Chen Guan casually took out his Black Tortoise Token. When he pressed his fingertip against the center, a dark glow rose from within the token and spread soundlessly like ripples across a pond.
A few seconds later, a voice carrying three parts laziness and seven parts amusement rang directly through Chen Guan’s mind.
“Well, well, isn’t this our Little Xuanwu?”
The voice was very familiar.
“What’s this? Missing your lonely, unmarried boss?”
It was the detestable White Tiger.
Chen Guan leaned against the headboard and adjusted his position to lessen the pain in his left arm. Not a trace of discomfort showed on his face.
White Tiger chuckled on the other end, his voice tinged with teasing. “Go on, why are you in such a hurry to contact me? What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time? Or did you run into an enemy you couldn’t handle?”
Chen Guan ignored his jokes and went straight to the point.
“I gave the Azure Dragon Token to Liu Feiyu.”
There was a brief silence on the other end. Only after a moment did White Tiger speak again, his amusement even more pronounced.
“So you really gave it to him. I guessed as much a long time ago, but I’m guessing you didn’t hand it over for free.”
White Tiger knew this kid’s character all too well. He was the sort who plucked feathers from passing geese and stripped the hide from passing rabbits.
He hadn’t taken the opportunity to extort a little something? Give me a break. Don’t make your Tiger Bro laugh.
“My future colleague gave me some real estate as a welcoming gift,” Chen Guan said without the slightest change in expression.
An island and a desert counted as real estate, didn’t they?
White Tiger gave an acknowledging “oh,” clearly not paying much attention. Misled by the phrase “some real estate,” he assumed it meant a house or something similar, so naturally he didn’t care.
He owned properties in many places across the country, making it convenient for him to live wherever he happened to be. He wasn’t about to envy one of his subordinates for owning a house.
Of course, if he learned the truth about that “real estate,” China would gain another case of red-eyed jealousy.
Unfortunately, your Tiger Bro was still completely in the dark.
Chen Guan continued, “There’s one more thing. I’m in the Northern Frontier right now.”
White Tiger was speechless. “Didn’t I tell you to stay put at school? How did you end up running off to a war zone again without saying a word?”
Chen Guan replied with complete justification, “The academy sent me here. I didn’t run off.”
“Fine. That is a legitimate reason.”
White Tiger’s tone became even more helpless. In truth, he had known from the beginning that Chen Guan would never stay put.
Besides, this was hardly an era that allowed people to live quietly. Young people were bound to run around a little.
“So?” White Tiger’s voice lengthened, every word full of teasing. “You didn’t call just to report on your future colleague and the new house you acquired, did you?”
He paused deliberately.
“Is this about the other coffin?”
Chen Guan gave a quiet affirmative.
That was his real purpose.
“I want to know everything about that thing. You’re the one with the clearance. When exactly are you going to authorize my access?”
“What a nuisance. Why do I have so many things to deal with?” White Tiger scratched his head. “I feel like I’ve been so busy lately. So, so busy.”
“Still, since you’ve come all the way to the Northern Frontier, it wouldn’t look right if I didn’t meet you in person.”
Chen Guan was always good at pressing for more. He immediately asked, “When?”
“Why the rush?”
Hearing how Chen Guan sounded as though he feared White Tiger might change his mind, White Tiger’s voice once again took on its familiar playful edge.
Heh heh heh. So the brat finally found something he actually cared about.
“Once some of those troublesome old men leave, I’ll take you inside.”
“For now, just stay put and be a good wounded patient. Enjoy the special treatment from your friends.”
“After all, getting a whole group of peerless prodigies from this era to serve as your bodyguards isn’t an opportunity that comes around often. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Even a dating sim doesn’t go this far.”
Chen Guan: “…”
So you play dating sims too, huh, old man?
“All right, go rest, Little Xuanwu.”
Before White Tiger’s voice disappeared, he added one last thing.
“If your real estate needs renovating, remember to contact me. I know an incredible construction crew.”
The communication ended.
The dark glow on the token slowly faded, and Chen Guan put it back into his storage ring.
Leaning against the headboard, he listened to the dull roar of wind and snow outside the tent and slowly closed his eyes.
Things had come to this.
He might as well sleep first.
…
He slept until dawn.
When he opened his eyes again, he was awakened by the aroma of food and a hushed argument.
“I told you to let him sleep a little longer. Why did you bring the medicine over?”
“Doctor Zhou said it has to be taken on time, or his wounds will heal more slowly!”
“The porridge is getting cold.”
Chen Guan had only just sat up when he found himself facing three pairs of eyes.
Su Yuehe was holding an insulated food container, unmelted snow clinging to her temples.
Long Ao was carrying a bag of medicine, his brows tightly knitted and impatience written all over his face.
An Changqing held fresh bandages, his gaze fixed directly on Chen Guan’s arm as he checked whether the wound had started bleeding again.
One had brought food.
One had brought medicine.
One was in charge of changing the bandages.
Oh, and behind them were two more people, one dressed in silver and the other in red. One was reading, while the other was busy eating.
Liu Feiyu, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. He was probably overjoyed, studying that lousy token. Clearly, he didn’t care at all about his future colleague. Everything he had said the night before had been a lie meant to fool ghosts.
Looking at the scene before him, the corner of Chen Guan’s mouth twitched.
Oh no. This really did look a bit like a dating sim.
Damn that Kitty Tiger.
“I feel like I can be discharged now.”
“No.”
Three voices answered in unison, firm and decisive. Even the two people in the back sent him disapproving looks.
Chen Guan said nothing more. It was obvious that Doctor Zhou must have given them strict instructions.
He remained under round-the-clock supervision until the snow finally began to ease on the afternoon of the third day. Only then was he permitted to leave the tent and get some fresh air.
The sky over the Northern Frontier showed a faint gray-white glow. In the temporary training grounds in the distance, the soldiers’ training chants had never stopped.
Chen Guan walked in front, with three people following behind him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake them off.
“The air smells better today than it did the past few days,” Su Yuehe said with a sincere smile.
Everything was getting better.
“That’s because there haven’t been many clashes lately. It’s basically a vacation. The smell of blood has dispersed,” Long Ao said, his blunt tone ruining the little bit of atmosphere they had managed to create.
An Changqing ignored him and said to Chen Guan, “Professor Situ said that if nothing major happens, we’ll be able to return to Huaqing in two weeks.”
“Once we’re back, in another month we’ll become senior students and go welcome the new students.”
Chen Guan’s steps faltered.
Returning to Huaqing meant distancing himself from that coffin once again.
“Sounds good,” he replied, his emotions impossible to read.
White Tiger should keep his promise and come over, right?
He should…
The group reached the base of the observation tower at the edge of the camp. From there, they could see the outlines of snow-capped mountains stretching into the distance.
The setting sun was pushing its way out from behind the clouds, casting a fragile golden rim over the snow.
“Look, the sun’s coming out.”
Su Yuehe pointed toward the horizon, her voice filled with delight.
Chen Guan looked up. The warm yellow light fell across his face, dispelling some of the gloom that had lingered for days.
He looked at the friends beside him.
Long Ao still wore the expression of someone to whom the entire world owed money.
An Changqing was as gentle as ever.
The light of the setting sun was reflected in Su Yuehe’s eyes.
It seemed as though everything was still the same. Nothing had changed.
Standing beside him, An Changqing spoke casually.
“The weather forecast says it’ll clear up tomorrow.”
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.
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!
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!
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!
