Jiangbei City.
A dilapidated six-story building stood empty, its residents long gone.
They had no choice but to leave.
A massive hole had torn through the second floor, turning the entire structure into a hazard.
A breathtakingly beautiful girl stood below, gazing at it for a long, long time.
"Mu Xuan, let's go."
Mu Qingyi sighed as she spoke.
"Master, I just want to look a little longer."
Shen Muxuan stared at the place she had once called home, her voice soft.
Everything her eyes fell upon was a memory; every thought in her heart was of the past.
Mu Qingyi said gently, "Have you said your goodbyes?"
Shen Muxuan nodded, forcing a smile. "I’ve already spoken to Aunt Zhou and left a letter for An Yi. I told him I’m returning to the Immortal Sect’s minor realm and will be back in three months."
"Three months..."
Mu Qingyi sighed. "And if, after three months—"
She couldn’t finish the sentence. Tears welled in her eyes as she wiped them away with her fingers.
"Enough, Master. I’ve known this day would come for years."
Shen Muxuan smiled and pinched Mu Qingyi’s cheeks playfully. "Cheer up, will you? No wonder An Yi always says you’re a fake prude."
"Fake prude?! I’ll kill that brat!" Mu Qingyi’s eyes flashed coldly.
"Hey, isn’t that Mu Xuan? Where are you off to? Haven’t seen you at the supermarket these past few days."
Uncle Wang, the baozi vendor, was holding a steamer basket when he spotted Shen Muxuan and greeted her cheerfully.
On this street, no one disliked the cashier from Chuanfang Supermarket.
She was sweet, adorable, stunningly beautiful, and kind-hearted.
Shen Muxuan beamed. "Hello, Uncle Wang! I’m heading back to my hometown."
"Why so sudden? Here, take these two baskets of baozi for the road."
The baozi vendor packed two steaming baskets and handed them over.
Shen Muxuan grinned sweetly. "Then I won’t be polite—thank you, Uncle Wang!"
The vendor chuckled. "Where’s An Yi? Haven’t seen him around."
At the mention of that name, Shen Muxuan’s eyes dimmed. "He’s probably somewhere very, very far away now."
The baozi vendor, noticing her sorrowful expression, was shocked.
"That kid’s gone?"
---
A thousand miles away.
An off-road vehicle sped across a desolate plain.
The driver was a young man in black, no older than twenty. Despite the rough terrain, he handled the wheel with steady precision.
But what was truly astonishing wasn’t his driving—it was his face.
Five straight hours behind the wheel, and his expression hadn’t changed once.
In the passenger seat, a bespectacled beauty wiped down a sniper rifle with a white cloth.
In the back, a young man lounged with his legs crossed, yawning incessantly, dark circles heavy under his eyes.
Beside him, a cold-faced woman stared silently out the window.
"Didn’t sleep well last night?"
Shangguan Qianqian glanced at An Yi, curious.
An Yi waved a hand. "Don’t even ask."
Last night, Shen Muxuan had insisted on sleeping in his room.
Fine, sleep was sleep—but even lying in the same bed, it was strictly platonic.
The girl had been so excited she clung to him, chattering about everything and nothing until dawn.
By the time he could finally close his eyes, the sun was already up.
Thinking of Shen Muxuan, An Yi’s expression grew solemn.
He wasn’t stupid. From the shifts in her mood these past few days, he’d sensed something was off.
He remembered her telling him when they first met that she didn’t have much time left.
An Yi had consulted renowned physicians through the vice dean and others, but none could diagnose Shen Muxuan’s condition.
Even the medical skills granted by his system were useless.
The system’s response? Condition exceeds system capabilities.
Honestly, An Yi was starting to panic.
His determination to enter the Hongtian Secret Realm was largely driven by the hope of finding rare treasures or methods to cure her.
The odds were slim, but he had to try.
"Chen, do we really have to take such a remote route?"
Su Xue’er looked at Lin Chen, puzzled.
Lin Chen replied flatly, "It’s safer."
In the back, An Yi fiddled with his phone, scrolling through the Martial Alliance’s updates, and explained:
"Right now is prime time for token snatching. Anyone without a token who still wants in will be lying in wait. If we charge in recklessly, it’s like walking straight into a hornet’s nest."
"So, we’ve got two options."
"One is blending into crowded places—trains, for example. The more people, the easier it is to hide. But that only works for solo operators. The four of us? Too conspicuous."
"Lin Chen and I—especially me—are big names on the Hidden Dragon Rankings. Plus, Qianqian’s a celebrity. Crowds would just cause chaos."
"The other option is sneaking in like we’re doing now, but that makes us easy targets for ambushes."
"Which is why the route and timing have to be perfect. This stretch is open plains—no roads, making ambushes as likely as finding a needle in a haystack."
"And we have to time it right—arrive too early, and we’ll get jumped. But we also can’t miss the Hongtian Secret Realm’s opening."
Su Xue’er’s eyes widened in realization as she studied An Yi with newfound curiosity.
She’d always thought of him as a reckless, flashy, womanizing nouveau riche. Who knew he could strategize like this?
Lin Chen wasn’t surprised.
Anyone who underestimated this guy ended up regretting it.
In all the time he’d known An Yi, he’d never seen him lose.
Shangguan Qianqian nodded, a faint smile curling her lips.
In her past life, the Asura Sect had been the world’s most powerful faction, surpassing even the Divine Hall and the Dao Alliance.
And its leader? The undisputed overlord of this world.
No way was he just some brawny fool.
"This route was carefully planned—foolproof."
With the Tianhuang Province still some distance away, An Yi yawned and leaned back for a nap. "Lin Chen, keep it steady. I’m gonna catch some sleep."
Just then, the car screeched to a halt.
An Yi’s face smacked into the seat in front of him. "You did that on purpose, you poker-faced bastard!"
Lin Chen said coolly, "There’s a fight ahead. We’ve been ambushed."
Sure enough, a group of martial artists—about forty of them—were locked in combat outside.
But their off-roader had been spotted. The fighters quickly surrounded them from both sides.
An Yi rolled down the window, and a grotesque, pockmarked face shoved itself inside. "Kid, hand over your token!"
THUD!
An Yi frowned and threw a punch.
The man’s face twisted, two bloody teeth flying as he was sent sprawling. He hit the ground with a thud and didn’t get back up.
"Don’t shove your face in here. Has no one told you your breath stinks?"
An Yi fanned the air, scowling.
Instantly, the crowd froze, staring in shock at the fallen fighter.
One punch had shattered his facial bones. He was barely breathing—probably a goner.
This was a Dark Force-stage martial artist!
Taken out in a single hit?!
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
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?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
] [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!"
