On the southern outskirts of Jingzhou, an abandoned shipyard had been transformed into a makeshift underground race track.
The ear - piercing roars of engines, the screeches of tires rubbing against the ground, and the shouts of a crowd mixed with the smell of alcohol and the scent of hormones formed a wild symphony.
In the corner of the modified garage, the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was almost solidified.
Lu Chenjin's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at a long - haired man with a silver skull stud in his ear - "Ghost Fire", the undefeated champion of the Chiwan Racecourse and the biggest bookie of the night.
"Ghost Fire, I'm betting my Lykan on this one! Just this one race. Do you dare to take the bet?"
Lu Chenjin's voice was hoarse with excitement as he slapped a silver car key heavily on the greasy iron bucket.
That ice - blue Lykan HyperSport was a gift from Lu Chenyuan on his eighteenth birthday. It was one of only seven in the world and worth tens of millions.
This was what Lu Chenjin cherished most.
"Yo, is the Fourth Young Master Lu getting carried away?" Ghost Fire laughed frivolously, picked up the key and twirled it around his finger.
"Betting with a gift from your elder brother. Won't your brother break your legs when he finds out?"
"Cut the crap! Dare or not?" Lu Chenjin roared. In a fit of desperation after a series of losses, he had lost his senses.
He had had extremely bad luck today, losing several races in a row. He had not only squandered all his cash but also lost the dignity of being a top - notch race car driver.
He had to win it back.
"Since the Fourth Young Master is so sincere, how can I not accept the challenge?" There was greed in Ghost Fire's smile.
"You know the rules. If you win, I'll return all the money you lost tonight and give you an extra five million. If you lose, this 'mythical beast' will be mine."
"Fine!" Lu Chenjin agreed without hesitation.
The crowd around them let out a chorus of excited whistles. They loved watching the drama of a wealthy young master squandering his fortune.
Just as Ghost Fire was about to put the car key in his pocket and this crazy bet was about to be finalized -
A long, slender hand with distinct knuckles suddenly appeared and firmly pressed down on his hand that was about to grasp the key.
"I'm canceling this bet on his behalf."
A calm voice without the slightest trace of emotion clearly penetrated the noisy air and reached everyone's ears.
Everyone involuntarily looked in the direction of the voice.
There stood a man in a black, high - end tailored suit. No one knew when he had appeared behind them.
He had a straight posture, a handsome face, and a steady temperament like a mountain, standing in stark contrast to the chaos and filth here.
He just stood there quietly. With a single sweep of his deep, bottomless eyes across the room, the temperature in the garage seemed to drop several degrees.
It was Lu Chenyuan.
"E... Elder brother?" The madness and ferocity on Lu Chenjin's face instantly disappeared, replaced by shock, panic, and a hint of embarrassment at being caught red - handed.
He instinctively tried to take a step back but found his legs were a bit weak.
Ghost Fire was also stunned. He clearly recognized the head of the Lu Group, a titan in the Jingzhou financial and business circle.
He withdrew his hand as if electrocuted, and the frivolous smile on his face froze.
"Mr. Lu, why are you here? We were just joking with the Fourth Young Master to liven up the atmosphere."
Lu Chenyuan ignored him. His gaze was fixed on Lu Chenjin from beginning to end.
That look carried no anger, but it was more oppressive than any angry fire.
It was a look of utter disappointment, like a cold chisel striking Lu Chenjin's heart again and again.
"Come home with me." Lu Chenyuan spoke, his tone flat but an irresistible command.
"I..." After a brief moment of panic, Lu Chenjin's rebellious spirit flared up again. He stuck out his neck and growled, "My business doesn't concern you!"
"Your business?" Lu Chenyuan finally turned his gaze to Ghost Fire and then glanced at the car key lying on the iron bucket. A cold arc curled up at the corner of his mouth.
"Betting on your 'dignity' here with a gift I gave you? Lu Chenjin, when did you become so 'promising'?"
"I..." Lu Chenjin's face turned red and then pale at these words, but he was unable to refute.
"Mr. Lu, don't be angry. It's all a misunderstanding." Ghost Fire quickly tried to smooth things over. He didn't dare to offend Lu Chenyuan.
