I always thought people grew old gradually, but no—it happens in an instant.
An Yi recited slowly.
Jiang Cheng found the words familiar. He flipped through his phone to check the works of Murakami Natsuki and confirmed it was indeed the author's original line.
"Don't dwell too much on the present, nor worry excessively about the future. Once you’ve experienced certain things, the scenery before you will never be the same again."
"Everyone has their own forest, and Miss Nako’s is exceptionally lush."
While reminiscing about Ito Jiro’s past, An Yi recounted unfamiliar memories to Jiang Cheng.
After a long while, Jiang Cheng’s hand ached from taking notes. He glanced at An Yi and said, "Enough with the literary quotes. Got anything else?"
An Yi shrugged. "I’ve got Miss Nako’s personal experiences. Want me to share those?"
"Tsk!"
Jiang Cheng sucked in a sharp breath as he reviewed his notes.
Ten fourth-tier spirit cores—just for this measly content!
Boss Nie would beat him to death for this!
By the time An Yi strolled leisurely out of the Law Enforcement Bureau with Hongtian in tow, night had already fallen.
Hongtian kept shaking his dog head, ambling along as faint flickers of light pulsed across his body.
"What’s up? Indigestion?" An Yi asked skeptically.
"Pfft. As if! Back in my prime, I devoured half a human clan without so much as a hiccup."
Suddenly, Hongtian’s fur bristled. Dark flames erupted from his body, swirling violently.
"I... I can’t hold back anymore!"
With a deafening roar—
Boom!
In an instant, Hongtian transformed into a majestic beast, towering ten feet tall. The writhing black flames only amplified his ferocity.
Hummm!
A streak of dark fire streaked across the sky.
In an ordinary residential district of the capital...
Long Aoyun, who had been walking with his wife, abruptly tensed and looked up, his expression grave.
"A-Yun, what’s wrong?" Ting Ting asked curiously.
Long Aoyun gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Nothing. Let’s keep going."
Meanwhile, in Yunzhou City, Southeast Province...
Boss Nie was meticulously trimming a potted plant with a pair of scissors.
He paused, lifting his gaze to the sky. His calm demeanor shattered, replaced by icy hostility.
"How the hell did that thing break free?!"
He set the scissors down slowly.
The once-lush greenery now lay in tatters, shredded beyond recognition.
"Hey, big guy—you good?" An Yi asked warily.
Hongtian bared his fangs in a wild grin. "Good? I’ve never been better! This is fantastic!"
He turned to An Yi, fangs glinting.
Today, the slave would become the master!
He’d make this brat understand—just how untouchable a legendary Three Great Calamity Beast like the Heavenly Hound truly was!
"If you’re fine, let’s head back. No time for nonsense—I’ve got stuff to do."
An Yi tugged the dog chain, its surface shimmering with a faint violet glow.
Instantly, Hongtian’s body stiffened. He couldn’t resist as An Yi effortlessly dragged him along.
"What the—?! What kind of leash is this?!"
Hongtian thrashed, but to his horror, the chain held firm.
"Damn it! Am I really gonna be stuck under this punk’s thumb forever?!"
"System—upgrade the Evil Ghost Mask!" An Yi commanded.
Ding! [Evil Ghost Mask] upgrading... 1%... 2%... 99%... 100%!
Ding! Upgrade complete!
The mask in An Yi’s hand now gleamed faintly, intricate golden patterns etched across its surface, lending it an air of regal menace.
"Not bad."
An Yi smirked—until he checked his Evil Power Value.
"Zero?! Just twenty left?!"
He nearly cursed aloud.
After subduing Bai Xiu, he’d been rewarded with 350 Evil Power Value—and now, a single upgrade had drained 200 of it!
An Yi slipped on the mask and activated its invisibility.
He glanced at his hand.
Hmm. His arm vanished—but his clothes remained visible.
"F!"
Grumbling, he stripped completely. Sure enough, now he was fully invisible.
"Useless piece of junk!"
So to go invisible, he had to be naked?
As if! He was the leader of the Asura Faction now—no way in hell was he running around bare-assed!
Fuming, he switched to the mask’s other ability: Shapeshift.
Channeling his memory, An Yi morphed into the likeness of a burly, bearded middle-aged man.
The mirror reflected a bald, mustachioed figure.
"Perfect."
His grin widened. Thanks to the man’s memories, he knew the locations of several assassin strongholds across the country.
Time for a hunt.
Just then, the door swung open.
Lin Chen stepped inside, froze at the sight of the disguised An Yi—then narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Me! It’s An Yi!"
An Yi yanked off the mask before Lin Chen could strike.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lin Chen frowned.
"Heh. Time to kick off the plan."
An Yi leaned in, whispering words the readers wouldn’t hear.
Lin Chen’s brows shot up. "You’re serious?"
Wiping out the entire Paradise Organization?
This guy’s schemes were ruthless.
"Dead serious."
An Yi’s smirk was razor-sharp.
"Xue and I are heading to Hong Kong."
After a pause, Lin Chen added, "No—take Bai Xiu, Qin Shan, and Liu Dachao too."
He had unfinished business there.
16K was a global syndicate—not something he could handle alone.
"Got it."
An Yi’s eyes glinted. Right now, the Asura Faction was in every assassin’s crosshairs.
His priority was keeping his people safe.
"Be good. Wait for me."
Outside an upscale café in the capital, An Yi ruffled Ziyue’s hair.
Tears welled in her eyes. "Y-You’re abandoning me?"
"Not abandoning. Just handling some business."
He chuckled.
Her sister was the most beautiful woman in the Ancient Continent—not that it mattered to a righteous guy like him!
(Okay, maybe it did. But mostly because Ziyue was the Third Princess of the Ten Thousand Beasts Kingdom. A solid ally.)
Ziyue sniffled, clinging to his sleeve. "But where will I go? I don’t even understand the language here..."
Creak.
The café door opened.
Xiao Ye, dressed in a waiter’s uniform, peered out. "Boss? You called—?"
"Ah, right. Wasn’t sure where to put Ziyue, but you’re from the same world. Easier to communicate."
Lin Chen, Bai Xiu, and the others were all on missions.
Qin Yao was in the Underworld.
The Law Enforcement Bureau couldn’t take her—not with her identity.
Sending her back to Aunt Zhou in Jiangbei? Too risky.
Lan Ruoxi and Nie Qinglan needed protection themselves.
Hongtian was free, but "let the dog babysit" wasn’t a viable plan.
Xiao Ye was the only option.
Strong. Composed.
And most importantly—had nothing better to do.
Ziyue bashfully sidled up to Xiao Ye, waving at An Yi. "Stay safe! I’ll miss you!"
An Yi: "..."
As An Yi walked away, Xiao Ye sighed and gestured inside. "Let’s go."
"Okay!"
Ziyue curled her lips into a faint smile and quickly followed, lowering her voice as she said, "So your name is Xiao Ye? I remember there was a legendary swordmaster by the same name in the Tongtian Tower—what a funny coincidence!"
"Is that so? How amusing."
Xiao Ye replied with an air of effortless calm, his tone light and indifferent.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
