Fifteen minutes later.
Xiao Lin understood everything, his expression turning indignant. "Bastards! Absolute bastards!"
It turned out that the current creatures known as "monsters" were once called the Nether Clan.
They were numerous, immensely powerful, and vicious by nature, bringing untold suffering to all living beings across the land.
Then, the Four Sacred Beasts emerged, leading humanity in a desperate struggle against the Nether Clan.
After an all-out battle, they finally managed to seal away the majority of the Nether Clan in their stronghold—the Nether Prison—banishing them forever from the world.
But now, for reasons unknown, the Nether Clan had broken free from their seal and returned!
"Dragon Lord, don’t worry. I won’t let these threats to the world go unpunished!" Xiao Lin declared solemnly.
However, Dragon Lord shook his head in an uncharacteristic objection. "No, you're still too weak. Your priority is to grow stronger and search for the Dragon’s Aura."
"The Nether Clan is an enemy of all—someone else will deal with them."
"Shen Wan'er’s Innate Pure Yin Body is key to accelerating your cultivation. You should focus on deepening your relationship with her and, well... hurry things up—"
Xiao Lin’s face burned with embarrassment, and he hastily cut in. "Dragon Lord, stop right there! My relationship with Wan'er needs time to develop naturally. I can’t just rush into... that!"
"And I won’t do anything unless Wan'er agrees!"
Dragon Lord sighed in exasperation. "You’re the heir of the Dragon King Palace. You’ll have countless beauties in the future, yet you’re acting so timid now? What will you do then?"
"I can already tell your junior sister has feelings for you. Sooner or later, you’ll have to take her too."
"Didn’t you already agree with me before?"
"If you don’t grow stronger, how will you find the Dragon’s Aura? Without the Dragon’s Aura, how will you become powerful enough to fight the Nether Clan? And most importantly—how will you face the Night King?"
Xiao Lin’s face reddened further, and he waved his hands to stop him. "Alright, alright! Dragon Lord, enough! I’ll... try to speed things up with Wan'er, okay?"
Dragon Lord finally nodded in satisfaction. "Good lad. I have high hopes for you. I’ll rest now—don’t disturb me unless necessary."
With that, he retreated into Xiao Lin’s heart, concealing his presence completely.
Left to his thoughts, Xiao Lin mulled over Dragon Lord’s words and found them somewhat reasonable.
"Dual cultivation with Wan'er, huh... heh..."
He rubbed his nose, his mind drifting into fantasies of Shen Wan'er and all the things they might do together.
---
Meanwhile.
Shen Wan'er’s room.
She wasn’t asleep either, exhausted as she sorted through company affairs.
The recent attack by martial artists had made her realize just how many dangers lurked in the world.
On top of that, her own constitution was unusual—something called the Innate Pure Yin Body, apparently an ideal vessel for dual cultivation.
Because of this, she no longer dared to stay late at the office alone.
Add to that her recent fallout with her family, and she had impulsively decided to move out on her own.
Her impression of Xiao Lin wasn’t bad, and since she needed his protection, she had agreed to let him live with her.
Then—
Buzz!
Her phone vibrated. Shen Wan'er glanced at the screen and saw yet another message from her younger brother, Shen Tian.
[Sis! Please! Lend me some money! I lost everything again! I still owe 100,000, and if I don’t pay, they’ll chop my hand off!]
[If you don’t help me this time, I’m really done for!]
[Sis! You’re my only hope!]
Reading the messages, her already exhausted spirit sank even further.
After the fallout with her family, she had stubbornly cut off Shen Tian’s allowance in a fit of anger.
But now... she regretted it.
Without financial support, Shen Tian had tried to make money on his own—only for his new "friends" to lead him into shady dealings.
Namely... gambling.
In just a few days, he had lost everything.
She couldn’t bear the thought of her brother being hunted by debt collectors. Knowing how ruthless those people were, she had repeatedly covered his smaller debts—just a few thousand each time.
But this couldn’t go on forever.
With a sigh, Shen Wan'er resolved to help him one last time.
She sent a voice message. "The company’s struggling right now, and I don’t have much left. This is the last time. Don’t come to me again."
