Ranked 16th on the Hidden Dragon List—the Crimson Demon, Han Liang!
Lin Chen fixed his gaze on the red-haired youth gripping a halberd before him and spoke in a low voice.
"Heh, didn’t expect you to recognize this grandpa’s name!" Han Liang grinned.
Lin Chen curled his lips into a cold smile.
Though he had always been indifferent to fame and reputation, caring little for such things...
But!
That bastard An Yi had already climbed to 19th on the Hidden Dragon List!
Not just An Yi—even Bai Xiu had shot to fame, securing the 45th spot, ranking above him.
Defeating this 16th-ranked guy should push him higher than that damn An.
"Xue'er, don’t interfere. I’ll handle him myself," Lin Chen said firmly.
Su Xue'er holstered her sniper rifle. "Alright."
Qin Yao gritted her teeth. "Why is that woman in my house?!"
"She’s been here for a while. Earlier, I even saw her peeking through Young Master Lin’s bathroom window," Uncle Fu chimed in.
Qin Yao: "..."
Han Liang swung his massive halberd, laughing arrogantly. "Wolf Fang Lin Chen, huh? Thought you’d be some nobody, but turns out you’re a tough one. Today’s trip wasn’t wasted."
Without wasting words, Lin Chen flicked out blades of compressed air.
Thanks to his jade pendant, Lin Chen’s attacks consumed no energy at all.
For him, unleashing something as absurdly energy-intensive as Qi Control was child’s play.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three metallic clashes rang out!
Han Liang blocked with his halberd, his bulging muscles trembling as he swung the massive weapon toward Lin Chen.
But in that instant—
Han Liang realized his body had been immobilized, as if trapped in an invisible cage.
"Qi Control! Impressive!"
Thick veins pulsed across Han Liang’s burly frame as surges of bloody energy erupted from his body.
Suddenly—
A mist of blood exploded outward!
Han Liang shattered the air’s restraint and brought his halberd down toward Lin Chen.
But Lin Chen had already closed the distance, dodging the halberd with agile footwork before sweeping his staff across Han Liang’s abdomen!
Blood trickled from Han Liang’s lips as he grinned. "Not bad. The Dao Alliance’s Wandering Dragon Steps, the Qi Control Sect’s techniques, and that last move had a hint of the Lantuo Temple’s Kirin Staff. Lin, you’ve got quite the bag of tricks!"
Despite the heavy blow to his gut, the fire in Han Liang’s eyes only burned fiercer.
His crimson hair, draped down to his waist, flared like a lion’s mane.
Shrouded in bloody mist, he raised his halberd and charged again.
An indescribable aura of slaughter pressed down like a suffocating weight.
Lin Chen’s brow furrowed.
How many lives has this guy taken to accumulate such terrifying bloodlust? He’s tougher than I thought.
Halberd and Cloud-Splitting Staff collided!
Their figures blurred as they clashed at blinding speeds.
Qin Yao pressed against the window, watching the battle unfold. "Uncle Fu, who do you think has the upper hand? Is Lin Chen in danger?"
"Hard to say for now, but Young Master Lin probably has the edge. Still, Han Liang is the Blood Fiend Sect Leader’s son—he won’t go down easy," Uncle Fu mused.
Qin Yao clenched her fists anxiously. "When the hell is An Yi getting here?!"
Just then, headlights flared at the villa’s entrance!
A sleek black luxury car glided through the night like a phantom, its dazzling lights nearly blinding the bodyguards, who shielded their eyes in unison.
"That bastard!"
"He’s got his high beams on!"
Uncle Fu gasped. "Holy shit, a Lamborghini Veneno! Who in Jiangbei drives something like that?!"
Instead of stopping, the black supercar looped around the Qin family villa in a full circle, as if making sure everyone saw it, before finally pulling up to the entrance.
Lin Chen and Han Liang’s battle raged on.
The car door opened, and a strikingly handsome young man stepped out.
"Old Lin, I’m here to back you up!"
