Oh?
Su Qi took another glance at the young girl and the middle-aged man with the briefcase.
Was it really them?
Truly, appearances can be deceiving…
Su Qi didn’t even sense any energy fluctuations from them…
That could only mean one thing…
These two were even stronger than Yun Ting?
Probably at the peak of the ninth tier?
Perhaps the two strongest individuals in Jiangxia, aside from Guardian Jiang?
Makes sense. If a few stray Descendants slipped into the Source Realm unnoticed, that was one thing.
But if such a large group of Descendants could perform a sacrificial ritual in the middle of the city without any reaction, Jiangxia would’ve long become their playground.
...
"All five of you, let’s begin… the game."
The bald man urged, nearly slipping up.
He stood before a sinister wooden door: "Please follow me in taking the oath…"
"I voluntarily become a sinner, to cleanse the sins upon me."
Liu Yuan, feeling the 'escape room' had a nice sense of ceremony, excitedly repeated the words.
Su Qi and Yun Huang exchanged a glance before reciting it as well.
The bespectacled middle-aged man clutching the briefcase trembled slightly as he spoke.
Meanwhile, the young girl beside him recited it clearly, a playful smirk on her lips.
Once the oath was complete, the bald man finally pushed open the eerie wooden door.
No choice…
Whoever made the rule that sacrificial offerings must consent willingly, without coercion, for a deity to accept them…
What kind of nonsense was that?
Luckily, these five were foolish and cooperative enough…
Otherwise, things would’ve gotten messy.
"Creak—"
The door hinges let out a grating sound as a chilly breeze rushed out, carrying dust and an indescribable, faintly sweet yet metallic scent.
Inside was pitch black, like the gaping maw of a beast ready to devour its prey.
"All five of you, step inside. May you… enjoy the game."
The bald man stepped aside, gesturing with a "please." His expression looked especially eerie in the dim light.
Liu Yuan instinctively gripped Su Qi’s arm, muttering, "This actually feels a little scary…"
Su Qi patted her head and strode in first. "Relax, it’s just entertainment."
Yun Huang followed closely behind.
The young girl and the middle-aged man entered as well.
Just as the bald man was about to shut the door, a hand suddenly blocked it.
He turned to see who it was, hesitating before asking, "Big bro?"
The burly man’s condition seemed… off.
Flickering flames danced in his eyes…
"We’re going in too."
The bald man was baffled. "Us?"
"Bro, are you seriously offering yourself as a sacrifice?"
"What’s inside is—"
The burly man smirked. "I’ve already received the Lord of Sin’s blessing…"
"I want to witness firsthand… the joy of my Lord as He receives His offerings…"
"I—"
Before the bald man could protest, the burly man yanked him inside. "Hesitation leads to failure."
"You’re my only little brother left."
"Gotta drag you along for the ride."
The wooden door slammed shut behind them, sealing off all light and sound from the outside.
Darkness swallowed everything whole.
...
The moment the middle-aged man stepped inside, his temples throbbed violently.
A bone-chilling sense of dread surged over him like a tidal wave.
This was the 'welcome ceremony' unique to high-tier Source Realms.
Like a warning sign, reminding every intruder: You’ve stepped where you don’t belong.
Discreetly, he pulled a pill from his pocket.
The young girl mirrored his actions, popping a pill into her mouth as well.
The pill dissolved instantly, leaving a bitter medicinal taste on her tongue.
Clearly, both were cultivators.
The girl noticed Liu Yuan curiously watching her movements.
She rolled her eyes. "Stay close if you don’t want to die. I’ll try to keep you safe."
Liu Yuan nodded. This big sister was really getting into character. "My brother will protect me."
The girl sighed inwardly, sneering.
"Two little burdens and one big burden…"
Even she could lose her life here if she wasn’t careful…
If the intel was correct…
What awaited them was likely 'a territory belonging to one of that deity’s subordinates.'
As for strength…
It shouldn’t be too high.
The chances of a deity responding to a Descendant’s sacrificial ritual were usually slim.
At most, some low-tier underlings with 'similar tastes' might show up.
But even then…
This wasn’t something a fourth-tier or sixth-tier 'kid' should be involved in.
...
The girl’s name was Su Muxue.
She surveyed her surroundings.
Deep, endless darkness.
Not empty—void.
It felt like floating in an abyss without boundaries, without up or down.
As time passed, she could feel her senses being stripped away one by one.
No sound, no sight, not even the sensation of air moving…
Time itself seemed frozen here.
She tried moving her fingers.
Her body still responded, but her fingertips brushed against nothingness.
In this silence, her heartbeat echoed deafeningly.
Even as a ninth-tier cultivator…
She could only feel a helpless, suffocating despair.
How…?
She’d handled similar situations before…
But never once…
Had she felt this powerless.
"This isn’t just some ordinary subordinate of the Lord of Ashes!"
Su Muxue: ???
The moment she spoke, her cognition seemed altered…
She couldn’t utter the words 'Lord of Sin.'
Panic began to spread.
Just as Su Muxue’s vigilance reached its peak—
"Brother… hasn’t the game started yet?"
"I’ve been waiting so long…"
It was Liu Yuan.
Su Muxue’s expression darkened. "Are you seriously joking around at a time like—"
Her words cut off abruptly.
Almost the instant Liu Yuan spoke, the 'silence' around them shattered.
Not from sound, but something more fundamental collapsing.
The once-void 'ground' beneath them solidified, cold and unyielding.
The inky darkness receded like a tide, pulling away into the distance.
Light—not from any source, but diffusing from the void itself—softly illuminated the surroundings.
No longer emptiness.
The scenery rapidly took shape before them.
A desolate, ruined village.
Houses of piled stone and earth lay in crumbling ruins, as if gnawed by time.
The ground was cracked yellow earth, with withered weeds stubbornly pushing through the fissures.
A few gnarled, skeletal trees dotted the village’s edge, their twisted branches clawing at the sky like the arms of the desperate.
A broken stone tablet lay fallen on the ground.
[Prison of Sinners]
Then, to Su Muxue’s disbelief, a skeletal arm burst from the earth.
It chiseled away the words on the tablet with brute force.
Then carved three new characters in their place.
[Ashen Village]
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
] [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!"
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
