I don’t know how long I walked, but the sky had completely darkened.
As Lin Ran continued forward, a sudden sense of familiarity washed over him.
This place?
The pitch-black night, the moonlight completely obscured by towering pine trees, the primal forest thick with a damp, icy chill.
Lin Ran trudged step by step through the overgrown weeds, moving straight ahead.
Until a cave appeared before him—Lin Ran froze.
Why did this scene feel like something he’d seen in a dream?
Lin Ran peered into the cave entrance but saw no sign of any eyes. He let out a slight sigh of relief.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed from inside the cave.
That sound—it was like the voice of death itself.
Lin Ran stiffened, then rushed to the cave entrance in a few strides. The moment he stepped inside, he looked down and saw a pair of crimson eyes staring back at him, nearly making him stumble in fright.
At his feet, Little Black was so terrified he leaped straight into Lin Ran’s arms.
[Little Black: "What the hell is that thing?! Scared the crap outta me!"]
Lin Ran didn’t answer. He was just as shaken.
Those crimson eyes were unnerving, yet somehow familiar.
They were positioned slightly lower than Lin Ran’s own height, much shorter than him.
Gulping, Lin Ran was about to speak when the bloody mouth beneath those eyes stretched open, glistening ominously in the faint moonlight.
"Hehehe—I won, I’m the… one who gets to live."
"Are! You! Here! To! Play! With! Me! Too?"
A childlike voice laced with bone-chilling coldness.
Lin Ran’s hair stood on end. This thing was speaking human words.
"I’m not. Stay calm."
Lin Ran immediately signaled his harmlessness.
"Hehehe—They said… only one person… who comes here… gets to leave… alive!"
The voice was halting, as if spoken by someone with a speech impediment.
As soon as those words ended, a shadow suddenly lunged from the darkness.
[Little Black: "Holy shit, let’s get outta here! This is way too scary! If you die, that’s your problem, but don’t drag me down with you!"]
Lin Ran: "No, I haven’t found who I’m looking for yet. Besides, as the so-called ‘Creator,’ you’re scared of a kid?"
[Little Black: "I was lying! I’m nothing special! Any random person could slaughter me in seconds! I’ve only survived this long by being a coward! Waaah, let’s just go!"]
In the instant the shadow leaped, Lin Ran caught a glimpse under the moonlight.
It was that frail little boy from earlier in the evening—the one who’d been pitted against a much stronger opponent.
The kid clearly had some skill, but Lin Ran wasn’t intimidated.
Among children, he might’ve been exceptional, but to Lin Ran, he was just a slightly tougher brat.
Lin Ran dodged the boy’s attack and was about to counter when the child suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Lin Ran paused, then cautiously approached.
"Hey… you okay?"
The boy didn’t answer. Lin Ran leaned closer and, in the dim moonlight, realized the child was injured.
A dark liquid—blood—was seeping from his body onto the ground.
Logic told Lin Ran time was running out, that he shouldn’t waste it here.
But his conscience screamed that if he left this boy, he’d die—the wounds were severe.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Ran turned and walked away.
One minute later, he returned.
"Damn it, do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused me?" Lin Ran scooped up the boy and carried him into the cave.
Inside, he was startled to find a small fire burning.
And beside it—a corpse.
The dead man’s throat had been torn open, his carotid artery severed. The blood hadn’t fully congealed yet; he must’ve died recently.
A chill ran down Lin Ran’s spine as he glanced at the boy in his arms, suddenly hyperaware of his own exposed neck.
With no proper medical supplies, Lin Ran tore strips from his own clothes to bandage the boy’s wounds, hoping to stem the blood loss.
This was as far as his goodwill extended.
As he looked at the unconscious boy, an uneasy feeling nagged at him.
Those crimson eyes…?
Just as he leaned in for a closer look, the boy’s eyes snapped open.
The moment he saw Lin Ran, he attacked without hesitation. Lin Ran pinned him down, preventing any movement.
In desperation, the boy sank his teeth toward Lin Ran’s neck. Lin Ran’s eyes widened, recalling the corpse on the ground—his pupils constricted in sheer terror.
[Little Black: "We’re done for! I told you we should’ve left earlier! Now you’re gonna die here, and I might not even escape! It’s over, completely over!"]
In the split second before impact, Lin Ran twisted aside. Instead of his neck, the boy’s teeth clamped onto his shoulder—the exact spot Luo Yao often bit.
Lin Ran grunted in pain and hurled the boy away.
"You psycho! I save your life, and you try to kill me? What kind of ungrateful monster are you?"
Fury burned through him.
The boy seemed momentarily stunned.
"You… saved me."
Lin Ran nodded. "Obviously?"
He touched his bleeding shoulder and grimaced. Would he need rabies shots now? And if so, where? Did this hellhole even have vaccines?
The boy fell silent, staring at his bandaged wounds, then at Lin Ran’s torn clothes. A strange expression crossed his face—as if he’d been given something he’d never had before.
But what was it?
Seeing the boy’s rationality return, Lin Ran relaxed slightly—though he remained on guard.
"You should say ‘thank you,’ not just sit there."
The boy murmured, "Th… thank you?"
"Yeah. Look at you—no manners at all. Do you realize how much you’ve screwed up my plans? Damn it."
"Now you owe me. You ruined everything, and I still saved you. That means you have to repay me."
A flicker of something unfamiliar passed through the boy’s eyes.
"What’s… ‘repay’?"
Lin Ran nearly facepalmed.
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!
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."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.
