That night.
Within the three great families, the agonized screams of their clansmen echoed through the night sky.
In a single evening, the three patriarchs slaughtered every last one of their traitorous kin.
Long Tianyun, Situ Yun, and the eldest son of the Yu Family—all were executed.
None of them had ever dreamed that so many would betray them!
But with this done, they could now focus their efforts entirely on the experiments with the demonic weapons.
The family traitors had been purged, and those who remained, even if they harbored rebellious thoughts, would be too terrified by the night’s massacre to ever dare oppose them again.
As for Leng Qingqiu and the Gu Family...
Heh. Once the divine lord descends... you’ll all die.
......
......
The next day.
Inside the leader’s office of the Alliance headquarters.
Leng Qingqiu listened to her subordinate’s report, her brows furrowing slightly.
What was going on?
Half of the three great families’ clansmen had been wiped out in a single night?
And it was the three patriarchs themselves who carried out the slaughter.
Was there... really a traitor among them?
But how had Gu Yan managed to sway so many to his side?
This time, aside from Shangguan Miaoyin, Bai Lian—who had been absent for a long time—also came to report.
Thanks to her innate seductive physique, she had risen swiftly within the ranks of the [Spirit] organization.
She was here to deliver an important message. Though her heart swelled with excitement at seeing Leng Qingqiu again, she maintained a composed demeanor. "Master, you may not know this yet," she said.
"Among those killed by the three families weren’t just ordinary clansmen."
"Even the publicly recognized family heads and eldest sons were executed."
"That includes Long Tianyun, the head of the Long Family—his name was also on the death list!"
Long Tianyun?
He was killed too?
Leng Qingqiu’s expression shifted. Something wasn’t right.
If Long Tianyun was executed as a traitor, his betrayal must have been tied to the Gu Family.
Did that mean... Long Tianyun had also struck some kind of deal with Gu Yan?!
If that were true, then... did Gu Yan know about the demonic weapon experiments as well?
This didn’t sit right with her at all.
Had Long Tianyun survived, Leng Qingqiu might not have made the connection.
But now that he was dead...
A sense of foreboding settled over her.
Gu Yan had been absent for a long time. If Long Tianyun’s betrayal was indeed linked to him...
Then she refused to believe Gu Yan was unaware of the demonic weapons.
Given his methods...
Leng Qingqiu’s heart grew heavy. Who, then, was truly behind the demonic weapon experiments?
The three great families... or Gu Yan?
Suddenly, a thought struck her.
She looked up at Shangguan Miaoyin, who stood silently nearby, and asked, "The evidence you previously gathered on the three families’ crimes—where was it stored?"
Shangguan Miaoyin hesitated.
"It... was in Long Tianyun’s office," she replied cautiously.
The moment those words left her lips, Leng Qingqiu’s suspicions solidified. She clenched her fists tightly.
Now it made sense.
She had always found it strange how easily she had obtained the evidence of the three families colluding with others to develop demonic weapons.
But with Long Tianyun dead, combined with the Gu Family’s involvement... and her knowledge of Gu Yan’s true nature...
The truth was becoming painfully clear.
Gu Yan... was orchestrating everything behind the scenes!
Leng Qingqiu took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "You may leave now."
"But—"
"Dismissed."
Shangguan Miaoyin wanted to say more but ultimately pulled the reluctant Bai Lian out of the room.
Left alone, Leng Qingqiu’s mind was anything but calm.
If Gu Yan was the one pulling the strings...
Then he must have known the Long Family planned to target Leng Xing'an’s family.
Yet... he knew, and did nothing to stop it.
He didn’t even warn her.
The evidence against the three families fell into her hands effortlessly, but when it came to the attack on Leng Xing'an’s family, he remained silent.
Why?
Her thoughts churned until, at last, she understood Gu Yan’s intentions.
"......"
The evidence gave her a legitimate reason to move against the three families.
The slaughter of Leng Xing'an’s family deepened her hatred for them.
So what was the next step...?
The next step...
Her expression darkened. If her guess was correct,
the next step would be something that left her no choice but to act immediately.
Step by step, she felt as though she were walking straight into a script Gu Yan had written for her.
Every move she made followed the path he had laid out.
Why? Why was Gu Yan doing this?
And why... had he let Leng Xing'an’s family die without lifting a finger...?
Just then,
as if hearing her inner turmoil,
Xiao Leng—who had been silent for so long—suddenly spoke up.
[Other me, haven’t you realized it yet?]
"Xiao Leng?!"
Leng Qingqiu’s heart jolted. Ever since that day she met Gu Yan and he left after saying those cryptic words,
she hadn’t heard Xiao Leng’s voice again.
More importantly, Xiao Leng seemed to know something she didn’t.
[Don’t be so surprised, other me. I’ve always been here.]
"What do you mean by ‘realized’?"
"Xiao Leng, you know something, don’t you?"
"Why is Gu Yan doing all this?"
Leng Qingqiu pressed urgently, afraid that if she didn’t ask now, Xiao Leng might disappear again.
[Other me, I can’t reveal too much. It would interfere with Gu Yan’s plans.]
"Plans?"
Her face paled. Xiao Leng did know about Gu Yan’s schemes!
[Yes. All you need to understand is that what Gu Yan is doing now... is to make you...]
[The hero of humanity.]
"The hero... of humanity?"
Leng Qingqiu was stunned. A hero? Humanity’s hero?
What did that even mean?
[Haven’t you noticed? From joining the Martial Arts Department, to becoming the head of the Sword Holding Department, to now leading the Alliance... every step has been pushing you toward becoming humanity’s hero.]
[And after this...]
[The three great families and all those involved in the demonic weapon experiments will be eradicated by you. Their crimes will be exposed to the world.]
[Everyone will cheer for you.]
[Following this path, you’ll amass immeasurable prestige—all according to Gu Yan’s design.]
Buzz—
Xiao Leng’s words sent her mind reeling.
It was true.
Her dagger had been taken, her power lost, and then, on Xiao Leng’s advice, she cultivated her spiritual strength.
She joined the department...
And step by step, without realizing it, she had gained immense influence.
But all of it... had been arranged by Gu Yan?
The demonic creatures in the city, the ones that destroyed the Alliance...
Had Gu Yan orchestrated it all just to elevate her status? To make her... a hero?
But at what cost? So many lives lost...
Just as this thought crossed her mind, Xiao Leng’s next words sent a chill down her spine.
"But this still isn't enough."
"Still... not enough?"
"Indeed, the effort falls short. You need something far more significant to truly become... a real hero."
"That thing is... killing the Night King."
"And after that, you will receive the answers you seek."
At these words,
Leng Qingqiu abruptly stood up.
Her expression froze, a storm of panic and chaos surging within her: "Kill... the Night King?"
Wasn’t the Night King none other than Gu Yan?
She was supposed to kill him... to become a hero?
What kind of joke was this?!
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
"Other me... do you really think this is something you can avoid just by refusing?"
"Gu Yan will make sure you kill him. And when the time comes... you will have no choice but to do it."
As the words faded,
Leng Qingqiu’s expression stiffened in shock.
No choice... but to kill Gu Yan...
How could something like that ever happen?
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…
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
