Gu Chengyin had never been the sort of man who thought with his lower half.
Anyone who knew him understood that.
The attraction between men and women was only human nature—the natural law of yin and yang coming together, one of the most ordinary things in the world.
But it was not mandatory, much less the goal of life.
Gu Chengyin could enjoy it, or he could let it go.
That was why it could never become his weakness, nor could it ever serve as the basis for his decisions.
From the very first time he hypnotized Luo Zhao, his purpose had been perfectly clear.
He had not done it to manipulate this peerlessly beautiful Crown Prince.
Even though he had countless opportunities—even though he could have turned Luo Zhao into the most obedient pet long ago—Gu Chengyin had never done so.
Because hypnosis was a means, not an end.
He used hypnosis to make Luo Zhao listen, to make her obey, and to ensure that she would not cause trouble at crucial moments.
That was his bottom line. His principle.
Gu Chengyin had never crossed that line, nor had he ever considered doing so.
But things were different now.
There was no hypnosis this time.
Luo Zhao was doing it willingly.
She was not being forced. She was not being controlled. Her mind had not been affected by drugs or sorcery.
Rather, she had wholeheartedly chosen to become the most obedient little dog.
She naturally obeyed any command Gu Chengyin gave her.
There was no need for hypnosis, threats, or even an exchange of benefits. He did not even need to open his mouth.
Luo Zhao had already placed herself in that position.
What did that mean?
It meant that if Gu Chengyin wanted her, he could have her at any time.
There was no need for buildup, no need for foreplay, no need for any unnecessary gestures.
All it would take was a single word, and Luo Zhao would obediently surrender everything to him.
She would not resist. She would not refuse. She might even be overjoyed.
So for Gu Chengyin, this was a choice he had to make.
Not whether he could, but whether he wanted to.
If this had been any ordinary man, he would never have understood what there was to consider.
Of course he would take her.
Not only would he take her—he would devour her, greedily and ravenously.
The peerlessly beautiful Crown Prince, kneeling obediently before him and calling him Master.
Whatever he said, she would listen. Whatever he ordered, she would do.
Any man who refused such a stunning beauty when she had offered herself to him would be an idiot.
So he would not merely take her. He would take her in every possible way, using every trick he knew.
He would leave her unable to get out of bed, make her cry and beg for mercy, and ensure that she would never again dare to act arrogantly in front of him.
That was how an ordinary man would think.
But Gu Chengyin was not an ordinary man.
Setting everything else aside, even his self-control was beyond what an ordinary man could possess.
And the reason he was hesitating was not indecisiveness.
Quite the contrary. It was precisely because he was so decisive that Gu Chengyin understood more clearly.
Once certain decisions were made, there was no turning back.
That was why he needed to think it through.
He needed to consider exactly what consequences would follow if he took Luo Zhao.
This was not a simple question of right and wrong.
It was a complex problem involving multiple interests and individuals, one where a single disturbance could affect everything.
First, there was the Dao-heart immunity.
This had always concerned Gu Chengyin.
At present, he had no defenses against Luo Zhao, nor any warnings telling him to be cautious.
It was as though Luo Zhao’s existence were safe and harmless, something he had no need to guard against.
For other people, that would be a good thing. One less person to be wary of meant one less burden and less energy wasted.
But not for Gu Chengyin.
Dao-heart immunity meant that, without realizing it, he might be pushed toward a path he had not yet decided whether he wanted to take.
Next was Lin Qingyan’s intuition.
Lin Qingyan’s intuition had never been wrong.
If she said Luo Zhao was plotting something even more terrifying than monopolizing him, then such a thing certainly existed.
If she said Luo Zhao had a way to make him forget her, then some such method certainly existed as well.
Even Lin Qingyan herself could not explain where these intuitive warnings came from.
But Gu Chengyin knew they were real.
Because Lin Qingyan’s intuition had never arisen out of thin air.
It was an instinct that surpassed the five senses and transcended logic.
If Lin Qingyan’s intuition was warning her about Luo Zhao, that meant Luo Zhao must be hiding something capable of driving Lin Qingyan into qi deviation.
Moreover, quite apart from anything else, the relationship between Lin Qingyan and Luo Zhao was not something an ordinary person could withstand.
It was complicated and delicate, filled with tension and maneuvering, occupying a gray area somewhere between hostility and intimacy.
In that gray area, what was it that allowed Lin Qingyan to keep Luo Zhao under her thumb?
Her status.
That was Lin Qingyan’s armor. Her weapon.
It was the source of the ease with which she handled Luo Zhao—and every other woman.
But if Gu Chengyin took Luo Zhao, the entire situation would undergo a fundamental transformation.
Would Lin Qingyan still be able to keep Luo Zhao under her thumb then?
Gu Chengyin did not know.
But based on his understanding of both Lin Qingyan and Luo Zhao, the answer was most likely no.
When facing an external enemy, Lin Qingyan could remain calm and rational.
But when confronted with a challenge from someone closest to her, emotion often gained the upper hand.
She would become jealous and uneasy. She would do things that even she herself considered unthinkable.
And Luo Zhao?
The frightening thing about Luo Zhao was that she never confronted anyone head-on.
She would not argue, make a scene, or tear away the façade.
She would only endure. She would only wait.
Her forbearance was not weakness; it was strategy.
Her silence was not surrender; it was preparation.
If the clear boundary between these two women disappeared, if their delicate balance were lost, what would happen?
Five words appeared in Gu Chengyin’s mind:
A collision between fire and earth.
Lin Qingyan’s flames and Luo Zhao’s glaciers would not cancel each other out, nor would they neutralize one another.
They would only trigger an unprecedented explosion.
And Gu Chengyin would be at the center of it all.
Just thinking about it made his temples throb faintly.
But since he was already here, he might as well do something first.
Whether he would take her or not was another matter.
With that, Gu Chengyin stepped toward Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao visibly shuddered from head to toe.
The tremor was so pronounced that even the hands covering her face shook with it.
The eyes visible between her fingers flew wide, her pupils contracting violently in that instant.
Then they slowly widened again, so slowly that it seemed she was struggling to adjust to something.
To the pressure brought on by Gu Chengyin’s approach.
To the warmth of his body and the mingled scent of his presence, growing clear and intense at such close range.
To the pounding of her heart, beating so fast that her chest seemed to ache.
Luo Zhao’s fingers tightened unconsciously, her nails digging more deeply into her palms.
The pain brought her a little clarity—but only a little.
Gu Chengyin was too close.
Close enough for her to make out the direction of every crease in his clothes.
Close enough to feel the warm current of air stirred by his breathing as it brushed across every inch of her exposed skin.
Then Luo Zhao heard Gu Chengyin’s voice.
More precisely, she heard his command:
“Your Highness, clean me up.”
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
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!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