Lu Chenyuan slowly picked up the car key and held it in his palm. Then he looked at Ghost Fire, his eyes calm. "How much did he lose tonight?"
"Two... Two million." Ghost Fire replied nervously.
Lu Chenyuan nodded and motioned to Lin Yuan who was standing behind him.
Lin Yuan immediately stepped forward and handed over a check.
"Here is four million." Lu Chenyuan placed the check on the iron bucket and pushed it in front of Ghost Fire.
"Two million is to pay off his gambling debt. The other two million is to buy your silence about everything you saw and heard tonight. From now on, I don't want to see my younger brother in this kind of place again. Do you understand?"
His voice was not loud, but the weight of his words made a cold sweat break out on Ghost Fire's back.
This was not a negotiation but an ultimatum.
"Understood, understood! Mr. Lu, rest assured. I, Ghost Fire, will keep my mouth shut! From now on, the Fourth Young Master will be like my own elder brother. I'll never let him touch these things again!"
Ghost Fire bowed and scraped as he took the check, showing extreme respect.
Lu Chenyuan didn't look at him anymore. He just turned around and said to Lu Chenjin, who was still standing there stiffly, "Let's go."
One word, carrying a thousand pounds of force.
Lu Chenjin clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.
In the face of his elder brother's absolute authority and oppression, all his rebellion and bravado seemed like a joke.
His most embarrassing moment had been witnessed by the person he least wanted to see it.
Silently, like a defeated beast, he followed Lu Chenyuan out of the place that had both ensnared and shamed him, under the complex gazes of awe and sympathy from the crowd.
In the car on the way back, the atmosphere was dead silent.
Lu Chenjin kept turning his head to look at the neon lights flashing by outside the window, saying nothing, with his jawline tightly clenched.
Lu Chenyuan also remained silent.
It wasn't until the car drove into the Lu Family Manor and stopped in front of the main house that Lu Chenyuan broke the silence.
"Why?"
His voice was calm, showing no sign of emotion.
Lu Chenjin trembled all over but still didn't turn his head. His voice came out through gritted teeth, "No reason. Just wanted to have some fun."
"Have some fun?" Lu Chenyuan laughed self - deprecatingly. "Fun to the point of gambling away your future and your family's affection?"
He turned his head, his gaze as sharp as a knife. "Lu Chenjin, you're twenty years old, not ten. Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You feel that no one in the family understands you or pays attention to you. Your elder brother is busy with the company, and your second and third brothers each have their own specialties. Only you seem like an idle rich young master. So you use racing, this kind of extreme excitement and gambling, to prove your existence, right?"
Lu Chenjin suddenly turned his head and stared fixedly at Lu Chenyuan. His red - rimmed eyes were full of shock and the embarrassment of being seen through.
He never expected that his elder brother, who in his eyes was always high and mighty and only cared about reports and profits, would actually know those dark thoughts deep in his heart that he had never spoken to anyone before.
"What I gave you is a warhorse for you to gallop on the race track, not a gambling tool for you to sink into the mire." Lu Chenyuan's voice sank, tinged with a trace of pain.
"If you really love racing, then go and participate in the professional league in an upright manner, stand on the podium and let the national flag rise for you. Instead of squandering your talent and life in such a dirty underground garage with one gambling game after another!"
"I..." Lu Chenjin opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't utter a single word.
His long - standing solitude and rebellion were mercilessly laid bare by his elder brother at this moment, revealing the most vulnerable core inside.
"From tomorrow on, I'll confiscate your car keys. I'll hire the best coaching team for you for systematic professional training. Three months later, I want to see your name on the registration list of the National Automobile Circuit Championship."
Lu Chenyuan's tone was non - negotiable. "If you can't do it, or if I catch you touching those things you shouldn't again, I won't mind breaking your wings myself and making sure you'll never touch the steering wheel again in your life."
After saying that, he opened the car door and got out directly, leaving Lu Chenjin with a determined back.
Inside the car, Lu Chenjin sat there in a daze, with his elder brother's last words still echoing in his ears.
Those words were cold and harsh, yet they were like a heavy hammer, shattering the high wall he had built with rebellion and solitude all along, allowing him to see a completely different path in life for the first time.
In the darkness, a hot tear rolled down from the corner of this unruly young man's eye and silently landed on the expensive leather seat.
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.
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!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
