Spirit Realm.
The head of the Chaos Demon God crashed onto the ground.
This time, the headless corpse stood rigidly in place. There was no wriggling flesh and blood at the neck, no regrowing new head—only a dead, silent cross-section. The surging waves of the sea of blood gradually smoothed out, as if the entire world was holding its breath in anticipation.
"How is this possible? You... you can also wield Chaos Force?"
The Chaos Demon God's voice drifted out from his severed head, stripped of his previous composure and trembling with unmasked disbelief. He could feel power draining nonstop from the gash on his neck, like an hourglass tipped upside down, irreversible.
Chaos Force is a power that merges the essence of the Celestial Race and the Demon Race. Even Aeseth only commanded a diluted, impure version of it, yet that power was still unmatched, and had caused Xia Lun tremendous trouble.
But right now, the Chaos Demon God could clearly sense that the sword that had pierced through his soul carried a far purer, far more fatal breath of Chaos.
The head rolled half a circle on the ground, and the Chaos Demon God used his last remaining strength to adjust his field of vision, looking toward the figure standing tall with a sword in hand.
The Chaos Demon God did catch a flicker of black qi flashing across the long sword in Xia Lun's grip—there was no mistaking it, that was the power of Chaos.
The next moment, the Chaos Demon God's eyes widened sharply.
He was stunned to see that both of Xia Lun's eye sockets were now empty.
Xia Lun had gouged his own eyes out!
The Chaos Demon God instantly understood. The Eye of Insight was originally a Demon God relic Aina had seized from the Fictional Truth, and it inherently held the origin of the Demon Race. Xia Lun had sacrificed those eyes, fusing the power within them with his own soul, and had managed to conjure a wisp of true Chaos Force in the blink of an eye.
Even with such a steep price, he had only gained that single wisp of Chaos Force, enough for just one sword strike. But that was more than enough—that tiny sliver of Chaos power was more than capable of shattering the Chaos Demon God's soul.
If the Chaos Demon God had deliberately dodged, if Xia Lun's strike had missed, everything would have turned out completely different.
But there are no "ifs" in reality.
The end was sealed, and victory belonged to Xia Lun.
The Chaos Demon God's soul began to disintegrate, like a guttering candle in the wind, flickering unsteadily. The vast sea of blood beneath his feet also started to dry up and shrink.
"Is there anything else you wish to say?" Xia Lun turned to face the Chaos Demon God. Even though he no longer had eyes, his fusion with the Spirit Realm let him perceive everything around him.
"It seems humans are the most unpredictable race in the universe," the Chaos Demon God's voice grew faint and drifting. "They always manage to pull off stunning, unexpected variables in the depths of despair."
He let out a soft sigh, his face showing no trace of anger or unwillingness.
Just as he had said earlier, he had never truly cared how things would end up.
To this world, he had been nothing more than an onlooker, an audience member.
"Then I have one last question," Xia Lun said, his gaze fixed intently on the Chaos Demon God.
"Go ahead," the Chaos Demon God replied casually. "I'll answer. That's the privilege the victor deserves."
"Aina is..."
But no sooner had Xia Lun gotten the question out than he saw the Chaos Demon God's features twist sharply.
Right after that, his soul caught fire like dry hay, dissolving faster and faster until it vanished without a trace in a matter of moments.
Xia Lun: ...
There were no cheers of victory, no grand reflections on the end of a crisis. Xia Lun stood there, opening his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. He only let out a soft sigh, and his figure quickly dissipated in the Spirit Realm.
...
"Mr. Xia Lun is waking up."
"He's alright!"
Xia Lun's eyelids fluttered slightly. Before he could even open his eyes, a voice rang out beside him—clear as ice crystals clinking together, softened deliberately to carry a tone of deep respect.
Xia Lun opened his eyes.
He still could not see a thing.
Back in the Spirit Realm, he had sacrificed his own eyes. The Eye of Insight was still lodged in his eye sockets, but the soul that had anchored it was gone, and it would not be long before the relic itself decayed and dissolved. The once vivid blue of his pupils had turned a dull, milky white.
But even robbed of his sight, Xia Lun could still sense everything around him.
It's a little cold...
The one tending to him seemed to be a very beautiful... woman made of ice. Her energy field was steady and immensely powerful, clearly marking her as a deity.
Further away, there were other sources of energy—some blazing bright as the sun, some deep and dark as the night, some shifting and unpredictable. They all kept a respectful distance, their presence laced with reverence and quiet concern.
"Are you well, Mr. Xia Lun?" the woman's voice came, full of deference. "Thanks to you for slaying the Chaos Demon God... the entire universe will remember your feat."
"I'm fine."
Xia Lun waved a hand. "And you are?"
"I am the Frost Queen. You and the Scarlet Goddess once visited my world... I owe you my thanks for stepping in back then. I truly could not leave my domain at the time."
"Aina is..."
Xia Lun jolted into awareness, ignoring his exhaustion as he pushed himself up from where he lay.
"She's right here beside you, but she shows no signs of waking up yet," the Frost Queen replied. "What exactly happened in that... Spirit Realm?"
Xia Lun's face paled, and his body swayed unsteadily, nearly falling back down. The Frost Queen quickly reached out to support him. A wave of cold emanating from her helped clear his foggy mind.
In Xia Lun's perception, another vast sea of magic power, as grand as a field of stars, drew near.
It was the Arcane Sage.
"How is the situation outside?"
Before the Arcane Sage could speak, Xia Lun took the initiative to ask first.
"There were sacrifices... but the crisis has been resolved," the Arcane Sage paused for a split second, clearly not expecting Xia Lun to be so calm and prioritize the bigger picture first. "We'll handle all the aftermath work."
"Good to hear." Xia Lun nodded, his tone revealing no discernible emotion.
He slowly crouched down, reaching out to grope around. The Frost Queen gently guided his arm, until his fingertips brushed against Aina's cold back.
At that touch, Xia Lun's shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly.
"The Scarlet Goddess is..."
The Arcane Sage looked over at Aina's still form lying nearby.
"She's just having a little problem... what about the Eternal Years? Can he help..." Xia Lun suddenly lifted his head to ask.
"Unfortunately, the Scarlet Goddess's cultivation level is far too high. The time laws the Eternal Years wields barely affect her at all," the Arcane Sage shook his head.
"Is that so... but there's no need to worry. She will be alright," Xia Lun said softly, carrying a conviction that no ordinary person could understand. He then leaned over and lifted Aina's body into his arms. "In that case, if there's nothing else, we'll head back first."
Aina's body was light, no heavier than a wisp of condensed mist. Her silver hair fell down, brushing against Xia Lun's arm.
A soft, gentle look settled over Xia Lun's face.
The Arcane Sage watched Xia Lun's departing back, and let out a quiet, heavy sigh.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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!
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?!
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.
