Prize Redemption Center.
There were quite a few people here, almost all of whom had come to claim their lottery prizes.
Of course, the majority of these people had won tens of thousands of yuan, which seemed quite modest compared to Xu Mo's seven million.
In the news, people who come to claim big prizes usually wear masks or other disguises to protect their privacy.
Xu Mo didn’t bother with that. After all, he was the kind of man who had once robbed a bank in front of a live audience—privacy was the least of his concerns.
The redemption process was smooth, with staff guiding him every step of the way. After deducting taxes, Xu Mo walked away with 5.6 million yuan from his seven-million-yuan prize.
He even symbolically donated ten thousand yuan, leaving him with a final sum of 5.59 million.
As soon as he stepped out of the redemption center, his phone buzzed—the money had been deposited.
"Your XX card ending with XXXX has received a deposit of 5,590,000.00 yuan. Current account balance…"
…
Police Station.
While gathered for a smoke break, the officers casually brought up Xu Mo.
"Captain Han, where’s Captain Xu? Haven’t seen him today," one officer asked.
"He took the day off," Han Fei replied. "Said he won the lottery and had no mood to work. Went to claim his prize."
"Won the lottery? How much did he win?" Wang Dachuan asked, curiosity piqued.
"Seven million."
"Seriously?!" The officers perked up, their attention fully on Han Fei.
"Seriously? Nah, I think he’s just exhausted and made up an excuse to take a day off. Spending two hundred yuan on lottery tickets and winning seven million? That’s just nonsense!"
Han Fei didn’t believe in lottery wins, especially ones worth millions.
Hearing this, the officers nodded thoughtfully.
Winning the lottery was impossible, especially a big prize.
"Captain Xu has been working nonstop lately. It’s normal for him to take a day off."
"By the way, do any of you buy lottery tickets?"
"Nah, it’s a waste of money. If I had that kind of cash, I’d rather save it for a few extra packs of cigarettes. At least the money spent on cigarettes contributes to the national defense fund."
"You’ve got a point there. Lottery tickets are just throwing money away. Even Lady Luck wouldn’t win if she bought one."
"Exactly. The lottery is more about statistics than probability. Ordinary people don’t stand a chance."
"Pfft, the lottery? Not even a dog would buy that," Li Chen sneered.
"…"
Han Fei couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
Buying lottery tickets was like tossing money into the void. At least with cigarettes, you got something out of it—a quick pick-me-up, and a portion of the money went toward national defense. Not that he loved smoking, but hey, it’s patriotic.
If we don’t smoke, who’s going to fund the aircraft carriers?
Just as he was lost in thought, a local news notification popped up on his phone.
"Recently, a lottery player in Ram City spent two hundred yuan on tickets and unexpectedly won seven million!"
Han Fei froze as he read the notification.
Why did this story sound so familiar?
Almost instinctively, he unlocked his phone and clicked on the news.
What he saw left him even more stunned.
The article included a photo of the winner standing on the podium. The person in the picture was someone Han Fei knew all too well—it was Xu Mo!
He rubbed his eyes and double-checked the article and the photo.
After scrutinizing it several times, Han Fei finally accepted the truth: Xu Mo had actually won the lottery. Seven million!
Xu Mo hadn’t bothered with a mask or disguise when claiming his prize, mainly because he found it too much of a hassle.
So, when the reporters interviewed him, they captured his face and immediately published the story.
"Captain Han, what’s wrong?" one officer asked, noticing Han Fei’s odd behavior.
Han Fei didn’t even look at the officer, his eyes glued to the phone screen, his mind clearly elsewhere.
"Nothing… nothing…"
Curious, the officer glanced at Han Fei’s phone.
He saw the news too—the photo of Xu Mo on the podium.
Once it sank in, his mind started buzzing. Captain Xu had actually won the lottery!
The other officers noticed the strange expressions on their colleagues’ faces and crowded around.
After reading the news on Han Fei’s phone, they fell silent, so quiet that they could hear each other’s breathing.
They exchanged glances, a mix of shock and awkwardness in their eyes.
Not long ago, they had been gathered around, dismissing the lottery as a scam. Now, they were eating their words because someone they knew had just won seven million.
At the same time, a spark of temptation flickered in their hearts.
The winner wasn’t some random person or a plant—it was someone they knew.
This meant… ordinary people could actually win big!
I was too hasty earlier. I take back what I said. The lottery isn’t something only fools buy. Maybe I should give it a shot… Li Chen thought.
"So it’s actually possible to win…" Wang Dachuan muttered. "Is there a lottery shop near the station?"
"Probably. Why, you want to buy a ticket? Save your money. Captain Xu winning was just a fluke. They must’ve missed him in the statistics," one officer insisted stubbornly.
"Wang, just go home and sleep it off."
"Yeah, why waste your money on that?"
"Exactly. I stand by what I said—the lottery? Not even a dog would buy it!" Li Chen declared.
"…"
These guys were all talk, their words the only tough thing about them.
"Alright, let’s get back to work," Han Fei said, standing up and stubbing out his cigarette before heading back to his office.
The other officers followed suit, returning to their tasks.
The day passed quickly.
After work.
At the lottery shop near the police station.
One officer glanced around nervously, as if he were doing something illegal, before slipping into the shop.
"Boss, one lottery ticket, please!"
As soon as he spoke, someone standing in front of him turned around, looking surprised, confused, and slightly embarrassed…
"Li Chen? What a coincidence… running into you here, haha…"
"Yeah, what a coincidence…" Li Chen’s eye twitched.
As the two stood there, awkwardly processing their encounter in the lottery shop, another familiar voice rang out.
"Boss, one lottery ticket, please!"
…

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.