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.
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!
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...
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
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.
