The moonlight was like water, pouring down the long corridor of the Crown Prince’s palace.
It cast two entwined shadows onto the cold stone tiles, lingering and passionate.
But Gu Chengyin’s thoughts were far gentler than the moonlight at that moment.
Because the system’s hypnosis had failed.
The moment he saw the cold notification, his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.
Gu Chengyin had no idea what had happened.
Nor did he understand why the system’s hypnosis had failed.
Was it because of Lin Qingyan’s inner demon?
Or had some error occurred within the system itself?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but none offered a definite answer.
Yet Gu Chengyin knew one thing: now was not the time to dwell on it.
Because Lin Qingyan was looking at him.
Her clear, cold eyes were full of affection, fixed on him without blinking.
His earlier words still echoed in her ears; her heart had not yet calmed, and her cheeks still held a faint blush.
If he showed even the slightest hint of a flaw…
Given Lin Qingyan’s razor-sharp intuition, she might well uncover his true intentions.
So Gu Chengyin did not hesitate for a moment.
The instant he saw the hypnosis fail, he lowered his head again and kissed Lin Qingyan directly.
This kiss was even more forceful than before, more irresistible.
One arm wrapped around her waist, the other hand cradled the back of her head.
He pressed her against the corridor pillar, kissing her until she could barely breathe.
At this, Lin Qingyan could no longer entertain any suspicion.
Her mind went completely blank.
All thoughts of hypnosis and Luo Zhao were cast to the winds.
She could only passively endure the kiss, her fingers clutching his lapels.
After a long while, Gu Chengyin finally released Lin Qingyan.
In the moonlight, the invincible golden-core immortal was no longer the cool and aloof figure she had been moments before.
She leaned against the pillar, breathing softly, her cheeks flushed.
All she could do was rest in Gu Chengyin’s arms, unable to speak a word.
Gu Chengyin looked at her like this and breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He had managed to cover it up, thanks to his quick reaction.
He had not hesitated or agonized in the slightest after the hypnosis failed.
Otherwise, with Lin Qingyan’s terrifying intuition, even a fleeting pause would have led her straight to the truth.
And this was even after his Dao heart had broken through its limitations.
Gu Chengyin gently patted Lin Qingyan’s back and said softly:
“Little Aunt, we should go back.”
Lin Qingyan buried herself in his arms and hummed softly in acknowledgment, utterly unable to lift her head.
Her face burned intensely; her heart raced as if it might leap from her chest.
Her mind was a fog, incapable of any clear thought.
And Lin Qingyan knew that if she returned looking like this, she would be found out.
She had come out to discuss serious matters with Gu Chengyin—to tell him to stop hypnotizing Luo Zhao, and to relay the plan the three of them had agreed upon.
But now?
The serious matter had been addressed, yet they had also wasted half the evening in the corridor.
If Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli saw them like this, who knew what they would think.
Lin Qingyan took a deep breath, steeling herself to calm down.
With a wave of her hand, spiritual energy swirled around her body, flowing like water.
In an instant, her disheveled clothes were restored, her slightly messy hair tidied, and the blush on her face gradually faded.
If not for her eyes, still glistening with traces of moisture, one could hardly tell what had just happened.
After confirming everything was in order, Lin Qingyan couldn’t help but cast a glance at Gu Chengyin—a look of reproach, shyness, and unmistakable tenderness.
Then she turned, pushed open the door, and re-entered the bedchamber.
Gu Chengyin followed her, watching Lin Qingyan’s back, but his brows were tightly furrowed.
This was the first time he had encountered a failed hypnosis.
In the past, no matter how flawed the system was, it had at least succeeded—even if the effect later broke, it had worked first.
Or it had been evaded by other means, such as Lin Qingyan using her inner demon as a shield, or Luo Zhao using puppets to stage a scene.
But this time, it failed outright, skipping even the success stage.
What the hell was going on?
Gu Chengyin rapidly weighed various possibilities in his mind.
Was it because he had already hypnotized Lin Qingyan’s inner demon, so the system deemed Lin Qingyan herself as already hypnotized and could not be targeted again?
Or was it unrelated to the inner demon—simply a probabilistic failure?
After all, even though the system’s hypnosis claimed to be foolproof, there was still an infinitesimally small chance of failure.
But whichever it was, Gu Chengyin had to find the cause.
If it was a probabilistic failure, then it was fine—he could just hypnotize her multiple times until it worked.
But if the hypnosis failed because he had already hypnotized the inner demon, then the implication was entirely different.
It would mean he could never fully control Lin Qingyan.
And given her cultivation level and mastery over her inner demon, she could easily make the hypnosis land on the demon every single time, while remaining unharmed herself.
Gu Chengyin’s brow furrowed even deeper.
The reason he wanted to completely control Lin Qingyan was actually quite simple.
Lin Qingyan indeed loved him deeply and was currently very obedient.
But this was a conscious obedience, not an unconditional one.
This was clear from the outcome of their earlier discussion.
Lin Qingyan did not want him to continue hypnotizing Luo Zhao.
From her personal perspective, it was because she believed she could protect Gu Chengyin.
But from Gu Chengyin’s perspective, this was a hidden danger.
A problem that now seemed trivial, barely worth mentioning—
Yet it could very well become a fatal blow on some future day.
Loyalty that is not absolute equals absolute disloyalty.
This was different from the system’s unreliability.
Although this damn system’s hypnosis was indeed frustratingly flawed,
Gu Chengyin had always believed it was because he hadn’t fully understood it yet.
Once he completely grasped and mastered the traits and rules of hypnosis,
He would truly possess a divine skill that ignored differences in cultivation and realms.
By then, even if a celestial being descended, Gu Chengyin would dare to challenge it head-on.
That was why he used hypnosis again and again, tirelessly.
Because every failure and every pitfall increased his understanding of the skill.
A true expert would not abandon a tool just because of a few setbacks, dismissing it as worthless.
Instead, through repeated use and growth, they would become more proficient, until they reached the level of perfection.
A true master always holds the heart of a novice.
And a system capable of enhancing cultivation with such fierce efficiency—
How could its hypnosis possibly be so trashy?
The fact that it could bypass realms to control Lin Qingyan’s inner demon already proved it was far from weak.
Therefore, the fault must lie in his own method of use. He simply didn’t understand hypnosis well enough.
Gu Chengyin reaffirmed this belief.
There are no useless skills—only incompetent users.
He took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing his chaotic thoughts,
And followed Lin Qingyan back into the bedchamber.
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!
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!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
