Liu Ruyan's eyes darted away evasively, her fingers anxiously twisting her tattered hem. She had never entered such a grand place before. The shimmering, colorful dresses inside were not something she could ever hope for.
Qin Hao stopped and looked at her quietly. The young girl had her head lowered. Her frail figure and cautious demeanor, as if terrified of becoming a burden to him, made his heart ache with a soft and bitter pang.
Qin Hao walked up to her, gently cupping her face with both hands to force her to meet his gaze.
"Whether it is expensive or not is not for you to consider. In my eyes, you deserve the most beautiful things in this world."
With that, Qin Hao took her hand and led her into the Nishang Pavilion.
The moment they stepped through the door, the originally harmonious atmosphere suddenly froze. A shop assistant, who was introducing clothes to a customer, caught a glimpse of Liu Ruyan out of the corner of his eye. With a clatter, the measuring ruler in his hand dropped to the floor.
His eyes widened as if he had seen something absolutely terrifying. After a long moment, he pointed a trembling finger at Liu Ruyan, his shrill voice piercing the tranquility of the shop:
"The... the Jinx! It is that Jinx from the Liu family! Why did she come to our Nishang Pavilion?!"
This exclamation was like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil, instantly causing an uproar.
The gazes of everyone in the shop immediately zeroed in on Liu Ruyan, filled with undisguised disgust, fear, and rejection.
"Heavens! It really is her. Did they not say the Liu family was going to execute her in public today?"
"What the hell is the Liu family doing? How did they let this scourge out?"
"Stay away from her. Whoever gets close to this Jinx is going to have bad luck."
"Look at the guy next to her. He looks decent enough, so why is he hanging around such an ominous person? Is his brain broken?"
"Quick, kick her out! We cannot let her stay in our shop. If we get tainted by her bad luck, how are we going to do business?"
"And that guy beside her, he might be some kind of evil fiend too. Throw them both out."
Insults and demands for them to leave rose one after another. Several noblewomen who were picking out clothes turned pale with fright, stumbling backward and tightly covering their noses and mouths with their handkerchiefs, as if Liu Ruyan carried a deadly plague.
Qin Hao's face completely darkened. He pulled the cowering Liu Ruyan close to his side. Sweeping his gaze around, his eyes were calm. There was no anger, but rather an indifference that was far more chilling than any fury.
The moment these people opened their mouths, they were already nothing but a pile of corpses in his eyes.
"Soul-Devouring Banner!"
Qin Hao opened his hand, and the wickedly aura-infused Soul-Devouring Banner appeared in his grasp. Feeling the ominous aura radiating from it, the customers and staff in the shop instantly turned pale with terror:
"What an evil power! This guy really is not anything good either!"
"Quick, notify the shopkeeper! The shopkeeper is a mighty Golden Core Realm cultivator. Ask him to take action and obliterate these two evil fiends."
Qin Hao sneered. He had not even done anything yet, and he was already branded an evil fiend?
He smiled and nodded. "Haha, calling me an evil fiend? Fine, today I will play the part of an evil fiend!"
Saying that, Qin Hao forcefully waved the Soul-Devouring Banner.
The thousands of agonizing, wailing ghost faces on the banner let out a collective shriek. Countless blood-red soul threads shot out like living venomous snakes, carrying ear-piercing shrieks as they accurately struck everyone in the shop.
They could feel their own souls being pulled out of their bodies by these threads.
"No, I do not want to die! Spare my life!"
"No, please, I was wrong! You are not an evil fiend, you are a good person, the best person in the world!"
Miserable and desperate pleas for mercy echoed endlessly. However, Qin Hao was not going to let them off just because they begged. With a flick of his wrist, he violently swung the banner, yanking their souls straight out of their bodies like he was fishing.
Over a hundred wailing souls were sucked into the Soul-Devouring Banner by Qin Hao. The soulless bodies collapsed to the ground with heavy thuds. In an instant, the previously bustling shop fell dead silent.
Qin Hao put away the banner without changing his expression, and the spine-chilling evil aura dissipated with it.
"Tell me, why do you act so tough when you have no strength? You dare to insult my person, do you not know how the word death is written?"
Liu Ruyan stared blankly at Qin Hao. Her previously empty and dead eyes were now surging with intense emotion, an unprecedented, almost burning touch.
This unreasonable, absolutely biased protection was like a violent yet warm thunderbolt that ruthlessly shattered her frozen heart.
Qin Hao did not notice the change in her expression. Instead, he pointed to the clothes inside the Nishang Pavilion and smiled at her:
"Haha, Ruyan, were you not worried that the things here were too expensive? Well, now that everyone is dead, we could not pay even if we wanted to. Pick out whatever clothes catch your eye."
Just as his words fell, a furious and tyrannical aura erupted from outside the shop.
"Vile spawn! You dare to slaughter my entire shop, and now you plan to commit theft within my walls! Today, this old master will obliterate your soul and ensure you never reincarnate!"
A gray silhouette charged at Qin Hao with astonishing momentum. The newcomer was none other than the shopkeeper of the Nishang Pavilion. He had just received a message from his staff saying someone was causing trouble.
He had rushed over immediately, only to be greeted by a shop filled with corpses. The dead bodies of his staff and customers were a shocking sight.
The scene before him made the veins on his forehead bulge with anger. He stared fixedly at Qin Hao, his eyes as venomous as a viper's.
Frightened by the shopkeeper's imposing aura, Liu Ruyan hurriedly hid behind Qin Hao.
Qin Hao patted her shoulder, comforting her that with him around, she would be fine.
"I am a peace-loving person who dislikes killing. However, it is a fact that you frightened my Ruyan. Kneel down, kowtow to Ruyan a hundred times to apologize, and I will spare your life."
The shopkeeper was almost driven to laughter by Qin Hao's shameless remarks. Dislikes killing? It had been less than five minutes since his staff sent the message to his arrival.
He arrived to see a field of corpses, and this guy was claiming he disliked killing? He must have sensed my peak Golden Core Realm cultivation and was forced to retract his murderous intent!
Moreover, was that girl not the Jinx of the Liu family? This bully who only picked on the weak was actually demanding he kneel to a Jinx? How could that be possible?
"Bastard! Who do you think you are! How dare you act so insolently in front of this old master! Today, I will take your life to pay tribute to the people of my Nishang Pavilion."
Qin Hao curled his lips. "I really do not like to fight, I only like to resolve fights. Why do all of you insist on forcing my hand?"
Under the shopkeeper's horrified gaze, a sudden phenomenon occurred within Qin Hao's eyes.
Qin Hao's pupils split into two. Deep within his left eye, primordial chaos bloomed, nebulas swirled, and universes were born and destroyed.
Within his right eye, thousands of Dao patterns intertwined, and chains of universal laws rose and fell.
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!" "......"
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.
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!
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!
