That hearty laughter did not come from the mountains or forests. It came from the horizon.
Whoosh!
The next moment, an old white-haired man dressed in black landed in front of Xu Mu.
In his hand, he was carrying a man in black, whom he casually threw to the ground.
When Chen Xuan saw the wound at the man’s waist, he was astonished. This was the fourth-stage expert Xu Mu had injured earlier—the one who had fled.
“Senior!”
When Xu Mu saw the white-haired old man with his disheveled hair, he could not help laughing. “What a coincidence, meeting you here!”
Tong Guoguo narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the old man and whispered, “Stepdad, Hao Yang.”
“Hahaha! Not bad, not bad!”
Hao Yang looked Xu Mu up and down and could not help giving him a thumbs-up. “Kid, you’ve really changed. It’s been only three days, but I see you in a whole new light.”
“Senior, you’ve heard about me?”
Xu Mu asked with a smile.
“I mean, you’ve finally stopped being so useless. You’ve got three women around you now. You must be bringing your little brother and the children over to visit this weekend, right?”
Hao Yang gave Xu Mu a lecherous grin.
“Senior, you’re terrible. What are you talking about?”
Dai Xingluo suddenly hooked her arm around Xu Mu’s, pretending to be bashful.
Seeing this, Meng Wanyue immediately tried to pull Dai Xingluo’s arm away.
Tong Guoguo, meanwhile, was completely confused. She had no idea what Hao Yang was talking about. She only knew that his smile looked extremely sleazy.
“Hahaha! That’s more like it! What man fears having no wife?”
Hao Yang laughed as he raised his wine gourd and took several gulps. “I just happened to be passing by. When I saw someone trying to kill you, I took care of him.”
“Thank you, Senior.”
Xu Mu smiled. He did not particularly care whether this fourth-stage expert lived or died.
“By the way, kid, I’ve met your father. What are the odds? We’re old acquaintances!”
Hao Yang laughed and patted Xu Mu on the shoulder.
Xu Mu was somewhat surprised, though he had already guessed that Xu Shou had once been a powerful expert.
It was only natural that someone like him would know a senior such as Hao Yang.
“Hahaha! Like father, like son. Kid, I have high hopes for you.”
Hao Yang walked over to Xu Mu and handed him a phone. “I’ve got something urgent to deal with. I’ll leave this opportunity to you.”
With that, he laughed and flew into the sky.
Xu Mu glanced at the phone before putting it away.
For now, he should clean up the battlefield first. It would be a shame to leave so many corpses from the World-Breaking Realm lying around.
The mother of the Spirit-Devouring Saint Gu had yet to emerge, so he could only have the smaller Gu insects do the work.
After devouring powerful experts, the few Gu insects had grown noticeably larger than before.
At last, Xu Mu collected the spatial rings from the bodies. “Since no one else is coming, let’s go.”
“Wait!”
At that moment, Ding Shi walked out of the forest behind them with a smile.
Several other members of the Fire Clan came with him.
Shi Qianhua followed at the very back with her arms crossed, looking rather unhappy.
“What? Do you want to take me and exchange me for divine medicine too?”
Xu Mu asked indifferently.
“Misunderstanding. No matter how you look at it, our Fire Clan is still a first-rate race. We’re not short of one or two stalks of divine medicine.”
Ding Shi hurriedly waved his hands. He had just witnessed the legendary Stepdad, Hao Yang, from the Inner Realm.
This man was a descendant of Yanhuang, but he never acted according to convention. Unlike the other descendants of Yanhuang, he often took in orphans whose families had been destroyed. He gave them food, taught them how to cultivate, and even gave them cultivation techniques for free, regardless of whether they possessed Yanhuang blood.
Once they became capable of standing on their own, he would sever ties with them and let them develop independently, facing the road ahead by themselves.
If they became wealthy and powerful in the future, they did not need to repay him.
If they encountered danger, Hao Yang would not intervene on their behalf either.
It could be said that even the alien races who hated the descendants of Yanhuang considered him a good man.
Moreover, quite a few of his stepsons and stepdaughters had already become guest elders of various races, and some had even risen to become elders.
