The photo showed the northern snowfields. In the distance, a dark, oppressive tide of beasts was held back beyond the defensive line. A few reconnaissance aircraft hung in the sky, and the rune arrays on the ground gleamed like a long river of light.
At the edge of the photo, Yin Chen stood on a snowy slope, his cloak whipping wildly in the wind, holding a cup of hot drink he'd somehow scrounged up somewhere — steam still rising from it.
Hong Yuan sent a follow-up message.
【That's good to hear. Let me just finish chopping down this wave first.】
Chen Guan stared at the message, silently scrolling back up to her earlier words: "Whoever touched you, I'll chop them down."
He had to admit, Hong Yuan's follow-through was remarkably consistent.
She was genuinely planning on doing the chopping.
Yin Chen's reply came half a minute later.
【Brother Chen, the fact that you're still alive is... emotionally complicated.】
Chen Guan replied.
【Complicated how?】
Yin Chen's response came quickly.
【I just finished writing three drafts of your eulogy.】
Chen Guan: "..."
Baal was slapping the table inside his mind, howling with laughter — entirely unbefitting of a demon lord.
"HAHAHAHA, these people were worth making friends with after all. They even pre-wrote your eulogy for you."
Chen Guan replied to Yin Chen.
【Keep them. Might come in handy someday.】
Yin Chen replied with a silent emoji.
Then added another line.
【Don't you dare use them. I was planning to wipe my husky's face with those.】
Chen Guan put his phone away and looked up at the night outside the administration building.
Huaxing Academy was already buzzing.
News had spread faster than he'd expected.
In the dormitory blocks in the distance, windows were lighting up one after another. People were sticking their heads out over by the training grounds. Several teachers were hurrying over from different directions, clearly having heard he was back.
The sheer number of eyes on him was starting to make Chen Guan feel awkward. And when a person feels awkward, they pretend to be busy.
Chen Guan pulled out his phone and accidentally tapped open the academy forum.
The front page had already refreshed with new posts. The glaring headlines hit his eyes.
He'd been too conservative in his earlier estimation.
His news didn't need to wait until the next morning to hit the front page — the netizens of Huaxing Academy were all night owls.
【Chen Guan resurrects and returns to campus, catches thief on the spot at the logistics building — apparently crawled back alive from the Magic Capital】
The replies beneath were scrolling at lightning speed.
【I said he wouldn't die. Good people live long.】
【The real highlight is catching the thief, right? LOL, what kind of dumb 「beep」 picks THAT day to go stealing, right when he comes back.】
【Thief: I didn't think a dead man would come back to catch me.】
【Chairman An and the others went to the Northern Front to avenge him... Now this is awkward. And what about the school? They already hung his portrait in mourning black on the wall.】
【Forget the school for now — I want to see Chairman An's face when he reads this post.】
Chen Guan quickly shut off his phone.
Very fast.
He couldn't keep looking.
If he looked any more, he'd start feeling like some kind of campus urban legend.
He'd just stepped out of the small square in front of the administration building when he ran headfirst into a group of students running over from the training grounds.
At the front was Wang Hanyue.
His former fellow sufferer and classmate. The guy was still clutching a metal training staff, a towel slung over his shoulder — clearly fresh out of night training.
He ran up to Chen Guan, then walked a full circle around him.
Chen Guan watched him. "What are you doing?"
Wang Hanyue reached out with the tail end of his metal staff and carefully poked at the shadow at Chen Guan's feet.
The shadow, stretched long by the streetlight, sat steadily on the ground.
Wang Hanyue let out a breath of relief. "He's got a shadow. He's alive."
Chen Guan nodded. "Thank you for being so thorough."
It was a rare moment — someone like Wang Hanyue, big and burly, actually showing some brain cells.
The students behind him had been holding it in, but that line broke them. They burst out laughing.
Wang Hanyue realized he'd made a fool of himself and quickly cleared his throat. "Hey, the school's been having too many weird things happening lately. Being cautious is normal, you know? Demonic beasts — you can never be too careful."
Chen Guan looked toward the dormitory buildings in the distance.
More and more windows were lighting up, like a patch of startled fireflies.
"News of me coming back spread that fast already?"
"Fast doesn't even cover it." Wang Hanyue pulled out his phone and showed him the academy forum's real-time hot list. "You're number one right now. The mysterious thief at the logistics building is number two. Chairman An's revenge trip to the Northern Front is number three. And Yin Chen's eulogy is number four."
Chen Guan stared at the fourth entry for a while.
"Yin Chen sure knows how to market himself. Showing off from another academy."
Wang Hanyue grinned. "Someone already dug up a screenshot of his eulogy. The title is, 'May Brother Chen come bearing his coffin and depart riding the wind.' Now there's a whole crowd down in the comments demanding he release the full document."
Chen Guan: "..."
Baal was thoroughly satisfied, laughing his divine head off. Tonight was premium entertainment.
"This Yin Chen guy, Baal approves of him."
Chen Guan pulled his gaze away and headed toward the dorms.
Wang Hanyue fell into step beside him, his smile fading as he lowered his voice. "You really okay?"
"I'm okay."
"The reports coming back from the Magic Capital were pretty scary. They said you got pulled into the demonic contamination core. Said you... you know... shattered."
"Rumors tend to exaggerate."
Chen Guan didn't slow his pace. He said it with complete sincerity.
Wang Hanyue hoisted the metal staff onto his shoulder.
"Long as you're fine. I wanted to go with Chairman An and the others when they set out, but Vice Dean Situ held me back."
Chen Guan glanced at him sideways.
Wang Hanyue added, "The Vice Dean said if I went, I'd mainly be responsible for slowing everyone down."
"He's an honest man."
"Brother Chen, you're pretty honest too."
The two walked past the edge of the training grounds.
Dim lights still lingered over the empty field. A few cracked training dummies stood in the night, the wind rattling their metal frames with a faint clatter.
Chen Guan's steps slowed. His gaze settled on the viewing stands by the training field, where a makeshift white cloth had been hung.
In front of it sat a few bouquets of flowers.
In the center of the white cloth, where a photo should have hung, there was nothing but two empty mounting clips.
Wang Hanyue followed his gaze, a look of awkwardness crossing his face.
"This, uh, cough. After Chairman An and the others left, the student council set it up as a temporary measure."
Chen Guan stepped closer.
Next to the white cloth was a small electronic screen. It hadn't been turned off. A line of text was frozen on it:
【Temporary memorial area for student Chen Guan — awaiting confirmation before activation】
Chen Guan stared at the "awaiting confirmation" part. Huaxing Academy really was thorough when it came to administrative procedures.
Alive, need proof. Dead, need confirmation.
The memorial area had to wait for activation.
Wang Hanyue scratched his head.
"Honestly, the reports were all over the place. Su Yuehe said you weren't dead, Chairman An wouldn't confirm anything either way, but people in the Magic Capital said your life monitor had gone flat, so the student council set up a backup — just in case, you know..."
He trailed off, unable to finish.
I mean, the guy was standing right here in front of him. What was he supposed to say? This was way too dramatic.
Chen Guan reached out and shut off the electronic screen. The black glass reflected his face — and behind him, that coffin.
"If I really die, no need to hang me up here."
Wang Hanyue blinked.
Chen Guan turned and walked toward the dorms. "I'll carry myself. Saves on venue costs."
Wang Hanyue stood rooted to the spot, finally managing one sentence.
"You really are..."
The students behind him heard it too. A muffled wave of laughter rippled through the group — and after the laughter, no one spoke.
That joke was way too black. Especially coming from a man who'd genuinely crawled back from the brink of death.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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...
