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!
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...
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
th】 【No prior gaming knowledge required】【The First Cultivation + Game Design Novel on the Platform】 In a world where the righteous path dominates and crushes the demonic sects, Lu Ze unlocks the "Son of the Demon Path" system. Killing righteous cultivators now grants him power-ups. Wait—deaths in illusions count too? As a former game designer, Lu Ze decides to give the cultivators of this world a little—no, a massive—shock... Sect Elders: "What is this 'Escape from the Demon Sect' game? Why have all our disciples abandoned cultivation to play it??" Elite Disciples: "You're saying... mastering 'Demon Slayer' can help us counter demonic schemes?" Reclusive Masters: "Why did I leave seclusion? Ask that backstabbing rat who ambushed me in 'Eternal Strife' yesterday!" Rogue Cultivators & Civilians: "'Immortal Abyss Action' is addictive! You can even earn spirit stones by loot-running..." Sect Prodigy: "My Dao heart is unshakable... except for that cursed black hammer." Royal Scions: "Can skins have stat boosts? I’ll pay 10,000 spirit stones for one!!" Sect Leader: "WHO IS CORRUPTING MY DISCIPLES?!!!"
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
