The King of the Tower clearly hadn’t expected Chen Guan to refuse with such an excuse, and there was a brief pause.
“You really are a lot like Him. Neither of you is interested in the throne itself.”
There was no hint of emotion in that ancient voice.
“Who is He?”
“You know perfectly well.”
“Then you’re wrong.” Chen Guan shook his head and corrected him. “I’m not interested in your throne, and I’m even less interested in becoming someone else’s replacement.
“I am who I am. I have nothing to do with Him, and I’m not anyone’s reincarnation.”
The King of the Tower did not continue pursuing the subject. Beneath the starlight, that ancient armor looked like an ageless statue.
Chen Guan had no intention of listening to him continue painting grand promises, either. There was something else he cared about more.
“I’m more concerned about what you said earlier.” He raised his eyes and stared directly at the smooth faceplate, abruptly changing the subject. “You said you were both the key and the door.”
Chen Guan paused before throwing out a question that had troubled him for a long time.
“Someone told me that the door is in the body of a man without a name.
“Are you that person?”
The King of the Tower’s motionless body finally reacted. After hearing the question, the head covered by the faceplate shifted ever so slightly.
“How… did you find out?”
“Shouldn’t you answer my question before asking me one?”
Chen Guan keenly caught the reaction. His heart stirred, and he politely declined to answer the King of the Tower’s probing question.
It seemed he had asked the right thing.
He stared at the King of the Tower, not missing the slightest change in his reaction.
After a long while, that voice finally sounded again, carrying a sigh of relief.
“Yes and no.”
Another cryptic answer.
Chen Guan frowned but did not interrupt. He knew the other party would continue.
“I truly have no name.”
The King of the Tower’s voice echoed in Chen Guan’s mind.
“Because ‘King of the Tower’ is a title given to me by intruders. It is not my real name.”
“I have no physical form, either.”
He raised his black-armored hand and looked at it.
“This armor, along with the me inside it, is merely a projection, a coordinate, a beacon that exists so you can find the door.” He pointed at his chest. “There is nothing here.”
Chen Guan was stunned.
He had always thought the other party was the manifestation of some ancient will, which was why he had repeatedly tried to tempt him with ill intentions. He had practically assumed the other party was a colleague of Baal’s.
“As for whether I am the man without a name you asked about…”
The King of the Tower paused, then spoke in a peculiar tone.
“That is an interesting description. Beidou told you that, didn’t he? In a certain sense, I am.”
“Because I have no name, and I can be considered a person.”
“But from another perspective, I am not.”
“Because I alone do not possess the power to open the door for you.”
This riddle-like answer made Chen Guan’s teeth ache.
Damn ancient people. Couldn’t they just say what they meant?
But he could only wait patiently for the rest.
This time, the King of the Tower did not keep him in suspense.
“Take the throne.” Its hand once again pointed toward the throne beneath the enormous red crystal in the center of the platform. “Or walk His path instead of Baal’s.”
Those final words struck Chen Guan’s mind like a stone.
“Baal’s path is a dead end.” A trace of condescension entered the King of the Tower’s voice.
If Baal himself had heard that tone, he probably would have been furious.
“He devours everything, toys with everything, regards all living things as ants, and treats the world as his playground. His only possible ending is to be rejected and hunted down by the entire world, then devoured by an even stronger existence.”
“It is a meaningless cycle with no end.”
“But His path is different.”
The King of the Tower seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
“He is the founder of order, the guardian of the world, and the wielder of balance. If you walk His path, you will become the rules themselves, rather than remaining a destroyer of rules like Baal.”
“One path builds, while the other tears down. Which will you choose?”
Those words were enough to make anyone with ambition burn with enthusiasm. The promise was grand, lofty, and perfectly rounded.
But after listening to it, Chen Guan’s expression remained unchanged.
Why couldn’t this guy understand plain speech? I’m not interested in grand promises.
Even so, Chen Guan could clearly feel the insidious murmurs continuing to echo in his mind.
In the distance, Li Yan was already on the verge of collapse.
He had watched Chen Guan and that bizarre King of the Tower stand motionless for more than five minutes.
There had been no fighting and no conversation. They looked like two statues.
This was absolutely abnormal.
Based on what he knew of Chen Guan, although the kid loved picking up trash, he never dragged out a fight.
He had to be under some kind of mental illusion.
“Chen Guan.” Li Yan’s low growl was wrapped in thunder as he tried to jolt Chen Guan out of that bizarre state.
Chen Guan still did not react.
Li Yan’s patience was nearly exhausted. Lightning flickered in his bronze-bell-sized eyes, and his mountain-like body took a step forward, causing the entire platform to tremble.
Just as he was preparing to force his way in, the little cat dozing atop Chen Guan’s head suddenly opened its eyes.
“Meow…”
Baobao yawned. It sensed the confusion in its master’s mind, as well as the hostility radiating from the big man nearby.
It extended a tiny paw and gently touched Chen Guan’s forehead with the small thunder crystal embedded in its brow.
A cool sensation flowed inward, like a gulp of ice-cold soda on a summer day.
The noise in Chen Guan’s mind instantly subsided.
He raised his head and looked at the King of the Tower. For the first time, an expression resembling a smile appeared on his face.
“Your proposal is very tempting.”
His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached Li Yan’s ears, bringing the movement he was about to unleash to an abrupt halt.
The King of the Tower assumed that its words had worked.
“So, what is your choice?”
“My choice is…” Chen Guan drew out the words, then shook his head. “I refuse.”
“Why?” Confusion finally entered the King of the Tower’s voice. “Wouldn’t it be better to become the embodiment of order and wield authority than to become a slave to chaos?”
“No particular reason.” Chen Guan’s reply was crisp and decisive.
“I already told you. I have no interest in becoming anyone’s replacement.”
“Whether it’s Baal’s path or His path, both sound like too much trouble.”
He paused, then stated the core of his values.
“I just want to live a quiet, peaceful life. I have no great ambitions. I grow stronger simply because I don’t want to become dust beneath the wheels of the times.”
Although he had accidentally become the strongest among his peers, Chen Guan had never forgotten his original intention: to survive in a dangerous world.
He did not want to get involved in any troublesome matters. Trouble always seemed to come looking for him anyway, but at the very least, Chen Guan wanted to be able to refuse trouble whenever he had the right to say no.
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.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
