qianyue looked back and forth between him and Fang Zhiyi, then sensibly began packing his things.
Fang Zhiyi looked at him: "What are you doing?"
"Grandmaster, I—well, you know, I've always lived by swindling people. I never really learned any of my master's skills. Now that your business is done, I'll be on my way too..."
Fang Zhiyi raised an eyebrow: "Oh, so you're blaming me for using you?"
Wang Qianyue shook his head frantically: "No, no! Not at all!"
Fang Zhiyi gave him a look and found it a little amusing.
"I'm giving you two a chance—do a bit of work for me. It might be somewhat dangerous. Are you in or not?"
Wang Qianyue shook his head like a rattle: "No way. I'd rather die than go."
Fang Zhiyi stared at him.
Wang Qianyue gritted his teeth: "Grandmaster, I don't want anything else. I just want some of the books you wrote... If you have time, could you write me a few more? I..." He glanced at Jiang Mubai. "I don't want my master's lineage to truly end with me."
Fang Zhiyi stared at him for a while, then finally nodded: "Fine."
"Thank you, Grandmaster! And thank you, Senior Grandmaster!" Wang Qianyue was overjoyed. "But Grandmaster, if I study your books, does that mean I'm a generation higher than my master?"
Fang Zhiyi was taken aback: "Should I call him over so you can ask him yourself?"
"Er, never mind. Forget I said that." Wang Qianyue immediately wiped the smile off his face—this grandmaster was too inscrutable. What if she really did summon his master?
Fang Zhiyi ignored him and turned her gaze to Jiang Mubai.
"You don't have a choice, I'm telling you. I originally came to find Zhao Yichen, but he died before I got here."
Jiang Mubai lowered his head.
"So now this job falls to you. Find your senior martial brother and second senior martial brother. As for the method... you'll find out soon enough."
Little Hei suddenly chimed in: "Well, this one's not on me! There was no other option—we had to come to this timeline, or everything would've gone haywire..."
Fang Zhiyi shot it a glare: "I still haven't settled the score with you for stuffing me into the body of someone who just died."
Little Hei grumbled: "Boss, we didn't have a commission this time—we came in directly. There's no fixed anchor point. Finding someone who just died is already lucky!"
"Can't you just forcefully seize one like before?"
"And what about the reputation of the Fast-Travel Bureau?" Little Hei shot back.
"What does the reputation have to do with you?" Fang Zhiyi asked.
Little Hei froze, then it suddenly dawned on him: "Right! Your wife's got that covered anyway!"
Fang Zhiyi's face changed, and he quickly glanced around: "Keep your voice down!"
Jiang Mubai stared blankly at his senior martial uncle, not understanding what he was doing.
But he did know that he might now have a chance to save his two senior martial brothers.
He hoped they wouldn't blame him.
Then again, even if they did, he would accept it. As long as there was a chance.
As they were leaving, Wang Qianyue suddenly remembered something: "Grandmaster... I have one more question."
Fang Zhiyi didn't look up: "Yes, it was me."
Wang Qianyue sighed in relief: "I knew it—what kind of deity did I summon that was this terrifying..."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing!"
Jiang Mubai looked utterly bewildered.
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!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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."
