"Run!"
The moment the words left Chen Guan's mouth, he had already dashed off in the opposite direction.
Long Ao was quick to react as well. They bolted almost simultaneously, plunging one after the other into an adjacent alleyway.
The sound of something cutting through the air came from behind them.
A dark shadow leaped down from the rooftop, landing without a single sound, like a cat.
From the corner of his eye, Chen Guan caught a glimpse of the figure's silhouette: a slender build, clad in a black trench coat, with half of their face obscured by a silver mask.
"Someone from the Embrace of Flesh," Long Ao muttered. Jiangcheng was their stronghold, so he had seen his fair share of these zealots.
The two sprinted wildly through the alley. Their pursuer didn't rush to attack, instead maintaining a distance of about twenty meters, as if toying with his prey.
"What is he waiting for?" Long Ao asked.
"Waiting for us to run into their ambush," Chen Guan replied.
Just as he spoke, two figures suddenly appeared at the end of the alley ahead—wearing the same black trench coats and the same silver masks.
Three of them.
Chen Guan skidded to a halt, and Long Ao stopped right beside him.
"You there, the kid carrying the coffin," the pursuer behind them spoke up, his voice grating and unpleasant. "Hand over the item, and we'll spare your life."
"What item?" Chen Guan asked.
"Playing dumb?"
"I honestly have no idea," Chen Guan said, throwing his hands up. "You've got the wrong guy."
The three pursuers exchanged glances.
"Then we'll break your legs first and take our time asking."
With those words, all three moved at once.
Long Ao threw a punch, his fist whistling through the air as it aimed straight for the nearest attacker.
The opponent raised an arm to block. Instantly, his arm swelled and deformed, with grotesque, fleshy veins bulging beneath the skin.
Bang!
Fist met palm. Long Ao was forced back three steps, while the opponent didn't even flinch.
Long Ao's expression darkened. This was the signature ability of the Embrace of Flesh: modifying their bodies to gain superhuman strength. The price was a gradual loss of humanity, and the slightest misstep would turn them into deformed monsters.
Demonic power was never easy to wield.
The other two pursuers had already lunged at Chen Guan.
Chen Guan didn't take them head-on. He dodged nimbly, swinging his scythe fiercely at one of them.
The man reached out to block it, but the scythe abruptly changed direction mid-air, smashing into the face of the other pursuer.
Smack!
The mask shattered, revealing half of a twisted face, with something squirming beneath the skin.
"An illusion?" the man sneered. "Useless."
Chen Guan said nothing, quietly spreading his spiritual energy outward.
The next second, all three pursuers froze simultaneously.
The scene before their eyes began to warp. Chen Guan's figure split into three, each moving in a different direction.
"Split up and attack!"
The three picked their targets and struck at the same time.
And all of them hit nothing but air.
The real Chen Guan had already grabbed Long Ao and burst out of the encirclement, running toward the other end of the street.
"An Illusionist?" the pursuer's voice echoed from behind. "Interesting."
The three gave chase once more, much faster than before.
Chen Guan frowned.
Their strength was around the third tier. They weren't particularly strong, and with a bit of time, he and Long Ao could handle them. The problem was, heaven knew when their reinforcements would arrive.
"Can we shake them off?" Long Ao asked.
"I need time." Chen Guan glanced at his own pitiful agility. He couldn't fly, so relying on illusions was his only way to lose them.
"Then we fight." Long Ao stopped and turned to face their pursuers.
"Don't be reckless," Chen Guan said, pulling him back. "We can't win."
"So what do we do?"
"Wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for them to stop on their own."
"Wait for them to stop on their own?" Long Ao frowned. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
Chen Guan didn't answer, his gaze sweeping toward the end of the street.
The three pursuers had closed the gap to ten meters. One of them had an arm swollen to twice the thickness of a normal person's, flesh writhing beneath the skin and emitting a teeth-setting cracking sound.
"Last chance," the man croaked hoarsely. "Hand over the item."
"I told you, I have no idea what you're talking about." Chen Guan took a half-step back, holding his scythe horizontally in front of him.
"Then don't blame us..."
Before he could finish, a deep, guttural beastly roar resonated from the other end of the street.
The three pursuers froze instantly.
Long Ao was also stunned.
The sound was nothing like something you'd hear in a modern city; it sounded more like a wild beast roaring in the wilderness.
The next second, a giant white tiger stepped out from the shadows.
Over five meters long and nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, its every step made the ground tremble slightly.
Its pupils were pure gold, staring at the three pursuers as if looking at three pieces of moving meat.
"A Summoner?" one of the pursuers asked, his voice trembling.
"No, this aura... run!"
The three completely lost their arrogant demeanor, cowardly turning on their heels to flee.
The white tiger didn't chase them. It simply opened its massive jaws, and an invisible wave rippled outward.
The bodies of the three pursuers instantly went stiff, as if pinned in place by an invisible force. They couldn't even twitch a finger.
"What kind of monster is this?!"
One of them cried out in terror.
"It's not a monster," a lazy male voice rang out. "It's my pet. Watch your mouth, or it will get angry."
A man in a suit strolled out from behind the giant tiger. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and walked with a casual gait, as if taking a stroll in his own living room.
"Lin Jiu?" Chen Guan asked tentatively.
"Oh, you know me?" The man took a sip of liquor. "That makes things easier. Saves me the trouble of introducing myself."
He walked up to the three pursuers and patted one of them on the cheek. "Embrace of Flesh lackeys, running all this way to chase two students. Does your boss know about this?"
The man tried to speak, but could only produce muffled grunts from his throat.
"Oh, forgot to lift the suppression." Lin Jiu snapped his fingers.
The three instantly collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily for air.
"Speak up. Why were you chasing them?" Lin Jiu crouched down, his tone as relaxed as if he were chatting about the weather.
"We... we were just carrying out a mission..."
"And the mission details?"
"To retrieve... retrieve the item stolen by Chen Guan..."
Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow. "Chen Guan? This kid?"
"Y-yes..."
"Interesting." Lin Jiu stood up and looked at Chen Guan. "Did you do it?"
Chen Guan stayed silent for two seconds. "No."
"Good." Lin Jiu waved his hand, pulled a palm-sized black box from his coat, and tossed it to Chen Guan. "I did it. It's yours now."
Chen Guan caught the box, feeling a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.
"What is this?"
"A medium for a demonic contract," Lin Jiu said. "The Embrace of Flesh wanted to use it to summon a lesser demon, but I took it first. Sorry about that, dragged you into it."
Chen Guan's heart skipped a beat.
He was absolutely certain he didn't know this Lin Jiu in front of him, let alone have any grudges with him. "Why me? And why give it to me?"
Lin Jiu maintained a polite smile. "No particular reason. Maybe it's fate."
Chen Guan didn't reply, just staring at the box in his hands.
"Why does the Embrace of Flesh want to summon a demon?"
"Because their cult leader is dying." Lin Jiu's tone turned serious. "The power of the Embrace of Flesh comes from demonic blessings, but the price is their lifespan and sanity. Their leader can't hold on much longer, so he wants to summon a demon to gain stronger power and prolong his life."
"What does that have to do with us?" Long Ao asked, confused.
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.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
