"A curse imprinted in the bloodline?"
Jiang Che feigned panic as he spoke.
His hands gripped Jia Ling'er's shoulders, his expression brimming with exaggerated concern.
"Mhm! The petrification is spreading faster now... I might really..."
The young girl trailed off, lowering her head. The usual big bully who loved to tease her was suddenly so flustered—it stirred something inexplicable in Jia Ling'er's heart.
"No. That will never happen!"
Jiang Che exhaled softly, his gaze hardening with resolve.
"Ling'er, where is your mother? I need to see her!"
His words left Jia Ling'er stunned.
She blinked blankly a few times.
"My... mother?"
"Exactly. Didn’t you just say your mother can interfere with reality through dreams? I don’t know how powerful her methods are, but she should at least be able to talk to me, right?"
Jia Ling'er nodded. "Yes, my mother can influence the waking world through dreams. But she holds a grudge against you. If she sees you, she’ll definitely attack you!"
Her voice trembled with worry, yet guilt also gnawed at her. She was her mother’s own daughter... yet here she was, siding with an outsider.
"Oh? Is Ling'er starting to worry about her husband’s safety?"
Jiang Che’s smile was tender, so much so that Jia Ling'er was left speechless.
"N-no! I’m not worried about you at all! Don’t flatter yourself!"
Even petrification couldn’t mask Jia Ling'er’s tsundere nature.
"Tch. You... Your mouth is harder than stone!" Jiang Che chuckled, flicking her delicate nose playfully.
"Ling'er, I must meet your mother. She might be the only one who can undo your petrification—but she hasn’t told you how."
Of course, he had to meet his future mother-in-law. How else could he leave a lasting impression?
Jia Ling'er fell silent, then nodded after a moment. "Fine... But you have to stay behind me. My mother is incredibly powerful, a master of dream manipulation. In her own dreams, she’s invincible—even a half-immortal couldn’t break free."
"Jiang Che, I’ve also dabbled in the Dao of Dreams. Follow me into the dreamscape. I’ll pull you into my own dreamworld. My mother resides there... You’ll see her."
For once, Jia Ling'er seemed docile, a far cry from the mischievous, haughty girl she’d been when they first met.
As for Jiang Che? He trailed behind her obediently, playing the clueless fool.
In truth... he’d already peeked into Jia Ling'er’s dreams long ago.
Using system item cards, he’d sneaked into her dreamscape repeatedly. With the system’s protection, even the Jialan Empress—revered as the foremost Dream Emperor across three thousand realms—couldn’t detect him.
Soon, Jiang Che followed Jia Ling'er into the dream.
Naturally, before entering, he stacked every buff imaginable on himself!
[Phoenix’s Blessing (Heavenly Tier): One-time use. If you die, instant revival.]
[Scapegoat Doll: Absorbs one fatal blow, nullifying all negative effects.]
[Impervious: Automatically activates when life is threatened. Grants complete invincibility for ten seconds...]
Jiang Che was a veteran survivalist, always armed with an arsenal of item cards.
To be frank, he had hundreds of "Impervious" cards stockpiled. Even if a grand emperor or immortal descended, they’d have to wait out his invincibility timer!
......
Jia Ling'er’s dream was far more beautiful than Jiang Che had imagined.
Pink jellyfish drifted lazily through a pastel-hued wonderland, the backdrop soft and dreamy—like a maiden’s private sanctuary.
"Where’s your mother?"
Jiang Che lingered behind Jia Ling'er, glancing around as if sneaking into a lover’s boudoir.
"Oh, Mother can’t stay in dreams for long. It drains her energy... Let me try summoning her."
With that, Jia Ling'er wove intricate hand seals, strands of Daoist essence shimmering around her.
In moments, the dreamscape twisted violently, an overwhelming pressure descending like a tidal wave.
The pink fantasy tore apart, and from the rift emerged a radiant golden figure.
Her golden gown shimmered with regal elegance, a wisp of cloud-like sash cinching her slender waist. Phoenix eyes brimmed with icy majesty, her hair coiled into an ornate updo, each strand glinting like starlight. Wreathed in immortal mist, she exuded both grandeur and an untouchable, ethereal grace.
Jiang Che gulped. This mother-in-law... truly lived up to her title as an empress. Few could match her aura.
The moment the Jialan Empress appeared, she locked onto Jiang Che’s presence.
Her gaze slid past Jia Ling'er, piercing straight through him.
And Jiang Che? He didn’t back down, meeting her stare head-on.
They say staring into a tiger’s eyes purges lustful thoughts. Jiang Che could attest—under the Jialan Empress’s tiger-like glare, he didn’t dare entertain a single improper thought.
The tension grew so thick even Jia Ling'er fidgeted, regretting her decision to bring Jiang Che into the dream.
After a long silence, the Jialan Empress finally spoke.
"Scion of the Jiang Clan?"
Jiang Che nodded. "Indeed. I am Jiang Che of the Nine Heavens’ Jiang Clan—Ling'er’s husband."
"Hah... Hah! A fickle, philandering scoundrel dares call himself Ling'er’s husband??"
The Jialan Empress laughed as if hearing a joke, then struck without warning.
The dreamscape convulsed, warping under her fury. The once-enchanted realm darkened, thunderclouds boiling as the sky collapsed into gloom—only her golden silhouette remained luminous.
"I planned to invade your dreams and kill you myself, but you delivered yourself to me? Then leave your life here!"
Her voice was a blade of frost.
For the first time, Jiang Che truly understood the terror of an emperor-level powerhouse.
The Jiang Clan’s emperors had never truly unleashed their might before, so he’d never felt their pressure.
Now, he did.
Even in a dream—where she couldn’t wield even a fraction of her full power—her presence was suffocating.
But... it was just pressure.
"Mother!!! Mother, calm down!!!"
Before Jiang Che could react, a petite figure leaped in front of him.
Jia Ling'er... stood firm in his defense.
] [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!"
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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!
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?!
