"It matters a great deal." Lin Jiu laughed, his eyes curving into crescents behind his gold-rimmed glasses. "The Embrace of Flesh lost such an important item, and now they've seen me with you. Who do you think they'll pin the blame on?"
He pointed at the three limp figures on the ground, then pointed at Chen Guan. His smile grew even more radiant, the implication self-evident.
"They'll think we're in this together," Long Ao interjected in a deep voice. He took a step forward, blocking Chen Guan behind him, his muscles tensing as he assumed a defensive posture.
"Exactly." Lin Jiu gave him an approving look; this big guy wasn't as foolish as he appeared. "So, you have to take the fall for this, whether you want to or not."
"Who exactly are you? Why are you doing this?" Long Ao's question carried a hint of anger. Most people that Lord Scar couldn't dig up any dirt on shared one common trait: they were people who simply didn't exist.
In other words, Lin Jiu was merely a pseudonym for the man before them. His true identity was unknown, and his motives were even more of a mystery.
The image of White Tiger's annoying smiling mask suddenly surfaced in his mind. Indeed, just like him, this man was shrouded in mist.
Lin Jiu said provocatively, "Take a guess."
Long Ao let out an exasperated chuckle. Usually quite good at keeping his composure, ever since returning to Jiangcheng, it was as if he had suddenly reverted to his teenage years. A nameless fire burned in his chest.
"Quiet down, big guy." Lin Jiu glanced at him. The look didn't linger for long, and his expression remained unchanged, yet it made Long Ao instinctively feel a surge of palpitation.
Long Ao clenched his jaw and made no further sound, but his protective stance over Chen Guan did not waver.
Chen Guan's mind raced. Lin Jiu, a self-proclaimed appraiser, whose background Lord Scar couldn't uncover, could command a five-meter-tall giant tiger. His strength was unfathomable.
For such a person to actively shift the blame onto him and hand over a crucial item—this behavior itself was incredibly bizarre.
Chen Guan had a clear understanding of his own capabilities.
"This thing is too hot to handle. I can't take it." Chen Guan attempted to hand the box back.
Lin Jiu didn't take it, merely spreading his hands. "There's no logic in taking back what has been given away. Besides, do you think returning it to me now will let you off the hook? The people from the Embrace of Flesh have already decided that the item is on you."
Chen Guan looked at Lin Jiu, whose smile was flawless, like a perfect mask.
Lin Jiu maintained his smile and ignored Chen Guan, turning instead toward the three cultists of the Embrace of Flesh.
"Some trash needs to be cleaned up."
He said softly. White Tiger stepped forward, its massive body following silently behind him. Its golden tiger eyes held not a shred of emotion as it looked down at the people on the ground.
The terror in the eyes of those three was practically spilling over; their bodies trembled like leaves in the wind.
"No... don't kill us! We won't say a word!"
One of them begged, his voice distorted.
Lin Jiu crouched down, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone gentle. "Of course I believe you won't say a word."
He reached out and lightly tapped the crown of the man's head. Smack. A soft sound echoed.
The man's body twitched once, then went completely still. His eyes were still wide open, the fear within them frozen in place.
"What can dead men say, after all."
The crotches of the other two grew warm, and a foul, pungent stench began to spread.
Lin Jiu stood up and wiped his fingers with a handkerchief, as if merely brushing away a bit of dust.
He didn't even glance at the remaining two. White Tiger had already stepped forward silently, lowering its massive head, its shadow completely enveloping the two men.
There were no screams, only two muffled crunches of shattering bones.
In a span of just over ten seconds, three living, breathing Tier 3 Espers were wiped from the face of the earth, not even leaving behind intact corpses.
The street returned to silence once more, with only the night wind sweeping up a few fallen leaves.
Lin Jiu tossed the used handkerchief into a roadside trash can, turning back to Chen Guan and Long Ao with an impeccable smile. "Alright, it's clean now."
"You..." Long Ao's throat went dry; he managed only a single word before he couldn't speak any further.
The man before them was elegant and powerful. Chen Guan watched all of this in silence.
He knew this was Lin Jiu displaying his power, as well as making his stance clear.
The scent of blood and that faint foul stench permeating the air were quickly dispersed by the Jiangcheng night wind.
It was as if everything that had just occurred was merely a hallucination.
But the dark bloodstains left on the ground, along with those two human-shaped depressions, silently proved the passing of three lives.
This man killed people as casually as throwing away trash.
Long Ao admitted to himself that he couldn't be this cold-blooded. He was indeed belligerent, but he wouldn't easily take someone's life.
"What, scared?" Lin Jiu seemed to ignore Long Ao's gaze, instead turning to Chen Guan with keen interest. "You're quite calm, though."
Chen Guan didn't answer, only gripping the black box in his hands a bit tighter.
He was indeed very calm.
Theoretically, he was considered a dead man himself; right now, he was an undead from another world.
He was just thinking.
Thinking about the objective of the man before him, and considering the probability of securing an advantage for himself.
"The first quality a qualified chess piece must possess is the ability to remain unperturbed in the face of unexpected changes." Lin Jiu seemed to see right through Chen Guan's thoughts, nodding in satisfaction. "It seems I haven't chosen the wrong person."
Long Ao finally couldn't hold back. "What do you think human lives are?!"
Lin Jiu's gaze finally landed on Long Ao. That gaze held not a shred of regard, as if he were looking at an amusing ornament.
"Kid of the Long family, didn't your grandfather ever teach you that in the face of absolute power, anger is the most useless emotion?"
He extended a single finger and lightly pointed it in Long Ao's direction.
Buzz.
Long Ao felt an irresistible, terrifying pressure squeezing him from all directions, as if the entire space had turned solid, tightly imprisoning him in place.
The muscles all over his body instantly tensed to their limits, his bones groaning under the unbearable weight. His spiritual energy circulated frantically, yet he couldn't shake this force even a fraction.
He couldn't even move a single finger.
This was... the disparity.
Long Ao's pupils contracted sharply. The strength he was so proud of was as fragile as a piece of paper in front of this man.
"You see, you don't even have the qualifications to make me spare you a second glance." Lin Jiu withdrew his finger, and the pressure vanished instantly. Long Ao staggered back two steps, panting heavily, fine cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
"I am not discussing this with you, nor am I asking for your opinions." Lin Jiu's tone remained gentle. "I am merely informing you of an established fact."
He looked at Chen Guan, his smile turning playful once again. "Those lunatics from the Embrace of Flesh are like rats in a sewer—usually impossible to catch them all. But what if you were to lace their only source of food with lethal poison?"
Chen Guan's heart stirred, and he raised his eyes to look at him.
"This box is the poisoned bait," Lin Jiu said, pointing at the black box in Chen Guan's hands. "It is indeed a medium for summoning demons, but I've tampered with it. Now, it acts more like a beacon. Within a ten-mile radius, the core members of the Embrace of Flesh and Blood can clearly sense its location."
Long Ao's face turned a sickly shade of green.
How was this a simple delivery? This was practically strapping a time bomb to his own body! And one with a built-in GPS tracker, no less!
"Throwing it away won't do you any good now," Lin Jiu said, spreading his hands as if reading his mind. "Its aura is already bound to you. The only way out is if you die, or... if it gets activated."
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.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
