Lin Yuan gazed at the screen, where Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli stood side by side in battle.
Another face, equally proud and resilient, surfaced in his mind.
Ren Qian.
Ever since that day at Cloud Peak Pavilion, when he had witnessed Qian Shanshan's betrayal firsthand and Ren Qian helped him cut through the chaos with swift decisiveness, they had naturally gravitated toward each other.
There had been no grand confession, no romantic ceremony.
It was like two soldiers who had fought side by side for years, reaching for each other’s hands in a rare moment of respite.
They knew each other too well.
So well that a single glance was enough to convey their thoughts.
They were also busy.
One commanded "Lianshan," carving a path through the jungle of global supply chains.
The other led "Hanqing," pioneering the uncharted territories of fundamental science.
They were the two most crucial wings of Lu Chenyuan’s grand plan.
And they had grown accustomed to this rhythm.
Leaving early, returning late, fighting their battles on separate fronts—only in the dead of night would they find a moment to meet, to exchange a few words.
They both thought this was enough.
They both believed they had plenty of time.
But when Lin Yuan saw Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli’s wedding, an unfamiliar panic seized his heart for the first time.
It was the fear of loss.
He suddenly realized how similar he and Ren Qian were to Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli before their union.
They shared the same mission, the same unshakable foundation of trust—yet neither had dared to pierce that final layer of hesitation.
What were they waiting for?
For "Lianshan" and "Hanqing" to become titans?
For them to reach the pinnacle of their careers?
For old age to claim them?
What if the unexpected arrived before tomorrow?
Lin Yuan couldn’t bear to dwell on it.
He stood from his chair and grabbed his coat from the backrest.
"Cancel all my afternoon meetings," he told his assistant as the man walked in.
"But President Lin, the video conference with the A-Continent Chip Alliance—"
"Cancel it."
Lin Yuan cut him off, his tone leaving no room for argument.
He strode out of the office.
Some things couldn’t wait.
He had to act now.
Immediately.
---
The headquarters of Hanqing Technologies exuded a stark, industrial futurism.
There was no clamor of commerce here—only hushed corridors and laboratories bearing the names of complex research projects.
The air itself seemed laced with the scent of code and equations.
Lin Yuan’s car came to a stop outside the building.
He didn’t go up. Instead, he sat in the driver’s seat, quietly watching the structure.
He knew Ren Qian was in a meeting right now.
Her work ethic was something he understood all too well.
Once she immersed herself in her tasks, she became an indefatigable machine of precision.
He didn’t want to disturb her.
He was willing to wait.
Just as he had waited all those years for her to turn her gaze away from her admiration of Lu Chenyuan and finally see him.
He pulled out his phone and skimmed through the wedding news once more.
There was Lu Chenyuan, under the eyes of the world, slipping that engraved silver ring onto Mo Qingli’s finger.
In that moment, his expression wasn’t that of a tech emperor or a business titan.
Just a husband—one terrified of losing his wife and willing to give everything to prevent it.
Lin Yuan closed the news page and opened his chat log with Ren Qian.
The most recent message was from that morning.
Ren Qian: "Don’t forget to eat breakfast."
His reply: "Got it. You too."
Simple. Understated. Like an old married couple.
But Lin Yuan knew it wasn’t enough.
Not nearly enough.
What he wanted to give her—what he wanted for himself—wasn’t just morning greetings and late-night companionship.
He wanted to give her a rightful place by his side.
A bond that would stand firm whether the future brought storms or serenity.
Time passed.
Eventually, people began trickling out of Hanqing’s main building.
The meeting must have ended.
Lin Yuan took a deep breath, pushed the car door open, and stepped inside.
The receptionist recognized him instantly and stood.
"President Lin, welcome. Should I inform President Ren of your arrival?"
"No need, thank you." Lin Yuan shook his head with a faint smile. "I’ll wait for her here."
He moved to the seating area and settled in.
He didn’t want his sudden appearance to feel like some kind of "surprise inspection."
This was his way of respecting her.
Another half hour slipped by before Ren Qian finally wrapped up her last task.
Rubbing her temples, she stepped out of the conference room.
She had been in meetings all day.
A high-energy particle collision simulation project had hit a snag in its core algorithm.
Ren Qian had spent the afternoon listening to scientists argue, mediating between them until her throat felt raw.
All she wanted now was to retreat to her office, drink some water, and collapse into her chair, mind blissfully blank.
She pushed the door open and closed it behind her—only to hear a familiar knock.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Soft. Polite.
"Come in," she said without turning.
The door opened.
"President Ren, the reports from this afternoon—" a subordinate began.
"Leave them for now," Ren Qian cut in.
She turned, about to say something else—then froze.
Lin Yuan stood at the doorway.
He was dressed in a crisp suit, car keys in hand, wearing the same gentle smile she knew so well.
But his eyes were different.
They held a tension she had never seen before—a quiet, desperate resolve.
Ren Qian blinked, then dismissed the subordinate with a wave.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
At this hour, he should have been in Lianshan’s office, locked in verbal sparring with someone halfway across the globe.
Lin Yuan stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
He didn’t answer her question.
Instead, he walked toward her—slowly, deliberately—until he stood right before her.
The office was silent.
So silent she could hear their breathing.
Ren Qian studied him.
A premonition flickered in her chest—one that sent her pulse racing beyond her control.
"Senior," Lin Yuan finally spoke, his voice rougher than usual.
"Hm?" Ren Qian responded instinctively.
She watched his Adam’s apple bob slightly.
Senior.
That title, carried through so many years, was achingly familiar. Yet today, the way Lin Yuan said it carried something new.
Lin Yuan seemed nervous.
This man, who never flinched in billion-dollar negotiations, now looked like a teenager stepping onto a stage for the first time.
"I…"
He inhaled sharply, as if gathering every ounce of his strength.
"I watched Old Lu’s wedding."
Ren Qian’s heart plummeted.
Had something happened to Lu Chenyuan in Country J?
She assumed this was about business.
"Yeah, I saw it too," she nodded, forcing her voice to remain steady.
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.”
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.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
