"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!"
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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)
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
