Late at night.
Dragon King Mountain.
Moonlight pierced through the clouds, scattering like shattered silver over the peaks, draping this ancient territory in a radiant veil.
An elderly man with bandages wrapped around his head—the former Old Dragon King—clenched his fists tightly as he listened to the reports from his subordinates behind him.
"Too... late?"
A voice brimming with fury growled from the depths of his throat.
Xiao Lin, the Child of Destiny, was dead.
The dragon’s aura had been stolen.
And lingering at the scene was the unmistakable deathly aura of the Night King.
"Night King!!!!"
"You’ve ruined my reincarnation plan!!"
"I will destroy you!!!"
The Old Dragon King’s murderous roar echoed throughout Dragon King Mountain.
"Cough, cough, cough!!!"
Overwhelmed by rage, the Old Dragon King clutched his chest in pain, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
Damn it.
This body was failing.
If he didn’t find a new vessel soon, he would...
His expression darkened with uncertainty.
Xiao Lin had been perfect—a vessel with exceptional talent and fortune, the ideal choice for his reincarnation.
But now... the Child of Destiny he had so carefully selected...
Had been killed by the Night King?!
Even his soul had been obliterated by the Night King’s dagger?!
Damn it all.
He coughed up more blood.
Throughout this, his subordinates stood silently behind him, unmoving.
Taking a deep, ragged breath, the Old Dragon King turned to a young woman among them, his voice hoarse.
"Falling Star, go to Jianghai. Retrieve the half-piece of Dragon King Jade from the Leng Family."
The young woman’s hair cascaded like a waterfall, her eyes holding galaxies within them.
This was Falling Star, the "Strategist" of the Dragon King Palace.
Yet her expression remained vacant, and she merely nodded at the command before vanishing into the shadows.
Next, the Old Dragon King turned to a towering man draped in a heavy dragon-scale cloak, his eyes hollow and lifeless.
"Long Ning, go to Jianghai. Bring Ning Qian back."
"The rest of you—scatter across the world. Find me someone with the same immense fortune as Xiao Lin!"
"Man or woman, it doesn’t matter!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
In an instant, all of them disappeared.
Alone now, the Old Dragon King hunched over, his decrepit body shuffling toward a cave in the distance.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Xiao Lin had been the superior vessel.
But now... he had no choice but to settle for Ning Qian.
And the Dragon King Jade...
The half that belonged to Xiao Lin was already lost—likely in the Night King’s hands.
That meant he had to reclaim the other half from the Leng Family.
Hadn’t he stored it there precisely to prepare for such a scenario?
As long as the two halves of the Dragon King Jade remained separate, he would always be the master of the Dragon King Palace!
Night King...
He could never allow the Night King to obtain the complete Dragon King Jade!
The thought made his breathing quicken.
Damn it. Why had things spiraled out of control so suddenly?
Prophecy... He needed a new prophecy...
He would... achieve immortality!!
Night King... Just wait. Once I possess Ning Qian’s body, I will come for you!!
......
......
Unlike the turmoil at Dragon King Mountain...
Hope’s Radiance.
At this moment, Hope’s Radiance was concealed beneath an enormous, invisible barrier—an illusionary veil crafted by Gu Yan using [Mirage of Flowers and Moon].
It was meant to distort the senses of any intruders.
But distortion wasn’t enough. Gu Yan wanted to create a true illusory barrier—one that would tuck Hope’s Radiance into a separate dimensional space.
To outsiders, this place would appear as nothing more than an empty plain.
But...
To those who entered through the right means, it would reveal an entirely new world.
To achieve this, Gu Yan needed to recruit the genius of barrier arts—a character who, in the original story, had been a member of the Night Organization.
But before that...
He had preparations to make.
With Xiao Lin dead, the Old Dragon King would undoubtedly act.
After all...
Having read the original story, Gu Yan knew the truth.
The Old Dragon King was no righteous figure—he was a monstrous schemer who would stop at nothing to achieve immortality.
Both Xiao Lin and Ning Qian had been nothing more than vessels prepared for his reincarnation.
In the original story, Xiao Lin, as the Child of Destiny, had seen through the Old Dragon King’s treachery, slain him, and saved his junior sister Ning Qian—deepening their bond in the process.
But that had been a late-game development.
Now, Gu Yan had accelerated the timeline.
And not just that—the original author had left many plot holes unresolved.
Like the mysterious stone statue in the cave the Old Dragon King frequented.
Its origins had never been explained.
With Xiao Lin dead so early, even Gu Yan couldn’t predict how things would unfold now.
Back to the present.
Gu Yan stepped into Hope’s Radiance’s underground laboratory.
A frail man in a white lab coat approached him—Han Tian.
In the original story, Han Tian had been a rogue scientist hiding among civilians, using ancient monster cells to cultivate several primordial abominations.
Just as he was about to prove himself the world’s greatest monster scientist...
He had been torn apart and devoured by his own creations.
Now, recruited by Gu Yan and infused with Claw Cells, Han Tian was a different man.
His face alight with excitement, he held up a transparent container housing a sharp, fang-like object.
"Sir, this is the Langya Clan’s Life Fang!"
"Any monster created using this as a base will be the most stable and controllable specimen yet!"
The Langya Clan’s Life Fang had one crucial property—it ensured absolute loyalty in any monster crafted from it.
Gu Yan gave a slight nod. "I’ve brought you something new. Whether you use it is up to you."
He extended his hand.
Between his fingers appeared a small vial—inside, countless writhing tendrils squirmed.
These were Claw Tendrils that had consumed Xiao Lin’s flesh.
As the Child of Destiny, Xiao Lin had been blessed with immense fortune.
Theoretically, the Claw Cells that had devoured his body should have absorbed traces of that fortune.
"Spare no expense. Go all out."
"I believe in you."
Han Tian’s eyes gleamed with even greater fervor as he carefully took the vial.
With both excitement and solemnity, he vowed, "Y-yes, sir! I will create the perfect monster for you!"
Han Tian was moved beyond words.
A spacious, state-of-the-art lab.
Abundant resources and test subjects.
A leader who trusted him completely and let him work freely!
This... This was everything he had ever wanted!
With these materials in hand, Han Tian swore to himself—he would create a masterpiece.
To create the most perfect, strongest, and most obedient monster squad in the world for Lord Gu Yan!
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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...
nce】【Lighthearted Comedy】【Ultimate Gentleman's Novel】【Viewer Discretion Advised for Under 16】 The mightiest human hero, Sharen Morian, is resurrected after a thousand years by his wife—the Demon King. This is not your typical hero-vs-demon-king tale.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…