As the sect grew in numbers, the grand gathering became increasingly lively.
What began as Li Yingling orchestrating the entire event had now evolved into her overseeing just a single game, while most attendees were free to do as they pleased.
A truly enjoyable gathering wasn’t merely about boisterous revelry, but about everyone being able to do what they wanted—free from the need to conform, able to show their most relaxed selves.
Some idly chatted over drinks, while others, like Qinghe, eagerly joined in a game of Monopoly with bright, excited smiles.
Time quietly pushed everything forward. For instance, Zhou Ping, who had once been reserved, now raised his hand to join the game without hesitation.
Zhang Miaoyu, the so-called outer sect elder, had also grown accustomed to addressing Chu Xingchen as "Sect Leader," now doing so effortlessly whenever they met.
Chu Xingchen still remembered how awkward Zhang Miaoyu had been when she first called him Sect Leader—"stiff" would have been an understatement. It had seemed as though a knife were being held to her throat.
Later, Zhang Miaoyu explained—having spent years as a rogue cultivator, she never expected to join a sect. Among rogue cultivators in the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, "Sect Leader" wasn’t exactly a flattering term, often synonymous with exploiters like the infamous "Skinflint Zhou."
So, back then, calling him that had been a struggle.
But now, the once-conflicted Zhang Miaoyu was fully immersed in the festivities, her face alight with joy.
Ning Qianqian and Ning Kun were also present.
If anyone’s appearance had changed the most, it was Ning Qianqian. The once thin, sallow-faced girl had grown fair-skinned and slightly taller.
Her cultivation progress, still at the third level of Qi Refining, was slower compared to Chen Baiqing’s.
Yet she had blossomed into a graceful young woman—a reliable steward who, while not necessarily dazzling, never made mistakes in her duties.
Ning Qianqian often said how fortunate she was to have met Chu Xingchen.
But Chu Xingchen, too, occasionally reflected on how lucky the sect was to have someone like her.
Ning Kun had also shed his inhibitions, holding a wine cup in hand. Though he didn’t understand the rules of Monopoly that Qinghe was playing, the sound of their laughter was contagious, and he found himself smiling along.
Only, streaks of white now touched his temples.
The aftermath of having his vitality drained in the mines lingered. Chu Xingchen had sought out various elixirs to help, but replenishment could only do so much—it was ultimately a stopgap.
Still, it wasn’t hopeless. As long as his cultivation advanced, he could still go far.
Chu Xingchen attended the gathering but didn’t join Li Yingling’s Monopoly game.
Instead, he sat with Xie Lingyu, lightly clinking cups as they watched their disciples’ antics.
"Feels like just yesterday," Xie Lingyu suddenly remarked.
Chu Xingchen glanced at her. Moonlight and firelight flickered across her face.
Xie Lingyu’s demeanor matched her sharp features—her high nose bridge and faintly sword-like brows gave her a stern, unapproachable air at first glance.
And indeed, the Xie Lingyu of the past hadn’t been easy to approach.
Chu Xingchen chuckled. "Not for me. If it really felt like ‘just yesterday’ to you, you wouldn’t be clinking cups with me now."
Xie Lingyu tilted her head slightly, a faint curve playing at her lips.
"Who’s to say?"
Hearing her cryptic reply, Chu Xingchen couldn’t help but smile.
Xie Lingyu rarely played the role of a riddler—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she herself disliked riddlers—so her skill at crafting riddles couldn’t even compare to Chen Baiqing, let alone Cui Hao.
When Xie Lingyu spoke in riddles, the answers were usually right there in the words themselves—"If there’s more, I’ll clink glasses with you again."
Chu Xingchen looked at Xie Lingyu’s suddenly playful expression and, as if struck by a thought, asked:
"There’s something I suddenly want to ask you."
"Hm?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you’re actually quite cute?"
Xie Lingyu pondered for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the bright moon:
"If I think about it seriously, only my master ever said I looked cute when I was angry."
"But my master always spoke in half-truths, and the things he taught were the same. Besides, I vaguely remember I was crying at the time, tears streaming down my face—how could that be considered cute?"
After saying this, she turned her eyes back to Chu Xingchen. "You can hear this, but if you repeat it to anyone else, don’t blame me for being ruthless."
Chu Xingchen grinned and nodded. "I’m honored that Lady Lingyu trusts me. Naturally, I’ll keep my lips sealed."
Xie Lingyu looked at him, a few strands of her hair fluttering in the breeze, partially obscuring Chu Xingchen’s figure—and that ever-smiling face of his.
"So, what about you when you were younger?" she asked. "Whenever I asked before, you’d just say you were a successor. But now I don’t see you succeeding anything. What did you do as a child?"
This time, it was Chu Xingchen’s turn to gaze at the moon.
"I did simple but happy things. People urged me to study, hoping I’d rise above the rest, hoping I’d live a happy life—just ordinary, humble wishes."
"The most thrilling part of my life back then was probably tying a rope around my waist and jumping off a hill, just for the sake of safety."
"Compared to cultivating immortality, it was utterly uneventful… but when I think about it seriously, it was still quite happy."
Xie Lingyu tilted her head curiously.
"Tying a rope and jumping off a hill? Was it some kind of tradition?"
"No… just pure boredom. Jumping around for fun, chasing a bit of excitement in an otherwise peaceful, happy life."
"That does sound like a happy life," Xie Lingyu murmured with a slight nod before continuing,
"Though the path of immortality lacks some stability, it lets us see extraordinary sights, meet extraordinary people, and experience extraordinary things."
Chu Xingchen’s gaze shifted toward Li Yingling, who was acting as a referee, and his own disciples participating in the game.
He chuckled. "That’s true. To witness magnificent scenery, one must also face the storms head-on."
"And what about the successor thing?" Xie Lingyu asked, a rare flicker of curiosity in her expression.
Chu Xingchen rubbed his chin. "Now, I probably can’t become one anymore. But the spirit of a successor still lives in my heart."
Xie Lingyu pressed further. "What spirit?"
Chu Xingchen raised his cup with a grin. "Study hard, improve every day."
Hearing this utterly unrelated answer, Xie Lingyu remained perfectly calm—even smiling slightly—as she lifted her own cup and lightly clinked it against his.
This kind of unconventional thinking, this refusal to be bound by rigid rules, was part of Chu Xingchen’s unique charm.
At the very least, Xie Lingyu didn’t dislike it.
Chu Xingchen downed his wine in one go, then looked at Xie Lingyu, his tone suddenly serious:
"By the way, there’s something I need to tell you."
"Hmm?" Xie Lingyu turned her gaze back.
Chu Xingchen smiled and said,
"Actually, your master was right—you really are quite adorable."
Xie Lingyu froze for a moment at his words, her expression turning slightly uneasy. Her eyes seemed to tremble faintly before her tone suddenly grew a touch firmer.
She replied,
"You're adorable too."
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
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?!
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.
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!
