"Arrested? Our Li family is a prominent and respected clan!"
"Hmph, I can't be bothered to argue with you. Seize them!"
"Don't anyone move! And what of my Zhao family?" Zhao Jinglei dropped his pretense. Panting heavily, he offered an apologetic smile to his companions and said word by word, "If you harm a single one of my sworn brothers and sisters, my Zhao family will pursue this to the ends of the earth!"
To his surprise, the other side laughed even harder.
"The Zhao family? The Zhao family harbors treasonous ambitions. They're now neighbors with the Li family in the imperial dungeons!"
"Impossible!" Zhao Jinglei was truly shocked.
Lin Wanqing had a sinking feeling in her heart. "I am the daughter of the Lin family!"
Ye Qingzhou also spoke up: "My master is an elder of the Drifting Leaf Sect!"
"My father is Xiao Lan, the one who 'Crossed the River with a Single Sword'!"
Immediately after, several others declared their family names and backgrounds, revealing their privileged origins, each name more illustrious than the last.
The cultivators surrounding them exchanged glances.
The youths also looked at each other, surprised to learn their sworn siblings all had such secrets! They felt a wave of emotion.
Unexpectedly, a greedy light shone in the eyes of the cultivators.
"Well, well, well. To think all the escaped fish have gathered in one net! Brothers! This is our chance to earn merit!"
The youths hadn't expected these men to be so brazen and unafraid.
Only a few of them realized something terrible must have happened to their families!
Facing the encirclement, with no heart for a fight, they could only scatter like birds and beasts, fleeing for their lives, a sense of foreboding growing in each of their hearts.
Having been confined to the wilderness for so long, how could they know that the Imperial City had descended into chaos? Following Fang Zhiyi's instructions, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion had been relentlessly boosting Prince Xuan's reputation. The common people, treated well, sang his praises one after another. Prince Xuan, unable to explain himself, had no choice but to accept it, which in turn aroused the Emperor Tianyan's suspicions.
Thus began this game of power. Noble families and sects may hold lofty status, but before imperial authority, they are mere cannon fodder.
Whether it was the Li family or the Zhao family, those who got too close to Prince Xuan deserved to die.
Emperor Tianyan was no fool. He didn't intervene directly but signaled the rivals of the Li and Zhao families. Other clans, receiving the signal, naturally wouldn't let the opportunity slip, clamping down on their enemies like wolves sinking their teeth into prey.
Prince Xuan's goal was never truly to win over these families. He had been maneuvered into this position by Fang Zhiyi and now found himself trapped, unable to withdraw. To maintain the act, he had to play his part vigorously. Thus, the sects and families connected to the main group of youths were swept into the conflict, branded with one accusation after another—oppressing the common people, harboring sinister designs—none escaped accusation.
When the Palace Guard came knocking, they had no chance to resist. Of course, some did resist, only to be slaughtered on the spot. If you had grievances, you could plead your case from inside the prison. Resisting arrest was tantamount to rebellion!
Prince Xuan only felt his situation growing more perilous, but the game had progressed to a point where he couldn't extricate himself.
Also a cultivator, Emperor Tianyan had lived too long, his paranoia growing with the years. He would absolutely not let him go. Now, he could only hope Fang Zhiyi had some other plan.
But... there had been no word from Fang Zhiyi for quite some time.
Yet, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion's public-facing businesses continued to operate, functioning perfectly normally... so normally it felt abnormal.
Meanwhile, atop Hidden Mountain, Fang Zhiyi looked at his reassembled followers, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
"The time has come, everyone."
Rumors of rebellion began to circulate from somewhere, thickening the already tense atmosphere.
Frankly, almost all officials disbelieved such gossip. Rebellion? With what?
Cultivators among the common folk were exceedingly rare. Anyone with any ability either came from a noble family, a sect, or even the royal house. Could those peasants possibly fight cultivators with firewood choppers?
Nevertheless, because of this, cultivators everywhere received orders to take action—essentially to flex their might and remind the common people of their place.
On the streets of Misty Rain City, a few Ninth-Rank cultivators were chatting.
"Such a pity we let those so-called 'Nine Youths of Qingyun' escape."
"I heard from Lord Yan that capturing Li family remnants guarantees a promotion of three ranks."
"Lord Liu also said the escaped fish from the Zhao and Lin families are worth a fortune in gold, with a chance to enter the Liu family's outer court."
"Should we go search for them again later?"
"Stupid old woman! Can't you watch where you're going?"
An old vegetable seller stood to the side, fearful of disturbing the three men. However, the trio was so engrossed in their conversation that one bumped into the old woman and immediately began to curse.
The old woman bowed repeatedly in apology.
The Ninth-Rank cultivator who had bumped into her looked at her with disgust. "Disgusting." He then actually raised his hand to strike her.
"Don't touch my grandma!" a child suddenly rushed over. The cultivator pressed his hand against the boy's head, a sneer appearing on his face. "The world truly has changed. Even this little peasant brat dares to raise a hand against me now."
The surrounding commoners dared not make a sound. Cultivators were like gods; if they killed someone, the people could only watch.
Even those whose eyes burned with anger dared not speak.
"Exactly. I think it's all because of that Myriad Treasures Pavilion, feeding these commoners too well—opening porridge kitchens one day, giving out clothes the next."
"Ahem, better not say such things carelessly," another pointed towards the sky.
The cultivator holding the boy's head wore a cruel smile. "In my opinion, it all boils down to our heavenly Emperor being too merciful."
As he spoke, he prepared to exert force with his hand.
But a loud bang made him pause.
Puzzled, the cultivator looked up and saw a person not far away holding a peculiarly shaped object, like some kind of fire poker.
"Hey, hey! You're bleeding..." His companion's voice trembled.
He looked down and saw the blood spreading on his chest. A wave of pain hit him. How? How could he, a cultivator, be injured by an ordinary person?
"You!" Another cultivator moved to attack, but another bang sounded as a second person holding a strange device appeared.
Watching his two companions fall, the last cultivator trembled in fear, unable to comprehend what kind of sorcery was being used.
"See, everyone? They are human too. They also bleed." A calm voice carried down the street, awakening the stunned ordinary folk.
They turned in unison towards the figure standing at a higher vantage point.
"I give you a chance. Take up arms and join me in... slaying the gods."
His words seemed to carry a certain magic.
As if to prove his point, another person raised their strange weapon, aiming at the last remaining cultivator.
"You lowly peasants! How dare you assault cultivators in the street! Aren't you afraid of—"
Bang!
The world fell silent.
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."
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.
