Li Zizai took off his reading glasses and shook his head slightly. "What kind of joke is that? A decrepit old man like me is no match for the Head of the Dai family. Besides, the Young Miss won't let me intervene."
"Old Li, I'm curious. What did you do before this?"
Xu Mu wasn't in a rush to get to the Dai family home. Instead, taking advantage of Dai Xingluo's absence, he decided to test this old man.
"I came from a small, obscure sect. Later, the sect was wiped out, and I was heavily injured. I was saved by the Young Miss," Li Zizai explained.
"What was the name of that sect?" Xu Mu sat in a rocking chair nearby, smiling at Li Zizai. "Maybe I know of it."
"You certainly wouldn't have heard of it. It was called Green Wood Valley."
Li Zizai put his reading glasses back on and lowered his head to continue studying a piece of porcelain. "You should hurry to the Dai house to help. You have a valid reason, after all. They forcibly took Bai Yi away."
Xu Mu walked over to the counter with a smile. "Old Li, I know a thing or two about physiognomy. I think you look more like an assassin."
Hearing this, Li Zizai immediately looked up at Xu Mu and smiled. "Why would you say that?"
"Physiognomy isn't something I can easily explain. But don't worry, I don't discriminate based on profession. No matter what you did before, as long as you're good to Dai Xingluo now, there's no problem."
Xu Mu finished speaking and turned to leave. "By the way, that thing in your hand is a fake."
Li Zizai gazed at Xu Mu's retreating figure, falling into deep thought. Only after a moment did he say, "It is indeed a fake."
...
Xu Mu understood the Dai family.
Currently, thanks to his help in upgrading her, Dai Xingluo had already reached the Divine Ability Realm.
Moreover, she had mastered an Earth-rank cultivation technique, along with three Mystic-rank techniques from the Jiuli Tribe.
Her strength was already on par with Dai Xuan.
The reason Dai Xingluo hadn't forcibly snatched Bai Yi from Dai Xuan's hands was likely due to her lingering feelings as a daughter.
However, in the original plot, the reason the Dai family was able to clash with Ye Chen for so many chapters was because Dai Xuan's father wasn't dead yet.
He had already reached the Grandmaster Realm. However, he had always remained hidden in the back mountains, so very few people knew his true cultivation level.
Currently, if Dai Xingluo encountered her grandfather, she would definitely not be his match.
Xu Mu had to go. Just as Li Zizai had said, he had a reason.
Dai Xingluo was a member of the Dai family, so it wasn't appropriate for him to forcibly take her away. But Bai Yi... she was his person.
...
At the Dai family residence.
A villa at the peak of the mountain.
Dai Xingluo was currently holding Bai Yi's hand.
Bai Yi looked around at her surroundings; her eyes showed no excessive fear, only a hint of nervousness.
At this moment, in the enormous living room, aside from Dai Xingluo and Bai Yi, there were only three other people.
They were the Dai family head, Dai Xuan; the second brother, Dai Dongyang; and the third brother, Dai Wenlin.
Unlike Dai Dongyang's aggressive and imposing demeanor, Dai Wenlin wore glasses and had his hair permed in a side part.
He didn't look like the scion of a hidden martial family, but rather like a business elite.
"Xingluo, the future of our family rests on your shoulders," Dai Xuan said with a calm gaze, sitting on the sofa.
"You're too late saying that. I specifically went to the Heavenly Sword Sect earlier. I have already withdrawn from the sect."
Dai Xingluo shrugged. "I am no longer a member of the sect."
"What did you say? This is nonsense! Who gave you permission to leave the sect?"
Hearing this, Dai Xuan slapped the armrest of the sofa.
"Sister, you've been too reckless. The sect is our guardian angel. With that connection, anyone daring to move against the Dai family would have to weigh the consequences. Why would you quit?"
Dai Wenlin shook his head deeply.
"My withdrawal is my freedom. What does it have to do with you? Besides, I joined the sect on my own back then; it had absolutely nothing to do with you people."
