Lin Tianba shook his head but ultimately couldn’t bring himself to make a final decision. He decided to wait a little longer.
If there was no turnaround by the end of the month, then he’d have no choice but to go through with it.
Having gone a full night without rest, he looked utterly worn out. Combined with his injuries, he cut a pitiful figure.
With hollow eyes, he dragged himself back to his pigsty of an apartment, not even bothering to go to the hospital…
While Lin Tianba was resting, Luo Yao, who was at her estate, received a message.
[Boss, it’s done. Lin Tianba is finished this time.]
A pleased expression crossed Luo Yao’s face.
She thought how happy Ran would be when he heard the news.
She would always be there to protect him.
Monday arrived, and the world resumed its usual rhythm. Lin Ran was invited out by Wu Zhishang.
An hour earlier, Wu Zhishang had happily attended what he considered an unexpected date.
Chen Qingtian had taken the initiative to reach out to him, asking to meet. Wu Zhishang had even wondered if he was dreaming.
Sitting across from each other at the address Chen Qingtian had sent, Wu Zhishang couldn’t help but overthink.
He knew he was just a nobody, unworthy of someone like Chen Qingtian. But what if there was a chance?
What if she genuinely appreciated his endearing cluelessness?
What if she wasn’t just using him to get close to Lin Ran?
What if she, like Lin Ran’s wife, had a thing for puppy-like guys?
What if…
“What’s on your mind?” Chen Qingtian’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Wu Zhishang tensed up immediately.
His grip on the coffee cup faltered, and he shook his head. “Just thinking about work stuff.”
“You’re out with me, and you’re thinking about work? Am I not pretty enough?”
Wu Zhishang flushed, remembering the first time he’d seen Chen Qingtian at the Pangu Hotel, swaying with her in the middle of the dance floor.
“So… what did you want to talk to me about?”
He still refused to believe Chen Qingtian was here for romance—because he knew he wasn’t good enough.
Chen Qingtian nodded. “I need you to help me arrange a meeting with Lin Ran.”
Wu Zhishang felt like he’d been doused in ice water. His heart sank.
“Lin Ran is married. What are you trying to pull?”
“Married? But he’s only twenty-three!” Chen Qingtian looked genuinely shocked.
Seeing her reaction, Wu Zhishang thought, Just as I suspected. She’s after Lin Ran.
“Yeah, and my sister-in-law is an amazing woman. I suggest you drop whatever ideas you’re entertaining.”
It took Chen Qingtian a moment to recover. She stared blankly before speaking.
“We’re friends, aren’t we? Last time you got dumped, I was the one who got drunk with you. The way you’re talking to me now makes me feel like you’re biting the hand that fed you.”
Wu Zhishang replied matter-of-factly, “If you weren’t lusting after Lin Ran, we could still be friends. But now, I have to shut you out—for his sake and his wife’s.”
I have to protect the best version of Lin Ran for my sister-in-law, he thought.
His bluntness wasn’t surprising—he and Lin Ran got along precisely because they shared similar personalities.
Chen Qingtian was so angry she laughed.
“Oh, wow. So this is how you see me? Some homewrecker?”
“Aren’t you?” Wu Zhishang shot back.
“I! AM! NOT!” she roared, then paused.
Don’t lose your temper. Stay calm. I’m Chen Qingtian, a public figure. I have to maintain my dignity.
Wu Zhishang pressed, “Then why do you want to meet Lin Ran?”
Chen Qingtian took a deep breath, recomposing herself into the poised celebrity she was supposed to be.
“I have something important to discuss with him. Just help me set up a meeting, and I’ll give you ten grand.”
Wu Zhishang scoffed. “Do I look like the kind of guy who’d sell out his brother for money?”
Ten grand? Seriously? My sister-in-law hands out checks like candy.
Chen Qingtian fell silent for a moment.
“Then what will make you help me?”
Wu Zhishang crossed his arms. “Tell me the real reason. If I’m convinced you’re not a threat to Lin Ran’s happiness, I’ll consider it.”
“You really think so little of me? That I’d stoop to being a mistress?”
“People aren’t always what they seem. You’ve been acting suspicious from the start—always fishing for info about Lin Ran.”
For some reason, seeing Wu Zhishang’s stupidly earnest face made Chen Qingtian want to mess with him.
“Fine, you got me. What if I do like Lin Ran? What then?”
Wu Zhishang immediately bristled.
“Oh, hell no! You think you can just waltz into his marriage? Sure, you’re decent-looking, but you’re nothing compared to my sister-in-law. Lin Ran loves her—truly loves her.”
“And let me give you some advice: being a mistress isn’t glamorous. You’re like an uninvited stray, barging into someone else’s life without a clue.”
“Love isn’t built on other people’s pain. What you’re chasing isn’t romance—it’s moral bankruptcy. You’re like a rat in the shadows, too ashamed to face the light.”
“So let me leave you with two words: Don’t.”
Chen Qingtian trembled with rage but forced herself to stay composed.
“‘Don’t’ is one word.”
Wu Zhishang smirked. “Oh, wow. You can count! I thought you’d go for the third.”
That was the last straw. Years of etiquette training and public image discipline crumbled in an instant.
“YOU! LITTLE! SHIT!” she screamed, hurling her coffee into his face.
This bastard is insufferable!
Wu Zhishang wiped the coffee off his face. “Bit bitter. Not as sweet as Lin Ran and my sister-in-law.”
Chen Qingtian stared at her empty cup in disbelief.
What did I just do? She glanced around frantically—thankfully, no one had seen. Her reputation would’ve been ruined.
As Wu Zhishang stood to leave, Chen Qingtian panicked.
“Wait! You can’t go yet. I’m not done.”
Wu Zhishang turned back, raising an eyebrow. “What? Trying to redeem yourself? Won’t work. I’m not helping you meet Lin Ran.”
Chen Qingtian took another deep breath, though her voice still shook.
“Relax. I’m not into Lin Ran. I need to talk to him about something else.”
“Sure. ‘Something else.’ Like being his side piece,” Wu Zhishang muttered.
“You—! Ugh, fine. I’ll tell you the truth, but you cannot tell anyone. Actually… what I have to say is in the next chapter…”
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.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
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.”
