"Xiao Yan, I heard you've reached the Innate Realm?"
Gu Tianqing was the first to break the silence.
He glanced at Gu Yan, searching for a conversational opening.
Gu Yan nodded in response. "Yes, I had a sudden epiphany. You could say I found my way back from going astray."
"Mhm."
The topic ended there.
After a brief silence,
Gu Tianming spoke unhurriedly, "I heard Yingying had a fight with you recently?"
"Tianqing, you should really learn a thing or two from me about family relations. Xiao Yan and I never let things get that tense."
"You're too harsh in how you raise Yingying."
Those words struck a nerve.
Gu Tianqing snorted coldly, visibly irritated. "We usually get along just fine. If you're going to say things like that, Tianming, then I might as well call you out too."
"Oh?"
"Back when we were kids, Xiao Yan was such a good kid. It's your coddling that spoiled him rotten."
"Excuse me?"
"I said what I said. It's the truth."
Gu Tianxiang cleared his throat and joined in, trying to diffuse the tension. "No need to get worked up. If we're talking about parenting, my Yunrou turned out perfectly—graceful, sensible, and refined. Ah..."
"Hmph."
"Tianxiang, what does Yunrou's excellence have to do with you? You're never even home."
Gu Tianming and Gu Tianqing both scoffed.
"Seriously?"
As the three brothers bickered,
Gu Tianlong maintained a stern expression, though the tension in his brow eased slightly.
Gu Yan could only sigh inwardly. Was it a Gu family tradition to bottle up their feelings instead of speaking their minds?
He glanced around at the lively, harmonious scene before him.
At least things here were settled.
Which meant...
It was time for his next move.
With that in mind,
Gu Yan cut in, "Dad, I’ll leave you to your chat. I’m going to mingle with people my age."
"Go on, go on. See how considerate my son is? Even tells me before leaving."
Oh, now he’s bragging?
Gu Yan slipped away quietly.
Leng Qingqiu had been keeping an eye on Gu Yan the whole time. The moment he left, an inexplicable emptiness settled over her.
It was as if his absence left her feeling unmoored, unsafe.
Where was he going?
Was he looking for someone? Or did he leave because he felt left out?
She wanted to follow, but given the situation, she couldn’t just walk away.
That jerk. Couldn’t he at least tell her before leaving?
......
......
Just as Leng Qingqiu suspected, Gu Yan was indeed seeking someone out.
Or, to be more precise, he was about to bring closure to a certain matter.
Unlike the brightly lit, bustling Gu family estate where guests strolled leisurely,
a small, dimly lit room deep inside the manor stood in stark contrast.
Xuehua sat huddled inside, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her carefully applied makeup was now a smudged mess from her tears.
Slumped on the floor, she stared blankly at a photograph in her hands—a picture of her and Gu Zihua.
It’s over.
Everything’s over.
There’s no way Master Zihua will ever love me now. He won’t even see me again.
Then—
Creak—
The door swung open.
"Well, well, little maid. Did you get what you wanted?"
A light, mocking voice drifted into Xuehua’s ears.
She turned her dazed gaze toward the sound.
There stood Gu Yan, watching her with an unreadable smile.
Xuehua bit her lip, struggling to speak, but all that came out was a choked sob.
"...Are you here to mock me?"
"Master Zihua and I can never be together now!"
"He’s fallen for someone else!"
"Are you happy now?"
Gu Yan remained unfazed by her breakdown.
He stepped forward, crouching down until his eyes were slightly above her broken gaze. A faint smirk played on his lips.
"On the contrary."
His voice carried an odd weight. "I’m here to help you."
"Help me?"
"How? There’s no way Master Zihua will ever love me now."
Xuehua let out a bitter laugh, looking down at her disheveled state.
"I put on makeup, wore a new dress, begged the master and mistress for three days of freedom..."
"But the moment that woman appeared—"
Before she could finish,
Gu Yan interrupted, "Do you really think she’s the reason you failed?"
"...W-what?"
Xuehua froze, staring at him in confusion.
The room was dark, and with Gu Yan backlit by the faint light from the doorway, his figure seemed shrouded in shadows.
All Xuehua could clearly see were his eyes—piercing, unsettling.
"Think back, Xuehua. What did the person you love actually do to you? What did he say?"
Gu Yan reached out, pressing a fingertip to her forehead.
In an instant—
Buzz—
Memories of Gu Zihua’s cruel words flooded her mind.
The way he accused her of being tainted, of being played by Gu Yan.
Xuehua clutched her head, screaming, "Stop!"
"Don’t make me remember!"
But Gu Yan only continued, his voice smooth and coaxing.
"Just a simple little game, and the man you love showed his true colors."
"I could explain things to him. Gu Zihua might even forgive you once he knows the truth."
"But tell me... would that really be love?"
Xuehua’s face paled. She lifted her head slightly, her eyes flickering with turmoil.
Gu Yan withdrew his hand, pressing it to his own chest with a pained, pitying expression.
"Xuehua... I feel sorry for you. And it breaks my heart."
"...Why...?"
Xuehua was baffled. Shouldn’t he be gloating?
Gu Yan took a deep breath, as if steadying himself, and sighed.
"Because I truly believed in your love."
"I was even planning to convince Grandfather and Grandmother to accept your relationship during this gathering, using my refusal of the family head position as leverage."
"After all, you’ve served them for so many years. I thought you deserved to be treated as family."
"But now..."
Xuehua’s mind reeled.
What?
If that’s true... then she had misunderstood Master Gu Yan?
And she had thrown away her dream with her own hands...
Gu Yan dragged his fingertips across his dry eyes, his tone shifting from sorrow to indignation.
"But I never expected Gu Zihua to be like this."
"Xuehua, think about it. If things were really as he claimed, wouldn’t that mean you endured all that suffering... for his sake?"
"But... Gu Zihua didn’t accept your devotion, because he found someone better to replace you."
"Xuehua... I truly feel it wasn’t worth it for you."
"So..."
At this point, Gu Yan’s real intention finally surfaced. He extended his fingertip.
Gurgle~~!
Black tendrils formed from claw-like cells slithered out from his fingertip.
With an inexplicable look in his eyes, he whispered, each word dripping with temptation: "That’s why I’m here to help you win Gu Zihua’s heart back, Xuehua."
"Seize your future with him."
Xuehua stared blankly at the black tendrils on Gu Yan’s fingertip.
Thump! Thump!
Her heartbeat quickened. Gu Yan’s words and the tendrils seemed to cast a spell over her, relentlessly luring her to reach out and touch them.
Xuehua seemed to understand that if she touched those tendrils, the outcome would be disastrous for her.
But...
If it meant she could truly be with the one she loved,
even if only as briefly as a candle’s flame... she still wanted to try.
And so, her trembling fingertip inched toward the black tendrils.
She would reclaim Gu Zihua’s heart!
Meanwhile, Gu Yan no longer bothered to hide his true reaction.
The corners of his lips curled slightly, and the sorrow in his eyes vanished completely, replaced only by...
a stillness as cold and lifeless as stagnant water.
Goodbye, dear brother. After all...
you two picked the wrong side from the very beginning.
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.
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.”
