"Young man, we truly owe you a great deal for this journey."
"Without you, our group might not have made it here safely."
"People like you, who uphold justice and righteousness, are rare to find these days."
An elderly man gazed at the young man before him, eyes brimming with gratitude. The group behind him also looked at the youth with deep appreciation—had it not been for his timely intervention, their fate would have been grim.
"You flatter me, elder. Acting with chivalry is simply what we young people ought to do."
"Turning a blind eye to those in need is not in my nature."
"It was merely a small effort on my part. There’s no need for such gratitude," the young man replied with a smile.
"What may seem trivial to you, benefactor, is a life-saving grace to us—greater than the heavens themselves."
"Please, at least leave us your name. Though we cannot repay you, we shall carve a longevity tablet in your honor and offer daily prayers," the old man said, his voice tinged with remorse.
"That’s far too generous."
"No, we insist. Otherwise, our guilt will only deepen."
"Very well. My name is... Heng Ruolin."
Heng Ruolin?
"Good. This old man will remember it. Are you leaving now, benefactor?"
"Yes, it’s time for me to go," Heng Ruolin nodded with a smile.
"Benefactor, once we part, we may never meet again. We..."
"No need for farewells. If fate wills it, our paths will cross once more."
Without further words, Heng Ruolin gave them a final smile and turned to leave. Watching his carefree demeanor, the old man and his group couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. Who hadn’t once dreamed of such freedom?
Alas, they were but ordinary folk, nothing more.
"A kind soul who does good without seeking recognition—truly admirable."
"Don’t you agree, Lin Ruoheng?"
This person was none other than Lin Ruoheng, who had changed his name and disguised himself. Just as he had walked a short distance away, the sudden voice sent a chill down his spine.
How... how could someone recognize him here? And that voice—it sounded familiar. Where had he heard it before?
"Who’s there?" Lin Ruoheng frowned, his guard up as he scanned his surroundings.
"What’s wrong? Don’t you remember?"
The next moment, Chen Chang'an, accompanied by Gu Xian'er and Da Huang, stepped into view.
At the sight of Chen Chang'an and Gu Xian'er, Lin Ruoheng’s face paled.
Impossible!
How could this be?
How did they find him here?
After leaving Qingshui, Lin Ruoheng had changed his name, altered his appearance, and even wore a mask, claiming his face had been disfigured and should not be shown. To avoid suspicion, he played the role of a wandering hero, helping others and traveling with them.
Yet despite all his precautions, they had still tracked him down?
"Gentlemen, do we know each other?"
"You must have mistaken me for someone else."
"My name is Heng Ruolin, not the Lin Ruoheng you speak of."
Lin Ruoheng refused to admit his identity, hoping his disguise would fool them.
"A person’s instinctive reactions never lie. You tensed up just now."
"Besides, you can change your appearance, but not your aura."
"Do you really take others for fools?" Chen Chang'an remarked coolly.
Realizing further deception was futile, Lin Ruoheng let out a bitter laugh and removed his mask.
"As expected of Senior Chen. But I’m curious—how did you find me?"
"And why seek me out alone, when I didn’t leave with the Lin family?" Lin Ruoheng asked, puzzled.
"Caution is never unwarranted. When cornered, even the meekest will fight back."
"So when Lin Xiangliu sent men to Qingshui’s Lin family, I naturally kept my own watch on their movements."
"Rest assured, your clansmen will face Lin Xiangliu’s judgment. As for you, I’ve come to reclaim what’s mine."
"Hand over the orb," Chen Chang'an said calmly.
Hearing this, Lin Ruoheng fell silent. He hadn’t expected Chen Chang'an to be so prepared.
After a moment, he suddenly laughed.
"I see now. From the very beginning, you never intended to spare Qingshui’s Lin family."
"Because you knew they would never accept your terms."
"Once the Lin family rebelled, the main branch would be furious and wipe them out entirely."
"This way, you avoid conflict with the main family while still achieving your goal. Am I right?" Lin Ruoheng asked with a wry smile.
Chen Chang'an didn’t deny it. Instead, he nodded.
"I despise complications. So, I leave no loose ends."
"But you’re sharper than I anticipated. Now, the orb."
"If I give it to you, will you spare my life?"
"Do you truly think me a fool?"
"I’ve hidden it in a place only I know."
"Kill me, and you’ll never find that orb in this lifetime."
"Weigh the orb against my life—I’m sure you know which matters more." Lin Ruoheng smirked, confident he held the upper hand.
"I’ll take both the orb and your life."
"Xian'er."
"Yes."
In a flash, Gu Xian'er appeared before Lin Ruoheng.
The man who had once longed for her now stared in shock at her formidable strength.
"You—"
Thud!
Before he could finish, Gu Xian'er struck. A single palm strike effortlessly ended Lin Ruoheng’s life.
"Lin Ruoheng did save you once. No hesitation?" Chen Chang'an asked, watching her.
"He saved me for two reasons: lust and guilt."
"Had his family not annihilated mine, there’d have been no need for his ‘rescue.’"
"To me, he was never a savior—only a foe draped in a benefactor’s guise."
"You, young master, are the one who truly freed me from suffering."
"Your command is my duty."
Chen Chang'an nodded in satisfaction. He had always known Gu Xian'er was sharp, but as a woman, he wondered if sentiment might sway her. Seeing no such conflict, he let the matter rest.
Approaching Lin Ruoheng’s corpse, Chen Chang'an spoke coolly:
"If you were as clever as you thought, you’d know the most crucial item—like a fetal orb—is safest when kept close."
"I’m not some naive boy to be fooled by empty threats."
In the end, Chen Chang'an retrieved the third fetal orb from Lin Ruoheng’s spatial ring.
"Six more remain."
"However..."
Holding the fetal pearl in his hand, Chen Chang'an felt little joy, for according to the clan records, there was no way to pinpoint exactly when and where the other fetal pearls had been lost.
"Will it really come down to luck?"
"Never mind, I’ll fuse this fetal pearl first and see."
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?"
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
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.”
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...
