Xia Lun was slightly taken aback.
"Aina, did you hear something?"
Aina also looked surprised, covering her mouth. "It seems like there's a sound... coming from the statue."
Xia Lun turned his gaze toward the statue of Lady Ankula before him.
Under the scrutiny of his Insightful Eye, he found nothing unusual—just an ordinary statue.
"Please... lend me your strength."
The voice echoed in Xia Lun's ears once more, but when he glanced around, there were only pedestrians strolling through the square, nothing out of the ordinary.
What was going on?
"Perhaps it's a voice from the Spirit Realm," Aina mused after a moment.
"Spirit Realm?" Xia Lun pondered the unfamiliar term.
"Our world is composed of the Material Realm and the Spirit Realm," Aina explained. "The Spirit Realm is where souls reside. Everything in the Spirit Realm is intrinsically linked to the Material Realm—every living being has a reflection there... Mages with strong spiritual power can deepen their consciousness and enter the Spirit Realm at will. Oh, and witches have studied the Spirit Realm extensively. Their abilities in divination and spirit channeling were learned through exploring it."
"Then why am I hearing a voice from the Spirit Realm?" Xia Lun questioned.
"Isn't it obvious? It's all thanks to me," Aina chuckled, covering her mouth. "It took quite some effort to enhance your spiritual power..."
Xia Lun fell silent.
He could never repay Aina's kindness. It seemed he would have to work even harder in the future.
"Would you like me to take you to the Spirit Realm?" Aina took Xia Lun's hand with a light laugh.
"Please."
Since someone was calling for help, Xia Lun, as a hero, couldn't simply ignore it.
A magic circle lit up beneath Aina's feet, and their figures vanished from the real world.
Only souls could enter the Spirit Realm—their physical bodies had to be safeguarded outside.
"Close your eyes, Xia Lun."
Xia Lun obediently complied. A moment later, a fragrant breeze brushed past him, and Aina pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
Just as Xia Lun was about to speak, the darkness before his eyes suddenly transformed into an entirely new landscape.
Before him stretched an endless expanse of pale emptiness, dotted with countless motes of colored light drifting, swirling, and dancing in the air.
The sensation was strange—though his eyes were closed, he could see everything with perfect clarity.
Xia Lun found Aina standing beside him, dressed in an elegant black gown adorned with simple lace trimmings and folds, perfectly suited to her.
But Aina wasn't holding his hand because... Xia Lun couldn't find himself.
He was now a milky-white orb of light, just like the other motes around him—this was his soul.
"Come, Xia Lun. Imagine your physical form and materialize your soul," Aina beckoned, her tone as if coaxing a cute little pet.
The way she looked at him certainly matched that description... Well, he supposed a round, glowing orb did look rather adorable.
Soon, Xia Lun visualized his body, identical to his real-world appearance, and Aina smiled as she looped her arm through his.
"You're quite talented, Xia Lun."
Xia Lun surveyed their surroundings.
It was as if they stood in a sea of chaos, encircled by countless motes of light, shimmering like stars.
Hmm... the starry sky—that was the most fitting metaphor he could think of. The Spirit Realm felt like an inverted version of the cosmos.
"Each mote... is a soul," Aina explained softly.
In the far distance, several massive, dark-red orbs caught Xia Lun's attention. Compared to the other souls, they were impossibly huge and glaringly conspicuous.
"Those beings... are eldritch gods from other worlds," Aina noted, following Xia Lun's gaze.
"Eldritch gods?" Xia Lun looked genuinely shocked.
Aina nodded. "Mhm... beings from other worlds share the same Spirit Realm with us, so the scum in our world summon those gods through it as a conduit. Oh, and that priest from before—the angel he summoned was also a Spirit Realm entity."
Xia Lun turned his gaze to Aina.
She was in human form, identical to her real-world self, even down to the softness of her chest.
Since Aina wasn't a glowing orb, it was impossible to gauge the true size of her soul.
"Heh, I'm quite formidable. Even other eldritch gods don't dare provoke me," Aina said proudly, puffing out her chest as if she'd read Xia Lun's thoughts.
Xia Lun pinched her little nose playfully.
He couldn't reconcile the image of the Aina who had been begging for mercy just an hour ago with this so-called "formidable" being.
"But... where did that cry for help come from?"
Xia Lun hadn't forgotten their original purpose for coming here.
Yet everything around them seemed peaceful, with souls drifting like fireflies. Xia Lun wasn't sure if touching them would have any adverse effects, so he carefully avoided them.
"If someone in the Spirit Realm can send out a distress call that reaches us, they're likely human—perhaps a witch or something similar," Aina analyzed.
Xia Lun: "Then where is she now?"
Aina slowly closed her eyes.
Suddenly, she raised her hand like a conductor and began waving her fingers. Large swathes of souls scattered, drifting away.
Soon, she had cleared a blank space before them.
Xia Lun blinked.
Within that emptiness was a distinct fissure, embedded like a vertical eye—a wound torn open by some divine force, emanating an eerie glow from within.
At its core, intense light rippled like liquid, casting overlapping waves in the space. Peering inside, countless images flooded Xia Lun's mind.
"It's a temporal rift," Aina said calmly.
"Did the cry for help come from in there?"
"Exactly... It could be from the past or the future," Aina glanced at Xia Lun. "Do you want to go in and take a look, Xia Lun?"
"Is it dangerous?"
"This rift is stable—no risk of collapsing for now," Aina shook her head. "I've already recorded our current temporal coordinates. We can return anytime..."
A spark of excitement flickered in Xia Lun's eyes.
He was an adventurer.
What could be more thrilling than exploring different points in time?
Xia Lun: "The person on the other side is in trouble, right? If she's not a bad person... I want to help her."
"Though, you might be disappointed, Xia Lun... Once we cross over, we won't have physical bodies. We'll just be spectators in the Spirit Realm."
"Let's go first. There might still be a way," Xia Lun kissed his wife's cheek. "After all, you're so incredible, Aina."
Aina smiled warmly. "Then I'll leave it to you... You're right. There might still be a way."
Their figures vanished into the rift.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
