Su Qi was fully focused on channeling his soul energy to materialize the card he had just drawn.
Suddenly, a voice startled him so badly he nearly jumped: "Can you sell me that card later?"
It wasn’t that he was particularly skittish—it was just that being in a safe environment while deeply concentrated made him especially vulnerable to unexpected interruptions.
Su Qi snapped his gaze upward and saw a woman standing beside him, her cool eyes fixed on the card in his hand.
Her appearance was striking, with silky white hair cascading loosely over her shoulders, the ends slightly curled like wisps of wind-tousled clouds.
The eyebrows above the eyes that met his were slender and delicate, resembling faint ink strokes on a distant mountain, arched slightly with an air of aloof pride.
His first impression of her was clear: this was no ordinary girl.
Su Qi didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked down at the card in his hand.
[Card Name: Robe of Extinguished Desires]
[Type: Origin]
[Rarity: Rare]
[Energy Level: ?????? (Sixth Tier)]
[Description: One should not be consumed by the desires that fester within.]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 25]
[Agility: 27]
[Magic: 19]
[Skill: Serene Heart]
[Wearer’s likelihood of succumbing to negative emotions is drastically reduced.]
Huh?
An ‘Origin Card’?
That was unexpected.
Even in the card vault of Jiangxia’s Cardholder Association, Origin Cards made up no more than 20% of the collection.
Cards of the ‘Origin’ and ‘Illusion’ types were distinguished by their sources—‘Origin’ cards came from the ‘Source Realm,’ while ‘Illusion’ cards were crafted by artificers.
Generally, ‘Origin’ cards had superior stats, higher prices, and greater stability, making them a seller’s market.
‘Illusion’ cards, on the other hand, had lower attributes but more unpredictable and varied skills, with prices that fluctuated wildly—a buyer’s market.
Still, Su Qi couldn’t figure it out.
Why would this girl, who already seemed about as emotionally detached as they come, want a Robe of Extinguished Desires?
He blurted out without thinking: "Planning to become a nun?"
[Amusement +3]
Her response was even more aggressive than he anticipated: "Do you want to disappear from this world?"
If Su Qi had a favorability system, he could practically see a [Favorability -15] popping up above her head.
Thankfully, this was the real world, not some dating sim—otherwise, he’d half expect her to have him quietly disposed of.
"Double the market price."
Just then, some of the nearby martial examinees, who had been training for their upcoming tests, noticed the commotion and decided to make themselves useful for once.
"Isn’t that Yun Huang from the Yun family?"
"Who’s the guy opposite her? Talk about bad luck."
"Who’s Yun Huang?"
"Are you even from Jiangxia?"
"Nah, my hometown’s too competitive. I transferred here this year to snag a martial exam slot."
"Oh, so you’re one of those talentless rich kids gaming the system. Charmed, I’m sure."
"Cut the sarcasm. It’s not like I had a choice—family arrangements. Just explain, will you?"
"Since you asked so nicely, I’ll enlighten you."
"She’s the only daughter of the Yun family."
"Her name means ‘Born to Be a Phoenix.’"
"Eighteen this year, a sixth-tier Shadowflame Realm Pathseeker."
"Eighteen? Sixth-tier? Pathseeker?"
"Are those words supposed to go together? Are you insane or am I?"
"Believe what you want."
Amid the chatter, combined with the urban legends Su Qi had heard, things clicked into place.
So-called ‘Pathseekers’ were neither cultivators, nor martial artists, nor cardholders.
Or rather, they were all three at once.
They blended the strengths of all three disciplines into one.
The title was a tribute to humanity’s earliest pioneers.
Back then, when the path ahead was shrouded in darkness and enemies lurked everywhere, a handful of people refused to bow to fate.
They forced themselves, again and again, to break past human limits, carving a bloody path forward so that future generations could thrive.
That was the ‘Path’ they sought.
Where no road existed, they made one.
In modern times, even if someone monstrously talented managed to master all three disciplines, they wouldn’t call themselves ‘Pathseekers’—they’d opt for ‘Omnidisciplinarians.’
Because accepting that title meant shouldering a duty:
‘When the future of humanity grows dim once more, walk into the abyss and forge a new path.’
Born to Be a Phoenix…
Pathseeker…
Su Qi couldn’t imagine the suffocating weight those words must carry.
If someone told him to become a ‘Pathseeker,’ he’d curse them out—why don’t you do it yourself, you lunatic?
But that didn’t mean he lacked respect for such people.
He hoped the world was full of saints.
Just not him.
Still, something felt off.
The reformed martial exams…
The reappearance of a Pathseeker…
Damn, was the front line of the Source Realm about to collapse?
Well, even if his guess was right, there’d still be seven or eight years of buffer. Not his problem yet.
Su Qi pinched the card between his middle and index fingers and flicked it toward her.
"Take it."
"Just let the Association know it’s on your tab. I’ll draw another."
No big deal.
Yun Huang caught the card effortlessly, as if plucking a blade from the air.
She gave a curt nod, her tone devoid of emotion. "Fine."
With that, this unexpected encounter should have ended.
But then—
[A radiant soul is fading.]
Su Qi’s unreliable special ability was acting up again.
"Not my problem."
[A radiant soul is on the verge of vanishing.]
"Knock it off."
[If saved, estimated rewards: 231 Shimmer Points.]
"Then again… I haven’t completed today’s ‘flirt with a girl under 1.6 meters’ quota, have I?"
He glanced at Yun Huang. She looked about 1.6 meters tall.
No particular reason—just that letting such a radiant soul disappear would be a shame.
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.”
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)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
