Boom!
A sound rang out from inside the altar.
The next second, Lin Mo flew out through the middle of the shattered altar, holding Zhafu by the arm with one hand.
He landed steadily.
Zhafu stood beside him. His face was expressionless, his clothes were still perfectly neat, and aside from being unnaturally quiet, he looked almost exactly the same as before he went in.
Everyone turned to look.
Liu Zheng glanced at Lin Mo, then at Zhafu, and finally into the depths of the altar.
The baleful energy that had previously churned there had mostly dissipated. The oppressive feeling that had filled the area was gone as well, leaving behind only traces of cold gloom drifting through the air.
“Is it done?”
Liu Zheng took a step forward.
His question was brief, but his hand remained pressed against his weapon.
This place gave him a dangerous feeling. Anything left behind by the Kiku Sect was especially unsettling. The neon people had never played fair—even after death, they still found ways to disgust people.
“It’s done.”
Lin Mo clapped his hands casually. “The contamination in the dragon vein has been cleared out. Next, we just need to undo the seal and reconnect the dragon vein.”
Only then did Liu Zheng let out half a sigh of relief.
He didn’t dare release the other half.
Because Lin Mo had turned to look at the vicious spirits still standing where they were.
Those vicious spirits had only just finished dealing with the monster. The baleful energy around them had yet to disperse, and they stood in perfectly ordered rows.
Being watched by so many vicious spirits made Liu Zheng feel deeply insecure.
Lin Mo raised a hand and beckoned.
The black banner unfurled.
The banner moved without any wind, thick black energy spilling down from its edges. Without the slightest struggle, the vicious spirits transformed into wisps of shadow and were drawn into the banner.
After all, this was the first time Lin Mo had formally displayed the Human Emperor Banner in front of everyone.
The others had never paid much attention to what made it special.
Wang Xincheng stared at the banner. He opened his mouth to speak, then forcibly swallowed the words.
Liu Zheng was different.
He couldn’t hold it in.
“Lin Mo, that thing of yours… are you raising ghosts with it?”
“Raising ghosts?”
Lin Mo planted the Human Emperor Banner on the ground. The baleful energy remaining in the area was swept into it. “That’s one of its functions.”
Wang Xincheng’s eyelids twitched.
That answer sounded anything but reassuring.
What did he mean by “one of its functions”?
The thing clearly wasn’t anything good.
And this particular function was collecting vicious spirits.
Liu Zheng stared at the surface of the banner. The longer he looked, the more uneasy he became.
It had already been black enough, but after absorbing the surrounding baleful energy, it had turned so dark that even light seemed reluctant to approach it.
In theory, Lin Mo could have casually changed the Human Emperor Banner’s color.
Gold would have worked. Red would have worked too. He could have given it a righteous aura without much trouble.
But there was no need.
At his current level, trying to hide things would only create more trouble.
Liu Zheng held back once, then twice, but in the end he still asked, “What if the ghosts inside get out by accident…”
Lin Mo looked at him.
“The Human Emperor Banner is my bonded spirit artifact. As long as I’m alive, it won’t lose control.”
Liu Zheng was just about to respond when Lin Mo added, “Stop letting your imagination run wild. Even Dongfang Shuye was calmer than you when they saw it back then.”
Lin Mo had used the Human Emperor Banner once in the Land of the Morning Calm, and Dongfang Shuye knew about it very well.
The Maoshan School also had arts for capturing and exorcising ghosts. So what if his Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect had one too? It was perfectly reasonable, wasn’t it?
Liu Zheng was rendered speechless. After a moment, he muttered, “That’s why he’s the director and I’m not.”
The words were so logical that he had even sealed off every avenue for rebuttal himself.
The girls in the back nearly burst out laughing.
Lin Mo couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.
Liu Zheng was genuinely annoying, and genuinely stubborn.
If anyone else had kept pestering him with questions like this, Lin Mo would have slapped them into a wall and left them stuck there.