An Yi’s ring shimmered, transforming into a sleek black longsword in his grip.
"Dragon-Slaying Nine Swords—First Form: Parting Sorrow!"
With a calm utterance, a crescent-shaped sword beam slashed through the air!
Sensing the sneak attack, Han Liang’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.
"What kind of cheap shot is this?!"
"Since when do martial artists fight like scoundrels?!"
Lin Chen already had the slightest edge over him, and Han Liang was struggling just to keep up. Now this shameless bastard was stabbing him in the back!
"I don’t need your help!" Lin Chen shot him a cold glare.
But An Yi’s sword had already been unleashed.
The crescent blade of energy tore forward!
Cold sweat beaded on Han Liang’s forehead.
What the hell is this?!
Sword energy?!
In that instant, the bloody mist around him coalesced into the form of a vengeful wraith, lunging to intercept the incoming slash!
Rip—!
The spectral fiend lasted only a moment before being shredded apart.
Han Liang’s heart leaped into his throat. That Wraith’s Grudge was one of his killing moves!
An Yi smirked, his expression the very picture of a domineering CEO’s arrogant charm.
"Gotta admit, that ghost had some bite!"
"Pretty strong, actually."
"But this idiot made one fatal mistake—turning his back on me when summoning it!"
"A 150% damage multiplier is nothing to scoff at."
The crescent slash continued unimpeded, carving into Han Liang’s back!
Slash—!
Han Liang’s back erupted in a spray of blood as he collapsed heavily to the ground!
Lin Chen retracted his Cloud-Splitting Staff, his icy gaze fixed on An Yi.
This little brat—couldn’t he have picked a better time to show up?
"No need to thank me for saving your life!"
An Yi sheathed his Dragonfang Demonblade and waved a hand, his tone breezy.
Lin Chen shot him a glare.
This guy… whatever.
Han Liang had been slashed across the spine, his entire body drenched in blood.
Yet he clenched his teeth, his eyes burning with hatred as they locked onto An Yi.
"You coward! Fight me face-to-face if you’ve got the guts! Sneak attacks are the moves of a spineless worm!"
If he’d been defeated by Lin Chen in a fair fight, he’d have accepted it—skill was skill.
But this bastard had struck from behind! He’d die with regrets if he let this slide!
An Yi raised an eyebrow. "Old Lin, this kid’s got a real attitude. Should I finish him off?"
"No, no! Spare him!"
Uncle Fu, hearing An Yi’s threat, rushed out from the house in a panic.
"This is the Blood Fiend Sect’s old lecher’s precious son! Kill him, and we’ll spend the rest of our lives on the run!"
"What was he even here for?" An Yi asked.
Lin Chen replied calmly, "Tried to steal my token."
"Tsk tsk."
An Yi stroked his chin, shaking his head in amusement.
"Good thing I got rid of mine already."
If he’d still been holding onto those two tokens for the Hongtian Secret Realm, who knew how long those martial artists would’ve chased him down!
"So, what do we do with him?"
An Yi looked to Lin Chen for direction.
Lin Chen pondered. "Maybe we—"
"Release the Young Master!"
A gaunt, skeletal elder stepped forward through the darkness, his aura oppressive enough to freeze the blood in one’s veins.
The same overwhelming Blood Fiend energy as Han Liang’s!
An Yi and Lin Chen exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
Uncle Fu paled. "The Blood Fiend Sect’s Third Elder—Han Xi! Ranked 97th on the Heavenly Leaderboard!"
A top-100 Heavenly Rank expert!
Lin Chen’s eyes turned frosty. This was far beyond their current level.
"Elder Xi, slaughter them all!"
Han Liang’s eyes gleamed with vicious excitement.
An Yi’s expression darkened. He stomped on Han Liang’s head and pressed the edge of his black sword against the young man’s throat.
"Still running your mouth while at my mercy? Kid, you’ve got some nerve!"
] [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!"
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.
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?!
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!