She transferred the 100,000.
Almost instantly, Shen Tian replied:
[Thanks, Sis! You’re the best!]
[After paying this, I swear I’ll never gamble again!]
Seeing his promise to quit, Shen Wan'er nodded in relief.
Alright. Now, back to finishing today’s work...
---
Meanwhile.
The Leng Family residence.
After a long day, Leng Qingqiu finally collapsed onto her plush bed.
"Whew~ Perfect end to the day~"
Leng Qingqiu lay face down on the bed, her fair little feet swaying slightly up and down.
A string of delighted giggles escaped her lips: "Gu Yan’s overly cautious expression was just too funny—he really thought I was Leng Bingning!"
After the martial arts department meeting, she had deliberately shown herself in front of Mei Xue and the others.
Just to remind them that the Night King was still active.
However... what annoyed her was that the new subordinate, You Xingxue, kept acting overly familiar with Gu Yan.
She had sneaked several glances at him during the meeting.
Seriously... It seemed she’d have to ask Mei Xue to put her in her place.
[The other me... It’s still early, right... Maybe we could...]
"No."
Before the thought could even finish, Leng Qingqiu cut it off: "Xiao Leng, I’m exhausted~~!!"
She lifted her head, her face full of defiance. "I’ve been running around all day—keeping an eye on Gu Yan to make sure he wasn’t fooling around, dealing with subordinates’ issues..."
"I don’t want to move a muscle. Let’s just call it a day, okay?"
"Besides, Ling’er said my skin hasn’t been as good lately. I bet it’s because I haven’t been sleeping early."
[......]
Xiao Leng fell silent. She wanted to say the real reason her skin had worsened was because she hadn’t taken the chance to absorb Gu Yan’s vitality during their alone time.
[Actually, that’s not the reason.]
Leng Qingqiu, seemingly unwilling to listen further, whined: "I don’t believe you! I don’t want to do anything—I’m going to sleep!"
"I still have to secretly protect Gu Yan later. I’m busy, you know?!"
"Anyway! We’ll talk about studying tomorrow!"
Hugging a pillow, she shut her eyes and refused to budge.
[......]
Xiao Leng went silent again.
It didn’t matter. The other her had been like this for a long time now.
She was almost used to it.
Putting on a composed front in front of the furnace, while secretly growing lazier by the day.
The furnace’s influence over the other her was undeniable.
Sigh... Was this what it meant to be... spoiled by the furnace?
Xiao Leng sighed inwardly. The other her was only accelerating this change.
But there was another crucial reason.
And that was...
[The Night] no longer acknowledged the other her as the Night King, and thus no longer influenced her personality.
At this rate, the furnace would truly get its wish.
And once the day came when the other her was completely rejected by [The Night]...
Other me... I wonder if you’ll regret it then.
And furnace... Will you regret it too?
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
] [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!"
invincible power, Gu Changge transmigrates into a fantasy world, bound to a sign-in system that grants him cultivation rewards and various peerless treasures daily. While others struggle desperately to break through their cultivation realms, he has long since reached the pinnacle of the Great Dao, becoming a reclusive Emperor whose true strength even he himself cannot fathom. Originally planning to lie low and retire peacefully on Purple Bamboo Peak, the system suddenly issues a new task — take on disciples. With no other choice, Gu Changge casually picks up a few disciples: The eldest disciple, born with a War God Constitution, is thrown a copy of "War God Stratagems" by him, and ends up conquering the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, becoming a peerless War God who sweeps across the cosmos. The second disciple, possessing a Chaos Sword Body, can break all techniques with a single sword, his swordsmanship unmatched throughout history. He points his sword at the heavens: "My master said, the sword and the man stand together. If the sword perishes... my master will give me another one." The third disciple, a reborn Empress who returns to her throne, her elegance and grace overshadowing all beings. And without anyone noticing, his own sect, the Qingxuan Sect, has become the number one sect on the continent. Looking at these unbelievably formidable disciples, Gu Changge, holding the "Primordial Purple Qi" he just signed in for, falls into deep thought: — Wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful retirement? How did I become the ultimate master?!
