"The time has come—pay up~~~"
The voice was robust, yet carried an eerie undertone that sent chills down everyone's spine.
Upon hearing this familiar voice, Ye Qing's face instantly lit up with joy.
"Master, is that you?"
Ye Qing was overcome with excitement. In his subconscious, he had already begun regarding the Loan Hero as one of his masters.
The next moment, the space around Ye Qing twisted violently.
A middle-aged man in a blue suit emerged from the spatial distortion as if stepping through a doorway.
In an instant, the entire Destiny Association fell into stunned silence.
Even Vice President Xu Rong, standing at the podium, felt his breath hitch.
The Loan Hero... had arrived.
"Master... Master, you've come for me?" Ye Qing's shamelessness knew no bounds.
His declaration of "master" nearly short-circuited everyone's brains.
This guy... was Ye Qing's master???
What kind of joke was this?!
As members of the Destiny Association, they were well aware of the Loan Hero's infamous reputation. They had even spent considerable resources trying to negotiate with him in the past.
But this man was unyielding—interested only in loans!
His strength was unfathomable, appearing and vanishing without a trace. Even their Pavilion Master dared not make an enemy of him.
Vice Pavilion Master Xu Rong instinctively took two steps back. They had developed a psychological fear of the Loan Hero—this guy had already abducted seven or eight of their members, and their whereabouts remained unknown.
But what shocked him even more was that the Loan Hero was Ye Qing's master?
If only you'd said so earlier... I would've handed over my Vice Pavilion Master position to you without a second thought!
Xu Rong knew full well that despite possessing the "Super Divine Gene" golden finger, he was still no match for the Loan Hero.
"Master... You don't mind me calling you that, right?"
Ye Qing spoke with an ingratiating smile.
The Loan Hero, who had just completed his spatial teleportation, was utterly baffled. "Who the hell is your master?"
"You are! You've saved me in my darkest moments multiple times. Surely, you saw my cultivation talent and set these trials for me..."
"No need to explain—I understand."
With that, Ye Qing dropped to his knees and, with lightning speed, kowtowed three times before the Loan Hero.
"Master, please accept this disciple's bow!"
This shameless display left everyone dumbfounded.
"You... Who the hell said I'm your master? Stop making things up!"
The Loan Hero couldn't hold back. In all his years wandering the martial world, this was the first time someone had knelt and declared themselves his disciple out of nowhere.
Ye Qing froze. For someone as confident as him, this outcome had never crossed his mind.
"Listen, kid, kneeling won't get you out of debt."
The Loan Hero pulled out a yellowed IOU from his pocket, stamped with Ye Qing's fingerprint.
"Debtor: Ye Qing. Outstanding debt: 1 billion. Plus half of the antique treasure vault you promised..."
Ye Qing's jaw dropped. He was really here to collect?!
"I... I don't have the money!"
"You don't have the money???" The Loan Hero's smile vanished instantly, his voice rising several octaves.
Beside him, Xu Rong grew anxious and tugged at Ye Qing's sleeve.
"Did he actually loan you anything?"
Ye Qing nodded blankly. "Yeah, twice. Once when I was captured by the mortal world... he got me out."
Xu Rong facepalmed.
Game over.
Anyone who borrowed from him never ended well.
"Ye Qing, you're on your own now."
Panicked, Ye Qing turned back to the Loan Hero.
"Bro, I'm broke... but my cultivation is top-notch! I'm a Half-Step Grandmaster—I can work for you!"
"What does your grandma being a Half-Step Grandmaster have to do with me?"
"No money? Fine. You're coming with me..."
The middle-aged man opened a spatial portal, preparing to drag Ye Qing away.
But then—another figure descended from above.
Cloaked in black robes, sleeves fluttering, radiating an aura of undeniable power.
"Hold on, sir."
The speaker had a youthful face but utterly ordinary features—the kind you'd forget in a crowd.
The moment Xu Rong and the others saw him, they erupted with excitement.
"Pavilion Master! You're here?"
The Pavilion Master possessed a "Check-In System"—daily rewards for signing in at different locations. His strength was unfathomable, rumored to have deep ties with both the Earth Pavilion and Heaven Pavilion. He was the most enigmatic existence within the Destiny Association's "Human Pavilion."
