Qin Hao stood in place, his whole body charred, his hair standing on end, and his face patchy with black and white.
He looked like nothing more than a fire poker just pulled out of a stove.
Qin Hao glanced down at his miserable state, then at Alon and Atiger, who were snickering on the side. He cleared his throat.
“Ahem…”
Trying to maintain his dignity as the Imperial Son, Qin Hao opened his mouth—only to blow out a puff of black smoke.
“Uh… what if I told you this was all part of my plan? Would you believe me?”
Alon and Atiger exchanged a glance, both pressing their lips together.
They struggled to hold back their laughter and replied,
“Of course, Your Highness. You’re brilliant and mighty—we naturally believe you.”
Qin Hao swept his gaze over them, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably.
“Alright, you two. If you want to laugh, just laugh. Holding it in must be torture.”
“Pfft—”
“Hahaha!”
Qin Hao’s mouth twitched. I told you to laugh, but did you have to actually do it?
After they had their fill of laughter, they finally asked,
“Your Highness, what happened? It almost seems like you can control the tribulation cloud?”
Qin Hao nodded.
“Drop the ‘almost.’ Right now, I can control the tribulation cloud!”
“Thanks to that pill I just took, I can now freely manipulate the tribulation cloud. As long as I don’t suppress my aura, the lightning will fall.”
“It’s actually pretty handy—I can even use this thunder tribulation to temper my body.”
Qin Hao looked down at his clothes, burnt to a crisp, then pulled a fresh set from his storage pouch and put them on.
He clenched his fists, feeling the surging blood energy within him, and couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face.
“Heh heh. Tonight, I’ll let them feel my power!”
…
The moment Qin Hao stepped out of the secret realm, he found the entrance packed with people blocking his way.
Qin Hao looked around. The two guards who were supposed to be on duty were nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, you! This secret realm is sealed off. Who gave you permission to enter?”
A young man pointed at Qin Hao and his group, barking sternly.
Alon and Atiger, enraged that someone dared to yell at their Imperial Son, immediately stepped forward to teach the man a lesson.
Qin Hao stopped them.
“We have proper procedures and authorization to enter this secret realm. But you—who are you to order me around?”
As soon as Qin Hao finished speaking, the young man threw his head back and laughed, his voice dripping with undisguised arrogance.
“You ask who I am? I’m afraid saying it might scare you!”
The young man adjusted his collar and lifted his chin.
“I am Zhao Tianci, the Resource Manager of the Ten Thousand Immortal Heaven Celestial Court!”
“Every spirit stone, mine, secret realm, and heavenly treasure across the entire Ten Thousand Immortal Heaven is under my jurisdiction.”
He then pointed a finger at Qin Hao.
“This secret realm was sealed by the Celestial Court. You claim you have proper authorization?”
“I don’t recall ever approving anyone to enter this realm.”
Qin Hao frowned suspiciously and asked,
“Where are the two guards who were watching over this place? They can vouch for me.”
Zhao Tianci snorted coldly.
“That’s what we wanted to ask you. When we arrived, the guards were missing. What did you do to them?”
Qin Hao’s brows knitted together. The guards were missing?
What exactly had happened outside while he was in the secret realm for half a day, undergoing his tribulation?
Qin Hao looked up, full of suspicion. When he saw Zhao Tianci’s arrogant face, he felt the urge to lash out right then and there.
But after a moment’s thought, he held back. The rules of the Celestial Court were set by Ruyan, and he didn’t want to be the one to break them.
And it was true—he hadn’t obtained the official approval before entering. There was no denying that.
Qin Hao took a deep breath, then pulled out his token.
“Look carefully. I’m from the Qin family. Earlier, when I came here, the two guards said I could enter first, and they would handle the paperwork later.”
“As for their disappearance, I have no idea what happened.”
When Zhao Tianci saw the token Qin Hao threw over, his arrogance diminished by half, but he still refused to back down.
“So what if you’re from the Qin family? Even the Qin family must follow the Celestial Court’s rules. Without approval, no one enters!”
“Don’t make excuses. Hand over whatever you obtained in the secret realm, and come with us to the Celestial Court.”
Hearing this, Qin Hao laughed.
“The fact that I’m still standing here talking to you calmly is already me being polite. Your own people said they’d handle the paperwork for me. That’s why I went in.”
“Hand over what I got inside? Sorry, I can’t—it’s already fused with me.”
“If you want to know what really happened, find those two guards and ask them. I don’t have time to waste with you.”
With that, Qin Hao turned to Alon and Atiger.
“Let’s go. Home.”
The moment he spoke, a series of whooshing sounds rang out.
Zhao Tianci and his men surrounded Qin Hao and his group.
“Leaving? Not so fast! Even if you’re from the Qin family, I’m not letting the treasures from this secret realm go that easily!”
Zhao Tianci was willing to offend the Qin family for this secret realm’s treasure, and he had his own motives.
Someone from the Ten Thousand Demons Nation had already approached him, asking him to look after this secret realm and quietly hand it over to them.
In return, the nation would provide him with enough resources to cultivate all the way to the Immortal Lord level.
Immortal Lord! Right now, he was just a minor Celestial Immortal, an unimaginable distance away from that rank. With such an opportunity before him, he couldn’t afford to back down.
Even if a Qin family member had taken the treasure, Zhao Tianci couldn’t retreat.
And he had a perfect excuse—everything he did was according to Celestial Court rules. Even the Qin family wouldn’t dare act recklessly against the Celestial Court, would they?
After all, behind the Celestial Court stood none other than the legendary Fairy Miejue, who had single-handedly slaughtered an entire otherworldly domain, backed by the forces of all Three Realms and Nine Heavens.
“Insolence! Do you even know who you’re blocking?”
Alon and Atiger roared, killing intent flaring in their eyes.
Zhao Tianci sneered.
“I don’t care who you are. We, as members of the Celestial Court, act according to its rules. Even if the Emperor himself were here, he would say we’re in the right. Men, seize them!”
“Who dares?!”
Seeing that these people actually intended to attack, Alon and Atiger bellowed.
The aura of a Half-Step Immortal King erupted instantly, its terrifying pressure pinning everyone present in place.
“How dare you! The man standing before you is the Imperial Son of the Qin family. Even the Lord of your Celestial Court must answer to him!”
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
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!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
