Inside the Li Family mansion.
Li Xiujian expressionlessly tossed his tablet onto the desk. On the screen was an image of Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli smiling at each other.
"Yuanlong Technologies... What a move, Lu Chenyuan. A perfect golden cicada shedding its shell!"
The malice in his eyes was almost palpable.
He had originally thought Lu Chenyuan had been forced out by that fool Lu Mingshi's power play.
Now it was clear—everything had been orchestrated by Lu Chenyuan himself!
He had planned all along to abandon the sinking ship of the Lu Family and start anew.
This young man's cunning and tactics were far more terrifying than he had imagined.
"Boss," his trusted subordinate whispered beside him, "Our people investigating 'Far Star Real Estate' have returned. The company is just a shell, with layers of holding structures—impossible to trace the real owner. But... its registration date coincides exactly with when Lu Chenyuan began selling off his shares."
"Stop digging," Li Xiujian coldly cut him off. "It's him. No one else."
Everything fell into place.
While plotting his exit from the Lu Family, Lu Chenyuan had also secretly snatched the land parcel Li Xiujian had been eyeing.
Two moves, one in the light and one in the shadows, executed simultaneously—leaving him blindsided.
Now, his biggest leverage, "Sheng Tian Real Estate," had turned into a burning hot potato.
Lu Chenyuan had already jumped out of the game, and that idiot Lu Mingshi had been played yet again, with no funds to take over.
If Sheng Tian's problems exploded in his hands, not only would he suffer massive losses, but it would also expose the hidden networks he had spent years building.
No—this ticking time bomb had to be passed on, and fast.
And in all of Jingzhou, there was still only one person foolish and greedy enough to be the perfect scapegoat—Lu Mingshi.
"Prepare the car," Li Xiujian stood, a flicker of humiliation and resolve in his eyes. "We're going to Lu Corporation."
---
Lu Corporation, CEO’s office.
Lu Mingshi lounged in his expensive leather chair, feet propped on the desk, puffing leisurely on a premium cigar.
Though the recent stock plunge had annoyed him, the thrill of holding absolute power drowned out all concerns.
As he fantasized about reshaping Lu Corporation in his image—purging the old guard who dared defy him—his secretary knocked, voice tense.
"Chairman... Chairman Lu, a Mr. Li is here to see you. He said you’d know who he is."
"Li?" Lu Mingshi raised an eyebrow, lips curling into a mocking smirk. "Let him wait."
And wait he did—for a full hour.
When Li Xiujian finally entered the office, he was met with Lu Mingshi’s gloating face.
"Well, well, if it isn’t Chairman Li? To what do I owe the honor?" Lu Mingshi slowly straightened in his chair but made no move to stand, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
How the tables had turned.
Once, he had groveled before Li Xiujian, desperate to prove himself and secure investment opportunities.
Today, he would repay every ounce of humiliation tenfold.
Li Xiujian’s expression remained unreadable, as if the taunts had flown past him.
"Chairman Lu now reigns supreme. Naturally, I came to pay my respects."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Lu Mingshi sneered. "Get to the point. I’m a busy man."
"Sheng Tian Real Estate," Li Xiujian cut straight to it.
"I know funds were tight for you last time, but as Lu Corporation’s new helmsman, that shouldn’t be an issue now. I’m willing to sell all my Sheng Tian shares to you—at a 10% discount from our last negotiation."
He kept his tone deferential. He had little leverage left.
Yet Lu Mingshi laughed—a loud, derisive bark.
"Ten percent? Are you trying to swindle me, Li Xiujian?"
He stood, jabbing a finger into Li Xiujian’s chest.
"Remember when I begged you to sell those shares to me? What did you say? Times have changed. This is my era now!"
He dropped back into his chair with a cold laugh.
"Let me make this clear—I’ll take Sheng Tian. But the price? I set it."
He held up five fingers.
"Fifty percent off your last offer. Take it or leave it."
Li Xiujian’s eyes flashed with lethal fury, the air around him turning glacial.
Fifty percent?
This wasn’t negotiation—it was outright robbery.
"Problem?" Lu Mingshi smirked, confident Li Xiujian had no choice.
"Don’t play dumb. Sheng Tian’s a sinking ship. If not for old times’ sake, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole!"
He wanted to humiliate him, to grind this once-untouchable man into the dirt.
Li Xiujian’s chest heaved, his gaze locked onto Lu Mingshi.
Then, inexplicably, the rage in his eyes vanished, replaced by an eerie calm.
"Fine," he hissed.
"Fifty percent. But the deal closes in three days."
He needed to sever all ties to Sheng Tian—immediately.
Lu Mingshi blinked, startled by his compliance, then swelled with triumph.
"Smart man!"
He summoned legal and finance with a call, gleefully watching as Li Xiujian signed the humiliating contract.
As Li Xiujian left, Lu Mingshi spat at his retreating back.
"Pathetic."
The moment Li Xiujian slid into his car, his composed mask shattered.
"BAM!"
His fist slammed into the window, spiderwebbing the glass.
"Lu Mingshi," he growled, voice raw like a wounded beast,
"You will pay—a thousand times over—for today."
He had been humiliated.
But his goal was achieved.
The bomb was now planted deep within Lu Corporation’s heart.
All that remained was to wait—for the perfect moment to light the fuse.
---
Yuanlong Technologies, top-floor office.
Lu Chenyuan set down the phone, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"President Lu," Zhang Qi entered, reporting, "Confirmed—Lu Mingshi just acquired all of Li Xiujian’s Sheng Tian shares at half the price."
"Good," Lu Chenyuan nodded.
Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.
From the very beginning, he knew that with Lu Mingshi's vindictive and arrogant nature, once the man gained power, he would inevitably seek ruthless revenge and humiliation against Li Xiujian.
And Li Xiujian, desperate to rid himself of the burden of Shengtian, would have no choice but to endure the humiliation.
What he exploited was precisely the conflict and human weaknesses between the two.
"Our mole inside Shengtian has also sent word," Zhang Qi continued.
"After taking over, Lu Mingshi immediately launched a high-profile internal overhaul, demanding all projects accelerate their progress to boost performance and stabilize the stock price. Many previously suppressed safety hazards and financial loopholes have been ignored."
"Expected," Lu Chenyuan replied, walking toward the floor-to-ceiling window as he gazed down at the bustling city below.
"Notify Su Yang. Have him anonymously send that secret ledger—the 'Project Emergency Reserve Fund'—to the heads of the Jingzhou Discipline Inspection Commission and the Tax Audit Bureau."
Lu Chenyuan's voice was calm and icy, as if discussing a trivial matter.
"The timing is ripe."
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.”
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!
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
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.
