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?

world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...

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?"

ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.