"Y-you... put your clothes on!"
The Jialan Empress glared at Jiang Che, her phoenix eyes sharp with fury and a trace of barely concealed panic.
No man had ever dared to act so brazenly in her presence!
"Your Majesty, please be gentle. I’m someone who’s afraid of pain."
Jialan Empress: "..."
What’s the big deal? It’s just killing you. You’re acting like I’m about to flay you alive.
The Jialan Empress was indeed a ruthless figure who killed without batting an eye.
[Ding! Host has died, triggering the ‘Phoenix’s Protection’ item card. Revived!]
[Ding! Host has died, triggering the ‘Phoenix’s Protection’ item card. Revived!]
[Ding!]
Jiang Che had already given up, lazily closing his eyes as if ready for a nap.
His body and soul were like lab rats, repeatedly tortured by the Jialan Empress.
[But I won’t die for nothing. Every time you kill me now, you’ll owe me ten thousand times over in the future!]
Did she really think Jiang Che was some pushover? Sure, he wasn’t actually losing anything... but the Jialan Empress’s haughty attitude was seriously grating on his nerves. He’d have to find a way to teach her a brutal lesson later.
A chase to win him back? More like a chase to the crematorium!
......
"Huff... huff..."
A full hour had passed, and the Jialan Empress was panting—not from exhaustion, but sheer rage!
The blade in her hand was nearly dull from all the hacking!
"You... how is this possible? Why won’t you just die???"
Jiang Che: "..."
Why should I die?
This empress really isn’t up to the task. A whole hour in, and I’ve barely used up a fraction of my 9,999 revival cards.
"Jialan Empress, when I awakened my dual celestial bodies, I received the favor of the Heavenly Dao. I wonder if my immortality... has something to do with it?"
Jiang Che no longer addressed her with respect, calling her by name outright.
Because the tables were about to turn!
"The Heavenly Dao... yes, it must be! Only the power of the Heavenly Dao could bypass my detection and revive you directly!"
The Jialan Empress suddenly realized the truth!
He possessed dual celestial bodies and was the Chosen One of Destiny—naturally, the Heavenly Dao would protect him.
But no matter how she racked her brain, she couldn’t fathom why the Heavenly Dao would shield him to this extent. An unkillable man...
Was this human the Heavenly Dao’s favorite son or something?!
"I refuse to believe it! It’s impossible..."
If Jiang Che didn’t die, then Ling’er...
As the illusion dissipated, Jia Ling’er’s figure slowly materialized. Half of the young girl’s body had already turned to stone, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
"Ling’er!!!"
The Jialan Empress was utterly distraught, her composure shattered like never before.
Even when she learned her daughter was petrifying—or worse, possibly falling for Jiang Che—she hadn’t been worried.
Because as long as Jiang Che died, all problems would vanish!
But now? This human was under the Heavenly Dao’s protection, reviving endlessly no matter how many times he was slain... not even he could kill himself!
Then Ling’er would...
The empress was plunged into despair. No longer the aloof, untouchable ruler, she was just an ordinary mother, helpless and afraid.
"M-mother... don’t kill him..."
The half-petrified girl weakly pleaded.
"Ling’er! Ling’er..."
The woman pulled Jia Ling’er into her arms, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
To be honest... this vulnerable, tearful side of the Jialan Empress was something no one in the Nine Heavens had ever witnessed!
But Jiang Che? He was having the time of his life, practically itching to set off fireworks in celebration.
Thought you were untouchable? Killed me thousands of times? Well, karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?
And this was just the beginning!
You’ll suffer plenty more later!
Jiang Che never took a loss without payback.
Soon, Jia Ling’er fainted as the petrification accelerated.
"Ling’er... Ling’er, what do I do... what can I do?"
The Jialan Empress was frantic, pacing like an ant on a hot pan.
If Jiang Che were in the Nine Heavens, her true form might have been able to sever his Heavenly Dao protection.
But here in the mortal realm, trapped in her own dream world—the one place she prided herself on absolute control—she couldn’t even kill him. What hope was there elsewhere?
Hopelessness gnawed at her heart.
She could only watch as her daughter slowly turned to stone.
"Why won’t you just die!!!"
In her fury, the Jialan Empress ground her teeth, glaring daggers at Jiang Che.
But all she could do was glare.
"Wait... did you uncover the secrets of our Merfolk Ancestral Land?"
A flicker of hope sparked in her eyes as she suddenly remembered something.
Tsk tsk tsk. Finally asking the right question.
Jiang Che’s lips curled into a smirk.
From this moment on, Jialan Empress... prepare to dance to Young Master Jiang’s tune!
"Jialan Empress, what do you mean by that?"
"Some low-blooded merfolk from the Jialan Clan descended recently, and their bloodlines were all elevated to imperial rank. That had to be your doing. The only way to refine common-blooded merfolk into imperial bloodlines is through the secrets of our Ancestral Land!"
"If you’ve obtained those secrets... perhaps you can break the curse on Ling’er!"
Deep down, the empress held little hope. From what she knew of merfolk history, no one had ever truly broken the ancestral curse.
Those who dared to love mortals always ended up as stone statues!
"Is that so... Your Majesty, it’s true that I once discovered a ruin containing many relics and inheritances of the merfolk."
The empress’s eyes lit up. "Is there a way to save Ling’er?"
In her mind, Jiang Che must have loved Ling’er. Even if he wouldn’t die for her, he’d surely do everything in his power to save her.
Their goals had always been the same!
"There is."
Jiang Che’s smirk deepened, his tongue lightly flicking over his lips.
!!!
"You’re serious???" The woman’s regal face twisted with desperate hope.
"Absolutely. I just scanned the merfolk inheritance methods again and found a way to slow Ling’er’s petrification."
"Tell me!!! No—please, enlighten me." For the first time, the empress reined in her tyrannical temper.
Because now, all hope of saving Ling’er rested solely on him!
"And... why should I tell you?"
Jiang Che suddenly laughed, his eyes gleaming with mischief as he studied the empress with playful mockery.
The setup had gone on long enough. Time to reel in the catch.
Honestly... acting for so long was exhausting!
"Y-you... what do you mean? You were willing to die for Ling’er before! Why won’t you speak now?"
The empress was frantic.
"Heh—" Jiang Che chuckled coolly.
How could it be the same?
The power balance had shifted!
Ling’er’s affection was nearly maxed out. Now, it was the empress’s turn to pay the price.
] [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!"
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!
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
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?!
