"Watch out!"
The warning shout had barely left his lips before it was torn to shreds by the howling wind.
Several condensed, azure wind blades sliced through the air silently.
With absolute precision, they found the weak points and cut in, tearing apart the active spiritual energy nodes.
The fireball gathered in his palm was extinguished on the spot.
The arcs of lightning dancing on her fingertips dissipated, and the petrified skin reverted to flesh and blood.
Even the elusive assassin was dragged out by a whirlwind, bound so tightly by wind cords that he could not move an inch.
The entire process took less than three breaths.
The battle was already over.
Six elite students—some slumped on the ground, others bound by wind cords—had all, without exception, lost their ability to resist.
Shock was written all over their faces.
They were supposed to be in the same tier of strength, yet what they faced was complete annihilation.
"Why..."
A tall, thin young man slumped on the ground, his throat tight.
Could this be what a true genius was? Was the gap between them really this massive?
Yin Chen's figure reappeared in the snowstorm, his silver hair fluttering, his expression cold.
He did not answer and was just about to step forward to interrogate them.
Rumble!
A loud crash echoed out, seizing everyone's attention.
They turned their heads to look in unison.
The eternally standing dark-black giant tower's tightly shut doors were slowly opening.
From within the gloomy doorway, a slender figure stepped out against the light.
He carried a massive coffin on his back that was completely disproportionate to his size, looking exceptionally conspicuous.
It was Chen Guan.
He walked out of the tower doors, his gaze sweeping over the messy battlefield. He recognized the people lying on the ground; two of them were top-ten students.
It seemed this was the trouble Liu Feiyu had told him about earlier.
Looking at it now, it wasn't much trouble at all—it didn't even require him to make a move personally.
Finally, his gaze fell upon Yin Chen and Hong Yuan, and he gave a slight nod.
[Holy crap! Brother Coffin is out of seclusion.]
[These six guys in front are too pitiful. They just got taught a lesson, and now an even more incomprehensible guy shows up.]
[LMAO, the Coffin Squad is officially assembled. Calculating the psychological trauma area of the six people opposite.]
[What kind of shocking name is that? Might as well call it the Black Tortoise Squad.]
[But I think it sounds very sacred.]
The atmosphere on the ice plain became eerie due to Chen Guan's appearance. His vibe was simply too unconventional.
Right at this moment.
Clap, clap, clap.
A round of applause rang out abruptly.
The sound pierced through the wind and snow, sounding as close as if it were right next to everyone's ears.
The crowd looked toward the source of the sound.
They saw Instructor Jing standing not far away, though no one knew when he had arrived.
He wasn't wearing his uniform, but rather casual clothes.
"Beautiful, what a truly beautiful teaching drill."
His tone was calm, yet it drowned out the howling blizzard, sending every word clearly into everyone's ears.
"It wasn't in vain that I opened this Black Tortoise Tower for you."
This sentence caused Yin Chen's gaze to sharpen suddenly.
Hong Yuan also tensed her body and gripped her giant axe tightly again. She had wanted to beat up this lousy instructor for a long time.
Instructor Jing's appearance was too suspicious.
The words he spoke also hid too many things.
Chen Guan looked at Instructor Jing, then cast his eyes down at the warm Black Tortoise Token in his palm.
From White Tiger handing him the fragment, to Wu Xuan's trial, and up to this moment...
A complete sequence of events connected in his mind.
All of this was arranged by the Origin Return Group.
He... seemed to have been set up?
Instructor Jing did not disappoint Chen Guan's expectations. With a snap of his fingers, the six people from just now instantly vanished into the blizzard. As for himself, he pulled out a smiling white mask, displayed it, and then made it dissipate in an instant.
[Working Tiger! It really is you!]
[Did they treat this entire freshman training camp as an employee recruitment drive for their Origin Return Group?]
[Terrifying when you think about it. The major universities are cultivating talents for the Origin Return Group.]
White Tiger's gaze swept past the vigilant Yin Chen and the wild Hong Yuan.
Finally, his eyes rested on the calm face of Chen Guan.
"Alright, the warm-up is over, and the small fry have been cleared out."
He clapped his hands, announcing in a relaxed tone.
"So, let's talk about... the true purpose of this training camp."
The moment White Tiger's words fell, the howling of the blizzard seemed to be choked off by an invisible hand.
The true purpose?
Chen Guan remained completely still, simply looking at White Tiger.
The other party's desire to perform was as strong as ever; even on this frozen tundra, he had to put on a full show.
White Tiger, or rather Instructor Jing, very much enjoyed this atmosphere of being in total control.
He ignored the hostility from Yin Chen and Hong Yuan, pacing a few steps as the snow crunched softly beneath his feet.
"The so-called academy training and elimination matches are all just a front."
He spoke, his voice not loud, but his articulation exceptionally clear, overpowering the sound of the wind.
"A front used to screen for seeds, to filter out people like you—those who possess top-tier potential and are not overly bound by the rules of the system."
Yin Chen's brows furrowed into a tight knot.
He did not immediately retort, but instead rapidly deconstructed the information in that sentence within his mind.
Hong Yuan was much more direct. She demanded in a low shout, "What do you mean?"
"It means that what you thought was the finish line is actually just the starting line of another race."
Instructor Jing spread his hands.
The cynical smile on his face faded bit by bit, his facial muscles tightening to reveal an oppressive seriousness.
"Because," his voice suddenly dropped in pitch, "among the higher-ups of Huaqing, Modu... these top-tier institutions, there are moles."
Every word he spoke felt as if it had been dragged out from beneath the ice, smashing against their ears.
"They are secretly colluding with the demon race, selling out humanity's interests."
Yin Chen's breath hitched.
Moles? Higher-ups?
These two words crashed into his ears, tearing a rift in the world he had always firmly believed in.
Huaqing Academy, Modu Academy—as the cornerstones guarding Huaxia, the holy lands yearned for by countless geniuses, and his own academy—how could they allow traitors to hide within them?
Hong Yuan's reaction was even more intense.
"Nonsense! You can't just throw around words like that!"
[Playing it this big? Skipping straight to the high-level mole arc?]
[No wonder the Origin Return Group has to act independently. It turns out the official organizations are already rotten on the inside.]
[Wait a minute, does this mean the Origin Return Group are actually the good guys?]
[Santai's first appearance gifted the evil cult a bomb-matching game, and Working Tiger has been doing good deeds all along. Case closed, these are the real good guys.]
Faced with the reprimand, Instructor Jing's expression did not change.
He looked at the silent Chen Guan, as if anticipating his stance.
Chen Guan's posture remained relaxed, but his mind was racing.
Moles. Demon race.
This was the first time he was hearing this information too, though it wasn't exactly surprising.
The important thing was that once this news was confirmed, the entire world's game board would be overturned and reset.
And he was standing right in the center of the table.
An unprecedentedly massive stage was opening up before him.
"Why should we believe you?"
Yin Chen forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart, his voice returning to a steady tone.
Instructor Jing smiled. Given his understanding of Yin Chen, he had long anticipated that he would ask this.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
