The next morning.
At the top floor of the Sword Holding Department building.
Leng Ling'er placed a letter on Leng Qingqiu's desk.
The latter glanced at it—just an ordinary envelope.
She had received far too many of these lately.
Due to her personal influence, everyone who had been approached to switch sides had come forward to submit confessions of wrongdoing.
However, outright rejecting them all might leave some powerless members of the Sword Holding Department vulnerable to unfair treatment.
So instead of refusing outright, she chose to selectively join Long Tianyun's faction.
To be safe, she also sent Shangguan Miaoyin and others to infiltrate secretly.
The goal was simple—to uncover Long Tianyun's true intentions.
Thinking this, she casually remarked, "Ignore it. Let them do as they please."
However.
Unlike the ordinary letters Leng Qingqiu had imagined,
Leng Ling'er shook her head indignantly and exclaimed, "No way, sis! The person they tried to recruit is brother-in-law!"
"That Long Tianyun sent the recruitment letter directly to the Gu Family!"
"If Old Gao hadn’t tipped me off, we’d still be in the dark!"
"This is downright outrageous!"
Leng Qingqiu hadn’t paid much attention to these matters, but hearing that Long Tianyun’s target was Gu Yan...
Her brow arched slightly, and a strange feeling stirred within her.
Though it was just speculation, the recent upheaval in the ancient martial world was likely orchestrated by Gu Yan.
So... Long Tianyun trying to recruit the mastermind behind it all...
Was he foolish, or just overly confident?
Of course, the main issue was that everyone knew Gu Yan was her partner.
Such an open recruitment was clearly a provocation.
Still, the move was laughable—Gu Yan would never join Long Tianyun’s side, so it was meaningless.
"Don’t worry about it."
Leng Qingqiu chuckled lightly. Since Long Tianyun had set his sights on Gu Yan, she had no doubt Gu Yan would respond in his own way.
Leng Ling'er, however, remained sulky. "Sis, aren’t we going to retaliate? Like storming their headquarters and beating up that Long Tianyun?"
"I’m already at the late-stage Xiantian realm, just one step away from becoming a grandmaster!"
Hearing her sister’s words, Leng Qingqiu sighed helplessly. "Ling'er, you need to be more composed. Of course, we’ll retaliate."
"But we need to wait for the right moment."
"The right moment?"
Leng Ling'er was confused.
How long would they have to wait?
"Yes... a reason that justifies us taking action openly."
Leng Qingqiu’s lips curled slightly.
Previously, someone from an organization called [Ling] had arrogantly demanded she meet the true master of the alliance.
On the surface, she had feigned distrust and refused, but in reality, she had secretly sent Jun Zilan to tail them.
Jun Zilan’s cultivation technique was unique—she could summon [Dream Butterflies] that blended into nature, undetectable by anyone.
Through this, Leng Qingqiu learned about the three families behind the alliance:
The Long Family, the Yu Family, and the Situ Family.
Their ancestral elders were all at the grandmaster level.
But their auras were strange, as if their cultivation had been forcibly elevated by someone else.
In any case, they were nothing more than weaklings who could be crushed effortlessly.
However, ever since she had freed herself from the influence of the Night King’s power, her bloodlust had diminished.
Even when provoked, she would only teach them a lesson, not necessarily kill them.
But... if these three dared to harm those close to her...
Then... Leng Qingqiu would make them realize who the true master of the alliance was.
......
......
Inside a floating prison made of black rock within the demonic restricted zone.
Whoosh!
A spatial vortex appeared, and Gu Yan stepped out.
Boom!
The moment he emerged, a deafening roar echoed ahead.
"Roar!! Night King!! You deceived us!"
Gu Yan looked up and saw a massive mass of life essence trapped within—
The colossal silver wolf of the Netherworld Clan!
Yinyue was imprisoned, its crimson eyes filled with resentment and regret.
The Netherworld Sovereign? It was all a lie.
From the very beginning, their sovereign had never been resurrected—it was all the Night King’s scheme!
Gu Yan replied indifferently, "You were just too foolish."
With a slight wave of his hand, strands of Night King’s power surged from his palm toward Yinyue.
In the blink of an eye, the enormous silver wolf was refined into a silver wolf aura shaped like a wolf’s head!
With a thought, he opened a spatial rift, and the silver wolf aura was drawn inside.
The treasure was dealt with.
Now, all that remained was to wait for Long Tianyun to find and absorb this silver wolf aura in half a month.
And when that happened...
It would also be the moment Gu Yan took control of Long Tianyun.
The silver wolf aura had been infused with the Night King’s power and cells from his claws.
Once absorbed, the thoughts of the absorber would fall entirely under Gu Yan’s command.
At that moment—
"You... are you Gu Yan?"
"Or... are you the Night King?"
A voice tinged with disbelief came from another cell nearby.
Gu Yan turned.
Judging by the life essence and the voice, it was none other than Wang Yulan—now demonized.
Wang Yulan never imagined that the Night King, Gu Yan, and the Netherworld Sovereign...
Were all the same person!
Was Gu Yan still Gu Yan? Did he retain his own consciousness, or had he been possessed?
Wang Yulan tensed under Gu Yan’s gaze—his eyes, composed of chaotic threads, bore into her.
An overwhelming pressure filled her heart, and she clenched her fists.
Even though she had broken through to the grandmaster realm, fear still gripped her.
"Both."
Gu Yan replied flatly.
He raised his hand—Crack!
The restraints holding Wang Yulan shattered.
She slowly descended to the ground, confusion in her expression. "You’re not going to kill me?"
"No. I have another task for you."
Gu Yan stepped forward.
A tendril extended from his palm as he said emotionlessly, "Swallow it."
Swallow... it?
Wang Yulan stared at the writhing tendril in Gu Yan’s hand, repulsed.
But since she had already consumed one of his tendrils before, her body instinctively reached out and swallowed it.
Instantly, a strange power surged through her.
Wang Yulan’s eyes widened in surprise. "What is this? I feel... full of energy."
Gu Yan explained calmly, "You possess the Flower God’s essence. Combined with the life essence I’ve given you, you can now create living vessels out of thin air."
With a flick of his finger—
Rumble!!
The space around them expanded and transformed.
Under Wang Yulan’s stunned gaze, Gu Yan extended his hand.
Countless tendrils scattered like pollen across the ground, taking root.
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
invincible power, Gu Changge transmigrates into a fantasy world, bound to a sign-in system that grants him cultivation rewards and various peerless treasures daily. While others struggle desperately to break through their cultivation realms, he has long since reached the pinnacle of the Great Dao, becoming a reclusive Emperor whose true strength even he himself cannot fathom. Originally planning to lie low and retire peacefully on Purple Bamboo Peak, the system suddenly issues a new task — take on disciples. With no other choice, Gu Changge casually picks up a few disciples: The eldest disciple, born with a War God Constitution, is thrown a copy of "War God Stratagems" by him, and ends up conquering the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, becoming a peerless War God who sweeps across the cosmos. The second disciple, possessing a Chaos Sword Body, can break all techniques with a single sword, his swordsmanship unmatched throughout history. He points his sword at the heavens: "My master said, the sword and the man stand together. If the sword perishes... my master will give me another one." The third disciple, a reborn Empress who returns to her throne, her elegance and grace overshadowing all beings. And without anyone noticing, his own sect, the Qingxuan Sect, has become the number one sect on the continent. Looking at these unbelievably formidable disciples, Gu Changge, holding the "Primordial Purple Qi" he just signed in for, falls into deep thought: — Wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful retirement? How did I become the ultimate master?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
