Bang!
As the stone statue shattered, a wail resembling one from the depths of hell erupted from within the broken fragments.
Countless pitch-black, ghost-like entities resembling vengeful spirits surged out.
Their expressions were twisted in agony, their faces contorted with malice.
But before they could escape, a shadowy, ethereal hand materialized and clenched them tightly.
"Cough, cough, cough!!!"
Due to the interrupted ritual, the Old Dragon King's soul was forced back into his original, decaying body.
Now, suffering from the backlash, blood gushed incessantly from his nose, ears, and mouth.
The Old Dragon King's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the man standing where the destroyed statue had been.
Clad in a black trench coat, the man was enveloped in tendrils of deathly black mist, his face obscured by the ominous aura.
His gaze was icy and indifferent, and in his hand, he held a black dagger.
And behind him... floated a sinister, claw-like appendage, seemingly forged from countless fragments of terrifying deathly energy.
The claw gripped all the wailing, resentful spirits that had escaped from the statue.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the number of malevolent spirits was rapidly dwindling.
He was devouring them!!!
"You... who are you?!"
The Old Dragon King thought of a horrifying possibility—especially that dagger.
Even in his nightmares, he could never forget it.
"You're the Night King?!"
The Old Dragon King gasped in shock.
The Night King... had arrived so quickly?!
The man standing before him... was none other than Gu Yan.
Using the Power of Night, he had traversed space in an instant to reach this place.
His goal? To eliminate the frail, bloodied old man before him.
The Old Dragon King.
A centuries-old monster.
Since inheriting the Dragon King Palace, he had been conducting inhuman reincarnation rituals.
His ultimate ambition? Eternal life.
The conditions for immortality were harsh—or rather, the conditions set by a certain entity were particularly cruel.
The most critical requirement was...
Every vessel he possessed had to be a bearer of immense destiny.
Thus, the Old Dragon King not only exploited the national fortune of the Eastern Nation, linked to the Dragon King Palace, but also used his position as its leader to recruit individuals of great destiny from across the world.
In the end, the souls of those he seized were offered to that very entity!
And the avatar of that entity was...
Crunch!
Gu Yan stepped on the shattered remnants of the stone statue, dagger in hand, his cold gaze fixed on the Old Dragon King as he advanced.
"I originally intended to let you live a little longer."
"But on second thought, it's better this way."
"People like you... only bring peace when they're dead."
Gu Yan's layered voice echoed through the cavern.
He was a cautious man, one who never acted without absolute certainty.
But the Old Dragon King had attacked his family.
And for that, he had to die.
At last, terror flashed in the old man's eyes.
The backlash from the interrupted ritual had severed his meridians, leaving him powerless.
No!
He couldn’t die!
Thud!
Before he could utter another word, the dagger plunged into his forehead.
Gu Yan stared indifferently at the Old Dragon King's horrified expression and said flatly,
"Stop screaming. You're no longer the Dragon King."
As his words faded...
Bzzz...
Dozens—no, hundreds—of shadowy figures emerged from the darkness of the cavern.
These... were once members of the Dragon King Palace.
Now, they had been transformed into Gu Yan's shadow soldiers!
"H-how...?"
The Old Dragon King's pupils contracted.
Suddenly, he sensed something—a familiar, overwhelming presence.
"The Dragon King Jade?!"
"You... you obtained the complete Dragon King Jade?!"
His voice was hoarse, his breath growing weaker.
Because of his destiny-laden body, he hadn’t died immediately.
Had this vessel still been usable, he might have even turned the tables and seized a new opportunity.
But now... it was all empty talk.
His soul was imprisoned by the dagger, leaving him no means of escape.
He couldn’t believe it.
The Night King... had obtained the complete Dragon King Jade?!
This had never happened before!
According to the prophecies...
The two were destined to be mortal enemies!
And without fail, every previous Night King had been dragged down by the Dragon King Palace’s ruler, consumed by the Power of Night until death!
Without exception!
"Wait! I was wrong! I admit it!"
"I’ll never oppose you again!"
"Spare me! I’ll tell you an enormous secret—one about the world itself!!"
"You—!"
Thud!
Before he could finish, Gu Yan emotionlessly activated the dagger’s power.
In an instant...
The Old Dragon King’s life force was obliterated.
Every possibility of revival was extinguished.
Against a centuries-old monster like him, the dagger was the most reliable tool.
"Secrets... I’ll uncover them myself."
At the same time...
[Host has lost the emotion: ‘Rage.’]
[Warning: Host has been excessively infected by the Power of Night. Further use of the dagger will accelerate the infection!! Host may lose more emotions!!]
[Host has obtained the complete Dragon King Jade.]
[Host has successfully converted 183 shadow soldiers.]
[Host...]
A flood of system notifications poured in.
Finally, the alerts ceased.
[Host has acquired the title ‘Monarch of Shadows.’ Within darkness, spiritual and physical energy are amplified tenfold!!]
[Host has acquired the skill ‘Shadow Soldier Creation.’ Can now summon shadow soldiers at will using the Power of Night!]
[Note: Shadow soldiers summoned this way are disposable, with power equivalent to only 1/10,000th of the host’s strength.]
After silently processing all the information, Gu Yan’s expression gradually calmed.
He looked down at the dagger in his hand.
And fell into silence.
So this was the price of using the dagger—the cost Xiao Leng had warned him about.
Losing emotions...
This time, it was rage.
What would be next?
What... would he become?

ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!

+ Slow Paced + Main Character Thrives Together with His Disciples】 Transmigrated into a cultivation world, Chu Xingchen awakens a discipleship system that reveals the tags of his disciples! Starting from scratch, he builds the strongest sect. Disciple One: Li Yingling 【Gold Tag: Genius Cultivator】【Purple Tag: Extremely Lucky】【Blue Tag: Bewitchingly Beautiful】 Disciple Two: Li Hangtian 【Gold Tag: Reincarnated】【Purple Tag: Ruthless and Decisive】【Blue Tag: Loyal and Noble】 Disciple Three: ??? 【Orange Tag: Alluring Demoness】【???】【???】 Thus, in the cultivation world, an unremarkable little sect appears out of nowhere, but little do others know that each member of this sect is a powerhouse in their own right. The book is also known as: Cultivation? It's Exactly Like This!

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!"

tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...