The man’s gaze passed over the off-road vehicle and locked onto the massive transport truck ahead.
His voice echoed through the tunnel. “Hand over the item, and you can leave.”
The atmosphere inside the vehicle instantly dropped to freezing point.
“We’re students from Huaqing Academy, currently carrying out an A-rank commission.”
An Changqing was the first to push open the door and step out. A long sword had appeared in his hand, and his voice remained calm.
“Who are you? Do you know the consequences of obstructing our convoy without cause?”
“Now this is finally getting interesting.”
The door on the other side opened as well, and Long Ao jumped out. The peaceful journey had felt almost unreal to him.
Now that something unexpected had happened, he actually felt relieved.
Facing the pressure radiating from a sixth-tier expert, he showed no fear. Instead, excitement blazed in his eyes.
Sparring with academy students all the time was too boring. Every now and then, he needed to test himself against someone from the streets.
Chen Guan was the last to get out.
First, he glanced at the overturned tanker truck several dozen meters away. Then he looked back at the group of men in black behind him. Finally, his eyes settled on the face of the man leading them.
Baobao had been jolted awake inside his coat pocket and was fidgeting restlessly. A furry little head poked out over the edge of the pocket, its golden slit pupils filled with wariness.
Chen Guan reached out and gently stroked its head to reassure it.
The leading man had clearly paid no attention to An Changqing’s warning.
He did not even spare An Changqing or Long Ao another glance. He simply stared at the transport truck, as though confirming something.
A moment later, having determined that they had not mistaken their target, he gripped the hilt of his saber. The long blade slid slowly from its sheath.
Clang.
The clear ring of steel being drawn stretched into a long echo throughout the tunnel.
“Attack.”
The leader’s voice was not loud, but it struck the dead silence of the standoff like a stone shattering glass.
The men in black behind him moved, surging toward the three of them.
“Looking for death.”
Long Ao stamped his foot against the ground. Cracks spread beneath him as he shot forward like a cannonball, charging straight at the sixth-tier leader.
An Changqing raised his sword. Beneath the dim tunnel lights, the tip traced an icy, elegant arc.
“Falling Stars.”
He uttered the two words softly.
Threads of sword energy appeared out of nowhere, as fine and dense as a sudden rainstorm. Yet each one seemed to possess a mind of its own, striking precisely at the points where the charging men exerted their strength.
Clink, clink, clink!
Those at the very front felt their feet catch on something or were knocked off balance by a subtle force. Their previously tight formation instantly fell apart, and the momentum of their charge was forcibly snuffed out.
In that brief opening, Long Ao’s fist collided with the leader’s saber.
Clang!
The ear-piercing clash of metal exploded through the tunnel, sending out a visible shock wave.
The men brought by Qian Yongnian hurried forward to absorb the battle’s aftershocks, preventing the tunnel from collapsing.
Chen Guan saw the leading man stagger back two steps from the force of the punch. The web between his thumb and index finger had split open, and the arm gripping the saber trembled violently.
The color had drained from his face.
They were both sixth-tier, yet in terms of pure strength, he had been completely overpowered by a student who looked even younger than him.
“That all you’ve got?”
Long Ao forced the man back with a punch and grinned. The street fighters were even weaker than he had expected.
As expected, he really was a genius.
He gave his opponent no chance to catch his breath. A second punch followed immediately.
The wind howled around his fist. This blow was even more powerful than the last.
The man’s face went pale, and he could only raise his saber to block.
At the same time, Chen Guan moved as well. His figure slipped through the chaotic crowd, his steps wavering and elusive.
Every time he dodged, he narrowly avoided vital points. The black sickle in his hand swept out in treacherous arcs.
Pfft!
Just as one of the men in black raised his gun, he felt a chill at his neck. His vision spun as his head separated from his body.
Chen Guan did not stop. With a twist of his wrist, he drove the handle of his sickle into another man’s chest. The tremendous force sent him flying like a kite with its string cut, knocking down several people behind him.
His movements looked unhurried, even somewhat clumsy. After every attack, there was an obvious pause, as though he was struggling and flustered under the surrounding assault.
[Hahaha, Brother Coffin is putting on his act again.]
[That acting deserves a perfect score. Did you see how he dodged that attack? He even stumbled on purpose, just to make sure nobody missed how hard he was supposedly struggling.]
[I feel sorry for the people fighting him. They ran into such an incredible actor.]
Chen Guan ignored the comments. Half of his attention was not on the battle in front of him at all.
From the moment the fight began, he had sensed a faint, elusive feeling of being watched.
The gaze carried no malice. It remained quietly fixed on some corner of the battlefield, observing everything taking place.
What was more, that aura felt somewhat familiar. But Chen Guan could not remember who it belonged to.
Either way, he could not afford to let his guard down. If he wanted to keep pretending to be weak, he had to continue acting.
Chen Guan slowed his movements by half a beat. A saber scraped past his shoulder and sliced open his coat.
“Hiss.”
He let out a perfectly timed cry and retreated as though startled, creating some distance between himself and his attacker.
To everyone else, it looked as if he had barely avoided a sneak attack.
The battle did not last long.
On Long Ao’s side, the sixth-tier leader had been completely suppressed. A strength-type ability was perfectly suited to the narrow confines of the tunnel, and the man could do nothing but block as he was driven backward step by step.
An Changqing’s sword energy had thoroughly disrupted the remaining underlings, preventing them from forming an effective encirclement.
After “struggling” to knock down three men, Chen Guan began circling the edge of the battlefield and stopped attacking.
“Leave one alive.”
An Changqing’s calm voice rang out.
Long Ao halted his final punch just before it struck the leader’s face. The fierce wind from his fist whipped the man’s hair into disarray.
He withdrew his fist and followed with a knife-hand strike, landing it precisely on the back of the man’s neck.
The man groaned and collapsed limply.
When the remaining men in black saw their leader subdued, they exchanged glances and immediately turned to run, without the slightest hesitation.
“Think you’re getting away?”
Long Ao snorted. The civilian bodyguards brought by Qian Yongnian swarmed forward and captured every last one of them.
The tunnel soon fell silent again. Only the groans of the fallen and Qian Yongnian’s heavy breathing from inside the transport truck remained.
An Changqing walked over to the unconscious leader and kicked him in the wound.
“Gah!”
The man woke with a cry of pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw a cold sword pressed against his throat.
“Who sent you?”
The man gritted his teeth and turned his head aside, putting on an expression of defiance, as though he would rather die than speak.
“Pretty tough, aren’t you?” Long Ao walked over and sneered. “I have plenty of ways to make you talk.”
An Changqing pushed the tip of his sword forward another inch. A thin line of blood slid down the blade.
“I’ll only ask once.” An Changqing’s patience appeared to be running out. “What was your target?”
Feeling the bone-chilling cold at his throat and the threat of death, the man’s psychological defenses finally began to crumble.
He looked at the three students before him—far too young, yet absurdly powerful. The viciousness in his eyes slowly gave way to fear of death.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
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!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
