Today, the Tianyan Sect was exceptionally bustling.
First, the Dao Bell of Tianyan Peak rang loudly, prompting all the high-level cultivators of the entire Tianyan Sect to rush straight to Tianyan Peak.
Then, inexplicably, the sect leader announced that it was merely an emergency drill and nothing had happened.
Such an explanation could only be taken as just that—an explanation.
The Dao Bell of the Tianyan Sect had not rung for hundreds of years, and there were usually no emergency drills. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that this was nothing but an excuse.
As for the real reason, it remained somewhat unknown, but the returning elders all had different expressions on their faces.
Some smiled, while others shook their heads in helplessness.
It was as if the Tianyan Sect was about to add another mysterious, unpredictable, and bizarre incident to its history.
Perhaps the truth would only come to light when a certain elder could no longer keep the secret.
However... whether the truth at that time would be seen as just another excuse to cover up the real truth remained to be seen.
After all, at this very moment, even Lv Xuan, who knew the truth, was quite shocked.
Inside the main hall of Tianyan Peak.
Xu Jin, who still had some marks on his body, lowered his head and stood silently below.
Chu Xingchen and Daoist Yuyang stood to one side, their expressions portraying doubt and confusion, as if they also had no idea what had happened.
Yan Yun sat on one side, the smile on her face also full of helplessness.
They were clearly all geniuses of their respective factions, with top-notch abilities and cultivation. Separately, anyone would hold them in high regard. But how did they end up acting like common mortals when they got together?
After a moment of silence, Lv Xuan chuckled softly and spoke:
"Truth be told, you should call me Martial Uncle. If you wanted wine to drink, would your Martial Uncle really deny you?"
Xu Jin cupped his hands in a salute first, but did not speak. Instead, he cast a calm yet somewhat resentful glance at Chu Xingchen and Yuyang standing to the side.
Looking at Xu Jin's expression, Chu Xingchen seemed to immediately understand. He stepped forward and spoke out righteously:
"Sect Leader Lv, I think Xu Jin probably took the wrong path and was too proud to ask for directions. He is a proud son of heaven, how could he lack a cup of wine?"
Daoist Yuyang also stepped forward and nodded repeatedly, saying:
"That's right. I have known Xu Jin for a long time, and I understand him. He is definitely not that kind of person."
Lv Xuan looked at the two of them, who were lying through their teeth, selling out their teammate with extreme speed, and yet pretending to speak out of loyalty at this moment. He gave a light laugh and said:
"So to speak, the two of you know absolutely nothing about this, and it's entirely Martial Nephew Xu's doing?"
Chu Xingchen naturally heard the provocative intent in Lv Xuan's words. He immediately took a few steps forward, arriving in front of Xu Jin:
"Of course not! Brother Xu's business is my business. Naturally, I also bear responsibility for this matter."
"The word 'brother' is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold!"
Yuyang also stepped forward quickly:
"The same goes for me. The word 'brother'! Our loyalty is higher than the sky!"
What a righteous and stern speech; they truly took smooth-talking to the absolute limit.
Lv Xuan remained silent, merely turning his gaze toward Xu Jin, as if waiting for Xu Jin to speak up and completely expose the true faces of these two shameless individuals.
However, he noticed that Xu Jin's previously somewhat resentful expression had suddenly softened a little.
A bad thought arose in Lv Xuan's mind—could this child have actually been moved by the words of these two?
"It is my fault!" Xu Jin's tone was still somewhat gritted. "I hope Sect Leader Lv can be magnanimous and forgive me."
Lv Xuan was silent for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. Looking at Xu Jin with a rather pitiful gaze, he said:
"Since Martial Nephew has put it this way, as your Martial Uncle, I can naturally understand."
"Yan Yun, have someone send over some Spring Warmth wine later."
Yan Yun tried to keep a straight face, but seeing Xu Jin's aggrieved appearance, she felt a bit of empathy, and the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously. However, her voice remained extremely calm as she replied:
"Yes, Master."
Lv Xuan waved his hand helplessly and said:
"I suppose I am getting old. I can't understand what kind of games you young people are playing. I won't keep you any longer; go back and play. Just don't drag this miserable old man into it next time."
One was willing to hit, and the other was willing to endure. It could only be said that Chu Xingchen was indeed a very accurate judge of character.
