Even as Lie Tao was killed, the Gourd Immortal remained unmoved, his benevolent smile unwavering. "That dagger is impressive. I didn’t even see where you pulled it from."
"Go to hell and think about it!"
An Yi charged forward, dual daggers in hand!
In terms of sheer height, the Gourd Immortal was already intimidating.
Three meters tall—no human in this world could reach such a height!
And with those crimson eyes, he looked less and less like a human.
The combat dagger sliced through the air like a shadow, striking the Gourd Immortal’s waist.
For an assassin, the throat was always the primary target.
If that wasn’t possible, the next best options were the heart or the brain—any vital spot.
But this monster was too tall. An Yi couldn’t reach any of them!
So he slashed at the fleshy mountain of the Gourd Immortal’s belly instead.
The dagger clashed against the exposed skin, leaving only faint white marks.
His hide was as tough as iron cloth!
An Yi’s razor-sharp combat dagger might as well have been a blunt weapon.
"Tickling me?"
The Gourd Immortal scoffed.
With a swing of his massive, fan-like hand, he reached for An Yi.
"An Yi, watch out!"
Nie Qinglan’s voice rang out in warning.
Sensing the shift in the air, An Yi reacted swiftly, rolling forward in a desperate escape.
Cold sweat drenched him as he regained his footing.
For a split second, it felt like his body had been paralyzed—forced to watch helplessly as the Gourd Immortal’s hand came crashing down.
"Not bad, kid!"
The Gourd Immortal sounded almost impressed.
His movements seemed unremarkable, but An Yi knew better. If that slap had landed, his bones would’ve been pulverized.
This level of terror was no joke.
For the first time, An Yi was on full alert.
Compared to the Gourd Immortal, the S-rank assassin Butcher was nothing more than a small fry.
An Yi had no doubt—even Butcher would’ve been crushed in two slaps by this monster. They weren’t even in the same league.
His own fragile body wouldn’t survive a single hit.
"Kid! Just submit and become my blood thrall! Not only will I spare your life, but I’ll give you everything you’ve never even dreamed of!"
The Gourd Immortal’s voice dripped with temptation. "Don’t you want to try it? Money, power, women—I can give you anything. All you have to do is let me draw a little blood now and then."
"Night Emperor, don’t listen to him!"
Zhou Jun’s weak voice strained to speak. "Once you’re his thrall, you’ll never escape. He’s literally sucking the life out of you."
"Shut your mouth!"
The Gourd Immortal’s crimson eyes locked onto Zhou Jun as a vine-like tendril lashed out, striking his body.
Crack!
The tendril split in two, blue blood spraying everywhere.
An Yi intercepted the attack with the demonic sword Dragon Fang.
The severed tendril oozed blue blood, but within moments, the grotesque flesh writhed and regenerated.
An Yi’s expression darkened.
This three-meter-tall monstrosity—was he even human?
No human could possess such abilities!
"Foolish brat! Do you know what they call me?"
The Gourd Immortal grinned, his kind facade twisting. "They call me an Immortal. In this pitiful world, I am the god of their myths! For three hundred years, no one has dared point a dagger at me!"
"A pitiful world?"
"Three hundred years?"
An Yi’s gaze turned icy. "You’re not from this world?"
"Become my thrall, and I’ll tell you everything!" The Gourd Immortal licked his lips.
He was practically salivating. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to find someone with such potent life force in this world.
An Yi didn’t respond. Instead, he moved like the wind, leaping high and striking at the Gourd Immortal’s neck!
The Gourd Immortal blocked with ease.
Though these predictable attacks couldn’t harm him, he wasn’t foolish enough to let An Yi whittle him down.
His massive hand shot out, seizing An Yi.
An Yi’s face hardened. That overwhelming pressure again—he couldn’t dodge.
"Qi Control!"
As the hand closed in, An Yi blasted a surge of energy at the Gourd Immortal, using the recoil to flip over his towering form.
"Oh? Now this is interesting."
The Gourd Immortal watched An Yi somersault over him, unimpressed.
To him, An Yi was nothing more than a flea—utterly insignificant.
An Yi landed behind him, eyes sharp.
This was his chance!
Without hesitation, he spun, driving both daggers with all his strength into the Gourd Immortal’s nape!
Slash!
Slash!
Two full-powered strikes!
150% Sneak Attack damage triggered!
The force was devastating.
Blue blood gushed from the Gourd Immortal’s neck!
"ARGH!"
The pain twisted his benevolent face into something monstrous.
An Yi’s heart sank.
This thing—
Its weak spot wasn’t the neck!
Suddenly, dozens of tendrils lashed out, snatching An Yi mid-air.
Trapped with no room to maneuver, he could only watch as the Gourd Immortal’s appendages seized him.
His wrists, arms, legs—every limb was bound and hoisted into the air.
"What the hell is this? Disgusting!"
An Yi gritted his teeth, struggling, but the tendrils didn’t budge.
His arms screamed in agony, as if they’d snap any second.
"Brat! You’ve pissed me off!"
The Gourd Immortal’s voice was venomous, his crimson eyes burning with bloodlust.
BAM!
The tendrils whipped An Yi against the ground—then the walls—over and over!
The sickening cracks of bones echoed through the air.
Blood spilled from An Yi’s lips.
He’d underestimated this giant. Once caught, escape was nearly impossible.
"Damn it… I haven’t felt pain in over a century! And today, I let a runt like you wound me!"
The Gourd Immortal touched his bleeding neck.
This kid had been holding back. His attacks from behind were far deadlier—if he’d been human, that strike would’ve decapitated him.
An Yi was battered, his breathing ragged.
If this kept up, he’d die.
His eyes flicked to a new skill in his arsenal.
"Now then… let’s savor your life force, shall we?"
The Gourd Immortal’s eyes gleamed with greed as a spear-like tendril shot toward An Yi’s heart!
Clang!
An Yi’s dagger intercepted the strike, deflecting it at the last second.
"You broke free?!"
The Gourd Immortal stared in shock at the severed tendrils, blue blood pooling on the ground.
"Impossible! There’s no way you—"
"Want my blood? Then see if you can take it!"
An Yi grinned, his smile chilling.
His dark eyes burned crimson.
At the same time, his short black hair lengthened into flowing silver-white locks.
The air around him thickened with murderous intent.
Ding! System Alert: Host has entered [Berserk] state. All attributes increased by 200%!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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!
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.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
