"Hey, Old Tao, what the hell are you up to!"
An Yi whispered to Old Tao beside him, a look of helplessness on his face.
Peaceful?
Peaceful my ass! What a lousy name.
Old Tao cleared his throat and said slowly, "Use this name for now. You've been put on the wanted list in the Eastern Ling Empire!"
Back then, An Yi had single-handedly killed over a dozen Heavenly Gang experts, making him famous far and wide. In Lingchuan Domain, his name was known to everyone. People were still talking about him in the streets and alleys.
That wouldn't have been a problem normally.
But the issue was that An Yi had asked Old Tao to spread the word about him more, to boost his reputation.
Old Tao was reliable when it came to handling things—he was a solid guy.
He did exactly as asked, but he exaggerated and blew An Yi's achievements out of proportion.
In this era of limited information, the most effective way to spread news was word of mouth, but that had a downside—it was easy to distort reality.
So An Yi blew up in popularity, with wild versions of his story spreading like wildfire.
Stuff like trampling the City Lord's mansion and taking on dozens of Heavenly Gang Spirit Masters single-handedly was considered basic.
Some said he had three heads and six arms, that he massacred an entire city in Qi City, slaughtering everyone without mercy. Others claimed he was already a legendary Nirvana Realm Spirit Master, shattering the City Lord's mansion with one palm, blood splattering everywhere. Some even said he was a criminal who had escaped from the Heavenly Tower.
In just a few days, thanks to Old Tao's relentless promotion, even the capital of the Eastern Ling Empire, with his fearsome notoriety, threw the entire empire into panic.
When the higher-ups saw that their domain had produced a savage monster, they thought, "This won't do!" So they immediately issued a wanted notice for him.
Now, An Yi was a top-tier criminal, with a bounty of 100,000 gold coins on his head!
At that point, Old Tao panicked.
The Eastern Mystic Academy was a cradle for nurturing the pillars of the state. If it got out that they were harboring a criminal as a teacher, they'd be totally screwed.
If that leaked, who would dare send their children there?
It would affect next year's enrollment.
So Old Tao rushed over to settle things for An Yi first. The name had to be hidden—best if he stopped using it entirely.
"Bear with it for now. From now on, temporarily use the name An Xiang. Your identity will be my blood nephew," Old Tao said, half pleading, as he secretly handed over with a newly issued teacher qualification certificate.
Now that An Yi had become a great demon, Old Tao was half responsible.
An Yi took the certificate and looked at it helplessly.
It had gone from a golden certificate to a bronze one—this wasn't just a minor change in status!
He had been hoping to flaunt his status with that certificate!
Clearly, there was no way to show off now.
An Yi put away the certificate and said wearily, "Let me give you a little basic knowledge lesson: your blood nephew would have the surname Tao..."
"You're taking your mother's surname. And that's settled!"
Old Tao said without a second thought.
An Yi: "..."
Now, with a new identity under the name An Xiang, how was he supposed to show off and win a girl's heart? Use the title of the dean's nephew?
Dishonest connections and special privileges—he hated that most of all.
"Cough, I'm An Xiang, the new fire element teacher. As a newcomer, I kindly ask all the veteran teachers for their guidance. Please don't go out of your way to treat me specially just because I'm the dean's nephew," An Yi said casually, hands clasped behind his back.
The teachers all smiled, their faces fawning as they flocked around him.
"Haha, Teacher An is indeed approachable and down-to-earth—a model for us all!"
"We believe Teacher An's arrival will certainly add some brilliance to the fire element college."
The dean was not an ordinary position; he was the head of one of the major colleges in Eastern Mystic Academy and had no children. Since a blood nephew had suddenly appeared, they put forth all the enthusiasm they could muster.
If they could butter up this rich second-generation well, there would be plenty of benefits in the future!
At the back of the crowd, Wu Huan stared at An Yi with venomous eyes, his fists clenched tightly.
Now, his glory was gone. His father, as the former dean, was clearly not as popular as the current dean, and An Yi was now enjoying the treatment that used to be his.
Standing at a distance, Zi Yun watched An Yi, surrounded by a crowd of admirers, a meaningful smile curling at the corner of her lips.
...
Eastern Mystic Academy.
In the special recruitment class.
The noise was deafening, chaotic and loud.
The students were all doing their own thing—none of them were actually training.
The moment Ye Tian walked in carrying the Coiled Dragon Halberd, the entire class fell silent.
In the corner sat a long-haired young man with cyan eyes, giving him a strange and imposing aura.
"Hey, another tough guy's here," said a stocky young man, flashing a grin of white teeth.
Despite his simple appearance, his eyes burned with fighting spirit.
In the front row, a beautiful girl with a doll-like face, delicate like porcelain, crossed her arms and sized up Ye Tian, nodding slightly.
"Not bad looking... Huh? Little Tian!"
Xu Qianqian was shocked.
She wasn't mistaken—the youth carrying the halberd was none other than the abandoned son of the Ye family, Ye Tian! He was also her sister's fiancé.
Why was he at Eastern Mystic Academy!
The others also looked at Ye Tian with a fair amount of wariness.
They all knew that on the surface, this kid was no simple character.
Ye Tian found a seat and sat down calmly.
"Monkey, test him out," the long-haired young man said slowly.
A scrawny young man, fiddling with a dagger in his hand, grinned. "Got it!"
With that, he strolled over to Ye Tian.
"Oh, nice halberd you've got there?" Houzi said, reaching out from behind Ye Tian to touch his halberd, clearly looking for trouble.
"Touch it again, and you'll die," Ye Tian said coldly, fixing his gaze on him.
Suddenly, a chilling killing intent locked onto Houzi.
But Houzi was no ordinary student. With a defiant look, he grinned. "We're all classmates here, no need to be so harsh, right?"
The others, noticing the commotion, turned to watch, smirking.
The students in this class were geniuses among geniuses, and they wanted to see what the newcomer was made of.
Whoosh!
Blue flames instantly ignited on the Coiled Dragon Halberd.
Sharp as blades, they actually cut Houzi's hand, blood seeping out.
"You!"
Houzi's face changed dramatically as he leaped back two steps, his eyes filled with terror.
He had never encountered flames that were as sharp as knives.
Then, without warning, Ye Tian's fist came flying.
He revealed himself to be as an Intermediate Condensed Spirit realm martial artist.
Caught off guard, Houzi could only watch helplessly as Ye Tian's fist came directly toward his face.
Thud!
Ye Tian's fist was caught by the long-haired young man's palm.
Powerful energy exploded outward, forcing everyone in the room back several steps.
Ye Tian's eyes narrowed as he looked at the long-haired youth.
Intermediate Condensed Spirit realm—him being that strong at his age was definitely impressive.
"Not bad, you've got some skills. Let me introduce myself: I'm Zhang Qi, from the Zhang family of Yucheng," Zhang Qi said slowly, his expression full of arrogance.
The Zhang family of Yucheng — not just within the Lingchuan domain but across the entire Dongling Empire — was considered a top-tier aristocratic clan. And Zhang Qi, as a once-in-a-century prodigy of the Zhang family, had every right to be proud.
"Ye Cheng, the Ye family's Ye Tian!"
Ye Tian said slowly.
The moment that name was spoken, the expressions of everyone present turned unnatural.
The Ye family of Ye Cheng...
Hadn't the rumor said they were wiped out by the Divine Spirit Cult?
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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!
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.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
