Lie Zhankuang was on the verge of tears, feeling as though fate had dealt him an unbearably cruel hand.
Chen Chang'an shot him an impatient glare and demanded, "Cut the nonsense and get to the point."
"How did you even find me?"
"Why are you looking for me?"
Hearing this, Lie Zhankuang took a deep breath, his expression turning grave. "Brother Chen, I won’t lie to you. Right now, I have no family, no friends."
"Out of everyone I know, you’re the only one who can save me."
"You can’t just stand by and watch me die."
Watch him die?
What the hell did that have to do with him?
"You still haven’t told me how you found me," Chen Chang'an pressed, his patience wearing thin.
"I’ve been searching for you, but I couldn’t find any trace of you."
"I only arrived in this place a few days ago, planning to lay low for a while. That’s why I dug this hideout."
"And guess what?"
"Just now, I caught your scent—no, wait, I sensed your aura."
"Isn’t that a stroke of fate? It’s destiny, I tell you!"
"Brother Chen, you have no idea—coming out here was worse than staying hidden."
"I… I’m suffering!"
Chen Chang'an studied Lie Zhankuang carefully. A person might lie, and their eyes might deceive, but the soul never could. Seeing that Lie Zhankuang wasn’t fabricating his story, Chen Chang'an found the coincidence strange. But more than that, he was curious about the Dragon Emperor Palace’s actions. Had they also stumbled upon Lie Zhankuang by chance?
And earlier, Lie Zhankuang had mentioned having something important to say. Could it be related to the Dragon Emperor Palace?
"Enough with the dramatics," Chen Chang'an snapped.
"After you left the Heavenly Pool, what did you do? And didn’t you say you made some big discovery?"
"What exactly did you find?"
Lie Zhankuang wiped at his dry eyes, then took another deep breath.
"It’s a long story."
"Then make it short."
"Fine!"
"You know I was trapped under the Heavenly Pool for thousands of years—thousands! It was unbearable."
"So…"
"So after you got out, you went to a brothel?" Da Huang interjected.
"Yeah, I went—wait, no! What kind of man do you take me for? Ahem… okay, maybe I went once."
"But that’s not the point! Stop interrupting me!"
Lie Zhankuang’s expression turned deathly serious, as if he’d just lost his father.
"All these years, I’ve wanted to shout it out loud, just once—Long Wuqi, you’re one ugly bastard!"
"So, I mustered up my courage and went to the Dragon Emperor Palace."
Well, damn.
This guy was the poster child for "play stupid games, win stupid prizes." Even if he’d broken through to the Emperor realm, he was still just a novice. Meanwhile, Long Wuqi was a peak-level Emperor. Did he really think he could waltz up to the man’s doorstep and hurl insults without consequences?
Chen Chang'an couldn’t help but think that the only reason Lie Zhankuang was still alive was because Long Wuqi had an unusually forgiving temper.
"At first, I just wanted to go there and demand justice for myself."
"But I never expected…"
"Brother Chen, you have no idea—the Dragon Emperor Palace is pure evil."
"It’s no place for humans."
Huh?
Evil?
Now that sounded like a secret worth uncovering.
"Stop right there. I don’t want to hear it," Chen Chang'an cut him off.
"Why not?"
"Because if this is some big secret, the moment you tell me, I’ll be dragged into it too," Chen Chang'an retorted.
"You think keeping quiet will save you?" Lie Zhankuang shot back angrily.
"Yeah, I do," Chen Chang'an said with a firm nod.
"No. No one can escape this. That ugly bastard’s ambitions are too big."
"And he’s completely inhuman."
"I used to think he targeted me all those years ago just because I called him ugly. But now, I don’t think that was the reason."
Not that reason?
What did he mean?
"He had his eyes on me!" Lie Zhankuang declared with a grave expression.
Ew—
Chen Chang'an and the others instinctively recoiled, their faces twisting in disgust.
"No, no, not like that!"
"He wanted my body."
Ohhh—
Now their expressions turned even more revolted.
Sure, Long Wuqi was ugly, but was he really desperate enough to covet Lie Zhankuang’s body?
Then again, the Dragon Emperor Palace hadn’t produced any younger disciples in years. Could it be that its members were all… experts in that particular art?
Holy hell.
That really was an evil place.
"You’ve got it all wrong!"
"Long Wuqi was after my physique—my innate constitution, understand?"
"That ugly bastard wanted to possess me, to take over my body!"
Wait, what?
Take over his body?
Why would a peak-level Emperor abandon his own cultivation just to start over in someone else’s body?
Was he out of his mind?
"What the hell did you see at the Dragon Emperor Palace?" Chen Chang'an demanded, his brow furrowing.
"What did I see?"
"Hell. The Dragon Emperor Palace is hell."
"I’d heard that the entire palace went into seclusion five thousand years ago. I thought they were just training hard."
"But no—they were doing something far more sinister."
"The entire Sky Dragon Island is a mountain of corpses, a sea of blood."
"Those dead bodies? They’re all used by the Dragon Emperor Palace for cultivation."
"They went into seclusion to keep this from being discovered."
"They devour the essence and blood of the living and refine their souls."
"Who knows what kind of twisted technique they’re practicing?"
Devouring essence and refining souls?
That was beyond ruthless.
Chen Chang'an was no stranger to killing, but even he wouldn’t stoop to something so vile.
"What does this have to do with Long Wuqi wanting your body?"
"Don’t tell me you think your physique is stronger than his?" Chen Chang'an asked skeptically.
"At first, I didn’t understand either. But after uncovering the palace’s secret, I hid and eavesdropped on their conversations."
"You know why Long Wuqi keeps getting uglier? It’s because he’s refined too many souls. It’s warped his face beyond recognition."
"And it’s wrecked his body."
"His soul keeps growing stronger, but his body can’t handle it anymore. So he needs a new vessel."
"One that can endure the fusion."
"Long Wuqi’s talent must have hit its limit. Peak Emperor is as far as he can go—he’ll never break through."
"So he turned to this evil technique, hoping to reach a realm beyond Emperor."
Long Wuqi—a veteran peak-level Emperor of the Profound Realm. Who would’ve guessed that, in his pursuit of power, he’d resort to such atrocities?
The Dragon Emperor Palace wasn’t exactly a paragon of virtue, but it wasn’t considered outright malevolent either. Many still admired and aspired to join it.
Yet who could’ve imagined its disciples practiced such a depraved art?
Then again, given Gu Fenghua’s assessment of Long Wuqi, perhaps this wasn’t so surprising after all.
Long Wuqi was initially a man plagued by insecurity. As other powerful figures gradually faded from the scene, he slowly rose to become one of the top-tier experts.
From insecurity to arrogance and pride, Long Wuqi was, in truth, a man with a somewhat twisted psyche.
"You actually discovered such an important secret and managed to escape alive?"
"Could it be that Long Wuqi still hasn’t made a move himself?" Chen Chang'an asked with a frown.
Even if Long Wuqi’s body was in poor condition, it shouldn’t have come to the point where he wouldn’t act personally in such a situation, right?
"Long Wuqi never showed up at all."
"I have a theory."
"Long Wuqi isn’t even in the Dragon Emperor Palace!" Lie Zhankuang said with a grave expression.
Long Wuqi isn’t in the Dragon Emperor Palace?
Then where could he be?
Could it be… he’s been in the Central Heaven Domain all along?
Or perhaps…
"Has he already performed a soul transfer?"
"Does Long Wuqi… no longer even exist?"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
] [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!"
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
