When Chenpi returned again, ready to officially explain the project to Chen Miemie, Chen Miemie acted like a jerk and conjured up a plate of overly fragrant pineapple roast chicken right in front of her.
“Wow, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, so delicious~” Chen Miemie put on a show of “polishing off a big drumstick in three bites.”
Chenpi smelled the tempting aroma and almost drooled. She had seen plenty of delicious food before, but she had never encountered anything that smelled this good.
“You—you—take that roast chicken away, now!”
Chen Miemie ignored her, instead tearing off the other drumstick and holding it right under her nose. “Want a bite?” he asked.
Chenpi had to muster an immense amount of willpower to shove his hand away. “Hmph, I’m not eating that.”
“Oh,” Chen Miemie said and continued eating by himself.
His little performance left the two black-suited onlookers utterly dumbfounded.
Chen Miemie spat out a bone. “I’ve heard about your situation. Why hold back so much? Just eat if you want to. The worst that can happen is you shrink a bit more.”
Chenpi raised an eyebrow. “If you know that, why are you tempting me?”
Chen Miemie shook his head repeatedly. “What, you think you’ve got it rough? Think back to how great it felt when you regained your youth earlier. You’ve already lived that much longer than most people—you’ve more than made up for it. Others would envy you.”
“You don’t know a damn thing. I can’t die yet.”
“Oh? What, are you going to save the world, or is this city doomed without you?”
“Hmph, I’m a man with ambitions. I need to finish my research!”
“What research?”
“Eternal youth. Immortality.”
This was the second time Chen Miemie had heard the word “immortality” from Chenpi.
“I’ve heard you’ve been researching it for thousands of years. Doesn’t seem like anyone’s a fan of your work.”
“My direction is spot on. I’ve already completed 99% of it. I’m just one tiny breakthrough away from success.”
“Go on, tell me about it.”
Chenpi slipped into researcher mode.
“I myself am a living example. I can extract certain special components from my blood. Through experiments, I’ve found that it’s a kind of inert cell—it barely divides and can survive for a long time.”
Chen Miemie’s eyes lit up. “Not bad—you’ve even made it down to the cellular level.”
But Chenpi, now in researcher mode, wasn’t one to gloat.
“Finding the active ingredient isn’t enough. The problem comes during the transplant stage. When I implant my cells into another person’s body, it causes their physique to collapse—basically, they explode and die.”
Chen Miemie grew interested. “What’s your Mystery level now? Could it be that the incompatibility is due to a Mystery that’s too high?”
“I’m at Mystery 3.”
Chen Miemie gave him a look that said, “Are you kidding me?”
“You’ve cultivated for thousands of years, and you’re telling me you’re only Mystery 3?”
Chenpi showed no sign of joking.
“I’m down to Mystery 3 now. As my age has reversed, so have my body, some of my memories, my Mystery level—even my mind.”
Chen Miemie immediately veered off-topic. “And you still dare to go out in public? With your strength so low and your status so high, someone could kidnap you and extort a fortune from the Book Seal Hall.”
“As long as I don’t leave the city, no one can take me,” Chenpi said with certainty.
Chen Miemie’s look turned sly. He wanted to test that claim.
“Alright, back to business. Since you’ve been stuck on this transplant bottleneck for so long, and you came to find me this time, how do you plan to break through?”
Chenpi spread his hands. “I don’t know.”
“You’re the project lead. If you don’t know, who does?”
“Because I can’t figure it out on my own. That’s why I sought you out. I’m not just looking for Chen Miemie—I’m looking for the Owner of the Mystery Shop. This is my commission; it’s up to you, the shop owner, to figure out.”
Chen Miemie was stunned. Could you even do that? Had Chenpi been possessed by a scapegoat octopus?
It took him a while to snap back.
“No way. Only people who come to my shop count as my customers. This doesn’t qualify.”
“How doesn’t it? The shop rules don’t say that someone I meet outside isn’t a customer. We met, I have a request, you’re the shop owner—if you agree, the commission is established.”
Chen Miemie thought it over and realized, surprisingly, that seemed to be true.
“Wait a minute—how do you know the shop rules?”
Chenpi’s gaze was deep. “How could I not? What secret in this city escape my knowledge?”
Chen Miemie decided science really wasn’t his forte. “You said it yourself—only if I agree does the commission count. So, I refuse.”
“You’ve already agreed.”
“When did I—” Chen Miemie’s cowlick shot straight up. “Damn it, I’ve been set up.”
Chenpi flashed a sly smile. “That’s right. You agreed to join my project team and promised to help me complete my research. So you’ve already accepted my commission.”
Chen Miemie felt thoroughly tricked, his face dark as iron. “And the cost? Can you afford to pay the price?”
“I just want the research completed. You can keep the results.”
Chen Miemie shook his head. “I don’t need your research results.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Chenpi, you don’t even want the results yourself. Surely wealth and power aren’t what you’re after either. Why are you so desperate to finish this research, no matter the cost?”
“Yeah… it’s an obsession, a pursuit, or maybe a promise—who knows?” Chenpi didn’t give a clear answer.
Chen Miemie walked out of Chenpi’s lab.
In his pocket, he carried several test tubes of blood.
The blood had been freshly drawn by Chenpi on the spot.
Pure Water had already run an analysis: “There really is a peculiar component in the blood. According to my analysis, 33.3% of the component comes from a special physique, 33.3% from an extremely high Mystery level, 33.3% is akin to a bizarre ability, and the remaining 0.1%…”
“What about the 0.1%?”
“I’m not entirely sure. From how it behaves, that last 0.1% resembles something like… a Blessing.”
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
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.