After saying this, Dai Xingluo pulled Bai Yi up to stand. "If there's nothing else, we're leaving."
"Xingluo! This Dragon King is bullying us intolerably. Are you really willing to stand by and watch us get humiliated by him?"
Dai Xuan clenched his fists. "No matter what you say, the blood of the Dai family flows through your veins."
"Now you want to talk to me about bloodlines? Was my mother considered a member of the Dai family back then?"
As Dai Xingluo brought this up, a layer of mist clouded her eyes. "I'll tell you this: if you want my help, fine. Kill your other two wives."
"Impudent! Dai Xingluo, I've given you enough face, haven't I?"
Dai Dongyang shot up from the sofa, pointing at Dai Xingluo and shouting coldly.
Nominally, Dai Xuan had three wives who had married into the family.
The first wife gave birth to Dai Xiao and Dai Dongyang. The second wife gave birth to Dai Wenlin.
The third was Dai Xingluo's mother.
Currently, the ruler of the household harem was Dai Xuan's first wife.
Although her firstborn, Dai Xiao, was a wastrel with absolutely no talent for cultivation, she later gave birth to Dai Dongyang, securing her position as the primary wife.
Dai Dongyang was also, nominally, the next head of the Dai family.
Hearing this bastard dare to insult his mother, his face instantly turned dark.
Dai Xuan, however, glanced at Dai Dongyang. "Sit down."
"Just you wait!"
Dai Dongyang's eyes were piercingly cold.
Just then, an elderly man wearing a long robe walked in through the villa's main entrance.
This old man had a scar on his left cheek, and his white hair was still quite thick.
Seeing this person, Dai Xuan and the others all stood up.
"Father, why have you come?"
Dai Xuan bowed his head slightly.
The old man before them was the previous head of the Dai family, Dai Feiying.
"I just came out of seclusion. I saw the message you sent, so I came over to take a look."
Dai Feiying first glanced at Dai Xingluo before sitting on the sofa. "That so-called Dragon King—have you investigated his identity?"
"We've investigated. His name is Ye Chen, from the Ye family in Yang City. He went missing for a few years. The Ye family even offered a heavy reward but couldn't find him. He only recently reappeared in Yang City."
Dai Xuan summarized the information he had gathered.
"A member of the Ye family? A mere subordinate family dares to disrespect us?"
Dai Feiying snorted coldly.
"Grandfather, this isn't just disrespect anymore; it's a slap in the face," Dai Wenlin explained from the side. "He wants to open a company in Yang City. When our Dai family people went to see him according to custom, his subordinates crushed their arms. Comminuted fractures."
"That's right. Later, when I went over, I was humiliated by him. He even said that in a few days, he would come here personally and make us kneel to welcome him."
Dai Dongyang gritted his teeth, his eyes sinister. "Grandfather, he is in the Divine Ability Realm. I have shamed you; I couldn't defeat him."
"Young people these days are becoming more and more arrogant!"
Dai Feiying looked at Dai Xuan. "What are your thoughts?"
"I originally wanted to use Xingluo's status in the sect to warn him not to act rashly, but... Xingluo has withdrawn from the Heavenly Sword Sect."
Dai Xuan glanced at Dai Xingluo, then spoke.
"You wretched girl! You only know how to cause trouble! If you didn't have Dai family blood flowing through you, I would have killed you long ago!"
Dai Feiying stared coldly at Dai Xingluo. "However, withdrawing from the sect is fine too. A friend of mine has a grandson with decent talent. I can marry you off to him to form an alliance."
"Dai Feiying! Why don't you marry him yourself?" Dai Xingluo sneered.
"You're courting death..."
"Family Head!"
Just then, a guard ran in from the distance. When he saw Dai Feiying, his face filled with shock. "Old Master!"
"Make it quick," Dai Feiying said flatly.
"Xu Mu is here!" the guard explained.
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?!
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.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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.
