The news of Mo Qingli’s arrest spread like wildfire across the globe in an instant.
LT Agency was the first to break the news.
Breaking: Mo Qingli, head of the Mo Group in Xia Country, arrested in J Country!
Five minutes later, Mo Group’s stock price began a cliff-like plunge on the WF Street trading screens.
Panic swiftly rippled through the market.
Qin Group.
Qin Ya’s hand, holding a cup of coffee, froze mid-air as she stared at the news alert flashing on her screen.
A complex, almost mocking smirk curled on her lips.
“Fools,” she murmured under her breath.
“They have no idea what they’ve just done.”
“They didn’t just arrest a woman.”
“They’ve awakened a slumbering prehistoric beast—and now, it’s furious.”
Setting down her coffee, she pressed the intercom.
“Convene an emergency executive meeting immediately. Assess all risks tied to J Country projects. Suspend them if necessary.”
“Also, draft a formal letter of sympathy to the Mo Group under my name.”
“Tell them Qin Group stands ready to offer any assistance required.”
“In winter, we huddle together.”
Dragon Abyss Tech Research Institute, AI Lab.
Su Yang and Lu Ruoxi had also seen the news.
“How could this happen?!” Su Yang gasped, his face drained of color.
His first instinct was to call Lu Chenyuan.
But the other end of the line offered only the cold, automated response:
“The number you have dialed is currently unavailable.”
Lu Ruoxi stood beside him, equally pale but unnervingly composed.
She pulled out her phone and swiftly issued a series of commands.
“Su Yang, activate the ‘Skybreaker’ public sentiment module.”
“I want every hand behind this news exposed—funding trails, information sources, nothing gets overlooked.”
“Qingli-jie will be fine,” she said, meeting Su Yang’s gaze as if reassuring herself. “Because my brother is here.”
To them, Lu Chenyuan was the unshakable pillar.
…
The setting sun bathed the western mountains in a blaze of crimson.
On the winding descent, Lu Chenyuan sat in the backseat of a Hongqi limousine, eyes closed, gathering his strength.
Days of grueling meetings had exhausted everyone.
Yet he had forged a blueprint potent enough to alter the nation’s destiny.
He should have felt a sliver of satisfaction.
But the unease coiled in his chest had peaked the moment the meetings adjourned.
Retrieving his sealed phone, he powered it on.
The screen lit up—a top-priority encrypted message flashed first.
Sender: Qingli.
His heart skipped a beat.
He opened it.
Each line of her familiar script seared into him like white-hot blades.
“…Allow me this one selfless act—for you, for all we’ve sworn to protect.”
“…Even if the worst happens, I know you’ll come for me. You’ll bring me home.”
For a heartbeat, his blood turned to ice.
Before he could steady himself, Zhang Qi’s encrypted call and a deluge of news alerts flooded in simultaneously.
Lu Chenyuan answered.
“Lu-zong…” Zhang Qi’s voice was grave, heavier than ever before.
“Speak.”
A single word—icy, rough.
“Three hours ago, J Country authorities announced Mo-zong’s formal arrest on charges of corporate espionage.”
“She’s currently confined at the Gotu Royal Hotel. No external contact permitted.”
“Mo Group’s stock has hit the floor.”
Lu Chenyuan ended the call.
He ignored the erupting news feeds.
Instead, he lifted his gaze to the window.
The bloody sunset reflected in his pupils.
Those eyes, usually deep as the abyss, now held only a void—dead, burning.
The driver glimpsed that look in the rearview mirror and flinched, slamming the brakes instinctively.
The car jerked to a halt on the mountain road.
Lu Chenyuan pushed the door open and stepped out.
At the cliff’s edge, he surveyed the glittering sprawl of Jingzhou below.
The mountain wind howled, whipping at his coat.
His face betrayed nothing.
This was beyond rage—a frigid, absolute calm.
The stillness before the universe’s heat death.
He dialed the private line of the leader who had praised him mere hours ago.
“Sir.”
His voice was steady now.
But beneath it thundered a force that could shake mountains.
“I need extended leave.”
“A family matter demands my attention.”
A pause. Then a weathered, resolute reply:
“Understood.”
“Do what you must.”
“We’ll hold the fort here.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Lu Chenyuan hung up.
Returning to the car, he issued one order:
“To Dragon Abyss Tech.”
“Yes, Lu-zong.” The driver didn’t dare ask.
Lu Chenyuan didn’t glance outside again.
He called Zhang Qi back.
This time, his voice held zero degrees of warmth.
“Zhang Qi.”
“Here.”
“Initiate ‘Buzhou Mountain’ protocol.”
Zhang Qi’s breath hitched.
The “Buzhou Mountain” protocol was Dragon Abyss’ highest-level contingency measure.
It meant deploying every covert, unaccountable resource to wage total war—against a person, an entity.
Or even… a nation.
“Understood.” Zhang Qi’s throat had gone dry.
“First,” Lu Chenyuan continued, each word forged in steel, “retain every elite law firm globally in my name. Target: J Country’s judiciary.”
“I want their legal system tangled into knots within hours.”
“Second, divert 50% of ‘Skybreaker’s’ computational power. Expose every penny shorting Mo Group—every shadow player in J Country’s markets—within 24 hours.”
“Third, alert all our ‘friends’ in J Country. Tell them I require a favor.”
“I want Piero and his backers laid bare—family, habits, daily routes, coffee rituals.”
“Turn him from a bureaucrat into a glass man, living in perpetual dread.”
“Fourth, prep my jet.”
“Route: direct to Gotu.”
Zhang Qi inhaled sharply. “Lu-zong, you can’t go! It’s a trap!”
“I know.”
Lu Chenyuan’s smile was arctic.
“Qingli is their bargaining chip.”
“And I’m going to flip their table.”
He ended the call, leaning back, eyes shut.
The grand board—the nation’s fate—was set.
Now, he would play a smaller game.
One meant for him alone.
But the stakes of this game are heavier than the fate of a nation.
It is his life.
And his entire world.
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.
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?"
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.”
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
