The dawn in Jingzhou arrived earlier than in most cities.
After three years of oppressive gloom, even the sunlight seemed exceptionally crisp and clear.
Lu Chenyuan's family had returned to their apartment at Cloud Peak Residences No. 1, adjusting to the time difference.
Lou Mengling and Lin Shuhan stayed with Lu Shi'an in the apartment below Mo Qingli's unit.
Wang Tongwen had taken his leave—he needed to handle backlogged affairs at the gallery and also wanted to give Lou Mengling space for her own reflections.
The vast penthouse was now occupied only by Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli.
And the quiet that belonged solely to them.
At nine in the morning, Lu Chenyuan's private phone rang—an unfamiliar number.
He answered, and a composed middle-aged voice spoke on the other end.
The message was delivered in the most concise manner:
"Mr. Lu, a car is waiting for you downstairs."
"Understood," Lu Chenyuan replied.
He hung up without the slightest surprise.
Mo Qingli sat on the sofa, scrolling through summaries of Mo Corporation's recent updates on her tablet.
She wasn’t scrutinizing the data, just skimming the project codes—familiar yet distant—as if confirming that they had truly returned.
Hearing Lu Chenyuan end the call, she looked up.
"Going out?"
"Yes, to a place," he said.
He didn’t specify where.
She didn’t ask.
Instead, she stood, walked to the entryway, and retrieved his leather shoes from the cabinet, placing them gently on the floor.
Then she went to the walk-in closet and brought out a dark, lightweight trench coat.
"It’s windy outside," she said.
Lu Chenyuan approached, took the coat, and slipped it on.
Mo Qingli reached up to adjust his collar, smoothing it with her fingers as if smoothing an invisible wrinkle.
Her fingertips were slightly cool. Lu Chenyuan took her hand.
"Don’t worry."
"I’ll wait for you to come back for dinner," Mo Qingli said, meeting his gaze steadily.
"Alright."
He turned and left.
The elevator descended smoothly.
When he stepped out of the building, a black Hongqi sedan sat quietly in the open space before the entrance.
Its lines were dignified, understated.
The license plate was simple, yet carried a weight unimaginable to ordinary people.
A uniformed driver stood beside the car.
Seeing Lu Chenyuan, he gave a slight nod and opened the rear door for him.
Lu Chenyuan stepped inside.
The door shut, sealing away all outside noise.
The car pulled away smoothly, merging into Jingzhou’s traffic.
No police escort, no special clearance.
It was like a drop of water dissolving into the ocean.
Outside the window, the scenery rushed backward—skyscrapers, overpasses, familiar streets.
Lu Chenyuan watched it all.
Three years ago, he had stood here, gazing into the distance, bracing for an unknown storm.
Now, he had returned. The storm had passed, and the world was at peace.
Eventually, the car approached a stretch of red walls.
The surrounding architecture grew more solemn, dignified.
Tall walls muted the city’s clamor, and the air itself seemed steeped in the weight of history.
The car stopped before a towering vermilion gate. The driver stepped out to open Lu Chenyuan’s door.
A staff member in plain gray attire was already waiting.
"Mr. Lu, please follow me."
Lu Chenyuan walked behind him along a path of bluestone, flanked by ancient pines.
No gilded opulence—only a quiet, unadorned gravity.
After walking for about ten minutes, Lu Chenyuan arrived in front of an antiquated study.
"Mr. Lu, please."
The staff member pushed open the heavy wooden door and gestured for him to enter.
Lu Chenyuan stepped inside.
The study was spacious, lofty, and utterly silent.
All four walls were lined with towering bookshelves that reached the ceiling.
The air carried the faint fragrance of ink and paper.
A figure stood by the window, his back turned, gazing at a crabapple tree outside.
Though not particularly tall, the man exuded an air of unshakable dignity, like a mountain standing firm against the tides.
Lu Chenyuan stopped and waited without speaking.
After a moment, the figure turned around.
It was an elderly man familiar—yet distant—to every citizen of Xia.
"You're here."
The old man's voice was calm, as if he were merely chatting with a younger relative.
"Leader," Lu Chenyuan responded solemnly.
"Sit."
The old man gestured toward the seating area nearby.
There, only two simple wooden armchairs stood.
On the low table between them, a pot of tea had already been prepared.
The two sat facing each other, with no one else present.
The old man personally lifted the teapot and poured a cup for Lu Chenyuan.
The tea was clear, steam curling gently from its surface.
"You've worked hard these past few years," the old man said, breaking the silence first.
"It was my duty," Lu Chenyuan replied.
"Hmm." The old man nodded, his tone no different from that of a kindly grandfather next door.
He studied the young man before him—around thirty, yet with a depth and steadiness in his eyes far beyond his years.
From the very beginning, he had watched the storm that swept the globe.
Every move by J Country, every pressure from A Country.
Yuanlong's counterattacks, Hanqing's resilience, Lianshan's maneuvers.
And the coordinated efforts of Xia's relevant departments.
He understood it all.
He knew what this young man and his family had endured.
And he knew what they had won back for their nation.
"I didn’t ask you here today to reward you. History will judge that in due time."
The old man’s gaze grew distant.
"I want to hear your thoughts on the future."
He paused, then added,
"The future of Yuanlong. The future of Xia’s enterprises."
"And you, Lu Chenyuan—your personal future."
……
The two spoke for a long time.
But no one knew the specifics of their conversation.
When Lu Chenyuan finally rose to leave, the old man said, "Go ahead and act boldly."
Then he added, "The nation stands firmly behind you."
No promises, no documents.
Just those simple words.
After Lu Chenyuan left, the old man stood and returned to the window.
He seemed to be speaking to himself—or perhaps to someone unseen.
"When I was young, I loved looking at the stars."
"I always thought the answers to humanity’s ultimate questions lay up there."
"Our young people now… it seems they’ll be the ones to go and ask for me—for all of us."
……
By the time Lu Chenyuan stepped beyond the red walls, it was noon, the sunlight bright and warm.
The Hongqi car was still waiting for him in the same spot.
On the way back, Lu Chenyuan leaned against the seat, eyes closed.
His mind wasn’t replaying the earlier conversation.
Instead, he was thinking about what to cook for Mo Qingli at lunch.
The fridge was nearly empty.
He could have someone deliver a sea bass.
Steamed sea bass would be good.
And stir-fried tomatoes and eggs—she always liked that…
……
An hour later, the car came to a stop at the foot of Yunding No. 1.
After Lu Chenyuan stepped out, the driver gave him another slight nod before discreetly driving away.
As if he had never been there at all.
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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?!
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
