"Everyone, our opportunity..."
"Has arrived!"
A hidden underground chamber buried a hundred meters below.
Thirteen altars hovered above bases forged from mithril.
Liquid-drawn magical runes flowed across their surfaces.
Elemental torrents surged through star-iron channels, igniting every node.
This was utterly alien to the three power systems known to Great Xia.
A thousand devotees knelt motionless in the chamber, ceaselessly kowtowing toward the central altar where eternal sacred flames burned.
These were the so-called 'Manifestors' - those who sought complete fusion between Earth and the Source Realm.
Their leader raised his arms in exultation: "Great Xia has swallowed our bait from the Source Realm!"
"They'll undoubtedly launch an investigation immediately."
"We've prepared all necessary misleading evidence."
"They'll eventually trace it to conclude 'we're targeting Jiang Xia's martial examination to eliminate their Pathseekers.'"
"But our true purpose..."
"HAHAHAHA!"
His maniacal laughter dissolved into ecstatic oblivion.
Suddenly—
The altar flames erupted violently.
An ancient, indescribable presence suffocated him with overwhelming pressure.
Unfazed, the leader smashed his forehead against the jagged floor.
Eerie energy spread, veiling the entire chamber in a reality separate from Earth.
The congregation sensed the shift, descending into collective frenzy.
He...
Had turned His gaze upon them.
"O Watcher Behind the Eternal Veil!"
"We who wear scorching darkness as crowns and burning winds as scepters!"
"In this Age of Hidden Stars under the Dim Moon..."
"With charred bones as pens and ashes as ink..."
"Let the blasphemous flames consume our souls!"
"That the pallid holy fire may know—"
"Only You are the Deathless Sovereign..."
"Lord of Cinders!"
The sacred flames imploded, then exploded into a blazing throne.
A shadowy figure lounged upon it as worshippers' eyes transformed into dancing black flames.
He had arrived...
Though not in full form...
Due to improper rituals and insufficient numbers...
True manifestation remained impossible.
This was merely a projection responding to their call.
But...
Details mattered not.
Suffice to say—they'd received divine acknowledgment.
The Manifestors existed because their founder accidentally uncovered forbidden knowledge even Great Xia barely comprehended.
Countless worlds existed—hundreds of thousands, perhaps more.
When otherworldly barriers collided with Earth's, the Source Realm formed.
Thus they believed...
The Source Realm needn't be an invader or enemy.
They could willingly become vassals to this higher existence, reaping its benefits—
Perhaps immortality?
Or cat-eared maidens?
Yet when the first Manifestor shared this revelation with authorities, he met only ruthless rejection:
"We cannot stake Earth's future on another's mercy."
Ideologies clashed.
Perhaps the Manifestors were right.
Perhaps Great Xia held truth.
None could know until the final hour.
That first Manifestor wasn't completely naive.
He kept secrets—fragments about other worlds...
When a lifeform transcends mortality's limits—
Deathless, omniscient—
It becomes a 'god'.
Yet gods too know hierarchy.
The mightiest could twist time itself, making effects precede causes.
The Age of Chaos saw ten thousand deities warring.
From that bloodsoaked battlefield emerged one who scaled the peak of divinity's corpse-mountains—
A human.
At least, so he claimed.
Even after transcending mortality, he remained human.
"Humankind shines as countless stars."
"Had I not stood here, another would have."
"I merely happened to be first."
He established the autocratic Astral Epoch, becoming the 'Lord of Stars'—
The first deity who rejected divine nomenclature.
Henceforth, newborn gods abandoned "-god" titles for "-lord" honorifics—
Pitiful mimicry of their better.
Later, the Lord of Stars vanished mysteriously.
History's wheel accelerated into the current Dim Moon Epoch...
Thus Manifestors believe humanity inherently noble.
Those troublesome dimensional rifts vexing Great Xia?
Mere backwater realms unworthy of attention—
Worlds too primitive to spawn true deities!
By attaching themselves to a god-bearing world and invoking the Lord of Stars' legacy, they'd thrive gloriously!
The Lord of Cinders gazed impassively at his meager thousand devotees.
None dared meet His gaze.
"What do you seek?"
His voice spoke flawless human tongue—
Much to the deity's private annoyance.
Could anyone comprehend His frustration?
"'Not have' means 'have'?"
"'No good fruits for you' means 'good fruits for you'?"
Yet refusal to learn invited... visits from 'That Person'.
Ironically, Great Xia's people now wielded the 'universal language'—spared foreign language struggles.
...
Among these Manifestors lurked a mole from Great Xia's intelligence division.
During rituals, he'd fake devotion without genuine reverence.
Now he trembled violently on his knees, pallid and gasping—
A lower lifeform confronting supreme existence.
His worldview teetered at the brink.
Despite being an eighth-tier expert, he couldn't withstand even the projection's passive aura.
Were the true Lord of Cinders to manifest, even Great Xia's mightiest would be but a sturdier ant...
He attempted eavesdropping on the deity's dialogue with the leader—
Agony lanced through every cell at the mere thought.
Drip.
Blood fell from his chin.
No illusion—
Had he actually looked up, instant shredding would've followed.
His mind swam through mental sludge.
Only when a hand entered his vision did awareness return—
The ritual had ended.
The projection vanished.
"You alright?"
The leader stood before him.
"Fine," the mole lied hastily. "Just... overwhelmed by the Lord's presence. Wanted to behold His glory, but—"
The leader sneered: "Since when do ants measure the sky's height?"
"We've spent billions in resources just to secure a single chance for the Ashen Lord's projection to intervene. Do you understand?"
"This operation must not fail."
The eighth-rank mole stood up, wiping the fine beads of sweat that had inexplicably formed on his forehead. "Boss... why is this mission so shrouded in secrecy this time...?"
The leader's expression instantly turned icy. "Are you asking too many questions?"
"What needs to be shared will be shared."
"What you shouldn’t know, don’t pry into."
Only then did the eighth-rank mole realize his lapse in composure...
The impact of witnessing a 'deity's' projection had been overwhelming...
"Boss, I just... I really want to advance..."
The leader patted his shoulder. "Relax. We all want to advance."
Then he turned back to the altar, where sacred flames burned relentlessly.
The mole, risking exposure, relayed the intel—early preparation meant greater odds of success. "If the intel points to 'sabotaging Jiang Xia’s martial exam and eliminating his Pathseeker,' then it’s a decoy. Their real goal lies elsewhere."
"What we might actually face is the projection of a god... We may need to mobilize a significant force of high-tier power."
The leader watched the mole with a faint, unreadable smile.
Go ahead, pass it along.
Some people never change.
Always treating others like fools.
"Everyone! Our mission’s success rate just skyrocketed!"
"The Source Realm will descend—without fail!"
ither go to a cultivation world where a single sword strike can defeat ten thousand enemies. Or they travel back to historical dynasties to alter history and wield imperial power. At the very least, they'd go back a few decades to get rich using their future knowledge and build a harem. Who the hell would transmigrate here!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
【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.)
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!"
