"Let's do it!" a subordinate said through gritted teeth.
Following Fang Zhiyi's instructions, the men brought the deer into the city overnight. They found a craftsman and forced him to process the antlers. Everything was done without making a sound.
Once everything was finished, they sought out Fang Zhiyi, who was wandering aimlessly, to report back.
"Young Master, what do we do now? Are you going to present this... auspicious omen directly to the Emperor?"
Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes at him. "Do you think the Emperor is a fool?"
The men looked at each other in dismay. After a moment, one asked, "Then..."
"We wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for the day the antlers fall off."
"The antlers fall off?" His subordinates were even more confused. However, since they were already in the same boat, they naturally listened to whatever the Young Master said. Besides, ever since they started following him, their days had become much more leisurely. They didn't even have to report to the Imperial City Department on time every day.
Gao Qiu also couldn't quite figure out what his adopted son was doing every day. He only heard from the servants that the boy would go out as soon as he woke up and wouldn't return until dark. But seeing that he was in good spirits, Gao Qiu figured it was fine.
That was until Fang Zhiyi suddenly came to him, saying he wanted to present an auspicious omen to the Emperor. Gao Qiu was startled.
"An auspicious omen? What auspicious omen?" He knew his adopted son too well. If you asked him to find two famous courtesans for Emperor Huizong of Song, that might be possible. But an auspicious omen? What kind of shameless auspicious omen could he possibly stumble upon?
However, when he saw the slightly dazzling pair of antlers in Fang Zhiyi's hands, Gao Qiu's eyes went wide.
"This, this is..."
"I was out taking care of some business with a few of my men when we suddenly encountered a snow-white deer. It was glowing with white light. We were all stunned by this divine beast. By the time I snapped out of it and tried to approach... guess what happened?"
Gao Qiu blanked for a moment. "What happened?"
"The deer suddenly let out a cry, shook its head, and then these antlers fell right off! After that, the white deer vanished into the forest! Look, there are even faint words on the antlers..."
Gao Qiu leaned in for a closer look. There were indeed two lines of small characters clearly visible on them.
"A wise and holy Emperor."
"Peace and prosperity for the nation."
He looked at Fang Zhiyi with a face full of surprise. But as his eyes darted around, he immediately understood. Gao Qiu had climbed the ranks by kissing up to people; of course, he wouldn't believe any nonsense about a white deer appearing. What kind of proper deer would have gold and silver inlaid on its antlers?
But when he carefully pondered Fang Zhiyi's words, he realized there wasn't a single flaw!
Where is the white deer? It existed! It ran away! Where is the proof? The antlers are the proof!
"Genius!" Gao Qiu became excited, slapping Fang Zhiyi hard on the back. "I never expected this, I never expected this! My boy, you've finally seen the light! I will submit a memorial to the Emperor for you right away! I guarantee you'll be credited with a great merit!"
The current Emperor didn't care about anything. Every day, he was either eating, drinking, and playing, or listening to all sorts of flattery. If Gao Qiu laid a little groundwork for his adopted son, this would definitely count as a great achievement!
Watching Gao Qiu enthusiastically prepare, Fang Zhiyi suddenly felt a bit curious and asked Little Hei, "Tell me, in this world where fiction and reality are intertwined... the Jingkang Incident will still happen, right?"
Little Hei was also a bit bewildered. "I'm not too sure... Don't look at me like that, I really don't know. You were the one who suggested taking the initiative. We're on their turf right now. The fact that I can ensure we aren't discovered is already pretty good!"
"Useless."
"Who are you calling useless?!"
Sure enough, with Gao Qiu's groundwork, Fang Zhiyi soon received a commendation from the Emperor, who even asked him to enter the palace personally to present the treasure. Terrified that Fang Zhiyi might show cowardice, Gao Qiu repeatedly instructed him on what to do.
