The next day, late at night.
South of Jinling City, an abandoned factory district.
This area had been deserted for over a decade, littered with rust-mottled iron frames and shattered glass windows.
Moonlight couldn't penetrate the gloom; the entire factory area was pitch-black like a giant maw, ready to swallow anyone who walked in.
But amidst this dead silence, murderous intent was already permeating the air.
Inside Factory Building Number Three.
Two silhouettes darted through the steel frames at blinding speed.
Their figures were slender and tall, yet their movements were as fast as phantoms.
The cold blades in their hands sliced through the air, bringing with them a series of sharp, whistling sounds.
Their opponent was a middle-aged man.
He wore a black Tang suit, his face sinister, holding a dripping curved sword.
Seven or eight corpses lay around him—all his bodyguards, already taken care of by the two figures.
This man was Zhou Kun, an underground arms dealer in Jinling.
And the two figures were assassins who had taken the contract to claim his life.
Ling Shuang, Ling Xue.
Twin sisters.
They coordinated flawlessly, one in front, one behind, one attacking, one defending, forcing Zhou Kun to retreat step by step.
Two little brats, and you want to kill me?
Zhou Kun roared, sweeping his curved sword horizontally.
Ling Shuang dodged sideways, while Ling Xue closed in from behind, thrusting her blade toward Zhou Kun's back!
Zhou Kun reacted extremely fast, twisting his body sharply to block with his sword.
With a crisp clink, sparks flew.
Ling Xue was knocked back two steps, but Ling Shuang had already seized the opening.
Her dagger precisely slashed across Zhou Kun's throat.
Blood spurted!
Zhou Kun clutched his neck with both hands, eyes wide open. His body swayed twice before crashing to the ground.
Mission accomplished.
Ling Shuang put away her dagger, her face expressionless.
Ling Xue dusted off her hands, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.
They exchanged a glance, preparing to evacuate.
But in that very instant, Ling Shuang's pupils suddenly shrank!
Watch out!
Before her voice faded, a hidden projectile shot down from the roof of the factory!
Ling Xue reacted quickly, dodging sideways, but the projectile grazed her left arm, slicing open a bloody gash.
A black liquid seeped into the flesh from the wound!
Poison!
The projectile was poisoned!
Immediately after, a second, third, and fourth projectile shot toward them in rapid succession!
The two dodged desperately, but the factory space was limited, and the angles of the projectiles were incredibly tricky. They couldn't dodge them all!
Ling Shuang took one in her left shoulder!
Ling Xue took one in her right leg!
The lethal poison instantly spread through their veins, and both felt a wave of dizziness at almost the same time.
It's a trap...
Ling Shuang gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stay standing.
A sinister laugh echoed from high up in the factory.
Ling Shuang, Ling Xue, did you think killing Zhou Kun would be the end of it?
A scrawny old man jumped down from the steel frame, holding a few pitch-black projectiles in his hand, a cruel smile on his lips.
The organization issued the order long ago. You two rogue assassins must die. Zhou Kun was nothing but bait.
Ling Shuang's expression changed drastically!
So from the very beginning, this assassination mission was a trap!
The organization wanted to use someone else's knife to kill them, first letting them exhaust their stamina killing Zhou Kun, and then sending someone to secretly poison them!
Ling Xue's legs gave out, and she fell to one knee.
Her lips had already started turning black; the poison was spreading faster than imaginable.
Sis... I can't run...
Ling Shuang grabbed Ling Xue's arm and hoisted her up.
Run as far as we can!
The two stumbled out of the factory, disappearing into the night.
The scrawny old man behind them didn't pursue.
He just stood there, laughing coldly.
Run, run. This poison is the organization's specially made Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder! Within two hours, all your internal organs will rot away. Even God himself couldn't save you.
He turned and left.
In his eyes, the two female assassins poisoned with the Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder were already dead.
...
On the outskirts of the abandoned factory district in the south of the city, next to a deserted drainage ditch.
Ling Shuang and Ling Xue couldn't run anymore.
The two leaned against the cold concrete wall, gasping heavily for air.
Ling Xue's face had turned livid, black blood oozing from the corner of her mouth.
Ling Shuang's condition was slightly better, but not by much. The skin around the wound on her left shoulder had completely blackened, and the poison was spreading at a visible rate.
Sis... I'm so cold...
Ling Xue's voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.
Growing up, she had always been the livelier and more stubborn of the two sisters, but right now, she curled up in her sister's arms like a dying little beast.
