Xiao Hei's spirit was very poor, and its body had once again turned into a round ball. It seemed it had expended a great deal in the world of Journey to the West.
"You're not going to die, are you?" Fang Zhiyi said.
A pair of big eyes suddenly grew out of Xiao Hei's ball-like body, and then it rolled them. "Can't you hope for something good?"
After a pause, it continued, "This world should be relatively easy for you... I need to sleep."
Fang Zhiyi nodded.
The original host's life could be described as... complicated.
The story begins when Fang Zhiyi's daughter, Fang Yunyun, was three years old. Due to a car accident, Fang Zhiyi's wife passed away, and he was deeply devastated. However, looking at his young daughter, Fang Zhiyi eventually pulled himself together.
He acted as both father and mother, taking care of his daughter while working to support the family. These days were very difficult, but Fang Zhiyi gritted his teeth and endured. Watching his daughter grow up brought him some comfort.
By the time Fang Yunyun turned eighteen, Fang Zhiyi had saved enough money to buy a large house and moved in with his daughter. He had it all planned out: after his daughter graduated from university, he would transfer the property to her. At least then Fang Yunyun wouldn't have to worry about housing and would have security even after marriage.
However, Fang Yunyun's rebellious phase seemed to start only after she entered university. Her relationship with her father deteriorated sharply. She argued with Fang Zhiyi over the phone and didn't come home during holidays. Fang Zhiyi was also puzzled, not knowing what he had done to upset his daughter.
Until that Chinese New Year, which was also Fang Yunyun's birthday, she got into another argument with Fang Zhiyi over a trivial matter.
"You never understand me! When I was little, you controlled everything I did, and now you still want to control me?" Her pent-up resentment almost burst forth. "Don't think just because you're nice to me now, I've forgotten how you used to scold and punish me when I was a child!"
Fang Yunyun stormed out, slamming the door.
Fang Zhiyi looked at the meal she had knocked to the floor, then at the birthday cake he was holding in his hands. His throat tightened.
He remained silent, but ultimately sent his daughter a text message: "I'm sorry. It's Dad's fault."
But Fang Yunyun brought back an even bigger "surprise" for him.
Fang Zhiyi looked at the man she brought home. This man was clearly older than Fang Yunyun, with his hair styled in an exaggerated, spiky way. When he spoke, he always gave off a slick, glib feeling.
"This is Chen Cai," his daughter said, happily linking arms with the man. "Dad, I'm going to marry him!"
Fang Zhiyi felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Looking at his daughter's bright, shining eyes, he opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by her next sentence.
"I'm pregnant with his child."
Fang Zhiyi later found out that this Chen Cai had been an assistant teacher at his daughter's university, was divorced, and had a son living with his ex-wife. He called himself an "artist," meaning he painted, but his paintings had virtually no market. Fang Yunyun had met him during her university years.
"Ah Cai can paint, and he's really good at it," Fang Yunyun said, her face full of happiness when talking about her boyfriend.
Fang Zhiyi patiently advised, "But it seems he doesn't have a job right now..."
"Those things aren't important, Dad. You've been single for too long; you don't understand what love is!"
"He's been divorced..."
"Love is free. Ah Cai said so."
"But he has no job now, so no income. How will you manage in the future?" Fang Zhiyi's face was full of worry.
Fang Yunyun said, "I can support him. Dad, didn't you help me get a job at that big company? It's enough to support him."
Fang Zhiyi felt the world spinning.
But, fearing his daughter's anger, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything more.
The wedding was hastily arranged. All of the Fang family's relatives and friends attended. Fang Zhiyi mustered his energy to socialize with them. Everyone was surprised by Fang Yunyun's whirlwind marriage, but Fang Zhiyi wore a broad smile. He couldn't let relatives and friends look down on his daughter, so in every word, he defended this "son-in-law" whom he himself actually didn't think much of.
After the wedding, Chen Cai openly moved into Fang Zhiyi's house.
Life went on like this, only Fang Zhiyi felt even more exhausted. Chen Cai sometimes even advised him, "Old bro... I mean, Dad, you're getting on in years. Wouldn't it be nice to take it easy for a couple of days? Why are you always running around so busy?"
Fang Zhiyi held his breath and didn't reply. Chen Cai snorted disdainfully and left, leaving behind a pile of melon seed shells and beer cans on the coffee table.
For Fang Zhiyi, the only good news was the birth of his grandson. Looking at this little life, Fang Zhiyi felt somewhat comforted. After the child was born, Chen Cai began instilling in Fang Yunyun the idea that breastfeeding was inferior and that imported formula should be used. Fang Yunyun agreed, and immediately asked Fang Zhiyi for money.
For this grandson, Fang Zhiyi was willing to spend. Not just for formula; almost all the child's expenses came from his savings.
Life became much more comfortable for the couple, Fang Yunyun and Chen Cai. Fang Yunyun went to work every day, while Chen Cai slept until noon, then ordered takeout. After eating, he would say he was going out to seek inspiration for his art, but in reality, he was just hanging out with his dubious friends. When Fang Yunyun had time off, the two of them would disappear all day, going camping with friends one day, visiting an art exhibition in a neighboring city the next. Their social media feeds were updated daily with enviable posts.
Fang Zhiyi became the full-time nanny for his grandson, Chen Xiaoqun. To take care of the child, he even gave up his own job and focused entirely on raising his grandson.
One might think this arrangement would be acceptable, but although Chen Cai paid no attention to the child, he always interfered when Fang Zhiyi tried to discipline him, sarcastically criticizing Fang Zhiyi's parenting methods. What chilled Fang Zhiyi's heart even more was that his daughter also took Chen Cai's side.
Chen Xiaoqun hit another child in the neighborhood on the head with a toy. The child's parents came to their door seeking an explanation. Fang Zhiyi, stern-faced, wanted to make Chen Xiaoqun apologize. Who would have thought Chen Cai, lounging on the sofa, would jump up as if provoked.
"Don't you dare bow your head to apologize!"
His loud voice startled even Fang Zhiyi.
"It's just kids roughhousing. Why are you, an adult, making such a big deal out of it? Son, don't apologize. It's not a big deal!"
Fang Zhiyi could only apologize on behalf of the child himself. After the other party, unwilling to make a fuss, left, Chen Cai said to Fang Zhiyi, "Dad, he doesn't understand. Why are you so harsh with him?"
Fang Zhiyi frowned. "When a child does something wrong, you have to teach them..."
"Wrong about what? Should he let himself be hit instead of hitting back?" Chen Cai said righteously. "Come on, son, Dad will take you for fried chicken!"
Little Chen Xiaoqun was overjoyed, even giving his grandfather a somewhat smug look.
Fang Zhiyi felt as if a heavy stone were pressing on his heart, making it hard to breathe.
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!"
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.
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.”
