After a stick of incense, the crowd's eyes regained clarity, but their gazes remained fervent, reflecting the undeniable charm of Hong Li. However, when they looked back at the stage, the crimson-clad figure had vanished.
"Where's Miss Hong Li!"
"Don't leave! I galloped here from Dongwu Prefecture for five days and nights just to catch a glimpse of Miss Hong Li's beauty."
"Miss Hong Li, I want to redeem you!"
...
In the midst of the clamoring, a mature woman in her thirties, looking like a ripe peach, sashayed onto the stage, fanning herself.
"Dear esteemed guests, Miss Hong Li has finished her dance and has gone to rest," she chuckled seductively.
The guests immediately voiced their dissatisfaction. Seeing this, the mature woman quickly added, "Please, don't be anxious. There will be another chance to meet Miss Hong Li."
"What chance?" a mischievous voice shouted from the crowd.
"Miss Hong Li has posed a riddle. Anyone who can solve it will be granted the opportunity to join her in the back courtyard for wine and a late-night chat," she explained.
The crowd grew excited and began clamoring for the riddle.
The mature woman instructed a servant to fetch it. Shortly, the servant, holding a wooden tray with a scroll on it, respectfully stepped onto the stage.
From the second floor, Gu Qingfeng's eyes lit up upon seeing the scroll. Could today be another day for him to shine?
Having read countless web novels, he was well-acquainted with such scenarios.
The protagonist visits a brothel, recites Tang or Song dynasty poetry from memory, stuns everyone, wins the admiration of the courtesan, and enjoys her services for free!
Who would have thought such luck would fall upon him?
The Three Hundred Tang Poems? He was familiar with them!
Any literate person from the vast lands of China could recite a few poems, and each one would be considered a masterpiece here.
Bring on the riddle! Whether it's about love, nature, or lamenting the passage of time, any theme would do. With five thousand years of Chinese cultural heritage, no matter how obscure the riddle, he could find a fitting poem.
Soon, under the crowd's urging, the mature woman unrolled the scroll.
To everyone's surprise, the scroll was a painting filled with a myriad of flowers in full bloom—peonies, roses, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, crabapple flowers... Counting roughly, there were over a hundred varieties.
Gu Qingfeng smiled upon seeing this. A theme about flowers? That was too easy! He could think of at least ten poems off the top of his head.
Which one to choose?
"Grieving over the passing of time, tears fall like dew on the flowers; separated by fate, even the birds are startled by our sorrow." Hmm, not quite fitting.
"Where has the face gone that once greeted me? The peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze." A bit too melancholic.
"The spring colors overflow the garden, unable to be contained; a single red apricot extends beyond the wall." Ah! This one's perfect!
Just as Gu Qingfeng was pondering, the mature woman suddenly shook the painting vigorously. Instantly, something miraculous happened.
The flowers on the scroll came to life, spilling out of the painting and filling the entire stage in the blink of an eye!
The once spacious stage had transformed into a garden.
In an instant, thousands of flowers competed for beauty, a riot of colors, with butterflies fluttering and bees buzzing, filling the air with a refreshing floral fragrance.
"Another illusion?" Gu Qingfeng was momentarily stunned. "Do they have to make reciting a poem this elaborate?"
"Dear esteemed guests, this is the 'Garden of Flowers in Full Bloom' painted by Miss Hong Li herself. Though it's an illusion, three of these flowers are real. The riddle for today is to find those three real flowers from the sea of blossoms. Each person is allowed to pick only one. This means only three people will be able to go to the back courtyard and meet Miss Hong Li. Now, begin!"
Gu Qingfeng was dumbfounded. Wasn't it supposed to be a poetry riddle? How did it turn into identifying illusions?
But then he thought, this was, after all, a world of martial arts and fantasy, not a world similar to ancient China.
In this realm, warriors were the dominant force, and there was no place for literati and accomplished poets. So, of course, the riddle wouldn't be about poetry; it would be related to martial arts.
Ah, novels have misled me!
Before his transmigration, Gu Qingfeng had read many novels where the protagonist recited poetry in a fantasy world, earning gasps of admiration. But upon careful consideration, how could that be possible?
In a world where the strong ruled and the weak bowed, who would care about poetry? A strong warrior's insights on cultivation would be far more appealing.
However, identifying illusions wasn't something Gu Qingfeng feared. With his soul power comparable to that of a grandmaster, such illusions were child's play.
"Wang Fatty, Xu Daizi, come on, let's go down and have some fun," Gu Qingfeng called out to his companions, ready to descend.
But then Xu Daizi suddenly chimed in, "Master Gu, Wang Fatty already went down."
Damn you, Wang Fatty!
Gu Qingfeng's forehead creased as he looked toward the stage and saw a three-hundred-pound fatty squeezing through the crowd searching for flowers.
Thud thud thud...
Gu Qingfeng also made his way downstairs.
By now, many had already picked a flower from the garden and approached the mature woman for verification. However, as soon as they took a step, the flowers in their hands dissipated like illusions.
Realizing they had picked fake flowers, those individuals stood there, pounding their chests in frustration, lamenting their lost chance at a romantic encounter.
Gu Qingfeng ignored the others and, with a gentle sweep of his soul power, immediately located the real flowers. Without hesitation, he plucked one and handed it to the mature woman beside him.
The mature woman, seeing how quickly Gu Qingfeng found a real flower, her peach-shaped eyes flashed with surprise and she quickly congratulated him.
Then, addressing the crowd, she announced, "Let us all congratulate this gentleman for being the first to find a real flower."
At this, the guests erupted in murmurs, all eyes turning to Gu Qingfeng. Some powerful warriors, sensing his cultivation level at Qi Gathering Fourth Layer, were even more astonished.
They hadn't expected Gu Qingfeng to be so quick.
However, they only paused for a moment before continuing their search, as Gu Qingfeng had taken one flower, leaving only two.
"Esteemed sir, please follow me to the back courtyard," a maid approached Gu Qingfeng, respectfully inviting him.
Gu Qingfeng nodded, ready to step into the back courtyard under the envious gazes of the crowd. But then, he was stopped by Wang Fatty.
Sweating profusely, Wang Fatty squeezed through the crowd and approached Gu Qingfeng, his face full of flattery. "Master Gu, you're truly amazing to have found one so quickly. Could you... perhaps help me find one too?"
Gu Qingfeng smiled faintly. "Want my help? No problem, one hundred taels."
Wang Fatty's face turned pale. "One... one hundred taels? Master Gu, I don't have that kind of money!"
No money? Then why did you dare to order a Huaji? Don't you know the price of a Huaji is one hundred taels? You're waiting to be thrown out of Heavenly Fragrance Tower.
Wang Fatty's face changed dramatically. He quickly pleaded, "Master Gu, you're joking, right? You said today's expenses are on you!"
Gu Qingfeng's eyes widened. "You knew it was my treat and still dared to order a flower girl? That's double the offense. You're in for it now!"
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.
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
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?!”
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!
