The sky was just beginning to brighten. Fang Zhiyi rubbed his eyes, got up, and made his bed before slowly walking out. As he passed by He Yuling's boudoir, he deliberately took a glance. He Yuling's corpse was still hanging in the room, looking absolutely terrifying.
But for Fang Zhiyi, he had seen this kind of thing plenty of times, and it wasn't like he hadn't fought them before.
Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded. On one side, He Yuling hung there with eyes wide open in unyielding grievance; on the other, Fang Zhiyi fetched water and washed up as if he were in his own home. Only when he had finished everything did he pat his bottom and leisurely walk out of the He family's front gate.
During the day, he wasn't afraid of that thing. Moreover, Little Bai should be back today. When the time comes, he could just trick it into dealing with He Yuling. Perfect!
However, the moment Fang Zhiyi pushed open the door to his own house, a flash of bright red blocked his vision.
"You motherf..." Fang Zhiyi was shocked. He immediately took a step back, coming face-to-face with that ashen, ghostly visage. He looked up at the sky. That's right, it was daytime, but...
He Yuling didn't have that many thoughts; she just reached out and grabbed him by the neck.
"Fuck, died from betrayal and murder, extremely fierce!"
Fang Zhiyi felt a bit frustrated. Clearly, because of his previous actions, He Yuling seemed even fiercer than before. A ghost that could attack during the day was much more ruthless than a regular malicious spirit!
In just a moment, the scene before his eyes changed. The sky was still dark, and he was now standing inside He Yuling's boudoir. He Yuling hung there quietly, her face drooping as she looked at him with an incredibly bizarre expression, as if she were smiling.
Fang Zhiyi subconsciously took a step back. A pair of hands rested on his shoulders. With just a glance from the corner of his eye, pitch-black, slender nails came into view.
"Giggle, giggle, giggle..." A creepy sound emanated from behind Fang Zhiyi.
"Is this the illusion you see when you encounter a ghost?" Fang Zhiyi muttered to himself. He didn't turn around. It wasn't like he hadn't watched horror movies before; if he turned around, he would definitely have a close encounter with He Yuling's vengeful spirit. It was better not to seek out that kind of thrill.
Those hands suddenly tightened, and Fang Zhiyi felt himself suffocating.
"Why don't you go die? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ended up like this..."
A resentful voice echoed in his ears.
At this moment, a third He Yuling appeared. She sat happily on the edge of the bed, adorning her hair with accessories and wearing a wedding dress, as if she were getting married the next day. However, upon seeing Fang Zhiyi, her expression suddenly turned ugly. She walked over quickly and viciously grabbed Fang Zhiyi's neck as well.
The He Yuling hanging there just watched coldly, still wearing that bizarre smile on her face.
"I am the eldest miss of the He family. All of you must be buried with me, buried with me!"
Fang Zhiyi felt a bit of a headache. He knew this was an illusion, but the suffocating feeling of being strangled was real.
His eyes darted around with effort, trying to find a handy weapon. Not to kill He Yuling—he didn't have the ability to do that—but killing himself was an option.
If he was killed by a malicious spirit, he would most likely be devoured or turned into its puppet. But if he did it himself, he would still have a fighting chance!
It wasn't like he hadn't done it before!
Just then, the originally pitch-black night sky was suddenly torn open by something. The sudden burst of sunlight caused He Yuling to subconsciously let go and back away. Fang Zhiyi felt the suffocation around his neck instantly fade away, and he turned his head.
"Who are you?"
The scene before him rapidly shifted, and Fang Zhiyi finally saw clearly that he was slumped at the doorway of his own house, with two loops of red string wrapped around his neck.
Then, he noticed a young man looking him up and down.
It was obvious that when he was nearly strangled to death by the illusion, this person had saved him.
"Thanks a lot." Fang Zhiyi gasped for air, having almost met his end.
The young man, however, made a bizarre movement. His body didn't move, but his neck suddenly stretched out, thrusting his entire face right in front of Fang Zhiyi, face-to-face: "Who are you? Who are you?"
Fang Zhiyi froze for a moment: "I'm your daddy!" He instantly sprang up, turned around, and snatched up a spirit tablet to hold in his hand.
This Jiang Town sure was lively. One ghost had just left, and now a demon had arrived!
The young man had no reaction to Fang Zhiyi's actions; he just kept asking, "Who are you?"
Fang Zhiyi was a bit puzzled. He tilted his head and looked at the demon. "This Daoist master is named Fang Zhiyi. If you'd like, you can call me foster father."
Upon hearing this, the young man instantly retracted his neck, muttering under his breath, "Fang Zhiyi, Fang Zhiyi, Fang Zhiyi." Then, he turned and walked away.
"Eh?" Fang Zhiyi was dumbfounded. He was a bit confused about the situation now.
But compared to that, how to deal with He Yuling was the real problem. This ghost's abilities were far more terrifying than he had imagined; even he was almost killed.
A whole day passed, and Little Bai still hadn't returned. Little Hei wasn't very willing to go out and look either, saying it felt like something was watching it.
Fang Zhiyi had no choice but to painstakingly draw a magic array. He didn't know if it would be useful, but he was already prepared to fight a ghost as a ghost.
As an ordinary person, I can't beat you, but as a ghost, that might not be the case.
Night fell, and that familiar sound of crying and laughing echoed once again. Then, He Yuling, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, drifted through the door.
Fang Zhiyi hadn't even closed the door; there was no point.
"You are going to die." He Yuling's face was extremely contorted. It was likely that the resentment in her heart tormented her every moment. In principle, the more time passed, the heavier her resentment became, and the harder she would be to deal with.
Fang Zhiyi grabbed a woodchopping knife. "If I die, I won't make it easy for you either."
He Yuling let out a "giggle, giggle, giggle" sound.
But right at that moment, her figure paused, and then her entire body was suddenly grabbed and violently slammed onto the ground.
Fang Zhiyi was stunned for a moment. He saw the young demon from earlier that day appear there. Behind him stood a burly man, who was the one that had just hoisted He Yuling up and smashed her onto the ground.
Having done all this, the burly man turned around with a respectful expression: "Master Chang, this is the place."
Another old man walked in. After merely glancing at the situation inside the room, the old man also turned around: "Great King, this is the place."
Fang Zhiyi's brain momentarily crashed.
Are you guys playing Russian nesting dolls here?
But closely following them, a middle-aged man walked in. His gaze swept past the red-clothed malicious spirit and then lingered on Fang Zhiyi's face.
A moment passed.
"Great King?"
The other three demons looked at Fang Zhiyi in astonishment and doubt.
Fang Zhiyi frowned. After a good while, he said, "Da Huang?"
The middle-aged man walked over gleefully. "Great King! It really is you! That monkey said he would return a Great King to us, and I thought he was tricking me!"
At this moment, He Yuling slowly got up, the venomous resentment on her face not diminishing in the slightest.
"All of you must die!"
"Make her shut up!" Da Huang turned his head and shouted. Master Chang turned to look at his subordinate. The burly man nodded, lifted He Yuling with one hand, and started slapping her directly. Demons had no concept of showing tender affection for the fairer sex.
He Yuling never expected that, as a malicious spirit, she would be lifted up and slapped across the face.
The most crucial point was, it actually hurt quite a bit!

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

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."

] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down 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.”