Invincible…
Even if she teamed up with her uncle…
Their chances of survival were at most one in ten…
Or perhaps, even if the undefeated Jiangxia Guardian were to arrive, the odds would still be no better than fifty-fifty…
What kind of terrifying existence had these invaders unleashed this time…?
And this…
Might just be a mere…
Gatekeeper of the Ashen Village?
A crushing weight of despair pressed down on Su Muxue’s heart…
Swirling smoke obscured the old man’s face, leaving only a pair of murky eyes calmly fixed on her.
No killing intent, yet more suffocating than any bloodlust.
In his eyes, she was nothing but an insignificant speck of dust—not even worth the effort of crushing beneath his fingers.
The despair threatened to shatter her spirit entirely.
Su Muxue forced herself to stay calm.
She couldn’t retreat…
Behind her was a barrier of bones and gray mist—no escape.
She couldn’t fight.
That would be suicide.
Her only option seemed to be… pretending nothing was wrong and walking past him?
Su Muxue took a deep breath, trying to steady her pounding heart and suppress the trembling of the spirit sword in her consciousness.
She slowly lowered her gaze, avoiding that soul-shivering stare.
Her footsteps were light, almost soundless, yet each step felt as heavy as a mountain.
Time stretched endlessly.
A distance of mere steps.
She could feel his eyes still lingering on her, cold and indifferent.
Sweat silently soaked through the back of her robes.
Finally, she passed the giant tree.
Not daring to look back, she quickened her pace toward the heart of the village.
Just then, Liu Yuan spoke up: "Hello, grandpa! Could you tell us how to get to that clock tower over there?"
Su Muxue and the middle-aged man’s hearts lurched in unison, their eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
The sudden question struck like a hammer to their chests.
We’re done for!
Su Muxue’s spine stiffened instantly, her instincts screaming to yank Liu Yuan behind her.
Even Lian Yunhuang turned deathly pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
Though her senses weren’t as sharp as Su Muxue’s, she could still instinctively feel the terrifying power radiating from the old man—enough to crush them effortlessly.
Yet, the expected wrath never came.
Amid the curling smoke, the old man seemed to pause mid-drag.
Slowly, those murky eyes shifted to Liu Yuan.
Su Muxue could clearly sense the difference in his gaze—no soul-crushing pressure, just the look of an ordinary elder regarding a lost girl.
Noticing everyone’s eyes on her except her brother’s, Liu Yuan blinked in confusion, her expression perfectly blank.
Uh…
Did she say something wrong?
Wasn’t this an escape room?
Sure, it didn’t look much like one…
But the core gameplay was still there, right?
With such a big ‘NPC’ standing there, wasn’t asking for clues the obvious move?
Why were they all ignoring him?
…
Smoke drifted from the old man’s withered lips.
He didn’t answer immediately, his murky eyes shifting as if waiting for something.
Seconds ticked by.
Each one was agony for Su Muxue.
Finally, the old man’s voice rasped out, rough as sandpaper, slow and calm:
"The clock tower…"
"Follow this path… straight ahead… until you reach a dirt house. There, you’ll find your next clue."
What was this?
Favoritism?
Did this old bastard pick and choose who to help?
Su Muxue swiftly reined in her thoughts, suppressing the turmoil in her mind.
Whatever the reason, this was the best outcome they could hope for.
But… a dirt house?
Her gaze followed the direction he’d indicated.
A strange sound reached her ears—like someone clumsily dragging something heavy.
A hunched skeleton was struggling to plant a crooked wooden sign in the ground.
On it, white paint spelled out an arrow pointing toward the clock tower.
The skeleton’s movements were stiff and reluctant. Once the sign was up, it glanced around furtively, as if afraid of being caught.
Noticing Su Muxue’s stare, the skeleton made a throat-slitting gesture before hastily retreating into the shadows.
The sight only deepened Su Muxue’s unease.
This so-called "Lord of Ashes" and his minions seemed…
More like unwilling actors in a poorly staged play.
Liu Yuan, blissfully oblivious, tugged at Su Qi’s sleeve, eager to move.
"Brother, the grandpa gave us directions! Let’s go find the clock tower!"
Su Qi remained silent but allowed himself to be pulled along.
…
Watching the five figures disappear into the distance, the old man took three deep drags of his pipe, wheezing as if he’d narrowly escaped a supervisor’s inspection.
Just as he was about to fade back into the mist, his neck creaked stiffly—until his head toppled to the ground with a thud.
From this new vantage point, he saw two figures looming over him: a burly man and a bald one.
"Hey, old man…"
The head rolled once on the dirt. "Didn’t anyone teach you to be polite when asking for directions?"
The burly man remained unfazed. "Alright, old man, listen up—is there a shortcut to the clock tower? We ain’t got time to follow the long way like those others."
He never imagined the Lord of Sin would value his offering so highly…
To the point of descending upon Great Xia with his domain…
And that clock tower…
Surely, it was the Lord of Sin’s throne…
The lost lambs, scrambling for escape, only to face ultimate despair…
What a beautiful sight it would be…
Truly worthy of the great ‘Lord of Sin.’
He had to reach the clock tower first—to witness it all unfold.
The old man picked up his head and reattached it. "In such a hurry?"
"I don’t know any shortcuts…"
His voice dropped to a sinister rasp. "But I can send you two on a one-way trip."
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
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."
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.”
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.