But Liu Zheng wasn’t trying to nitpick.
He was guarding the line.
People like him were troublesome, but the world couldn’t do without troublesome people like him.
And the Fisherman Hat was exactly that kind of person.
“All right. We can head back.”
Lin Mo looked up at the cracked seal above the altar. “Once we’re outside, dismantle the outer seal. Then wait for me. I’ll reconnect the dragon vein to the main branch and clear out everything left here. Not a single formation spike or talisman bone left behind by the Kiku Sect can be missed.”
Liu Zheng nodded.
This was the kind of work Yanhuang Awakening was supposed to handle.
Lin Mo had already fought the hardest battle.
If they couldn’t even handle the cleanup, they might as well all go back and start over from scratch.
“I’ll arrange for people to seal off the site. The technical team and the formation team will enter together.”
At this point, Liu Zheng glanced at Zhafu again. “What about him?”
“He has another assignment. You’ll find out when the time comes.”
Lin Mo then walked over to Yu Youhan.
The zombie was still standing where he had been.
His body was covered in stitching scars, and a dense corpse aura radiated from him.
His appearance was frightening, but once they remembered his identity, no one could treat him like an ordinary evil creature.
Lin Mo turned his head toward Liu Zheng.
“Can Yanhuang Awakening keep zombies?”
Liu Zheng nearly choked to death on the question.
“What?”
He looked at Yu Youhan, then back at Lin Mo. “That… doesn’t seem appropriate, does it? The approval process would be a nightmare. No, wait—the approval isn’t the main issue. Can this thing even be kept? Wouldn’t that count as desecrating a fallen hero?”
Lin Mo was a little troubled as well. He raised his hand, and two incomplete souls emerged from his palm.
They were the two remnant souls he had separated from the spirit of the dragon vein.
Both souls were incomplete. After being gnawed at and corrupted for so many years, very little remained of them.
If left alone, they would eventually scatter.
But if the two remnants complemented each other, they might be able to restore some of Yu Youhan’s consciousness.
Lin Mo sent the remnant souls into the zombie’s body.
His gray-white pupils began to contract. After several breaths, black gradually appeared in their depths.
A moment later, Yu Youhan’s neck moved.
The motion was stiff and sluggish.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands, then raised it again and saw the people standing before him.
They were strangers.
Every one of them was a stranger.
Fragments of memory crashed chaotically through his mind.
Gunfire. Flames. Blood. Shouts.
And a young man with his arm around Yu Youhan’s shoulder, saying, “Come on, Brother Han, don’t look so serious. We’re only taking a picture—it’s not like we’re heading to the execution ground.”
Liu Zheng and the others were watching him as well.
“Is this actually working?” Liu Zheng lowered his voice. “Can he recover his original consciousness?”
“It’s uncertain. Xian Zhou’s consciousness may awaken first.”
Lin Mo watched Yu Youhan. “When the Kiku Sect refined him into a zombie, they left a remnant of an obsession inside his body. The remnants I pulled out of the contamination can fill in the gaps. How much they can piece together depends on the two of them.”
Yu Youhan finally opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse, like glass scraping against glass, and his words came slowly and unclearly.
“Who… are you?”
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.
“Where am I? Xiao… Xiao Xian?”
Wang Xincheng took half a step closer, then stopped.
“I’ve only ever seen records of zombies in ancient texts. This is the first time I’ve encountered one that could actually speak.”
The girls were curious as well. Was this Yu Youhan the same person Lin Mo had seen?
Lin Mo walked over to Yu Youhan.
“Comrade Yu Youhan, I’m going to explain the situation to you first. Whether you can accept it or not, this is reality.”
Hearing his own name, Yu Youhan slowly raised his head.
“Go… ahead.”
His speech was very slow, and his thoughts turned just as sluggishly. It was probably a side effect of the zombie body he now possessed.
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
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
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