“Since you’re not here to fight, what do you want?”
Xu Mu asked flatly.
Ding Shi looked toward the distant sky. “The person who was just here should be the legendary Stepdad, Hao Yang, right?”
“That’s right.”
Xu Mu nodded.
“To tell you the truth, the youngest guest elder of our Fire Clan is Hao Yang’s stepdaughter.”
Ding Shi smiled.
Xu Mu looked at the man and noticed that his filial-piety score toward Xu Mu was not negative. “You still haven’t told me what you want.”
“We’d like to invite you to visit our territory.”
“You want me to go with you? Do you think I’m that stupid? You’d take me to your territory, then have all your experts attack and kill me?”
Xu Mu helplessly waved his hand. “I don’t want to waste time here.”
“You’ve really misunderstood me. Forget it, I’ll be honest.”
Ding Shi lowered his voice. “We actually want you to introduce us to Hao Yang. We’d like to invite him to become a guest elder of the Fire Clan. We absolutely won’t treat him poorly.”
“You should have said that from the beginning. Why beat around the bush?”
Xu Mu turned and walked away. “Sorry, but Senior Hao Yang and I are only casual acquaintances. We’re not that close.”
Chen Xuan and the others followed Xu Mu and left.
Ding Shi glanced at the people beside him, then continued after them, walking alongside Xu Mu’s group.
Chen Xuan looked at them and asked, “Brother Mu is wanted by the four major races right now. Aren’t you afraid of being dragged into this by traveling so closely with us?”
“You’re overthinking it, little brother. Our Fire Clan is also well-known throughout the Inner Realm and counts as a first-rate race. We’ve signed alliances with several other first-rate races. If one side is attacked without reason, the other races will unite to respond.”
Ding Shi explained, “This Inner Realm belongs to the four major races, but it belongs to us as well.”
Chen Xuan nodded lightly. “That sounds a bit like the smaller countries in the outside world.”
In other words, they were far too weak to stand against their enemies alone, so they had banded together for protection.
“By the way, where are you headed? Let me see if we’re going the same way.”
Ding Shi continued asking questions.
“The Sacred Battlefield.”
Xu Mu made no attempt to hide it.
“I see. With your status as a wanted man, the Sacred Battlefield really is the best choice. The Sacred Battlefield was jointly established by the four major races. Unless all four of them have issued warrants for you, they can’t make a move against you there.”
Ding Shi stroked his stubble and smiled. “I mean you no ill will. If you ever run into trouble in the future, you can come to me.”
Xu Mu waved his hand and said nothing, merely smiling.
“What kind of expression is that? Do you even know who he is? He’s the third elder of our Fire Clan, an eighth-stage World-Breaking Realm expert. Do you think killing a fourth-stage expert means you can act recklessly in front of him?”
Shi Qianhua, who could no longer stand it, spoke coldly with her arms crossed.
“The problem is, I’ve been burned before. Do you know Mu Changfeng?”
Xu Mu glanced at them indifferently.
“Of course. He’s the second elder of our race. You know him?”
Ding Shi asked curiously.
“Go back and ask him whether he’s done anything to wrong me.”
After saying that, Xu Mu quickened his pace.
He only wanted to see what was on the phone Hao Yang had left behind, but these people kept following him.
Ding Shi watched Xu Mu’s back and did not continue after him.
“Elder Ding, why waste your breath on him? He’s just a wanted criminal. You’d better keep your distance from him.”
Shi Qianhua spoke with some displeasure.
“Qianhua, your father only wants you to grow up without a care in the world. There are many things he hasn’t told you.”
Ding Shi glanced at her. “Do you really think that as long as we acknowledge the Black Moon Clan as our leader in Beiming, we can live in peace?”
Only then did Shi Qianhua’s expression change slightly. “Elder Ding, what do you mean?”
“We’ve already encroached upon the Black Moon Clan’s interests. If you acknowledge them as our leader, you have to pay tribute. But now, they want you to cut off a piece of your own flesh to feed them. Are you willing to agree?”
Ding Shi’s tone turned cold as well.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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.
