Duan Lingyun stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.
She steadied herself and realized she was standing on a dilapidated wooden bridge. In the distance loomed a pitch-black mansion, its plaque too faded to read.
Where was this place?
And where were those two?
Duan Lingyun glanced around but found no trace of the two who had been with her earlier.
Logically, they should have been transported to the same location. Could they have already gone inside?
What was this eerie mansion?
Just looking at its shadowy facade made her uneasy.
Yet, she steeled herself and stepped forward—there was no path to retreat anyway.
As she drew closer, she saw that it was an oddly luxurious ancient residence, filled with strangely shaped rock formations and every door firmly locked.
Duan Lingyun strained her ears, but the place was deathly silent.
Were the two not here after all?
Just as she was about to leave, she heard something clatter to the ground—from behind one of the doors.
Sword drawn, she slashed through the lock and found Cheng Yuguang and Ye Mingtian sitting cross-legged inside. A fallen, extinguished candle lay on the floor, which eased her tension slightly.
Good.
But as she moved to approach them, a rustling sound sent chills down her spine. She whirled around to see a horde of skeletal figures clawing their way toward her.
Her face paled. She kicked the door shut and braced herself against it.
"You two, get over here and help!" she shouted.
Yet Ye Mingtian and Cheng Yuguang remained deaf to her cries, as if entranced.
What was going on?
Her eyes fell on an enshrined portrait—a handsome youth leaning against a tree with a sword in hand, likely the master of this mansion.
Then it hit her.
Damn it, they were receiving an inheritance at a time like this!
Gritting her teeth, Duan Lingyun wondered if this was where she would meet her end.
The skeletons reached the door, their bony fingers scraping against the wood, sending shivers through her.
She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live—her master was still waiting for her at Zhong Lingfeng.
If she didn’t return, her master would be frantic.
A skeletal claw pierced through the door, raking across her face.
A streak of blood marred her flawless cheek. Just as she prepared to fight, the portrait on the wall stirred.
A translucent spirit appeared beside her, his gaze tender yet firm.
He took her hand.
Duan Lingyun stiffened.
"Scram," she heard him growl.
The skeletons immediately retreated, almost as if fleeing in fear.
Meanwhile, Ye Mingtian and Cheng Yuguang, forcibly interrupted from their inheritance, showed signs of awakening—until the raven-haired youth waved a hand, knocking them unconscious again.
Only then did Duan Lingyun realize their clasped hands. She quickly pulled away, flustered.
"Who are you?" she asked warily.
"Gu Wei," the youth replied plainly.
"My spirit can’t hold on much longer. I’ll take you to retrieve something." With that, he vanished with her in tow.
Little Wei had no idea that by sheer coincidence, taking Duan Lingyun as her disciple would alter countless events in this world.
Meanwhile, Little Nailuo was at a loss for words.
She knew the script of this world—Gu Wei wasn’t supposed to gift this secret realm to Duan Lingyun for protection.
"Si, do you want to go see him?" Little Nailuo asked.
"No need. He’s just a wisp of consciousness—he won’t last long," Si replied after a pause.
Gu Wei would remember everything eventually. There was no need to dwell on this fleeting warmth.
Besides, after spending so much time with Little Wei, seeing that refined face again felt jarring.
The thought of that soul whimpering made it even more dissonant.
Fortunately, Gu Wei didn’t resort to whimpering in front of Duan Lingyun—that was beneath him.
Instead, he handed her the jade token that controlled the secret realm’s core.
"This is for you."
Duan Lingyun stared at it, comprehension dawning.
"Is this… the secret realm?" she asked.
But wasn’t this too easily obtained?
"Why are you giving this to me?"
Gu Wei only ruffled her hair lightly.
"Consider it a pocket dimension—filled with spirit herbs and beasts. It’s yours now. May it keep you safe."
As he gazed at the young woman before him, he couldn’t bring himself to speak of the past.
He didn’t want to burden Si.
Little Wei hadn’t even settled into her seat in the grand hall before the secret realm closed.
The disciples teleported back stood bewildered.
How had they been ejected in less than a day?
Helian Chi’s brow furrowed deeply.
The secret realm was gone?
This was a legacy left by their ancestors—vanished in a single day. How would he explain this to the sect’s past leaders?
Meanwhile, Duan Lingyun tucked the jade token into her robes.
The sect’s secret realm was now in her hands.
Should she return it?
But the one who gave it to her was surely its rightful owner. He wouldn’t want her to tell anyone, would he?
Did "anyone" include her master?
She had already hidden one thing from her master—should she hide this too?
Back in the hall, Little Wei studied Cheng Yuguang and Ye Mingtian intently.
This wasn’t right.
Their expressions were utterly blank. Could they not be the male leads?
Usually, she spawned near the protagonists.
If these two weren’t the leads… then was the female lead nearby?
The female lead…
Little Wei’s thoughts turned to her disciple.
A cold beauty, sparing with words, once a wealthy young lady—she did fit the archetype of a xianxia novel’s heroine.
But weren’t they usually empresses or something?
Wait—maybe a reincarnated empress.
After all, Duan Lingyun’s cultivation speed was unusually fast.
Little Wei fell deep into thought.
"Master," Duan Lingyun approached and called softly.
"Mm. Since you’re back, go rest for now," Little Wei said, eyeing Helian Chi’s troubled expression. The sect would be in an uproar over this.
"Master, there’s something I need to give you," Duan Lingyun suddenly said.
This site is about to undergo a major upgrade, adding more books and timely chapter updates.
] [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!"
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.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
