As the grand doors swung open, two figures stepped in slowly.
And everyone froze.
When the breathtakingly beautiful pair appeared at the entrance of the venue, the entire space seemed to be filled with their radiance, rendering everything else dull in comparison.
The crowd instinctively held their breath, and even the hushed whispers and background music seemed to freeze in that moment, leaving the hall in utter silence.
For that instant, no one spoke, no one moved—even the air itself seemed to stand still.
All eyes were fixed on the two of them, their presence so awe-inspiring that the crowd momentarily forgot to blink.
The woman was like the brightest star in the night sky, shining brilliantly even amidst the dazzling chandeliers.
She wore a black evening gown—not just any black, but a shade as deep as the abyss, rich and layered, as if it could absorb and swallow all surrounding light.
The dress, crafted from luxurious satin with flowing lines, accentuated her curves while exuding elegance and grace.
Tiny diamond embellishments sparkled like stars under the lights, making her look like a goddess descended from the celestial sea.
Her hair was elegantly pinned up, save for a few soft strands framing her face, simple yet delicate.
A pair of diamond earrings twinkled at her ears, adding a touch of understated glamour. Her beauty wasn’t just skin-deep—it was an aura, an otherworldly presence that made her seem almost dreamlike, as if she didn’t belong to this world.
Everyone was spellbound.
Who... who is she?
She’s so beautiful...
How can someone be this stunning?
The crowd marveled inwardly, too entranced to utter a word, afraid of shattering the moment.
Then, suddenly, someone noticed the man beside her.
His presence was equally commanding. Dressed in a tailored black suit that highlighted his impeccable proportions, the fabric shimmered subtly under the lights.
His eyes, brimming with confidence and ease, swept over the guests with a hint of arrogance and defiance.
Yet, none of it could mask the innate nobility he carried, making him look like a prince straight out of a painting.
Every step they took was like a note in a silent symphony, sending waves of awe through the room.
The guests watched in stunned disbelief, witnessing the pair’s mystique and elegance as if they had stepped out of a movie.
The silence lingered for several minutes.
Gu Tianming shook his head with a wry smile.
This kid... really knows how to steal the spotlight.
And here, of all places, with so many big shots around...
His gaze discreetly shifted to Minister Lin of the Peace Faction. If they ended up offending him, things could get ugly.
But then—huh?
Why was Minister Lin sprinting toward Gu Yan?
What’s going on? Was there trouble?
The next second, a cheerful, childlike voice shattered the moment.
"Little Gu!!!"
"I missed you so much!"
Thud!
Lin Yinyin crashed into Gu Yan’s arms, looking up at him with glee. "You called me here, but you weren’t even around! No one played with me!"
The words snapped everyone out of their daze.
Gu Tianming gaped. Wait, hold on—Minister Lin, you’ve got the wrong person!
And he wasn’t the only one.
"!!"
All eyes turned to Gu Yan in shock.
Wait a minute—
Now that they looked closely, wasn’t that Gu Yan?!
The eldest son of the Gu Family?!
Since when did he get so handsome?!
And the goddess-like woman beside him... why were her eyes closed...?
Huh? Closed?
Could she be... Leng Qingqiu?!
The realization hit them like a tidal wave, and a collective gasp echoed through the hall.
No way!!
They were actually seeing Leng Qingqiu in the flesh!
Those who had once idolized her as their muse felt their old admiration resurface.
They had been fans of her brilliance, but after the Leng Family’s downfall and her self-inflicted blindness, they had moved on.
They thought they’d outgrown their starstruck days.
Yet now, seeing her again, they realized—Leng Qingqiu was still Leng Qingqiu!
A goddess remained a goddess. There wasn’t a trace of the rumored despair or depression about her!
But—
Their fists clenched as they glared at Gu Yan.
"Why the hell is Leng Qingqiu with Gu Yan?!"
"Tell me this is a joke. Are they really getting married?"
"No way... Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu are actually together..."
"I refuse to accept this!"
"Damn it, Gu Yan—I’ll kill you!"
"Wait, hold on—why does Minister Lin of the Peace Faction seem so familiar with Gu Yan?"
"What’s going on here?!"
The banquet hall erupted into chaos again.
Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu’s entrance had left everyone reeling.
Why? Just why?!
How the hell did Gu Yan end up with Leng Qingqiu?!
Are you even worthy? Do you seriously think you match her?!
Xiao Lin also caught sight of Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu. His fists tightened.
Gu Yan... so you were telling the truth.
He’d heard rumors before that Gu Yan was already engaged, but he’d never believed it. He assumed Gu Yan, like other heirs, would have multiple lovers.
But now, it was clear—Gu Yan was different.
Though they’d had their conflicts in the past, none of that mattered now.
Because...
Xiao Lin smirked. He had more important things to focus on.
His gaze shifted toward Shen Wan’er—only to freeze.
There she was, radiant in her midnight-blue evening gown, poised and elegant.
Yet her eyes were locked onto Gu Yan.
Her expression was a mix of emotions—30% regret, 30% awe, 30% shock, and 10% despondency.
Thud.
Xiao Lin’s heart lurched inexplicably, his fists clenching until his knuckles turned white.
He knew Gu Yan had once pursued Shen Wan’er, but she had rejected him, prioritizing her career.
Xiao Lin had supported her decision—after all, one’s ambitions should come first.
But now...
His grip loosened slightly, a hint of sorrow flashing in his eyes.
Wan’er... do you still have feelings for Gu Yan?
But what about me? What do I lack compared to him?
Why... can’t you see me?
What about my junior sister? Would she understand me?
Deep down, he knew—back when they were kids, she’d always followed him around, chirping about how she wanted to marry him someday.
Dragon Lord was right—as the successor of the Dragon King Palace, one woman was far from enough. If it were his junior sister, then...
Xiao Lin glanced at Ning Qian beside him and forced a smile. "Junior sis—"
But before he could finish, his smile froze on his lips. Because...
Ning Qian didn’t even look at him. Instead, her face lit up with joy as she walked toward Gu Yan.
H-how...?
Xiao Lin stared blankly at Ning Qian’s retreating figure as she approached Gu Yan.
Since when did his junior sister smile at someone else like that?
Why? What had happened?
What had Gu Yan done to her behind his back?
Xiao Lin’s mind buzzed, his breath growing ragged.
How... could this be?
[Little Lin, steady your mind. Leave the venue and calm yourself.]
Dragon Lord hadn’t spoken in a while. Ever since sensing the aura of the Netherworld Monarch, it had been hiding deep within Xiao Lin’s heart.
Only now, with Xiao Lin’s turmoil, did it finally speak up.
"Alright."
Xiao Lin took a deep breath and, after one last glance at Ning Qian and Gu Yan, stood up and left the banquet hall.
By some coincidence, Shen Wan'er’s peripheral vision caught Xiao Lin’s departure.
She turned her head, watching his lonely figure with an inexplicable pang in her heart.
Shen Wan'er bit her lip lightly, then shifted her gaze to Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu.
Perhaps... some things were just meant to be missed.
Gu Yan, you might not know this...
But my idol has always been Leng Qingqiu.
I wanted to learn from her, to strive to stand by her side.
Yet... you walked beside her so effortlessly.
Is this... my punishment?
Her eyes dimmed. While everyone else was captivated by Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu, Shen Wan'er quietly slipped away.
She no longer had the courage to stay.
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.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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?"