Ignoring the others, the Pavilion Master locked eyes with the Loan Hero.
"Sir, how much does he owe? The Destiny Association will cover it."
The Loan Hero glanced at the IOU.
"Debtor: Ye Qing. Amount: 1 billion..."
The Pavilion Master chuckled. "A mere billion? Pocket change."
"Uh... that's just one loan. Ye Qing also promised us half of his inherited treasure vault. Our appraisal puts its total value at 1.2 trillion minimum—half is 600 billion."
If Jiang Che were here, he'd be laughing his head off. The treasure vault was in his hands, and he knew its true worth—about 120 billion at most, counting the hundred tons of gold. This Loan Hero had inflated it tenfold!
The Pavilion Master's composure cracked. "1.2 trillion?! You might as well rob us!"
The suited man shrugged. Since Ye Qing had already burned the original IOU, why not aim high?
After a moment's thought, the Pavilion Master sized up Ye Qing, then the Loan Hero.
"On second thought, Ye Qing has nothing to do with us. Take him."
Loan Hero: "..."
Ye Qing: "..."
Ye Qing was genuinely speechless. Sold out just like that?!
What infuriated him most was that a Half-Step Grandmaster like him wasn't even worth 600 billion?!
The Loan Hero shot Ye Qing a sidelong glance.
"Let's go. If you're truly broke, I’ll have to sell you to a... friend of mine."
For some reason, Ye Qing felt a sudden chill down his spine.
Sell... sell him?! This guy dealt in human trafficking too?!
Now Ye Qing saw the "Transcendent Realm Master" for what he truly was—no saint by any means.
A demonic cultivator, perhaps?
"Pavilion Master... save me!"
The next second, the Loan Hero hoisted Ye Qing under his arm and activated the spatial portal.
But then—a devastating gale erupted, carrying the faint roar of a dragon.
"Did I say you could leave? Today, I’ll test your limits."
Naturally, these words came from none other than the Destiny Association's Pavilion Master.
This "Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms," obtained through his check-in system, unleashed heaven-shaking force—nearly blowing the conference hall's roof clean off.
Vice Pavilion Master Xu Rong struggled to stay on his feet, while the other Chosen Ones were sent flying.
Yet, when such a terrifying attack struck Loan Hero and Ye Qing, it passed right through their bodies without stopping, as if both of them had turned into intangible, ghostly figures.
Loan Hero let out a cold laugh before swiftly escorting Ye Qing through the teleportation gate.
"Still trying to ambush me? Do you even understand the power of a conceptual deity?" As long as he was in the process of collecting debts, he was invincible!
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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."
iving with nine beautiful women. [Ding! Welcome back to the Joyous Sect, Host…] Lin Yu: ??? I’m clearly in a shared rental, but you’re saying I’m in the Joyous Sect? Watering plants is now [Tending to Spiritual Flora]? Cooking becomes [Researching Elixirs]? Making the bed turns into [Setting Up Formations]? A gentle and innocent auntie, twin classmates, a mysterious hacker girl on leave, a severely socially anxious artist, an elementary school Chinese teacher, a community hospital nurse, a pet shop owner, an antique clock restorer… This system… is kinda interesting.
wed him to see the innate talent, destiny, and future of those he invested in. The greater the destiny of his target, the richer the rewards he would reap. Then he discovered that the aloof girl next door, his childhood sweetheart, possessed the highest-grade crimson destiny—a future destined to reign supreme as the Empress of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. Lately, she seemed troubled, pondering how to unlock her sealed meridians and unleash her talents ahead of time... — — — My name is Ying Bing, one of the Nine Heavenly Sovereigns, titled the Phoenix Empress, reigning invincibly over the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. I have been reborn and bound to a Peerless Genius System, where ranking first among my peers grants me rewards. [Would you like to activate the Punishment Mechanism?] [Upon activation, rewards will increase, but after the rankings are announced, you must carry out the "Punishment of the Defeated" on the top-ranked individual.] Ying Bing: "I can’t very well punish myself, can I?" — — — Years later. Ying Bing: "Can’t you let me win just once?" Li Mo: "First, call me 'husband' properly—I didn’t hear it clearly last time."
