Perhaps it was because her mood was particularly good today, or perhaps it was Yanyun's selfless devotion to her master that moved her. Bai Xuanling first glanced at Xie Lingyu, pondered briefly, and then, in an uncharacteristically generous mood, refrained from making things difficult:
"You may come in, but if you dare put on airs here..."
Lv Xuan brightened at her words, finally daring to lead Yanyun into the courtyard as he replied,
"What airs could I possibly have? Even if I did, you’ve long since dismantled them all."
Bai Xuanling then turned her gaze to Chu Xingchen, her tone carrying a hint of apology:
"Then I’ll trouble you to accommodate two more. But let things proceed as they always have—these two wouldn’t dare hold a grudge."
Seeing Bai Xuanling make a rare request, and considering it was no great inconvenience, Chu Xingchen agreed.
After all, they were here to play games, not to fight.
If these two didn’t enjoy the games, they could always be sent to sip tea on the side.
As Yanyun stepped into the courtyard, her eyes immediately sought out Xie Lingyu. After a moment, she offered a faint smile and congratulated her:
"Congratulations to Junior Sister Xie for also reaching the Nascent Soul realm."
Xie Lingyu nodded lightly. "I’m late to the milestone. How embarrassing."
"That’s not what I meant..." Yanyun began to explain but ultimately held back, only managing an awkward chuckle.
Chen Baiqing’s gaze swept over the two, faintly sensing something amiss.
She then glanced at Qinghe, whose emotions were always written plainly on her face—unlike their master, who wore a perpetual smile, making his thoughts inscrutable.
As expected, Qinghe eyed Yanyun with slight wariness, clearly unenthused by her presence.
Chen Baiqing instantly confirmed that Senior Aunt Xie and this so-called Yanyun shared an unpleasant history—one where Xie Lingyu had come out the worse.
Her eyes darted to her master, only to find his gaze already fixed on her eldest senior sister.
From this angle, Chen Baiqing couldn’t see her master’s expression, but she could see her eldest sister’s—she shot him a look that said, Leave it to me.
Indeed… if it concerned their master, nothing escaped his notice.
Chu Xingchen, sensing Chen Baiqing’s stare, turned to her and returned a silent message: Restrain yourself.
To Chu Xingchen, Chen Baiqing would always be his warm, dependable little quilt—unlike Li Yingling, who was reliably drafty, or Xing Tian, who was reliably absent.
Yet he also knew that no matter how adorable, devoted, or comforting Chen Baiqing appeared before him, it didn’t change the fact that despite her youth, she had a reliably cunning streak.
After all, on multiple occasions when Chu Xingchen had sought her out for casual conversation—hoping to gently steer her toward kindness and virtue—he’d instead found her manipulating fish into roasting themselves.
Witnessing such a scene, even Chu Xingchen had briefly questioned reality.
He’d thought letting fish grill themselves was already absurd enough, but this? This was evolution.
Truly baffling…
In the end, Chu Xingchen adopted the same approach as Xing Tian: pretending he saw nothing before turning away.
Chen Baiqing pressed her lips together. Though unsure whether her master had misjudged her, she still nodded lightly in acknowledgment.
Whatever her master said, she would obey.
"Then let’s play a few simple games. With so many people…" Chu Xingchen’s gaze shifted to Li Yingling.
Without hesitation, Li Yingling retrieved a full Monopoly set from her spatial ring, along with a brand-new, unopened deck of penalty cards.
The penalties ranged from cringeworthy lines and performances to borrowing items and abstract dares—each toeing the line of acceptability without quite crossing it.
The kind where refusing to comply would make one seem like a sore loser, yet none were outright unbearable.
Harsh, but not too harsh.
Li Yingling slapped the oversized Monopoly board onto the ground. "Since you two are new, I’ll explain the rules!"
The rules weren’t complicated—even Qinghe grasped them after one explanation.
Let alone Yanyun, who had been groomed as the Tianyan Sect’s core disciple, or Lv Xuan, its current sect leader.
Both nodded in understanding.
But rules weren’t absolute.
Li Yingling brandished the penalty deck. "Since this is just for fun, penalties won’t involve spirit stones or anything serious—just lighthearted dares. Draw a card, do what it says. Nothing too embarrassing, I promise."
She placed the deck on the table and demonstratively drew one:
[Imitate a cat’s meow twice.]
Lv Xuan’s brow furrowed instantly at the sight.
The esteemed Tianyan Sect leader… meowing like a cat?!
Li Yingling flipped the card face-down and, noting his expression, offered kindly:
"Of course, since you and Senior Yanyun are new, if a penalty truly feels unbearable, you may redraw—then choose between the two."
"This privilege is exclusive to you two."
Exclusive privileges bred confidence—especially when they weren’t really privileges at all.
Choosing between two unpalatable options was worse than being forced to swallow one.
Yanyun skimmed the cards and asked, "May I see the penalties beforehand?"
"Of course… not. The fun lies in the unknown, doesn’t it?"
Li Yingling met her gaze evenly, utterly unflinching.
Yanyun conceded with a nod, though her eyes lingered on the unmarked card backs. Then she turned to Lv Xuan.
"Master, respecting elders and cherishing juniors—why don’t you go first?"
Lv Xuan cleared his throat. "This is a game for the young. You youngsters should play."
Though she’d expected this, Yanyun shot him another disappointed look.
"Afraid we’ll trap you?" Bai Xuanling scoffed. "Fine, I’ll join too."
Li Yingling’s eyes gleamed. "Since you’re both here, why not play? This round will include me, Aunt Xie, Senior Bai, little Baiqing, and you two."
"As for the referee… let’s leave that to my master."
"Though ‘referee’ just means overseeing the game. Penalties are drawn and performed by the players themselves."
After absorbing the rules, Lv Xuan understood Li Yingling’s message: We’ve tailored everything to favor you, even giving you privileges. What more could you want?
Moreover, Bai Xuanling herself was joining. With his cultivation, he’d detect any cheating under his nose.
He’d come voluntarily—backing out now would be shameful.
And besides, apart from Bai Xuanling, the players included a literal child… Surely it couldn’t get too outrageous with a kid involved, right?
After a brief internal struggle, Lv Xuan finally smiled and nodded.
"Very well. Let’s play a round or two."
Seeing her master relent, Yanyun felt marginally appeased—regardless of the outcome.
Qinghe, noticing the group finalizing, stood to join—eager to avenge Xie Lingyu—but was promptly yanked back by Cui Hao.
Qinghe cast a puzzled glance at Cui Hao.
Cui Hao's face remained mostly expressionless, but he offered a gentle smile as he explained,
"Too many people would make things chaotic."
Qinghe didn't grasp the underlying meaning of his words, but she recognized that particular expression on Cui Hao's face.
It was the same secretive look he wore when selling elixirs!
Could this be a trap?
Her eyes widened in sudden realization.
These people were truly cunning!
Her gaze then shifted to Chen Baiqing, who stood nearby with an innocent smile, ready to join the game.
"Go for it, Baiqing!" she encouraged.
Chen Baiqing turned her head and shot back a look that said, Don’t worry.
Unfortunately, Qinghe hadn’t yet mastered the art of reading subtle cues—a skill everyone else in the sect seemed to possess.
Her small face flickered with confusion.
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!
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
] [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!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
