Little Hei complained the entire way—a rare occurrence.
"Just one try, just one try—it was all your urging that nearly got me struck dead!"
Fang Zhiyi shrugged. "Can you even die?"
Little Hei conjured two hands. "Well, no, but it still takes effort, you know."
Fang Zhiyi stared. "What’s that in your mouth?"
"The Heavenly Dao. Took a bite."
Curious, Fang Zhiyi leaned in and saw only a glowing mass, writhing as if it had a mind of its own.
"Ew, disgusting."
"Shut it." Little Hei loosened its grip, and Fang Zhiyi plummeted downward.
When he opened his eyes, he was dressed in filthy rags, his hands covered in soot. A young man beside him called out excitedly, "Ayi, hurry! We’re almost there!" He pointed at the towering city walls in the distance.
Fang Zhiyi followed his gaze. Two bold characters—"Shengjing"—came into view.
At the same time, the backstory flooded his mind.
Lin Chengze and Fang Zhiyi had grown up together in Xinghua Village. Lin Chengze was handsome, with an air of natural charisma, and a silver tongue that endeared him to the village elders. Fang Zhiyi, on the other hand, was introverted, awkward, and rarely spoke. Whenever mischief was afoot, Lin Chengze was the mastermind, but Fang Zhiyi always took the blame—not that he minded. Lin Chengze was his brother, after all.
The tragedy struck at dusk. First, a few bloodstained fugitives stumbled into the village, begging for food and water before fleeing. Then came the masked cavalry, slaughtering everyone in sight and checking their victims against a portrait.
In the chaos, Fang Zhiyi’s mother shoved the two stunned boys into the vegetable cellar.
Fang Zhiyi choked back sobs as his mother’s screams echoed outside, but Lin Chengze clamped a hand over his mouth.
When silence finally fell, they crawled out of the cellar, trembling, only to find the entire village massacred. Fang Zhiyi was heartbroken, but Lin Chengze wasted no time dragging him into a desperate escape.
"If they come back, we’re dead!"
Through begging and scavenging, they finally reached Shengjing—a city they’d only heard of in stories, where the emperor himself resided. But what could two penniless boys do?
Starving, Lin Chengze spotted a wonton stall. He pulled Fang Zhiyi down and ordered a bowl without hesitation. Fang Zhiyi stared in alarm, but Lin Chengze’s reassuring look calmed him. Aze was clever; he must have a plan.
After wolfing down the meal, Lin Chengze suddenly stood. "Run!"
Fang Zhiyi froze, but his legs reacted faster than his mind. He sprinted after Lin Chengze as shouts erupted behind them. "Stop!"
Fang Zhiyi didn’t dare look back—until he heard Lin Chengze’s cry for help. Another vendor had grabbed him. Stalls here stuck together.
To save Lin Chengze, Fang Zhiyi turned back and yanked the vendor away. "Aze! Go, run!" He wrapped his arms around the man, holding him back.
Lin Chengze bolted without a second glance.
The vendors caught up. A pole cracked across Fang Zhiyi’s back, and a kick buckled his knees. By the time they were done, two ribs were broken, and he lay half-dead on the roadside.
Lin Chengze, fleeing blindly, crashed into a carriage. The coachman roared, but a voice from inside stopped him. The curtain lifted, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful face.
Lin Chengze’s silver tongue worked its magic. A few honeyed words had the girl laughing, and she promptly took him in as an errand boy.
Only after entering her estate did Lin Chengze realize his luck—she was the daughter of Vice Minister Liu. He settled into the Liu household, never bothering to check on Fang Zhiyi’s fate.
With his wit and charm, Lin Chengze soon won over Vice Minister Liu and his wife, even thriving among the household staff. He often eavesdropped on the minister’s political debates, absorbing knowledge like a sponge. But his lowly status gnawed at him—until fate intervened.
During an errand, he helped Xu Yan'er recover her stolen purse, forging a connection with the Xu family, who traded in tea and horses.
Xu Yan'er was sharp as a blade. Lin Chengze, with his smooth talk and ties to Vice Minister Liu, became a frequent companion. Through her, he gleaned countless court secrets.
Around the same time, he also caught the eye of General Zhenyuan’s concubine. While the general was away, the two grew… intimately acquainted.
Fang Zhiyi was beaten unconscious that day. Fortunately, someone took pity on him and brought him home to nurse him back to health. Though he survived, he didn’t want to burden his rescuer, so he decided to make his own way. After a long search, he found work as a laborer. Still weakened by his injuries, he worked slower than others, earning him frequent shoves and insults.
Yet his thoughts never strayed far from Lin Chengze’s whereabouts—after all, to him, Aze was the only family he had left.
Their reunion happened outside the Liu estate. Fang Zhiyi was hauling a heavy load when he caught sight of several servants brandishing wooden clubs rushing into an alley. Curiosity made him glance over, and there he saw a familiar face: Lin Chengze. The boy looked well-fed, even a little plumper than before.
"He actually sneaked into our young lady’s chambers! Beat him to death!" the lead servant shouted.
Fang Zhiyi dropped his burden and charged forward.
Though untrained in combat, he was tough enough to endure blows. Just like last time, he threw himself into the fray, shielding Aze from the attackers. "Aze! Run!"
Lin Chengze stared at him, startled and ashamed, but quickly scrambled to his feet and fled.
This time, he returned swiftly—with Xu Yan’er and her entourage in tow. The servants were soundly thrashed.
Lin Chengze swaggered with triumph. "You dare bully me? Do you even know who you’re messing with?"
Battered and bruised, Fang Zhiyi lay sprawled nearby. Watching Aze so full of vigor, he felt a quiet relief. Once Lin Chengze had finished his grand display, he remembered Fang Zhiyi and promptly brought him back to his newly acquired courtyard, arranging for a physician to tend to his wounds.
Having risen in status, Lin Chengze saw no issue in helping a fellow villager. More importantly, Fang Zhiyi was one of the few people he truly trusted. So Fang Zhiyi left his laboring job behind and began running errands for him, serving almost like a loyal retainer.
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."
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.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
