Bai Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the details and learning that his younger sister was unharmed.
However, his unease lingered.
This inexplicable attack had reminded him of something troubling. He spoke solemnly into the phone to Gu Yan on the other end: "Gu Yan, the assailant... was probably after the half-piece of Dragon King Jade my sister carries."
"Dragon King Jade?"
Gu Yan feigned surprise. "But didn’t Qiong Lan already hand that half-piece over to me? That news should have spread by now..."
Bai Jun replied softly, "After that day, I made sure to suppress any possible leaks."
"So, no one in Jianghai knows the jade’s ownership has been transferred to you."
He then pleaded earnestly, "Gu Yan, I’m begging you—the attackers will definitely come after my sister again."
"I can’t return right now. You’re the only one who can help me. Please, Gu Yan."
"Protect my sister."
Gu Yan responded, "Bai Jun, there’s no need for such formalities. Your sister is like my own, and besides, Qiong Lan is my sister-in-law’s best friend."
"I won’t let any harm come to her."
"Good. Thank you."
Bai Jun was deeply moved. In times like these, Gu Yan truly proved to be the most reliable. "By the way, how’s Old Gao doing?"
Lin Yinyin was still immature—he worried she might struggle in the department.
After a brief pause, Gu Yan replied, "The boss is fine."
"Her strength speaks for itself. She hasn’t faced any real setbacks."
"And the inspection team wouldn’t let outsiders provoke Lin Yinyin."
Hearing this, Bai Jun felt reassured.
After a moment’s thought, he quietly shared some insider information with Gu Yan: "Also, Gu Yan... earlier, I was actually in a meeting."
"The topic was... whether to initiate universal martial awakening."
"From the looks of it, the proposal will most likely pass."
"When that happens, the world will change drastically. I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to return."
"If I don’t make it back, Gu Yan, I’m counting on you to test Qiong Lan’s martial potential and get her into the Jianghai branch as a support staff member."
Unless absolutely necessary, headquarters would never reveal the existence of martial practitioners to the public.
If they were making it public now, it could only mean the world was on the brink of upheaval.
The incidents at the Fifth Forbidden Zone and the Night King had already claimed too many martial practitioners.
Keeping it hidden any longer might lead to the world’s destruction.
On Gu Yan’s end, a strange glint flickered in his eyes upon hearing this.
Heh. He had thought he’d need to stir up more trouble to achieve this, but now things had conveniently fallen into place.
Returning to the conversation, he feigned surprise. "Universal martial awakening? Isn’t that too sudden?"
"Not sudden..." Bai Jun’s voice dropped to a whisper. "We’ll talk more later. My phone is specially encrypted—only I can trace these calls."
"Gu Yan, what I just told you is critical. Don’t breathe a word of it until headquarters makes the official announcement."
"Understood."
Click.
The call ended.
Gu Yan pocketed his phone, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Time to make preparations.
January next year?
He checked the date.
Huh.
The new year was almost here...
Time really flew.
......
That night.
A new member joined the ranks of Hope’s Light.
In a spacious, pristine underground laboratory:
"Do you like it?"
"A customized array lab, just for you."
Gu Yan led Ling Fa, who was carrying bags of belongings, into the space.
After a day of internal struggle, Ling Fa had decided to leave the department and join Hope’s Light.
He had taken all the ancient array manuals from the sixth floor of the library.
At first, he had been nervous.
But the moment he stepped into this array laboratory with Gu Yan, he was instantly captivated.
The walls were adorned with intricate array patterns, each detail gleaming with a delicate silver sheen. The symbols seemed alive in the dim light, faintly resonating with the central master array.
"That’s the control hub for this array lab."
Gu Yan patted Ling Fa’s shoulder and pointed to the center, where a circular console embedded with gemstones and runes served as the core of the entire laboratory’s array system.
Sophisticated equipment and transparent crystal tubes crisscrossed the space, carrying streams of multicolored liquid—essential energy sources for array experiments.
The surrounding instruments and monitors hummed softly, emitting faint beeps.
Nearby, a precision array engraver automatically carved complex patterns onto special mineral slabs, each stroke brimming with latent power.
"Follow me."
Gu Yan guided Ling Fa toward the console.
He placed his hand on the console and said, "By channeling qi into the control panel like this... this array laboratory will reveal its true purpose."
As his words faded—
Hummm!
The surroundings began to shift.
The original lab dissolved, replaced by a vast, open plain.
Ling Fa was stunned. "A... spatial array?"
And one integrated into the console? Just how advanced and precise must the craftsmanship be to achieve this?
"This is the testing ground—for experimenting with large-scale output arrays," Gu Yan explained.
"And then..."
With another shift in the scene—
In an instant, the surroundings darkened. Ling Fa and Gu Yan now stood in a shadowy forest shrouded in crimson miasma.
Roar!
The growls of beasts echoed around them.
Ling Fa's expression changed as he spotted the source—various demonic creatures sealed inside transparent containers!
Gu Yan clarified, "This is the specimen chamber."
"To preserve their ferocity, the environment was designed this way."
"Anyway... there’s much more for you to explore on your own."
The scene reverted to the laboratory.
Then, Gu Yan turned to Ling Fa, whose face was alight with awe and excitement, and said, "Join us, and all this will be yours."
"But in return, you’ll have to give up something important to you."
"For example... your life and death."
Gu Yan opened his palm, revealing a writhing, tentacle-like tendril.
Ling Fa swallowed hard, staring at it. Then, without hesitation, he grabbed it and shoved it into his mouth.
"Nothing matters more to me than researching arrays!" he declared fervently. "I’m in!"
Gu Yan chuckled. "I knew I wasn’t wrong about you."
With a nod, he added, "Then, I formally welcome you to the Light of Hope."
"And the first task I need you to undertake is..."
"To develop a spatial array capable of containing the entirety of the Light of Hope."
Ling Fa didn’t hesitate. "Give me time—I’ll make it happen!"
......
......
Leaving Ling Fa alone in the lab, Gu Yan stepped outside.
Night had fallen.
Old Gao, who had been waiting, approached. "Young Master, the patriarch called. He wants you at the company tomorrow morning."
"The company?" Gu Yan was taken aback. Why so suddenly?
Old Gao nodded, then lowered his voice hesitantly. "It seems... it’s about the transfer of shares."
"Young Master, you might be inheriting the position of Gu Family head sooner than expected."
Gu Yan: "?"
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."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
