The outline of the Stone Forest grew smaller and smaller in their field of vision, eventually fading into a blurry black dot.
Yin Chen was still mulling over Chen Guan's phrase, "the end of the world."
The words were like a stone tossed into a deep pool, stirring up unprecedented ripples in the lake of his mind that had been placid for over a decade.
Chen Guan sat in the furthest corner, the Tier 5 Lightning Cheetah Alpha lying quietly at his feet.
Because Chen Guan could keep it under control, Black Crow just let him be, even if it was against the rules. Geniuses, after all, always enjoyed a few privileges.
Rules? Rules were meant to be broken.
The demonic aura radiating from its body had been restrained to the absolute limit. Its massive frame was curled up into a ball, eyelids drooping, completely ignoring everyone else in the carriage. Only when Chen Guan's hand occasionally stroked the top of its head would a satisfied purr rumble from its throat.
"Chen Guan," Hong Yuan leaned over, chewing on the end of a pencil. "I did the math. We captured seventy-three Tier 4 beasts alive this time, and one Tier 5. Based on 120 percent of the market price offered by the Great Wall, after deducting taxes and splitting it evenly, we each get eighty million."
Her voice echoed through the carriage, prompting even the driver to take a few extra glances at her through the rearview mirror.
Yin Chen opened his eyes, his tone flat. "You can take my share too. I have no need for this kind of currency."
"Young Master Yin, don't you dare go back on your word!" Hong Yuan's eyes lit up.
"This bit of funds isn't even enough for a single top-tier enchantment on my staff." Yin Chen adjusted his cuffs with a look of disdain. The young master truly didn't lack money.
Hong Yuan immediately turned her gaze to Chen Guan.
"My share belongs to me." Chen Guan's single sentence shattered her fantasy of taking it all.
Having money was always better than having none. Since coming to this world, Chen Guan hadn't really focused on making money, mostly because he didn't have anywhere to spend it. Otherwise, it would have been hard to take a single step.
Hong Yuan deflated a little but was still well satisfied. That much money was enough for her to give herself a serious upgrade.
The vehicle came to a halt two hours later.
On the desolate Gobi Desert, a few half-collapsed concrete buildings stood amidst the wind and sand.
Rusty barbed wire stretched out a crooked boundary, the writing on the warning signs long worn away by the blowing sand. This place was thirty kilometers away from the Great Wall's main defensive line, a lawless buffer zone.
Black Crow pushed open the door and jumped out, crushing a piece of dried beast bone underfoot.
"We're here."
Chen Guan stood up. The cheetah immediately rose, jumping out of the vehicle first and standing to the side to wait for Chen Guan to step down. Yin Chen and Hong Yuan followed closely behind.
"Jing!" Black Crow shouted toward the empty ruins.
The sound of snapping steel echoed from above.
From the jib of a rusted, scrapped tower crane, a figure jumped down.
The man wore a bright red Hawaiian floral shirt, beach shorts, and flip-flops on his feet.
When he landed, his knees didn't even bend. From a height of several stories, he drifted to the ground like a feather. The concrete floor let out a muffled thud from the impact, yet barely any dust was kicked up.
It was none other than Instructor Jing. After shedding his instructor's uniform, he looked more like a street punk.
Black Crow stood in place, looking at the man in the floral shirt and flip-flops, then back at the three students behind him. His Adam's apple bobbed twice.
Having worked his way up through the Great Wall's system for so many years, he had heard of his colleagues' various bizarre quirks.
People from the Special Operations Department always did things their own way, and this Instructor Jing was famously casual. Still, seeing this outfit with his own eyes was a bit much to stomach.
Couldn't you at least wear some normal clothes? What a disgrace!
Though disgusted inwardly, Black Crow swallowed his complaints.
Can't afford to mess with him.
"Jing," Black Crow stepped forward and offered a greeting.
"Yo, good work." Instructor Jing waved a hand, his gaze passing over Black Crow to land on Chen Guan behind him, as well as the Tier 5 Lightning Cheetah Alpha with its restrained aura at Chen Guan's feet.
His eyes lit up, and he whistled.
"Nice little kitty. Looks pretty lively."
The Lightning Cheetah sensed the pressure from a higher life form. It let out a threatening low growl from its throat, all the fur on its body standing on end.
Chen Guan raised his hand and patted it lightly on the top of the head.
The cheetah's growl immediately caught in its throat, and its massive body relaxed again. However, the wariness in its eyes toward Jing had turned into pure terror.
It buried its head even lower, wishing it could dig a hole in the ground and hide inside.
Instructor Jing's smile widened a fraction. What a little cutie. Too bad it had already been tamed by Chen Guan; he couldn't just go robbing his subordinate's things, could he?
"Black Crow, thanks. I'll take over from here. You can go back and write your report now." Instructor Jing waved his hand as if swatting a fly.
Black Crow's expressionless cheek twitched.
He didn't say anything, just turned and walked away.
He didn't want to stay here a second longer. Being around Jing always made him feel like his meager salary was blood money paying for his life.
The armored vehicle's engine roared to life, and it soon disappeared into the distance of the Gobi Desert.
Only Jing, Chen Guan, the other two students, and the panther remained at the scene.
The wind and sand blew past, kicking up dead leaves from the ground. The atmosphere was a bit strange.
Instructor Jing sized up the three people and the beast before him, his gaze like an old lady picking out cabbages at a wet market.
"Tsk, tsk." He walked a circle around Hong Yuan, his eyes lingering on her giant axe for a moment. "Little girl, you've got quite the strength, but there are more muscles in your brain than on your body."
Hong Yuan's eyebrows shot up, veins bulging on the hand gripping her axe handle.
If it weren't for the fact that this guy was an instructor, she would have already swung her axe at him.
He then walked over to Yin Chen, scanning him up and down.
"Not bad. Good presentation, clean clothes. You look exactly like the type who would cry for a long time if punched once."
Yin Chen maintained his elegant posture, but the corner of his eye began to twitch.
He swore this was absolutely the most outrageous evaluation he had heard in his entire life.
This guy is a psycho!
As for Chen Guan, Instructor Jing didn't even look at him.
What was there left to evaluate about this one?
"Alright, don't just stand there. Guests have arrived, so I have to entertain you." Instructor Jing clapped the dust off his hands and turned to walk deeper into the ruins. "Follow me."
His flip-flops made a slap-slap sound as he stepped on the gravel, completely out of place in this desolate, dead environment.
Chen Guan didn't say a word and followed.
The cheetah alpha followed closely behind, matching his every step.
Hong Yuan and Yin Chen exchanged a glance and could only bite the bullet and follow.
These ruins were much larger than they appeared from the outside.
Among the broken walls and debris, the wreckage of many massive metal structures could be seen. Rusted shell casings and the bones of unknown demonic beasts were scattered across the ground.
"Instructor, what are we doing here? Is this a new assessment?" Hong Yuan finally couldn't help but ask.
"An assessment? I have no interest in something so boring," Instructor Jing said lazily without looking back. "Just consider it a party for you all, to celebrate you turning Battlefield Three completely upside down."
A party? In this godforsaken place?
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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!