However, when Fang Zhiyi met Emperor Huizong of Song, he behaved with perfect manners and propriety, earning a massive amount of brownie points with Emperor Huizong of Song.
"Gao Qiu, this son of yours... is not bad! How could you have kept him from serving me all this time?"
Gao Qiu's face was full of joy, but he remained very humble. "Your Majesty, the child is too young and inevitably a bit unsteady..."
"I think he is very steady!" Emperor Huizong of Song put down the antlers in his hand and looked at Fang Zhiyi with great interest. "Where are you currently serving? Do you need me to arrange a post for you?"
Fang Zhiyi cupped his hands in a salute. "To reply to Your Majesty, this lowly one is currently serving as an Administrator in the Imperial City Department, working directly for Your Majesty."
Emperor Huizong of Song was taken aback. "You're in the Imperial City Department? How come I've never heard of you... Never mind, how about I grant you the position of Superintendent of the Imperial City Department?"
A Superintendent was one rank higher than an Administrator. Gao Qiu was ecstatic, but Fang Zhiyi just cupped his hands again. "Your Majesty, this lowly one lacks the qualifications. I would rather continue as an Administrator and serve Your Majesty from there!"
At these words, Gao Qiu was stunned, and Emperor Huizong of Song was also stunned. A moment later, he burst into loud laughter. "To be so young yet have such a good grasp of the bigger picture! Rare! Truly rare! I will remember you! Since you have presented this auspicious object, I shall grant you... the privilege of moving freely in and out of the palace. How does that sound?"
Fang Zhiyi expressed his gratitude.
Gao Qiu couldn't quite understand his adopted son's thinking. He just chalked it up to youthful arrogance and let it go after a few complaints.
Only Fang Zhiyi himself knew that with Gao Qiu's connections, he would definitely climb the ranks quickly. But those people would never be giving face to Fang Zhiyi himself; they would only be wary of Gao Qiu behind him. A castle in the air built like that was utterly useless. Furthermore... Gao Qiu had quite a few enemies in the court. If Fang Zhiyi suddenly shot to the top, he would have to guard against their open attacks and hidden arrows, which would be far too exhausting.
However, he didn't mistreat the men following him. Instead, he first painted a grand picture of their future and then handed out a generous amount of silver rewards to each of them. Jokes aside, he wasn't short on money. If he ever needed money, he just had to hold out his hand and ask Gao Qiu.
But having gained a preliminary understanding of this Emperor's habits, Fang Zhiyi let go of his restraints and went all out.
Today, he spent a fortune to find a long-lost famous painting and presented it to Emperor Huizong of Song, making the Emperor so happy his eyes crinkled into slits as he repeatedly praised Gao Qiu for having a good son. The next day, he picked up a broken rock, carved some crooked runes on it, and had his men spread rumors everywhere. After catching the attention of Emperor Huizong of Song, he showed up to decipher it, spouting nonsense about the Great Song Dynasty enduring for thousands of years and unifying the realm, which filled Emperor Huizong of Song with wild ecstasy.
Nowadays, Gao Qiu felt a bit alarmed whenever he saw Fang Zhiyi. This kid's ability to forge things and flatter people was even better than his own!
But it was undeniable that the more Fang Zhiyi won the favor of Emperor Huizong of Song, the more Gao Qiu benefited as well. Thus, he intentionally or unintentionally cooperated with Fang Zhiyi in pulling these stunts, and he agreed to every single one of Fang Zhiyi's requests.
In fact, Fang Zhiyi's requests were quite simple: he just held out his hand for money.
Getting treasures for the Emperor cost money, creating fake auspicious omens cost money, treating his subordinates to meals cost money... Only someone like Gao Qiu could handle it; anyone else would probably have worried themselves to death.
And Fang Zhiyi's actions allowed him to gradually establish a firm foothold in the Imperial City Department. The people who used to refer to him simply as the Young Master now referred to him as... Lord Gao.
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!
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...
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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.”
