In the group chat, Long Ao’s reply was simple and blunt: “I stopped wanting to take that monthly exam ages ago.”
An Changqing seemed to have anticipated his reaction. He sent a smiling emoji. “What about you, Chen Guan? Want to come along?”
【An A-rank mission? Finally, something exciting. It’s been nothing but everyday stuff lately.】
【Even a model student like An Changqing has fallen into corruption and wants to skip the monthly exam. This must be the evil influence of Bro Coffin.】
【Or maybe Bro An just wants to make some money with his friends?】
【More likely, nobody else took the job, so he’s dragging his buddies along to do the dirty work.】
Chen Guan’s fingers tapped across the screen. His reply was just as concise.
“Count me in.”
“Great.”
An Changqing immediately sent out a team invitation. The student terminals of all three lit up at the same time.
【Huaqing Academy Practical Mission System】
【Team Invitation: An Changqing (Captain) has invited you to join the A-rank commission “Overland Escort of Valuables.” Accept?】
Chen Guan and Long Ao tapped “Accept” almost simultaneously.
The system interface refreshed, and the three avatars appeared side by side beneath the mission bar.
“Done.” An Changqing sent an OK gesture. “The mission departs in two days. Want to meet this afternoon and go over the details?”
“Sure.”
That afternoon, the three met as planned.
An Changqing set three cups of iced cola on the table. “The main reason this mission is still available to us is that the timing is awkward.”
He swiped his finger, bringing up the academy calendar.
“The monthly exams are coming up. The upperclassmen are all busy reviewing and improving their grades, preparing for internships and graduation. Nobody wants to go on a long-distance assignment at a time like this.”
“As for the big shots who aren’t worried about graduating, they aren’t interested in this mission either. That’s why we got the chance.”
Long Ao twisted open his cola and took a large gulp. He had no interest in this analysis. “Get to the point. What’s the catch?”
He didn’t believe for a second that there was no catch.
“The catch lies in the commission itself.”
An Changqing enlarged the briefing again and pointed to the description.
“An antique unsuitable for teleportation arrays.”
He looked at Chen Guan and Long Ao, the easygoing smile gone from his face.
“What kind of antique do you think wouldn’t be suitable for a teleportation array?”
Long Ao frowned and thought for a long while. “Something extremely fragile? The kind that would fall apart at the slightest jolt?”
“It’s possible, but unlikely.”
An Changqing shook his head. “Spatial teleportation technology is very stable these days. Freight channels are equipped with shock absorption and constant-force fields. They’re much safer than overland transport.”
His gaze shifted to Chen Guan, who had remained silent all this time.
Chen Guan was still sipping his cola. At that, he raised his head. “Maybe it interferes with the stability of the teleportation array.”
“Exactly.” An Changqing snapped his fingers. “That’s what I thought too. Anything capable of interfering with space definitely isn’t an ordinary object. Either it’s an ancient relic containing enormous and unstable energy, or…”
“What?” Long Ao pressed.
“It isn’t an antique at all.”
Long Ao’s eyes lit up. “Now that makes this job interesting.”
“Either way, it means this mission could be far more dangerous than its displayed rating suggests.”
An Changqing summed things up. “The client, Qian Yongnian, is a famous antique dealer in North City. Supposedly, he has connections everywhere and an excellent reputation. He’s also on good terms with the academy’s leadership. That’s probably why the academy is willing to turn a blind eye.”
In other words, even if what they were transporting wasn’t an antique at all, the academy probably wouldn’t care. Inspections would be very lax.
“Got it.” Long Ao didn’t seem concerned. “Whatever comes, we’ll deal with it. We’re just helping out.”
“Regardless, be prepared.” An Changqing’s expression turned serious. “The day after tomorrow at eight in the morning. Meet at the academy’s north gate. The client will send a vehicle to pick us up.”
“Understood.”
The three clinked their cups and drained the rest of their colas, officially sealing the agreement for their journey.
…
It wasn’t until the night before departure that Chen Guan finally remembered the A-rank commission.
The dormitory was quiet. The only sound was the faint tapping of his fingers as they slid across the virtual screen.
“Qian Yongnian.”
Chen Guan entered the name into a gray-market website.
A string of titles appeared.
Honorary President of the North City Antique Association, Chairman of Yongnian Group, philanthropist. The man in the photograph looked to be around fifty. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and had a refined appearance and a genial smile.
Chen Guan scrolled down past the glamorous résumé, paid to unlock the rest, and opened the attached gray file.
【Unofficial information. For reference only.】
A line of small text served as a reminder.
The contents were considerably less flattering. Qian Yongnian had made his fortune in his early years by trafficking relics from the borderlands. His methods had been ruthless, and he had kept a group of desperate criminals on his payroll. Only later had he laundered his reputation and gone legitimate.
Chen Guan closed the virtual screen and leaned back in his chair.
A local kingpin who operated on both sides of the law—and yet he was willing to pay a fortune to hire three students from the academy to escort something.
Either he didn’t trust his own men, or whatever he was transporting was beyond their ability to protect.
The academy gathered the future elite. Even before graduation, it was filled with experts. Outside the academy, apart from official organizations like the Great Wall, it was difficult to find a place where fifth- and sixth-tier experts gathered in such numbers.
The academy system ensured that talent remained within its sphere to an extraordinary degree. Outstanding students went on to join official institutions one after another.
“Awoo.”
A soft cry came from the bed.
Chen Guan turned around and saw Baobao crouching beside his pillow, golden slit pupils fixed intently on him.
“I’m going away for a while,” Chen Guan explained.
Baobao tilted its head. The next second, it leapt off the bed, trotted over to the desk, and jumped up. It then pulled a strip of dried beef from the bag with its teeth. The strip was longer than its own head.
A purple blur flashed by. Baobao had already stuffed itself and its “luggage” into the pocket of Chen Guan’s jacket.
A small lump bulged from the pocket, accompanied by the faint sound of chewing.
A moment later, a furry little head poked over the edge. Clearly satisfied, it let out a yawn.
Chen Guan reached over and rubbed the little head.
He really had no regrets about adopting Baobao. If anything, he regretted it less and less.
…
The next morning, at seven fifty, Chen Guan arrived at the north gate of Huaqing Academy.
Long Ao and An Changqing were already there.
Long Ao was dressed entirely in black, his hands in his pockets. His eyes held a defiant edge, as though he hadn’t fully woken up yet. An Changqing was the complete opposite. He wore clean white casual clothes and looked energetic and refreshed.
“Morning.” An Changqing greeted him with a smile.
“Morning.” Chen Guan nodded.
Long Ao raised his chin in acknowledgment.
“Has the client’s vehicle not arrived yet?” Chen Guan asked.
“It should be here soon. We agreed on eight sharp.” An Changqing glanced at the time. “Our classmates were so envious when they found out we were skipping the monthly exam.”
Long Ao’s lips curled upward. “First come, first served.”
The three chatted idly as they waited. At exactly eight o’clock, a vehicle approached from the distance and came to a smooth stop in front of them.
When they got a clear look at the vehicle, even An Changqing’s face showed surprise.
What came toward them was a black SUV that looked a little long in the tooth—a discontinued model that had vanished from the market years ago. Yet it had been meticulously maintained, its body polished to a gleaming shine. All four tires had clearly been specially modified, their thick treads bristling with a rugged, untamed edge.
The entire vehicle radiated an understated yet formidable presence.
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!
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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?!”