The three of them cupped their hands together in salute.
Chu Xingchen went up and threw an arm around Xu Jin's shoulders, patting him vigorously.
Daoist Yuyang followed closely behind, hastily reaching out to brush off some dirt from Xu Jin's body.
Waiting until the three had completely left the main hall, Lv Xuan gently stroked his beard, his expression somewhat hazy as he said:
"I vaguely remember that in the past, Xu Jin was quite a well-behaved and serious child."
"Has Master never heard that he who stays near ink gets stained black?" Yan Yun chimed in.
Lv Xuan nodded gently, looking at Yan Yun with a rather gratified gaze as he said:
"Not bad. You also possess a bit of your master's valiant demeanor as a proud genius."
Hearing this, Yan Yun could only be rendered speechless.
She also had her own thoughts.
Has her master been associating a bit too much with Chu Xingchen lately?
A mutually loving family on one peak.
At the entrance of the peak, one person walked with his chest puffed out, an indignant expression on his face, while two others walked beside him, trying to coax him.
"Brother Xu! What's with that expression? We didn't fail, did we? Didn't you hear Sect Leader Lv say he would have the Spring Warmth sent over later?"
Daoist Yuyang followed closely behind the cold-faced Xu Jin. While forcing a smile, he continued to praise:
"This is all thanks to Brother Xu's performance. Brother Chu and I have completely basked in your light."
Xu Jin's expression shifted, and he retorted, "Ungrateful wretches! You ran the moment things went south. Aren't you two afraid of being laughed at?"
Chu Xingchen, walking on the left, chuckled and said:
"It's my fault. Brother Xu, feel free to laugh at us."
Hearing this, Xu Jin was so angry he laughed on the spot, feeling completely helpless against them.
When Chu Xingchen was being thick-skinned, he truly wasn't afraid of being ridiculed. Furthermore, if this matter were to spread, the one most likely to be laughed at would be Xu Jin himself.
Besides their friendship, this was also a major reason why he hadn't sold the two of them out on the spot.
Xu Jin indignantly accused:
"Are you treating me as a brother? You're treating me like a fool! And to think I actually believed your words."
"That's not right," Chu Xingchen's expression immediately turned serious. "We did this precisely because our relationship is that deep. Do you think Yuyang and I would pull this on someone we aren't close to?"
"It's exactly because we are brothers, and we knew Brother Xu wouldn't truly be angry with us."
Chu Xingchen revealed a somewhat sorrowful expression and said:
"If Brother Xu feels that our relationship hasn't reached this level yet, then it is indeed my fault. I was being presumptuous."
Daoist Yuyang quickly followed up, "The same goes for me. It's my fault."
Looking at Chu Xingchen, who was turning black into white, Xu Jin didn't reply. He merely gave a cold snort and walked inside.
He wasn't a fool. If he really tried to debate right and wrong with Chu Xingchen, who could out-talk that mouth of his?
Chu Xingchen hurriedly caught up with his pace. "Alright, alright, it's my fault. We are brothers, how about I make it up to you with two cups of wine later?"
"Four cups!" Xu Jin replied in a displeased tone.
"Deal. Yuyang and I will each drink four cups."
Chu Xingchen's expression turned into a playful smile.
The three of them returned to the small courtyard.
Xie Lingyu was already waiting there early. She saw the three of them arrive and noticed that Xu Jin had once again been handled by Chu Xingchen to the point of losing his temper.
Upon seeing Xie Lingyu, Xu Jin gently cupped his hands and said, "Long time no see, Junior Sister Lingyu."
"Why are you calling her Junior Sister?" Yuyang raised an eyebrow and said, "Now you have to call her Sister-in-law."
Xie Lingyu did not refute this, but merely cupped her hands in return and said:
"It has been a long time."
After saying that, Xie Lingyu took out a jade token and handed it toward Chu Xingchen with a serious expression:
"This is an urgent jade missive sent by Cui Hao from Beiju Luzhou. It arrived just a short while ago, specifically meant for your eyes."
Upon hearing this, the playful expression on Chu Xingchen's face vanished in an instant. He raised his hand and snatched the jade token into his grasp.
The expressions of the other two also turned grave.
Xu Jin even reached down to touch the emergency token hanging at his waist.
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...
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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!
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.
