Feeling somewhat gloomy, he wandered outside while also contemplating his own future. Perhaps he should take the money and run? The current opportunity was perfect, but... what if he got caught?
In his troubled state of mind, he unconsciously walked to a secluded spot. When he came to his senses, he found himself surrounded by several men with unfriendly expressions.
"You are..." He looked at them, finding them somewhat familiar, as if he had seen them before.
"I'm your father! Get him!" The leader of the ruffians threw a punch without hesitation. Nian'an, who had never been in a fight before, immediately covered his eye, followed by a kick to his backside.
Amidst their curses and blows, Nian'an understood. These men had lost their livelihoods because his tyrannical foster father had taken their jobs. Too afraid to seek revenge on Fang Zhiyi directly, they had targeted him, alone and vulnerable!
"My... my father is Fang Zhiyi! Aren't you afraid?" he shouted.
The leader spat, a gob of phlegm landing on Nian'an's face. "Afraid! But I'll be long gone after beating you up! Fang Zhiyi will never find me in this lifetime!"
Nian'an curled into a ball, rolling on the ground as they beat him. Suddenly, he cried out, "I have money!"
The word 'money' always grabs people's attention.
Sure enough, the lead ruffian stopped kicking. "Where?" he said, immediately starting to search Nian'an's clothes.
Nian'an hastily replied, "Not on me."
"You playing games with me?" A slap rang out, making Nian'an's head buzz.
"I can take you to get it!" he yelled.
"You think you can trick us into walking into a trap? Brothers! Hit him again!"
After enduring a few more blows, Nian'an shouted, "I'm not lying! I hate Fang Zhiyi too! I can take you to get his money! Lots of it!"
One of the underlings hesitated. "Boss?"
The ruffian leader looked at the pathetic Nian'an a few times. "Fine. But if you're messing with us, hmph..." He shook his fist.
Nian'an shrank his neck, offering an ingratiating smile. "Big brother, I'm absolutely not lying. I hate him just as much as you do!"
Although it deviated from the original plan, the outcome was the same. Nian'an actively led the ruffians through the gates of the Fang residence.
He knew very well that the house was nearly empty recently. Fang Zhiyi's trusted men had been busy outside, doing who-knows-what. Even Fang Zhiyi himself had been holed up in that warehouse at the back, acting all mysterious—not that Nian'an cared to know.
As expected, they entered the storeroom smoothly and successfully got the money.
"See? I didn't lie to you," Nian'an said, seeking credit. "Give me a share too. I'm leaving."
The ruffian looked at him mockingly. "I don't know how Fang Zhiyi ever rose to his position, raising a traitorous rat like you."
Nian'an felt a surge of anger, but looking at the men who had just beaten him, fear took over. In the end, he could only force a smile. "He is him, I am me."
Just as they pushed the door to leave, a dozen torches flared up in the courtyard.
"Nian'an, well done. You really lured them here!"
Nian'an was first startled, then a cold sweat broke out on his back.
"Crap! It's a setup! Brothers!" The ruffian leader, having some experience, shouted first, then immediately wrapped an arm around Nian'an's neck. "You little punk! Setting us up!"
"I didn't..." Nian'an tried to explain, but his throat was squeezed tight. He suddenly realized the obvious—his foster father already knew what he had done. Now, no matter which side he turned to, he was finished!
"Don't hurt my foster son!" Fang Zhiyi barked. "Let him go!"
"Let us leave!" the ruffian suddenly pulled out a knife, pressing it against Nian'an. He knew all too well about Fang Zhiyi's fighting prowess—the man was inhumanly fierce.
Fang Zhiyi's mouth spoke soft words, but he continued to advance.
The ruffian leader grew anxious. What exactly did Fang Zhiyi want?
In his panic, his hand holding the knife slipped. Nian'an felt a sharp pain as the blade nicked his backside. He let out an "ow!" The sudden commotion startled the ruffian leader, whose grip loosened. Seizing the chance, Nian'an broke free and sprinted away.
Even Fang Zhiyi hadn't anticipated this turn of events. Out of respect for his authority, the men guarding the entrance hadn't dared to stop Nian'an!
Fang Zhiyi closed his eyes. Great, the troublemaker got away!
But opening his eyes and seeing the stunned expressions on the ruffians' faces, Fang Zhiyi felt a surge of irritation.
"Beat them!"
That night, there were no flashing blades or clashing swords, only the continuous sound of miserable cries.
At daybreak, Chen Huaimin limped in. "Big brother, I've brought the person you wanted."
Fang Zhiyi looked at the young man before him. He appeared scholarly and gentle, shrinking back slightly under Fang Zhiyi's scrutinizing gaze.
"Hmm, not unlike how I was in my youth."
Huang Weixing nearly burst into tears. Was that a compliment or a threat?
Even Chen Huaimin thought his boss was talking nonsense.
"Kid, do you know who I am?" Fang Zhiyi asked casually.
Huang Weixing nodded, then suddenly knelt down.
Fang Zhiyi was taken aback, quickly stepping aside. "No need for that! It was just an opening line, don't..."
"Master Fang, when my mother was gravely ill, it was only thanks to the money you sent that she lived a little longer. Later, when she passed, you also paid for her burial. Please accept my gratitude, Benefactor!" He kowtowed heavily, his head hitting the floor with loud thuds. Fang Zhiyi glared at Chen Huaimin. I told you to find me a young man who looks scholarly. What have you brought me?
Chen Huaimin frantically waved his hands, indicating he truly hadn't known.
Fang Zhiyi sighed helplessly. The original owner of this body was indeed a good man, just one who met a bad end.
The specially marked paper slips were ready. Liu Acai carefully carried them away, his eyes full of the joy of impending profit.
Chen Huaimin now had his own tasks. The curriculum for the courtesans at the Mianyue House was set by the boss, and he needed to conduct regular spot checks. He was also responsible for their meals.
Due to the manpower shortage, Fang Zhiyi simply recruited more young people from the families he had previously helped.
What worried Chen Huaimin was that with Fang Zhiyi's current spending, the once well-stocked storeroom was emptying day by day, and the food reserves were nearly depleted. Yet, Fang Zhiyi didn't seem concerned at all.
Soon, Chen Huaimin was called outside by Liu Acai, who was carrying a chest. When Liu Acai opened it, revealing it packed full of copper coins, Chen Huaimin's heart almost stopped.
"You... you robbed a money house? And it's all coppers?"
Liu Acai was somewhat speechless. "This is what we earned these past few days! From the lottery tickets!"
"How is that possible..." Chen Huaimin couldn't tear his eyes away from the money. By his calculations, turning a profit should have taken much longer.
Liu Acai proudly put his hands on his hips. "You think you're the only one with ideas? I found a few unfamiliar faces and had them 'win'..."
Chen Huaimin understood. "Not bad for someone who spent time in a gambling den."
The two of them happily went to find Fang Zhiyi, only to be shooed away. Fang Zhiyi seemed to have anticipated this outcome all along and paid it no mind.
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.”
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.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
