The first time he heard of the Nine Cloud-Disciples of Qingyun was from a secret report delivered by the Rainmist City outpost.
Looking at the detailed report, Fang Zhiyi was somewhat stunned. The beauty-loving young maiden, the brave and martial youth—the entire report even seemed to brim with youthful fervor and passion.
"That old woman had already borrowed grain twice. This time she came begging again. The steward refused, so that group beat up the clerks and forcibly distributed the rice to the commoners. The losses were not small."
The Ghost Reaper urged Fang Zhiyi to take action and teach them a lesson. Fang Zhiyi shook his head. There were more important matters to attend to now. And these youngsters... they rather resembled his own younger self, wholeheartedly believing that the justice in their hearts and their burning passion alone could change the world.
Such people should live.
However, the actions of the Nine Cloud-Disciples indeed caused Fang Zhiyi considerable trouble. Their repeated obstructions finally stirred a killing intent within him as well.
Just as he was still pondering his countermeasures, news of the Ghost Reaper's death arrived. He had been killed by the Nine Cloud-Disciples, his spiritual energy completely drained. His corpse was hung from a tree as a public display, and his spine had been extracted whole to be fashioned into a magical artifact.
Fang Zhiyi ordered an investigation into their tracks, but then he received word from Prince Xuan. There was unusual movement in the imperial court. He had no choice but to temporarily set aside thoughts of avenging his subordinate and attend to the main business first.
Bad news arrived one after another. The cloth workshop managed by the Poisoned Embroideress was attacked. Her entire face was ruined by that poison-using maiden, and she died with her body festering, her screams lasting for three days and three nights.
Fang Zhiyi dispatched the Wine Sword Immortal. The Wine Sword Immortal could not bear to strike down these youths, but who knew the other side would have no such scruples, each move aimed to kill. Upon receiving news of the Wine Sword Immortal's death, Fang Zhiyi let out a heavy sigh.
His gaze swept over another secret report, concerning the massacre of Chaotic Stone Village. This village housed the elderly and children of soldiers who had died on the frontier. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion often provided relief, but recently, due to various incidents everywhere, they hadn't been able to attend to it. The villagers of Chaotic Stone Village thus came up with the idea of highway robbery. They never intended to harm lives, only to find some food. Who knew that on their very first attempt, they encountered a merchant caravan? The caravan looked down on these villagers and even beat a child. The villagers erupted in fury, scattered the caravan, and seized the grain.
The horses, carriages, gold, and silver were left untouched.
They had stirred up a great disaster. This caravan was connected to a distant nephew of the Prime Minister. Fang Zhiyi had intended to relocate them, but he was a step too late.
The Nine Cloud-Disciples, who received the plea for help, slaughtered the entire mountain bandit village clean, leaving not a single survivor.
Prince Xuan sent another message. Fang Zhiyi stared blankly at the stack of papers before him.
He had originally thought those youths were just grassroots folk wandering the martial world. He never expected each of their backgrounds to be so illustrious.
The eldest son of a great clan, the granddaughter of a first-rank official, the junior of a sect elder... What was supposed to be a good grassroots counterattack story suddenly turned into a hidden-bloodline experience of the Jianghu.
"Emperor Tianyan has received the secret report. The affair is exposed. This is my last correspondence with you. Take care."
Prince Xuan's handwriting remained vigorous and powerful. Fang Zhiyi turned the letter over. On the back was a simple map. Following the route on it, he could escape the Xuan Province.
Fang Zhiyi did not leave. He disbanded his followers, but many of them originally held deep grudges against the imperial court. Unwilling to leave, they became the first line of defense against the Nine Cloud-Disciples.
Until those nine individuals killed their way to his very front. Fang Zhiyi took a drink of wine, looked at the nine youths before him with their eyes full of "acting on Heaven's behalf," and couldn't help but laugh.
They shouted accusations that Fang Zhiyi brought calamity upon the common people and was plotting rebellion, then launched their attack.
Plotting rebellion, I admit. Bringing calamity upon the common people? Did I?
With his cultivation level, risking his life could have killed several of them. But he stared blankly for a moment at the way the youths cooperated and protected each other.
"Killing a few people, what's the point?" Fang Zhiyi suddenly withdrew, allowing a longsword to pierce through his heart. "In this world, a few lives cannot change anything..."
The youths were immersed in the joy of victory; no one listened to what he said.
Only when Fang Zhiyi fell to the ground did he remember: a subordinate had previously said that if he also died in battle, they would ignite explosives to destroy this place and perish together with the enemy.
Forget it. Let fate decide for them...
"Hmm..." Fang Zhiyi stroked his chin. "Hiss..."
Little Hei imitated his posture.
Fang Zhiyi suddenly laughed. "Starting with a full set of equipment? These conditions are too good. I was afraid you'd make me start as a waiter."
"If possible, that should still be considered."
"You shut up."
"This Prince Xuan... is no good character," Fang Zhiyi changed the subject.
Little Hei nodded. "The original host was merely a pawn in his game, meant to create chaos during his power grab. No matter what, the original host was doomed. Even the place marked on that simplified map had assassins hidden long ago, ready to silence him for good."
"Sir, the Ghost Reaper requests permission to teach those brats who don't know their place a lesson." A masked subordinate hurried in, his attitude respectful.
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him. "Relay my order. Have all the local leaders return."
"Yes... Sir?" The subordinate was somewhat bewildered.
"Go quickly."
Seeing Fang Zhiyi's expression, the subordinate promptly accepted the order and left. It was worth noting that since the founding of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, to avoid exposure, they had rarely gathered all together. For the master to suddenly issue such an order now, could it mean...?
In just a few short days, the originally quiet and desolate Hidden Mountain became lively.
"Embroideress, you've grown even more beautiful. How about we team up and make a life together?"
"Drink this cup of wine, and I'll consider it."
"Forget it. Everyone knows you're a master of poison. I haven't lived long enough yet."
"Ghost Reaper, I heard the grain shop under your watch got overturned by a few young punks? Hahahaha!"
"You old thing, you're not dead yet?"
"Why has the master summoned us all back? I still have many matters on hand."
"Could it be time for a major undertaking?"
"Don't guess wildly. All of you, be quiet." The man holding a gourd took a few gulps of wine, leaned back comfortably, and calmly uttered a sentence.
The noisy crowd paused for a moment, then grew boisterous again.
"Wine Sword Immortal, what gives you the right to order me?"
"Do you want to fight? Come on, my broadsword is thirsty. Let's agree first, you're not allowed to use your sword."
Only when Fang Zhiyi appeared did everyone quiet down. They all looked up at the figure on the steps.
If it weren't for him back then, the grass on their graves would be unknown heights tall—no, perhaps they wouldn't even have graves. They held genuine admiration for Fang Zhiyi in their hearts.
They also held respect for Fang Zhiyi. His ultimate goal, they did not fully understand, but some could guess. After all, everyone here was, to a greater or lesser extent, dissatisfied with the ways of the world.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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!
