In his early years, Zhou Zhi passed the imperial examination in Yunjing and entered the civil service. He was assigned to the official bookstore in Huai'an City as a clerk.
However, unlike the clerks in the Great Yu imperial bookstore who compiled and edited the classics, histories, philosophers, and literature, the Huai'an City bookstore only did one thing.
They compiled, printed, and revised storybooks featuring domineering princes, fated tragic romances, and forceful love in wealthy families.
Zhou Zhi worked meticulously. His transcriptions were neat, his proofreading rigorous, and he formatted every romance novel according to the stylistic rules of official historical records.
He even specifically added annotations: "This is adapted from true events of past lives and can serve as a model for marriage in the world."
Because of this, he was promoted and put in charge of the library, establishing his foundation.
The library was originally an ordinary pavilion used to store scattered romance novels, so Zhou Zhi submitted a proposal to his superiors.
He suggested expanding the pavilion in the style of Yunjing and upgrading it to the official Huai'an City Library. The local government petitioned Yunjing to officially declare that all the foundational texts in the library were true stories, listing them as required reading for all ladies and noble families in the city.
He named it the Red Luan Literary Pavilion.
He even wrote countless letters to Yunjing, eventually moving both Yunjing and the Alliance of One Heart. Consequently, Yunjing and the Alliance of One Heart jointly endorsed it.
Afterward, he personally supervised the expansion project.
He formalized and institutionalized the spirit of "love above all."
Because his achievements were so outstanding, he received an exceptional promotion.
He was directly elevated to Education Commissioner, taking charge of the city's moral and cultural instruction.
After his promotion, he mandated that women of all households must study the romantic texts of the Red Luan Literary Pavilion, and their values regarding marriage must conform to the fated romances depicted in the books.
He also ordered the banning of any miscellaneous books in the markets that questioned the supremacy of love, only permitting the printing of sweet romance storybooks about domineering princes.
He frequently hosted conventions on the "Way of Love," citing classics and quoting authoritative texts.
Due to his success in education and his deep cultivation of the Red Luan Literary Pavilion's reputation, he was ultimately promoted to the top judicial official in Huai'an, overseeing all case judgments, sentencing, and legal rulings in the city.
He judged cases fairly and absolutely never mixed in any personal favors.
It was just that... the penal codes he relied on were entirely the laws of Yunjing and Huai'an City!
Ren Tianye read through it quickly, then read it carefully a second time, and his heart instantly surged with an incredibly absurd feeling.
And this feeling was stronger than ever before!
Damn it... this is too outrageous!
Judging from various records, this Zhou Zhi was neither a corrupt official nor a cruel tyrant. He had no sinister or cunning intentions. He handled matters reliably, disciplined himself strictly, and in Huai'an City, he was truly a rare and dutiful man.
He was even a rare good official.
But damn it...
This guy actually took Yunjing's twisted heresy of "love-brained supremacy" and treated it as eternal etiquette and the rules of the sages to be defended to the death!
"What kind of sins has Liu Ruyan committed!"
"What has she turned this world into!"
Ren Tianye complained inwardly. At this moment, his killing intent toward Liu Ruyan rose by another three levels.
"Lord Duke..." Seeing Ren Tianye put down the book, Pei Jingzhi sighed and said, "This Zhou Zhi makes me see my former self."
"Fortunately, I was not poisoned as deeply as he is. Even when I was most loyal to the Female Emperor, I never committed any evil against the common people."
"But this person treats Yunjing as divine, obeys without a doubt, uses official power to prop up the Red Luan Literary Pavilion, establishes twisted heresies as orthodox rules, and distorts the atmosphere of an entire city from the top down."
"He abolishes proper education and ruins the people's livelihoods, family businesses, city defenses, and duties."
"He also indulges paranoid and obsessive entanglements, causing countless people to ruin their lives."
"The most hateful thing is that he favors these 'love above all' people, squeezing out the path of survival for ordinary people. Those who just want to live peacefully have actually become unforgivable sinners in this Huai'an City. It is truly laughable, so laughable!"
Ren Tianye also sighed.
Some people take the wrong path, but their mistakes are not deep and they do not harm the innocent, so they can still be given a chance to turn over a new leaf.
But some people mistake the wrong path for the right one, walking it into darkness, still fearing they haven't done enough.
Then no matter what his original intentions were, he must face the consequences he deserves!
Ren Tianye's eyes turned sharp, and he picked up a brush to cross out the name Zhou Zhi.
He immediately called out, "Summon Su Jin."
A moment later, a personal guard came to report, "Lord Duke, Lord Su Jin was called to the Huai'an City prison by General Wang Ming."
"What did he go to the prison for?"
Xie Changfeng, the Vice Envoy of the Demon Suppression Division who had tagged along, immediately recounted Xu Qin's outrageous behavior in detail, explaining how Zhou Zhi was obstructing Zhang Shi and Wang Ming.
Hearing this, Ren Tianye actually laughed.
"Good, very good!"
"Zhou Zhi is upholding Yunjing's laws to sentence my court's officials."
"What?"
"Trying to use the sword of the previous dynasty to execute an official of the current dynasty?"
He paused, then stood up and said, "Xie Changfeng."
"Subordinate is here!"
"To the prison."
"Yes!"
Joy surged on Xie Changfeng's face. He had wanted to intervene in this matter for a long time. So what if it was a mind-bewitching demonic creature? In their Demon Suppression Division, there was nothing that couldn't be corrected.
Whoever used the Demon Suppression Division's methods knew how good they were!
The group marched over in a grand procession.
Xie Changfeng was also very thoughtful; he had someone go and call Su Jin back.
With the Lord Duke personally taking action, Su Jin shouldn't handle it first, lest he ruin the Lord Duke's grand plan.
As a result, the most powerful and influential figures of the Great Yu court were now gathered within this Huai'an City prison.
Ren Tianye, Pei Jingzhi, Su Jin, Xie Changfeng, Zhang Shi, Wang Ming...
With so many people, Zhang Shi and Wang Ming in the light, and Ren Tianye and the others in the dark, they all listened to the twisted heresy spouted by Zhou Zhi and Xu Qin!
"Being influenced by books, that is the way of the sages. If it is because of this, then the crime can be reduced by a degree!"
"I almost wronged a good person!"
"For the sake of love, you don't need to pay too much compensation!"
"As an official, like the clear blue sky above, I will definitely uphold justice for you!"
"I will not let a single bad person go, nor will I wrong a single good person!"
"Zhang Shi, do you plead guilty?"
"Even if the Lord Duke breaks the law, I will arrest him just the same!"
...
Ren Tianye's head ached from listening.
This Zhou Zhi and Xu Qin were truly... extraordinary!
From this, it was evident that the entirety of Huai'an City was already in deep water and scorching fire. Without putting in some serious effort, it would be impossible to destroy the old and establish the new!
Ren Tianye took large strides out.
The crowd behind him also followed.
Zhang Shi, who had been standing there in a daze, was about to draw his sword as he recovered his wits, but suddenly saw Ren Tianye and hurriedly dropped to one knee.
Wang Ming and the others also dropped to one knee.
Everyone in the prison dropped to one knee in unison.
Only Zhou Zhi stood tall and unmoving.
With a calm expression, he said, "Lord Duke, you have come at the perfect time. However, no matter who comes today, I will absolutely punish General Zhang Shi for his crimes!"
"No one can stop me!"
...
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!
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.”
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!"
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...
