Chen Guan stared at him, his expression complicated.
This was the real him.
The Chen Guan who dominated the arena outside, admired or feared by countless people, was merely a persona he had created to protect himself—a shell hard enough to withstand anything.
Click.
The coffin lid closed once more.
He clapped his hands, stood up, and moved the coffin to a corner.
Then he walked to the center of the room, cleared out an open space, and issued a command in his mind.
“Baobao, come out and get to work.”
A flash of violet light appeared, and Baobao emerged out of thin air with elegant feline steps. Its eyes settled on Chen Guan, golden vertical pupils clouded with the confusion of a cat that had just woken up.
A moment later, it affectionately came forward and rubbed its head against Chen Guan’s trouser leg, purring contentedly.
Chen Guan rubbed its furry head. The fur felt especially good today.
“Take out the other iron coffin.”
Baobao tilted its head and lazily opened its mouth.
The next moment, the iron coffin appeared on the dormitory floor.
Chen Guan’s gaze fell upon it. The reason he had taken it out today was that he had suddenly thought of something he wanted to verify.
He reached out and pressed his palm against the lid, exerting a little force with his arm.
Creak…
A grating sound that set one’s teeth on edge rang out. The coffin lid, covered in the marks of time, was pushed open.
Chen Guan stopped moving.
Just as he had expected, the inside of the coffin was not empty.
A layer of fibrous material that had been completely carbonized beyond recognition covered the bottom. On top of it lay a layer of dried, cracked gelatinous material. It had long since lost all vitality and crumbled into powder at the slightest touch.
These materials were clearly meant to cushion and isolate energy. Their grade was impossible to determine, but the fact that they had survived until now meant they were definitely top-tier.
What truly made Chen Guan’s pupils contract was the distinct human-shaped depression on top of the broken materials.
The outline was neither too large nor too small. It was exactly the shape of an adult man.
Someone had once lain here too.
“How interesting. Very interesting.” Excitement colored Baal’s laughter, as though he had just discovered a new toy. “Looks like you weren’t the first, kid. Maybe there was another unlucky predecessor before you.”
Chen Guan said nothing. He crouched down and ran his fingers along the edge of the human-shaped depression.
He could imagine it: once, someone just like him had carefully prepared the best protection for his home, then lain inside and fallen into a deep sleep.
But now the coffin was here. Where was the person who had occupied it?
Had he grown so powerful that he no longer needed this iron shell, or had he… completely vanished into the river of history?
Chen Guan leaned toward the latter possibility.
If that person had truly been immortal, he shouldn’t have remained utterly unknown. Even if he had kept a low profile like Beidou, Baal should have had at least some impression of him.
Would that person’s fate become his own future?
“Baobao, put it away.”
Baobao obediently opened its mouth and swallowed the coffin back inside. Then it rubbed its head against Chen Guan’s trouser leg again.
Chen Guan bent down, rubbed its large head, and tossed it a demon core.
“Good work.”
Looking into Baobao’s clear golden vertical pupils, he felt the gloom in his heart dissipate somewhat.
The road ahead was unknown. There was no use thinking too much.
The only thing he could do was keep reinforcing his nest like a hamster and stockpiling strength.
Absolute safety was the only true principle.
Chen Guan patted Baobao’s head again. “Baobao, open the portal. I’m going in to check on Miss Song.”
Song Zhiheng, Guan Jinyue’s younger sister.
Although Chen Guan didn’t know why the two of them had different surnames, since Guan Jinyue had left his little sister with him, he had to at least show some concern for her.
Baobao obeyed Chen Guan’s command and opened a portal. Chen Guan stepped through and immediately saw the conspicuous ice coffin.
It looked exactly as he remembered.
She was still lying there quietly, dressed in a white gown.
“Baobao, have you sensed any changes in this ice coffin over the past few days?”
Chen Guan asked Baobao, who had followed closely behind him. Although it still couldn’t speak human language, it could basically understand what he said and could roughly gesture out its answers.
Baobao shook its head from side to side, clearly indicating that nothing had changed.
Chen Guan was puzzled. Old Baal had secretly told him before that Baobao’s space would benefit Song Zhiheng. Was that a scam?
“Hmph. I bet you’re thinking something very disrespectful, aren’t you?”
Baal spoke as though he had seen straight through Chen Guan’s thoughts.
“Everything takes time. It’s not that there’s no benefit—it’s just a slow benefit, a gradual benefit. First, the initial benefit brings about the later… Huh, that formula doesn’t work here. Forget it. Young people are simply too impatient.”
Faced with Baal’s reproach, Chen Guan could only shrug helplessly.
Fine. You’re a demon god, so you’re the one who gets to decide.
Old Baal had the final say on the interpretation of everything he said.
…
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those three days, aside from eating and sleeping, Chen Guan spent his time in the dormitory studying the “Dragonfall Warhammer” and familiarizing himself with the upgraded interior of the coffin.
Qin Wu came by several times, trying to drag him out for extravagant meals and drinks, but Chen Guan dismissed him each time with the excuse that he was “in seclusion.”
On the third day, six in the morning.
Dawn had just broken, and several people were already gathered in the plaza outside the southern gate of Huaqing Academy.
They were the sixteen students taking part in the exchange tournament.
Excitement was written plainly across every face.
The Void Secret Realm—a place that existed only in legends, a place filled with opportunity.
Everyone wore the delighted expressions of people who had just discovered a fortune.
Chen Guan swept his gaze across the crowd. An Changqing was speaking quietly with several classmates, wearing the same gentle smile as always. Yet whenever his eyes drifted toward a certain empty spot, a trace of disappointment would flash through them.
Su Yuehe had not come.
“Yuehe is still recovering, so she won’t be taking part in this secret realm expedition.” An Changqing seemed to notice where Chen Guan was looking and walked over to explain.
“Is she… all right?” Chen Guan nodded.
An Changqing shook his head. “She’s already awake. My father said Lady Speaker has made some special arrangements for her. After all, this place is practically her backyard. She can come and go whenever she wants, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
Even as he said this, An Changqing felt that something was strange. Just like him, Su Yuehe had elders who never interfered with their growth. This was the first time anything like this had ever happened.
Just then, a steady figure appeared before the group.
Sima Ming still wore his usual stern expression. Without wasting any words, he walked to the open space in the center of the plaza and raised a hand.
“Time is precious. Prepare to depart.”
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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.
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
