Biting the tip of her tongue, she used that faint drop of pure Yang true blood to forcefully summon three Blazing Sun Talismans from her storage ring, which radiated a blinding red light.
The talismans ignited without any wind, transforming into three fierce fireballs that smashed ruthlessly toward the chaotic array core below.
At the same time, she flipped her hand, revealing seven three-inch-long Crimson Flame Golden Needles.
Without any hesitation, she viciously thrust them into the major acupoints on her chest. By using this desperate method of sealing her acupoints with golden needles, she intended to forcefully cut off the final path of the cold poison attacking her heart.
The three fireballs exploded on the lake's surface, briefly tearing through the purplish-black array patterns.
But in the next breath.
A deeply venomous cold snort echoed from the depths of the lake.
"Elder Shen, how can you so easily reject the century-in-the-making grand gift this old man has prepared for you?"
A massive water python, condensed from the extremely Yin lake water, suddenly burst out of the surface and swallowed the three blazing sun fireballs in one gulp.
As the water python dispersed, a blurry blood-red figure slowly surfaced on the lake.
Zhao Wuji's Blood Transformation Clone!
This clone had no facial features; it was merely a mass of bizarre liquid emitting a nauseating stench of blood, locking its deadly gaze onto Shen Qingyue on the Crystal Jade Tree.
Crack—
Under the dual crushing force of the clone's coercion and the cold lake's resonance, the seven Crimson Flame Golden Needles pierced into Shen Qingyue's chest acupoints let out a collective wail and shattered inch by inch!
The final line of defense completely collapsed.
"Ugh!"
Shen Qingyue let out a despairing and suppressed muffled groan.
The Nine Yin Cold Poison surged like a breached dam, instantly flooding her internal organs and limbs.
Her originally long and powerful legs completely lost all sensation at this moment, and her entire body fell powerlessly from the Crystal Jade Tree.
With a bang.
She fell heavily among the freezing branches of the Crystal Jade Tree.
The wide hem of her palace dress spread out messily, revealing large swaths of delicate skin frozen to a purplish-blue.
The extreme, freezing cold made her breathing intermittent; every inhalation felt like swallowing ice blades.
Her slender fingers tightly gripped the branches of the Crystal Jade Tree. Due to her extreme exertion, faint traces of blood seeped from her fingertips, only to be instantly frozen into red ice beads.
Even the spiritual energy required to detonate her Golden Core had been completely frozen.
The blood-red clone let out a burst of lewd, maniacal laughter. Holding a Heaven and Earth Shifting Talisman fluctuating with spatial energy, it slowly approached her like a squirming mass of rotting flesh.
"No..."
Shen Qingyue closed her eyes in despair. Before the scalding tears could slide down the corners of her eyes, they turned into ice crystals.
Just at the moment when the blood hand, reeking of a foul stench, was about to touch her snow-white neck.
Over the deathly still lake surface, the air suddenly twisted without warning.
In mid-air, an extremely pleasant voice rang out.
"Where did this old dog come from, daring to touch my master?!"
The Blood Transformation Clone, emitting a nauseating bloody stench, suddenly froze.
Its blurry, featureless face turned extremely stiffly toward the void.
What greeted it was not the desperate struggle of a Foundation Establishment ant.
But a terrifying coercion crashing down like an avalanche!
"Insolent."
A cold snort, charming to the bone yet laced with absolute ice, exploded in the freezing mist.
Zhao Yuelian, wearing that coarse gray robe, appeared silently above the clone like a ghost stepping through the void.
The vast spiritual energy of the late-stage Core Formation great perfection ruthlessly suppressed downward like a physical glacier.
Zhao Wuji's Blood Transformation Clone originally only contained thirty percent of his true body's strength.
In front of Fairy Lingshuang in her peak state, it was utterly vulnerable.
"You—" The clone let out an extremely ear-piercing shriek, just about to crush the Heaven and Earth Shifting Talisman in its hand.
"Freeze."
Zhao Yuelian cast a talisman.
This talisman was a strategic supply purchased previously in the Holy Heaven City.
Now it came to use.
The law of extreme cold instantly drained all the temperature within a hundred zhang radius.
With a crack, that squirming mass of flesh and blood was firmly sealed within a massive, transparent block of profound ice.
Clean and decisive.
Without splashing a single drop of water.
...
Among the branches of the Crystal Jade Tree.
Shen Qingyue's unfocused, limpid eyes watched this scene in disbelief.
A peerless female cultivator at the late-stage Core Formation great perfection?
Furthermore, that female cultivator was actually wearing the exact same gray robe as Gu Yang, standing humbly to the side?
Her vision was blurred by the frost on her eyelashes.
A steady set of footsteps, carrying an extremely suppressed, scorching aura, crushed the icicles on the tree trunk.
Gu Yang looked down at her from above.
In his deep black eyes, there was no longer the pure indifference he showed when facing his mortal enemies.
Looking at this normally unattainable iceberg of a woman, now curled up among the branches like an ice sculpture on the verge of shattering.
Gu Yang's heart, always as cold and hard as a boulder, uncontrollably birthed a trace of irritation, as well as a heartache he didn't even want to delve into.
In this cannibalistic Falling Cloud Sect, Shen Qingyue was the only one who had shielded him from open spears and hidden arrows when he was still weak and insignificant.
"To forcefully endure this certain-death situation for those irrelevant disciples..."
"Master."
Gu Yang's voice sounded in the freezing night wind, carrying a sense of suppression and hoarseness.
"Is this your so-called sheltering of all living beings? Making yourself look this miserable, who can you save?"
Shen Qingyue's whole body trembled violently.
She bit her pale lower lip tightly.
"I... don't need you to care..."
Her lips, frozen purple, let out an extremely faint whimper like an injured young beast.
Gu Yang stomped his right foot heavily on the freezing tree trunk.
"Buzz—!"
The first tier of the Dao Platform, the Primal Chaos Lotus Platform, roared into operation!
A phantom of a translucent five-colored light lotus, over ten feet tall, suddenly bloomed in the void with the two of them at the center.
Green, red, yellow, white, and black—the Five Elements flowed.
Like an overturned glazed pagoda, it instantly and completely isolated the wildly raging extreme Yin spiritual water outside, along with Zhao Yuelian's line of sight!
Inside the lotus platform, the space was extremely cramped.
Gu Yang's large hands, bearing rough, thin calluses, were like two scalding iron tongs. Without the slightest blasphemy, they grabbed her cold, white waist that was frozen stiff and slender enough to be held in one grasp.
"Ugh!"
Shen Qingyue's pupils shrank abruptly.
A terrifying high temperature that could almost melt her soul poured unreservedly into her limbs and bones through those two large hands!
Gu Yang lifted her entire body from the freezing tree trunk, pressing her tightly into his chest that was like a blazing sun furnace.
It was too hot.
The clothing between the two had long been soaked by the ice water.
At this moment, under this extreme contrast in body temperature, large patches of thick white mist instantly evaporated.
That intense masculine scent, mixed with a faint smell of ash, carried an irresistible aggressiveness and sense of security, tightly blocking her breath.
"Gu Yang... let go..."
A breathtaking flush instantly surged onto Shen Qingyue's cold and exquisitely beautiful face.

for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?

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?"

he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...

d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!