The Black Knight swung its massive sword once more.
A concentrated beam of light extended forward, carving out a new path through the chaos.
The crowd surged toward the forcibly opened passage.
In desperate times like these, when hope flickered to life, no one hesitated to flee.
Some even wished their parents had blessed them with an extra pair of legs.
But this time, Yun Huang couldn’t shake the feeling that the beam seemed shorter than before.
It was a clear sign—the Black Knight’s soul force was depleting rapidly, making it impossible to maintain its peak form.
If the Black Knight could no longer clear the way, they would all be trapped in the ashes!
Twelve kilometers—just over ten thousand meters.
Based on the first phase of the martial exam, a full-speed sprint would take barely over ten minutes.
Even accounting for the delays caused by waiting for the Black Knight to open the path, it shouldn’t take more than half an hour.
But.
Would the journey really be that smooth?
The group had barely been running for two minutes when—
A soul-shaking roar erupted from the ashes!
Then, an overwhelming pressure, like a collapsing mountain, crushed down upon them!
The air froze.
Everyone gasped for breath, suffocating under the weight.
Even through the swirling ash, they could make out a colossal, indistinct figure slowly approaching.
Though "slow" was relative—given its sheer size.
Another thirty seconds passed.
At the two-and-a-half-minute mark.
The Source Realm creature finally came into full view.
Mountainous in stature, its body was encased in thick, jagged rock, its eyes pools of molten lava pulsing with an eerie, intelligent glow.
Its mere presence made the Black Knight falter for an instant.
After a brief hesitation, the Black Knight unleashed another beam of light at the molten behemoth.
But this time, the once-unstoppable attack barely made a dent.
A small crater formed on the creature’s body, dislodging a few boulders half a meter in diameter.
Yet…
Compared to its twenty-story-tall frame…
It was nothing more than a scratch.
"T-Tenth tier…"
Yun Huang trembled as she uttered the words, her eyes filled with despair.
This was one of the "Tenth-tier Source Realm creatures" marked as a black spot in official surveys!
With just a few strides, it covered hundreds of meters.
Its target? The Black Knight.
No—more precisely, Liu Yuan behind the Black Knight!
The oppressive aura of a Tenth-tier creature forced everyone to their knees, paralyzed with fear.
This was true desperation!
A fifth-tier Card Wielder, even armed with an absurdly powerful card, stood no chance against a Tenth-tier beast.
This wasn’t a battle—it was a massacre.
"Run!"
"Split up! Run as far as you can!!"
Yun Huang knew the Black Knight, no matter how strong, couldn’t win.
The most it could do was buy time—time for the others to escape.
The Tenth-tier creature let out a guttural growl, its massive stone hands grinding together with a screech.
Then, they began to glow red-hot.
With a devastating swing, it brought one down toward the Black Knight—
To crush it, and Liu Yuan behind it, into dust!
The Black Knight’s sword blazed with unprecedented brilliance.
It raised the weapon high, fearlessly meeting the molten fist head-on!
This was a hopeless clash.
This was defiance against the inevitable.
But it was also—
Hope.
Yun Huang watched, breath caught in her throat.
She didn’t know if the Black Knight could withstand the blow.
She only knew that if it fell in an instant…
They would all be buried in these ashes forever.
BOOM—!!!
A cataclysmic collision shook the entire Source Realm!
The molten fist, radiating pure destruction, filled Liu Yuan’s vision, threatening to consume her whole world.
The Black Knight roared, pouring every ounce of its power into the sword. The blade shone brighter than ever before.
"BOOM—!!!"
An unimaginable force collided.
There was no struggle, no resistance.
The moment the Black Knight’s sword met the molten fist—
The radiant light snuffed out.
Then, hairline cracks spiderwebbed from the tip, spreading across the entire blade in an instant.
"CRACK—!"
A crisp, heartrending snap echoed.
The sword shattered into pieces!
Shards of black metal and searing magma exploded outward!
The Black Knight’s massive frame convulsed violently, its chest plate caving in, fissures tearing through its armor.
An unstoppable force blasted through it.
Blood sprayed from its mouth, vision drowning in ash and crimson.
Consciousness—fading.
Yet, even with its blade gone, the Black Knight didn’t retreat a single step.
Its broken hilt, still clutched in its iron grip, and its unyielding arm, held firm against the crushing weight of the molten fist.
"SCREEE—!"
Metal shrieked as the Black Knight’s pauldrons and gauntlets warped, sparks flying from the strain.
Dark green fluid and charred debris gushed from the fractures.
Its knees sank into the earth, the ground beneath it fracturing into a massive crater.
Meanwhile, the mountainous molten beast seemed almost surprised.
Its lava-filled eyes flickered with something like… contemplation.
Then, it casually scooped up a chunk of earth, compressing it into a three-meter-wide boulder.
Aiming at Liu Yuan—
It hurled it.
The Black Knight tried to rise, to block again.
But then—
A hand rested on its shoulder.
"You’ve done enough. Let me handle this."
Truthfully, the Black Knight’s performance had been flawless.
This attack? It couldn’t survive it.
For the first time, the Black Knight spoke—its voice unexpectedly clear and feminine.
"As you wish…"
Almost… relieved.
As the boulder hurtled toward her, Liu Yuan didn’t dodge.
The only way out now lay within herself.
[Special Passive: ‘Abyss’ remains in deep slumber under normal circumstances and cannot be awakened by conventional means. Activation requires meeting any one of the following conditions.]
[Condition 1: It wakes up.]
[Condition 2: The holder faces a lethal threat. If awakened this way, it will only deliver a single, devastating counterattack.]
[Condition 3: Su Qi actively awakens it.]
The flaw in this self-defense mechanism was that it was purely defensive…
It offered almost no offensive capabilities.
She just hoped…
The rock wouldn’t hurt too much when it hit…
And what if it wasn’t lethal enough?
She hated pain.
But there was no other choice.
She never wanted to be a hero…
Yet she couldn’t just do nothing.
Su Qi wasn’t always right.
She refused to let their sacrifices be in vain.
At least do what you can within your power.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