Ling Shuang hugged her sister tightly, her eyes red, but she didn't shed a tear.
Assassins don't cry.
This was the creed instilled in them since childhood.
But Ling Shuang knew they were going to die.
The poison had seeped into their marrow; there was no cure.
They had escaped the organization, but couldn't escape its venomous grasp.
They were tools from birth, and would be so until death.
I'm sorry, Xue... Sis couldn't take you away...
Ling Shuang's voice was hoarse, carrying a trace of vulnerability she had never shown before.
Just then.
The glow of headlights suddenly shone over!
Blinding white light pierced the darkness as a black Mercedes G-Class drove over from a distance, slowly coming to a stop by the drainage ditch.
The car door opened.
A man stepped out.
Moonlight fell upon him.
He was tall and straight, dressed in casual black clothes, his face so handsome it didn't seem real.
His eyes were calm and profound, like an unfathomable pool of deep water.
But the most striking thing was the aura around him.
It wasn't the coldness of an assassin, nor the sharpness of a martial artist.
It was a kind of nobility radiating from his very bones, as if he were born to stand above all creation.
Ling Shuang's pupils shrank.
She had killed countless people and met countless big shots.
But never had anyone given her such an intense sense of oppression just by standing there.
This man... who was he?
Shen Fei looked down at the two women leaning against the corner of the wall.
Even covered in blood and with livid faces, it couldn't hide their breathtaking beauty.
The two had identical features, as exquisite as fairies stepping out of a painting.
One was as cold as frost, the other heroic and valiant.
Their entire beings exuded a sharp temperament cultivated from years of living on the edge of a blade.
Beauty and danger coexisted.
Vulnerability and lethality lived together.
In Shen Fei's mind, a system panel automatically popped up with information.
[S-Rank Fortune Target Detected!]
[Ling Shuang: Heaven-Rank Assassin. Strength: Peak of the Martial Dao Innate Realm. Specializes in assassination and close-quarters combat. Personality: Cold, stern, and composed.]
[Ling Xue: Heaven-Rank Assassin. Strength: Peak of the Martial Dao Innate Realm. Specializes in hidden projectiles and poison arts. Personality: Rebellious and untamed.]
[Current Status: Poisoned by Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder. Remaining survival time: Approximately 40 minutes.]
[Original Plot Trajectory: The Son of Fortune, Ye Chen, will accidentally pass by this place in 30 minutes. He will use his Medical Immortal inheritance to cure the poison and save them. The twins will pledge their loyalty out of gratitude, becoming Ye Chen's strongest assistance.]
[Recommendation: Intercept immediately!]
Forty minutes.
Ye Chen wouldn't arrive for another thirty minutes.
A time gap of ten minutes.
It was enough.
Shen Fei crouched down, looking Ling Shuang in the eye.
Ling Shuang subconsciously tightened her grip on her dagger, even though she barely had the strength to lift her hand now.
Who are you?
Her voice was icy, but it couldn't hide the weakness within.
Shen Fei did not answer her question.
He reached out and placed two fingers on Ling Shuang's wrist.
Ling Shuang stiffened all over, instinctively wanting to break free, but her body completely refused to obey her commands.
Three seconds later, Shen Fei retracted his hand.
"Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder, a special compound highly toxic poison made by the organization. The toxin has already invaded your heart meridians. In half an hour, your internal organs will completely rot away."
Ling Shuang's expression changed drastically!
Even they themselves weren't entirely sure what poison they had been afflicted with!
This man had only taken her pulse for three seconds, yet he stated it with absolute precision!
"Who exactly are you!"
Ling Shuang's tone grew a bit more urgent.
Shen Fei didn't waste words.
He took a pill out of his pocket.
Emerald green, the size of a thumb, emitting a faint, refreshing fragrance.
As soon as the pill appeared, Ling Shuang felt as if the toxins in her body were being suppressed by something. That burning pain actually lessened slightly!
Ling Shuang's pupils shrank fiercely!
Having grown up in an assassination organization, she had seen countless strange medicines and poisons.
But she had never seen a pill that could suppress a deadly poison just by the scent it emitted, even before being ingested!
What was this thing!
"Basic Antidote Pill."
Shen Fei snapped the pill into two halves.
"Half for each of you. Keep it under your tongue, and the toxin will dissipate on its own."
He brought half of the pill to Ling Shuang's lips.
Ling Shuang stared at the half pill, her gaze flickering.
She was an assassin, naturally suspicious.
This man who suddenly appeared before them, offering an antidote at their most vulnerable moment, looked like he had planned this all along no matter how she looked at it.
