Volume One, Chapter 43: Partner Assignment

“Take back our world?”
Montage murmured, as if a blaze had been ignited within his chest.
Until now, his only concern had been survival and making life better for himself and his family.
He had never thought of venturing beyond the barricades, never considered seeing the world outside.
But now, Elder Jiang had awakened something in him, reminding him that there was a vast world waiting beyond these walls.
“Can I participate in the assessment as well? I want to go out on missions too,” Montage asked.
“You want to go too?” Elder Jiang was momentarily stunned, then revealed an expression as if he had expected it all along.
Anyone with even a sliver of ambition, upon learning of the chance to witness a broader world...
The scroll lay across Wu Chen’s lap, unfurling from the seat to the carriage floor, and he still held half of it unopened in his hands—the wealth of information was plain to see.
This was the first truly challenging task that Yang Xu had taken on since becoming Chen Feng’s special assistant.
Upon hearing that her son might be sent away, Mother Wang continued to boss Wang Mei around.
The members of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect all wore mocking expressions, and even Qin Zhengyang’s face bore a trace of a smile.
After saying this, no one really knew how he did it, but Tang Wan suddenly felt her vision blur, and then, before she knew it, she was enveloped in an embrace redolent with the scent of medicine.
Jiang Yunqi arrived, still sporting her strikingly beautiful pink hair and wearing blue contact lenses.
Ruan Li finally relaxed, thinking that with Fu Huaizhou leaving first, if he was still upset in a few days, she could always go back and make amends.

They loaded a bag of rice into the bamboo basket first, pressed down a barrel of oil, a sack of flour, several bags of salt, and finally added Chinese cabbage and cabbage.
Although these six thousand men were under the Eastern Palace’s banner, in reality, their pay and appointments were all controlled by the emperor.
Whenever she saw Yi Qing’s considerate behavior, Mu Zhen’s heart ached for him. But parents couldn’t always stay by their children’s side; perhaps this early maturity would serve him well in the future.
She peeled a few potatoes, grabbed two handfuls of corn grits, and made a meal of cornmeal porridge. With little food at home, they had to make do.
As long as they could sell the rune beast raw stones, they’d make a profit—unless, of course, every rune beast stone turned out to be worth far more than the raw stone itself.
Xiang Xueqin really hadn’t understood Tian Guozhong’s true purpose for this trip; she thought he was simply a lobbyist sent by the party committee, acting for the sake of Commander Zhang Qingshan. She felt grateful to both Tian Guozhong and the committee.
As a seasoned underground operative, Chen Xin understood the importance of secrecy, but it wasn’t easy to refuse outright—this was his chance to demonstrate his tact.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” Luo Rulong replied, already pondering whether this opportunity to help Zhang Ruolan improve her skills might also allow him to win her over.
No one knew how much time had passed before Luo Rulong woke from his stupor, his head searing with pain, as if countless ants were gnawing away at his brain, making him cry out in agony.
“I may not know what Sixth Brother meant by ‘Devourers of the Ancient’—but I’m doing well. Over the last ten years, I’ve gone from the ninth level of Qi Refinement to mid-stage Profound Understanding.” Kong Ning turned to smile playfully, as if Zheng Fan’s uncertainty had made him want to live even longer.
Liu Mengmeng’s ear was suddenly in her mother’s hand; she cried out in pain, begging her mother to be gentler.
Jiang Caiqing turned to look at him and finally said, “I didn’t see anything.” If Wei Yang knew he had used his jade pendant and Water Chain to bargain, the man would have come after him with a knife. He just didn’t want Ye Weiyang to get angry, so he hadn’t told the truth.
“Where is he… How could he just disappear?!” Li Zhengqu muttered to himself as he looked at the empty ground, too distracted to answer his second son’s question.
Amon nodded. If they could really capture the Song army’s supervising prince, they would have a huge advantage in negotiations with the Song court, and with Western Xia’s support, founding a nation might no longer be a mere dream.
Stowing away the Ash Spirit Flying Boat, Xie Yun stood by the sea of flames, narrowing his eyes as he gazed into its distant end.
The three of us entered the room. The doctor wanted to follow but was stopped by Brother Cat, who led him aside and said a few words. The doctor walked away, shaking his head helplessly. Neither Feng Xue nor I cared what Brother Cat said; all our attention was on Wu Qingsong.
News that Mo Kui and the others had been captured by a mysterious military force was still spreading in the eastern part of Yanjing. People speculated about which unit this force belonged to, and rumors flourished in several different versions.

Wu Zhi listened as he poured out these secrets like spilling beans from a bamboo tube, and couldn’t help but laugh. The Grand Mentor did his duty, but his apprentice was outrageous—just a few words and he’d sold him out completely. If Zhao Ji heard, wouldn’t Chen Jing lose his head on the spot?
Chen Wuxiang watched his grandfather perform a graceful set of Tai Chi in the courtyard, the entire Chen style flowing like clouds and water, then suddenly as thunderous as a storm.
Cheng Ming’s heart skipped; he bowed and said, “I shall summon him at once.” He turned away, joy on his face, certain that Prince Gui intended to promote Zhang Shun.
I gently patted Mang Qing’s warm, smooth scales. I knew she could understand me. Though she had lost her cultivation, her intelligence was awakened—aside from not being able to speak, she was no different from me.
“Duanmu Xuan, you’re threatening me? Let’s see how I deal with you!” Mu Yi, of course, knew Duanmu Xuan was only joking. The two left the county office, escorting Emperor Wei all the way to Luoyang, laughing and teasing each other.
Top-tier graphics, top-tier character modeling, top-tier social interaction—all of it drew young people into obsession.
Stardust avoided Lezheng Longya’s gaze, looking like a child waiting for punishment after doing something wrong.
“So what do you think of the training I arranged for Rong’er today?” Gu He’an saw the conversation slipping further off-topic and did his best to pull it back.
Then Fang Ran saw Fusu reach out her hand, her voice gentle and touched with the caring tolerance of an older sister.
After the Emperor Zuntong left, Luo Tianyi returned to her residence. She didn’t really know what the emperor was up to—wouldn’t it be easier to just banish someone from the palace and cut ties completely?
Aurelia stared in shock at the distant, unknown, and terrifying darkness, as if everything she’d ever known was being upended.
Others might not understand the difficulty, but Lauteren, as Britain’s king of intellect, knew it all too well. For most, this was impossible—getting everything right was unheard of.
Though broken, the Sea God’s Trident, once wielded by a deity, still retained some power. The fragment, carefully polished by Cang Ye, could seal a curse—but only seal it, nothing more.
“Contradictory!” Old Liu had spared Mu Rong’s pride by not spelling it out, but Mu Rong picked up where he left off.
With a look of surprise, they watched a contestant pass by and, unable to put their amazement into words, simply asked a vague question.