No one can resist gold—that radiant, glittering allure seems etched into the very bones of humanity.
"Master, shall we move these gold bars out?" A member of the Jiang Family asked excitedly, his eyes gleaming.
Though the Jiang Family was far from lacking wealth, the sight of mountains of gold and silver was still overwhelmingly dazzling.
"No need—"
Jiang Yunhuang waved his hand, and a surge of inner energy erupted, instantly forming an immense force that lifted all the crates filled with gold bars into the air. Hundreds of tons of gold bars rose and stacked themselves neatly.
This move thoroughly stunned everyone present.
Especially Jiang Ruoxu—the boy's eyes burned with barely restrained admiration.
Though he had already advanced to the Grandmaster Realm, he was still far, far beneath Jiang Yunhuang, who had reached the Heaven-Breaking Stage.
[Hey, kid, the one you should be clinging to is your brother. If not for the supreme-grade Heaven-Breaking Pill he gifted you, even if you trained until death, you’d never reach the Heaven-Breaking Stage.]
The "Granny" in Jiang Ruoxu’s ring spoke up again.
Clearly, Jiang Che had already won this ring spirit’s approval with his abilities.
"Master, please stop talking. I’m about to break down."
Jiang Ruoxu felt utterly miserable. The competitive spirit of a young prodigy like him was fierce—especially when he had always been hailed as a genius.
But now, his elder brother overshadowed him completely. Everyone only saw Jiang Che’s brilliance, while he, the so-called "heaven’s chosen," was reduced to a mere background character.
No—not even background. Less than background!
[Heh, I’m just telling the truth. Compared to your brother... you really are far behind.]
"......"
[But of course, with me as your master, even if you can’t surpass him in the future, you won’t lag too far behind.]
[Remember this, disciple: I will always be your strongest support.]
Hearing his master’s words, Jiang Ruoxu’s wounded heart found a sliver of comfort.
Much later, looking back on this conversation, Jiang Ruoxu would seethe with indignation: "Master... why did my sister-in-law betray me?"
But that was a story for another time.
...
The treasure left behind by Ye Qing’s master was indeed vast. At current gold prices, a hundred tons of gold was worth nearly 40 billion!
And there was more—a thousand tons of silver, piled into a terrifying mountain of ingots.
Add in the various other treasures, and the total value likely approached a hundred billion.
"No need to exchange these for cash immediately. Let’s store them in the Jiang Family’s reserves for now. We’ll return them to you, Che’er, after you marry."
Jiang Yunhuang chuckled.
Though the gold and silver were precious, the Jiang Family’s ambitions lay beyond mere wealth. As the foremost ancient martial arts family in Dragon Country, wielding immense authority, power often outweighed money.
"Marriage..."
Jiang Che’s lips twitched at the thought. He considered the women in his life—Yu Wan'er, Ye Mengyao, Qin Qiaoqiao, Gu Lingfei, Su Mianmian, Bai Qiangwei, Bai Jie, Chen Ningshuang, Shen Yu, even Leng Ningqiu and Dong'er.
If he were to marry, who would he choose?
His wedding couldn’t possibly have just one bride, could it?
Wouldn’t the others throw a fit?
Either he wouldn’t marry at all, or he’d marry them all. The art of managing women... was more complex than even imperial politics.
Handle the harem well, and life is bliss. Handle it poorly, and heads will roll—literally.
...
The Jiang Family meticulously gathered every last treasure from Ye Qing’s inheritance. By the end, the once-packed vault was stripped bare.
Staring at the empty chamber, Jiang Che had a wicked idea.
By conventional logic, this treasure belonged to the protagonist’s master—Ye Qing would never give it up so easily.
Once he got out of prison, he’d surely return, scheming to reclaim the vault’s riches.
"Time to play a little prank."
Jiang Che recalled how he’d trolled Lin Yu—stealing his cave’s treasures, replacing the door with a massive iron slab, and thoroughly humiliating him.
Now, Ye Qing was in the same position.
"Someone! Get this vault renovated, then commission a hundred square boxes—each one slightly smaller than the last, like Russian nesting dolls."
"And equip every box with a high-tech smart lock."
Jiang Che grinned devilishly. When it came to pranks, he was a professional.
"Young Master, stacking a hundred boxes... might be a bit tricky."
"Tricky? Here’s two gold bars. Still tricky?"
Jiang Che laughed, tossing two gleaming bars at the man.
Money talks—with a fortune like that, any difficulty vanished.
"Young Master, no problem at all! Consider it done!"
"Here’s three more. Make the boxes look aged, and the locks should be extremely intricate—riddles, puzzle locks, whatever’s most mind-bending and torturous."
"Understood, Young Master!"
Jiang Che nodded in satisfaction. Lin Yu had only faced three challenges—Ye Qing would suffer through a hundred.
Box within box, a hundred layers deep. A design meant to break a man.
And when he finally opened the last one... it’d be empty.
The sheer agony...
Just imagining it made Jiang Che cackle.
"Ah, fine. Let’s leave him something."
With a sigh, Jiang Che pulled out a martial arts manual from his pocket—Treading Snow Without a Trace.
This was the supreme movement technique he’d swiped from Lin Yu’s cave.
Flipping it open, he scribbled on the first page:
"To master this art, first sever your roots."
Then, on the last page:
"On second thought, maybe don’t."
"Place this manual in the innermost box."
Though some Jiang Family members exchanged puzzled glances, none dared question him—Jiang Che’s authority was absolute.
...
Jiang Ruoxu had been watching Jiang Che the whole time, his expression a complicated mix.
Forty percent defiance, thirty percent envy, twenty percent admiration, and ten percent jealousy.
A perfect pie chart of emotions.
Jiang Che glanced at him. "Ruoxu, have you settled on a high school yet?"
The words stabbed straight into Jiang Ruoxu’s heart.
"If you’re still undecided, why not come to mine? Qiangsheng Group recently invested in a private high school. If you enroll, you’ll be part of the first cohort—top-tier education, best teachers."
Jiang Ruoxu: "......"
Was his cousin cursed or something?
He hated studying. If he’d absorbed even a fraction of knowledge, he wouldn’t have scored a measly 192 on his exams.
Jiang Ruoxu prided himself on his martial talent—why waste time on books?
"Bro... I don’t—"
"Grandpa, Ruoxu has agreed. I'll arrange for his enrollment at 'Qiangsheng High School' immediately."
Jiang Yunhuang and Jiang Ruoxu: "......"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