But she had no choice.
In another half hour, both she and Xiao Xue would die.
Moreover, if the other party wanted to kill them, there was no need to go through all this trouble. He only needed to stand by and watch them die from the poison.
Ling Shuang gritted her teeth and opened her mouth.
Shen Fei placed the half pill into her mouth.
The pill melted as soon as it entered her mouth.
A warm medicinal power instantly spread from the root of her tongue to her entire body!
Ling Shuang only felt that the bone-chilling toxin inside her body was like meeting boiling magma, being dispersed, dissolved, and melted away at an extremely fast speed!
The blackened skin around the wound on her left shoulder rapidly returned to its normal color!
Ling Shuang was horrified!
The efficacy of this medicine was simply terrifying!
The Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder was the organization's trump card poison, reputed to have no cure in the world. Yet, with just half a pill, the toxin was suppressed within dozens of seconds!
Shen Fei had already turned to Ling Xue.
Ling Xue's condition was much more severe than Ling Shuang's. Her consciousness had already begun to blur, her lips were dark purple, and her breathing was weak.
Shen Fei pried open her mouth and put the other half of the pill inside.
The medicinal power took effect.
Ling Xue's purplish-blue complexion began to fade bit by bit, returning to pale, and then gradually gaining some color.
Her breathing went from weak to steady.
A minute later, Ling Xue's eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened them.
The first image that entered her eyes was a man half-squatting in front of her, the moonlight outlining his perfect side profile.
Those deep eyes were calmly watching her.
No greed.
No lust.
Only an irresistible, condescending calmness.
Ling Xue was stunned.
Only one thought flashed through her mind.
This man... is so strong.
Not strong in terms of martial force.
But rather a crushing dominance in his aura, demeanor, and presence.
As if he was born to stand above everyone else.
"Awake?"
Shen Fei stood up and clapped the dust off his hands.
"If you can stand, get up. This place isn't suitable to stay for long."
After speaking, he turned and walked toward the G-Wagon.
His back was calm, his pace neither hurried nor slow.
From beginning to end, he didn't even cast an extra glance at the two sisters.
As if saving the lives of two stunningly beautiful assassins was just a trivial matter done in passing.
Ling Shuang leaned against the wall and stood up, supporting Ling Xue.
She looked at Shen Fei's back, complex emotions surging in her eyes.
"Sister... who is he?"
Ling Xue's voice was still a bit weak, but there was a trace of unprecedented curiosity in her tone.
"I don't know."
Ling Shuang shook her head.
"But he is definitely not simple."
"Let's go. We'll follow him first."
The two supported each other and followed in Shen Fei's footsteps.
...
Twenty minutes later.
Ye Chen appeared in the abandoned factory district in the south of the city.
He didn't know what was wrong with him today. His heart felt weird, and by some strange coincidence, he had ended up here. His intuition told him there was a special life aura fluctuation nearby, possibly related to cultivation.
But when he rushed to the side of the drainage ditch, all he saw was blood on the ground.
The dark red blood hadn't completely dried yet.
A faint aura of toxins and an almost imperceptible medicinal fragrance lingered in the air.
Where were the people?
Ye Chen squatted down, dipped his finger in a bit of blood, and brought it to his nose to sniff.
"Residue of Seven-Step Soul-Chasing Powder... and there's also the scent of an antidote. Someone was here?"
He suddenly stood up and looked around.
The night was heavy, and there was no one around.
Ye Chen's brows furrowed tightly together.
An indescribable sense of unease rose from the bottom of his heart.
He couldn't help but feel that something important had quietly slipped away from his heart.
But he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Forget it, maybe it's just a coincidence."
Ye Chen shook his head and turned to leave.
What he didn't know was that just ten minutes before he arrived, two stunning assassins who were supposed to be eternally grateful and swear absolute loyalty to him were already sitting in another man's car.
Meanwhile, in the back seat of that black G-Wagon, Shen Fei glanced at the system panel.
[Ding! Successfully intercepted the Child of Destiny's S-rank opportunity: Peerless Twin Beauties, Ling Shuang, Ling Xue!]
[Child of Destiny Ye Chen's Luck Value: -500!]
[Current Ye Chen Luck Value: 9088 -> 8588]
[Host's Luck Value: +500!]
[Current Host Luck Value: 400 -> 900]
The corners of Shen Fei's mouth curled up slightly.
"Ye Chen, oh Ye Chen. Running into me is just your bad luck."
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
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.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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!
