Cangzhou.
Two individuals vying to be the most diligent were hard at work.
Li Yingling stood atop the water's surface, her spiritual senses probing deep into the river as she surveyed the water veins while casually remarking,
"Junior Brother, don’t you think our encounter with Senior Uncle Lingyu this time was a bit too coincidental?"
Li Xingtian had been observing the surrounding terrain and sketching a topographic map when he suddenly heard his senior sister’s unmistakably gossipy tone.
Her implication was clear—Li Yingling suspected their so-called "chance meeting" in Cangzhou was anything but accidental. It was likely that their Master and Senior Uncle Xie had coordinated this behind the scenes.
After a brief pause, Li Xingtian decided against indulging in gossip about their Master and replied calmly,
"It’s nothing unusual. Where there’s opportunity, people will naturally gather."
Li Yingling shot him a skeptical look. "You’ve changed after your trip to the Central Continent. You never used to speak so diplomatically. What happened to my straightforward junior brother?"
Li Xingtian ignored her remark, his expression suddenly turning serious as he focused on the eastern sky, his spiritual energy surging.
Li Yingling reacted swiftly, summoning her spiritual sword as she tensed in alert.
Within moments, however, Li Xingtian withdrew his aura, having assessed the situation.
A small figure streaked toward them, accompanied by a familiar voice:
"Not bad, you two youngsters actually sensed me."
Qinghe landed gracefully on the river’s surface, looking at them with an approving smile.
"Though the Tianyan Sect’s concealment techniques are mediocre, it’s rare for someone a whole realm below me to detect me. You’ve cultivated well—no wonder Grandma Bai thinks highly of you."
Li Yingling studied Qinghe’s smug expression, finding it hard to reconcile with the memory of the dragon being thoroughly thrashed by their Master not long ago, pinned at the bottom of the river.
This little flood dragon clearly had a short memory when it came to beatings.
Still, the incident had been somewhat disrespectful to Qinghe, and Li Yingling couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty.
She sheathed her sword and asked, "Weren’t you supposed to be resting? Why come here?"
"Ah, resting was just a joke! Ask anyone in the Tianyan Sect—I’m known for my diligence."
Qinghe thumped his chest proudly, adopting the air of a model worker. At least until these two visited the sect, he could boast with confidence.
"Besides," he continued, "surveying water veins isn’t easy for humans. It’s quite troublesome."
Though Li Yingling didn’t buy a word of it, she nodded understandingly.
"In that case, my junior brother and I will survey eastward while you take the west. We can compare notes later to complete the map."
Qinghe froze. Splitting up meant no slacking off!
He’d only come because he’d teased Xie Lingyu earlier—if he didn’t put in some effort now, there’d be consequences.
And if Xie Lingyu let slip that he’d sold out Grandma Bai’s trip to Yuzhou City…
Knowing Grandma Bai’s temper, he’d be banished from the mountainside to the sect gates.
"Water veins are complex," Qinghe hastily interjected. "Let’s stick together. If you make a mistake, we’d have to backtrack."
Li Yingling saw right through him. This dragon hadn’t changed—he’d clearly been strong-armed into working after crossing their Master and Senior Uncle Xie.
Still, out of lingering guilt, she maintained a convincingly earnest expression and agreed,
"Very well, we’ll work together. Please bear with us if we make any errors."
Qinghe’s heart swelled with relief at her unquestioning acceptance.
This kid was still too naive.
So easy to fool.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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!
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
