Dawn was just breaking.
A faint, fish-belly white glimmer appeared on the eastern horizon. Morning mist shrouded the imperial city like a veil, the silhouettes of the palace walls looming faintly within the haze.
Dewdrops condensed under the eaves, occasionally falling and splashing into tiny droplets on the stone slabs.
Inside the side hall of the Crown Princess's Palace, Gu Chengyin slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, a flash of cyan-gold light vanished in an instant, like the last star fading before dawn.
He took a deep breath, feeling the surging true qi within his body.
It was more vigorous, more majestic, flowing endlessly through his meridians like a mighty river. Every circulation brought a profound tremor.
Late Foundation Establishment stage.
Just a moment ago, when the true qi converted from his influence accumulated to a certain critical point, the bottleneck shattered instantly.
There was no heavenly tribulation, no strange phenomena, and no thrilling breakthrough process.
It was as natural as water overflowing a full cup, as smooth as taking a breath.
The power of the system was fully demonstrated in this moment.
Power, status, influence... for him, they directly converted into the purest cultivation base.
If Shangguan Yunying knew, who knows what kind of expression she would make.
This Chief Female Official had practiced bitterly without pause for over a decade, yet she was still only at the middle Foundation Establishment stage.
Although she was only a hair's breadth away from the late stage, this tiny gap might still require countless accumulations to break through.
But what about him?
Yesterday he was still fighting Shangguan Yunying to a draw, and today he was already in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
"I've finally turned the tables and become the master."
Gu Chengyin muttered to himself, then stood up and walked to the window.
The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the halls of the Crown Princess's Palace were faintly discernible in the fog.
In the distance, lights had already been lit in the direction of the Hall of Civil Affairs, clearly indicating that someone had already started handling official business.
Before heading out today, he had to go find someone first.
Gu Xiaoli.
This name had been circling in Gu Chengyin's mind for too long.
Ever since the night of the second hypnosis, a feeling that something was wrong had lingered.
The perfect state of Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying, and the world-weary loli who never showed up yet seemed to be everywhere.
Gu Chengyin closed his eyes, recalling every detail of last night once again.
Luo Zhao's breathing was even and long, without the slightest disorder.
Luo Zhao's heartbeat was steady and regular, without the slightest acceleration.
Luo Zhao's expression was serene and natural, without the slightest flaw.
Shangguan Yunying... was really big.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
So perfect that it made Gu Chengyin somewhat doubt his own intuition and deductions.
Logically speaking, it shouldn't be like this.
Unless Luo Zhao was truly hypnotized.
Unless Luo Zhao truly knew nothing.
"Could it be that her ultimate forbearance has upgraded again?"
Gu Chengyin muttered to himself, a trace of absurdity in his tone:
"Enduring to this extent would make someone a psychopath, right."
Gu Chengyin could not help but recall that nightmare again.
The Luo Zhao in the dream was the spitting image of a complete yandere empress.
Gu Chengyin shook his head, forcing himself to throw this image out of his mind:
"A dream is just a dream, it can't be taken as real."
But the problem was, Gu Chengyin was currently unsure whether Luo Zhao was in a state of forbearance or a state of hypnosis.
After all, there was truly no evidence or flaw.
Since that was the case, he had to go find Gu Xiaoli.
Unlike at night, the world-weary loli was much easier to find during the day.
Gu Chengyin casually found a junior female official to ask, and learned that Gu Xiaoli was currently in the Hall of Civil Affairs.
"Xiaoli? She gets up before dawn every day, and then goes to Her Highness with the Chief."
The junior female official spoke in detail, her tone carrying a bit of admiration:
"Xiaoli is amazing, she knows everything. Her Highness even asks her when she encounters difficult problems."
Gu Chengyin nodded and gave his thanks.
It seemed that Gu Xiaoli's position beside Luo Zhao was even more secure than he had imagined.
Aside from going to the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion to read, she acted entirely like a Vice Chief Female Official, assisting Luo Zhao in handling official business alongside Shangguan Yunying and participating in the core affairs of the Crown Princess's Palace.
When did this transformation begin?
As Gu Chengyin walked towards the Hall of Civil Affairs, he sorted out the timeline in his mind.
It seemed to be during the few days he was taken away by the Bureau of Clean Officials.
When Gu Chengyin arrived at the Hall of Civil Affairs, the hall doors were already wide open.
Morning light shone through the doors, casting rectangular patches of light on the floor.
With a glance, he saw the scene inside the hall.
Luo Zhao sat behind the central desk, holding a brush and reviewing something.
She wore a casual palace dress, her black hair tied into an exquisite bun, secured with a white jade hairpin.
Her side profile outlined a soft contour in the morning light, her eyelashes lowered, her expression focused.
The perfect posture of a Crown Princess.
The perfect posture of a hypnotized person.
Shangguan Yunying was beside her, holding a stack of documents in her hands, speaking softly about something.
Her complexion looked somewhat pale, with faint dark circles under her eyes, clearly indicating she hadn't slept well last night, or perhaps hadn't slept much at all.
Neither of them noticed Gu Chengyin's arrival.
Gu Chengyin stood at the entrance of the hall, not entering immediately.
He had figured it out by now; as long as he appeared, Luo Zhao would inevitably be in a perfect state of hypnosis.
Last night in the bedchamber had already proven that no amount of stimulation could force out a flaw in her.
Since that was the case, why bother testing someone who might never reveal a flaw in the first place.
Gu Chengyin's gaze swept around the hall.
Then, in front of a bookshelf in the corner, he found the figure of Gu Xiaoli.
Gu Xiaoli stood with her back to the hall doors in front of a bookshelf that was over a person's height.
She was standing on her tiptoes, reaching out to grab a book on the top shelf.
Her movements were somewhat strenuous; she was not tall, and the bookshelf was too high.
Her fingertips were still half a foot away from the book, and no matter how she reached, she couldn't get it.
Morning light shone in from the window beside her, plating a faint golden halo on Gu Xiaoli.
Dust danced in the beam of light like fine gold powder.
Just as Gu Chengyin was about to walk over.
The other two people in the hall finally discovered him.
Both Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying saw Gu Chengyin's appearance.
But their reactions could be called textbook-level natural.
Luo Zhao raised her head and glanced at the hall entrance, her eyes calm and placid.
Then she lowered her head and continued reviewing the documents, as if Gu Chengyin's arrival had nothing to do with her.
Shangguan Yunying's reaction was slightly more expressive. When she saw Gu Chengyin, a light clearly appeared in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.
She nodded slightly as a greeting, and then continued reporting to Luo Zhao, her voice as steady as usual.
It was as if Gu Chengyin was just an insignificant background character.
But just as Gu Chengyin walked towards Gu Xiaoli, Shangguan Yunying's fingers moved extremely slightly beneath the documents.
A small slip of paper slid out from her sleeve, landing silently on the desk.
Then, Luo Zhao's hand holding the brush coincidentally moved over. As the brush tip glided across the paper, she simultaneously used the brush handle to gently push the slip of paper in front of herself.
The entire process was smooth and flowing, so natural it seemed like just a normal movement while reviewing documents.
Now, the two appeared to be intently handling official business.
But in reality...
They were passing notes to each other.
(Shangguan Yunying: Your Highness! Gu Chengyin seems to be going to find Xiaoli! He couldn't have discovered something, right!)
(Luo Zhao: Looking at him, it shouldn't be to interrogate her.)
(Shangguan Yunying: Then should I go intercept him?)
Then, Luo Zhao's reply made Shangguan Yunying's cheeks turn red at a visible speed.
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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.
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!
