Peach Blossom Village.
The village chief looked at the three returning figures with astonishment.
Chu Xingchen was draped in a pristine kasaya, tossing a relic in his left hand while twirling a willow jade scepter in his right. Li Yingling struggled to suppress a smile as she observed her master’s peculiar attire. Only Yuan Kong trailed behind them, his expression gloomy.
For a moment, the village chief felt dazed. Had he mistaken the true Buddha’s disciple?
But as the trio approached, he sighed and dismissed his doubts, rising to greet them.
"Congratulations," the chief said, clasping his hands.
Chu Xingchen gave a slight nod, offering no further words. He merely tapped Yuan Kong’s head lightly with the willow jade scepter before leisurely walking away with Li Yingling in tow.
With this, the matter was considered resolved—save for Yuan Kong retrieving the Buddha’s heart embedded in the chief’s chest.
Whether Yuan Kong took it or not was his choice, just as saving the abbot was his decision alone.
Chu Xingchen had done all he could.
Yuan Kong understood the hint. He halted, sighed, and turned to face the village chief.
By now, the chief’s burial robes had transformed into simple coarse cloth.
Yuan Kong pressed his palms together, hesitating.
This entire world hinged on the Buddha’s heart within the chief. Removing it would mean the collapse of this realm.
Yuan Kong had known this from the start, yet now, faced with the moment, he wavered.
He couldn’t see the malice Chu Xingchen and Li Yingling perceived.
Instead, he saw pitiful commoners—forced by Chu Xingchen to labor nine hours a day, their pleas ignored as they were tossed into a vat of boiling oil, fried until golden and crisp…
Nor did Yuan Kong notice the walking corpses gradually improving. Throughout the journey, he felt only that he had wrought harm.
Thus, Chu Xingchen’s achievements held no tangible weight for him.
He knew things were improving, but not how, or in what way.
Without that sense of fulfillment, he felt no entitlement.
"Worry not," the chief said with a smile. "This realm was always an illusion—ephemeral, transient. I’ve come to understand many truths and have no regrets."
"Besides, I see the Buddha’s disciple seeks this heart to save someone, yes?"
Yuan Kong nodded faintly.
The chief chuckled. "Then why hesitate? A false thing saving a real one—what’s there to ponder?"
At these words, Yuan Kong lifted his head, pressed his palms together, and bowed slightly.
Streams of light rose from Peach Blossom Village—from the earth, the horizon, the trees, from everything.
Villagers toiling over half-built earthen houses paused. Most had regained human forms, no longer walking corpses.
The fervor in their eyes faded as the village dissolved.
They gazed sorrowfully at their hard-won homes, now vanishing once more.
They knew this time, there would be no rebuilding.
The purified river, too, dissolved into flowing light.
The tree once hung with heads now bore a swing—one villagers had truly sat upon, laughing as they swayed.
But what did it matter?
Such was the way of the world.
No one had asked if they wished to come here.
No one cared if they now wished to leave.
From beginning to end, the choice was never theirs.
Perhaps resignation was habit.
The villagers accepted all in silence.
Until the world emptied, leaving only them.
Until they, too, began to fade into light.
Yet at the last, they smiled—for themselves.
Their laughter was soft, heard only by their own ears.
Even Yuan Kong, standing closest, did not hear.
Yuzhou City.
Chu Xingchen had long stored his spoils in a spatial ring.
Li Yingling trailed behind her master, mentally tallying the gains from their journey.
Truly, it had been an eye-opening experience.
For the first time, she felt she had truly stepped onto the path of cultivation. The bizarre wonders they’d encountered far surpassed any tale—more vivid, more visceral.
The duality of Peach Blossom Village, the illusory mountains—all had left her awestruck.
Moreover, her perception of Chu Xingchen had shifted.
Her master was someone who became remarkably reliable when faced with adversity.
Li Yingling resolved then: she would train diligently upon returning!
Next time, she would shine!
She’d outdo even her master!
Yuan Kong remained dispirited, clutching a small grayish-white stone in his palm.
Noticing his expression, Chu Xingchen asked, "Still dwelling on Peach Blossom Village? Do you think you doomed them?"
Yuan Kong lowered his head. "I just haven’t fully grasped it yet."
"Very well, Great Master Yuan Kong. You return to Zen Forest Temple to save your senior brother. I’ll return to my courtyard to teach my disciple. We’ll meet again if fate allows."
Chu Xingchen shrugged. They’d reached Yuzhou City; Zen Forest Temple wasn’t far. Let Yuan Kong walk back alone.
At the crossroads, Yuan Kong turned toward the temple.
The journey had been relatively smooth.
Yet he wondered how much time had passed in the outside world.
Some mighty secret realms were said to distort time itself.
But this one shouldn’t have posed issues—the elderly sugar-painting vendor at the corner looked unchanged.
Besides, was a Transformation Spirit cultivator even considered "mighty"?
Chu Xingchen bought another sugar painting for Chen Baiqing as a homecoming gift.
With Li Yingling in tow, he arrived at the courtyard and pushed open the gate.
The first sight was Chen Baiqing seated on a stone bench, a book in hand, a small pouch of candied fruits resting beside her as always.
Hearing the gate, she looked up.
Her calm eyes lit up with joy as she sprang to her feet, rushing to embrace her master.
"Master! It’s been so long!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"So long? How many days was I gone?"
Chen Baiqing tilted her head. "Thirteen whole days!"
Li Xingtian emerged from the side room, relieved to see his master return unscathed.
A faint smile touched his lips. Three years of cultivation once felt like the blink of an eye, yet now…
He clasped his hands. "It’s been a while, Master."
Chu Xingchen stuffed the sugar painting into Chen Baiqing’s mouth, ruffled her hair, then turned to his ever-reliable second disciple.
"How goes the sect’s construction?" he asked cheerfully.
Li Xingtian froze. After a long pause, he managed only:
"Uh…"
Chu Xingchen tilted his head, eyeing this unfilial disciple.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
