Zhao Yuelian watched that figure gradually fade into the darkness.
Inside her dantian, the Nine Yin Fortune Dao Seed let out a violent hum the moment the final word of "waiting for you in the cave dwelling" settled.
"Yes! Young Master!"
Her stunningly beautiful face was flushed with a breathtaking crimson. She slowly turned her head and looked at the unconscious female envoy of the Jiangsha Sect.
A terrifyingly cruel sneer curled at the corner of her lips.
She looked just like a lioness locking eyes on her prey.
...
...
Inside the quiet cave dwelling, the leftover tea had already grown cold.
Gu Yang sat upright on the stone chair, quietly watching a wisp of dark golden flame dancing on his fingertips.
Extremely light footsteps echoed from outside the cave.
The stone door was pushed open, and a faint scent of blood mixed with a ripe, deep fragrance flooded into the cramped stone room.
Zhao Yuelian had returned.
The edges of her loose gray servant robe were stained with a few shocking drops of dark red. However, her pale, paper-white face carried the flush of extreme excitement.
"Young Master."
She walked up to Gu Yang and skillfully dropped to both knees, her soft waist naturally sinking into a breathtaking curve.
"The Flame Marrow has been stuffed into that woman's robes. The tendons in her limbs have been entirely severed, and her cultivation base is ruined. When the Law Enforcement Hall patrols the mountain tomorrow, they will only see the tragedy of a demonic cultivator murdering for treasure and failing to divide the spoils evenly."
Gu Yang did not speak.
His profound gaze pierced through the dim halo of the luminous pearl, landing on her slightly trembling eyelashes.
Being stared at by this highly oppressive gaze, Zhao Yuelian's breathing grew uncontrollably rapid. The Thousand-Thread Soul-Tangling Syndrome that had been suppressed in her dantian for ten years seemed to have caught the scent of the sweet dew of extreme yang energy, and it began to writhe madly.
"Young Master strategizes perfectly, playing both the righteous and demonic paths in the palm of your hand..." She raised her head, her voice so sickeningly sweet it was almost tangible. "Your servant is... wholeheartedly convinced."
Gu Yang reached out his hand.
The rough, thin calluses on his fingertips brushed against her burning cheek, neither lightly nor heavily.
"Since the clues ended at the Supreme Sword Sect, it is time to change the way this game of chess is played."
He withdrew his hand, no longer looking at the stunning face that was now filled with loss due to his sudden withdrawal, and sank his consciousness directly into his sea of consciousness.
The Supreme Ruthless Sword Intent.
It could make the Sect Master of the Luoyun Sect willingly bow his head, and it could silently plant a mark in the sea of consciousness of Deacon Wang.
A name surfaced in Gu Yang's mind.
Ji Shuanghua.
The most terrifying monster of this generation in the Supreme Sword Sect, born with sword bones, cultivating the Supreme Dao of Forgetting Emotions that severed all human desires.
"System. Consume 10 Destiny Points to expand intelligence, centering on the Supreme Sword Sect and Ji Shuanghua."
[Ding! Command confirmed. 10 Destiny Points deducted. Remaining Destiny Points: 200]
On the dark panel, a few lines of blindingly bright text rippled slowly like water waves.
[Green Intelligence: In half a month, the ancient battlefield ruins anchored in the void behind the Supreme Sword Sect's back mountain, the Shattered Star Sword Domain, will usher in its once-in-five-hundred-years tidal weakening period and officially open.
Note: The spatial laws of the secret realm are extremely broken and filled with violent ancient sword intent. Qi Condensation cultivators will definitely be shredded upon entry; Core Formation cultivators and above have too high a spiritual pressure and will trigger a spatial collapse upon entry. Only Foundation Establishment cultivators, whose spiritual energy has liquefied but who have not yet formed a core, may set foot inside. At that time, all major sects in the Eastern Region will be allocated quotas to enter the valley.]
Gu Yang narrowed his eyes slightly.
An ancient secret realm that only allowed Foundation Establishment cultivators to enter.
His ruined body was exactly in need of a supreme furnace to reforge a perfect Dao foundation.
Continuing to look down, that touch of green light suddenly changed, turning into a heart-palpitating scarlet.
It was actually Red Intelligence!
[Red Intelligence: The Shattered Star Sword Domain is by no means an ordinary trial ground. Beneath its core area, the Fallen Star Broken Sword Mountain, slumbers an ancient sword spirit that is being suppressed, along with half of a Heaven-Rank Supreme-Grade sword art that points directly to the origin of the Great Dao. This is the core scheme of the Supreme Sword Sect's successive generations of Nascent Soul ancestors, who maintain the secret realm at all costs.]
Heaven-Rank Supreme-Grade.
Gu Yang gently rubbed his fingers against the rough edge of the stone table, making a faint rustling sound.
Here in the Eastern Region of the Azure Cloud Continent, an Earth-Rank cultivation method was enough to trigger bloodbaths that wiped out entire sects. A Heaven-Rank Supreme-Grade art was enough to drive those old monsters in secluded meditation absolutely insane.
Immediately after, the red light faded.
An extremely brilliant, dazzlingly bright dark golden radiance completely illuminated the entire system panel.
[Golden Intelligence: The Holy Maiden of the Supreme Sword Sect, Ji Shuanghua, will step into the Shattered Star Sword Domain in three months, braving the immense pressure to reach the summit of Broken Sword Mountain. Just in her moment of extreme weakness when she awakens the ancient sword spirit and is about to forge a flawless golden core, the Dao Child of the Daoyi Sect, Ye Chen, will tear off his hypocritical mask.
Ye Chen has long laid down a lethal array at the summit using his Righteous Aura. He will backstab Ji Shuanghua, steal this heaven-defying fortune, and claim first place in the secret realm. Afterward, he will use the sword bones and sword spirit as medicinal catalysts to forge his twisted First-Grade Righteous Holy Fetus.]
The screen of light slowly dissipated.
The cave dwelling returned to a dead silence.
The Dao Child of the Daoyi Sect, Ye Chen.
Him again.
A trace of almost tangible, freezing murderous intent flashed through Gu Yang's profound black eyes.
"Young Master..."
A sickly sweet moan interrupted Gu Yang's train of thought.
Zhao Yuelian had straightened her upper body at some unknown point. Reaching out with her slightly cool, soft hands, she acted with extreme boldness and covered the back of his hand that was resting on his knee.
"Your aura... has become slightly disordered."
Her autumn-water-like eyes were filled with infatuation and concern as she formed her own conclusions. "Could it be that the intelligence just now disgusted you and disturbed your mind? Your servant... can help you vent your frustrations..."
Her warm breath hit Gu Yang's knuckles.
Her slender fingers traced the gaps between his fingers, slowly and forcefully squeezing in bit by bit until their fingers were tightly intertwined.
Gu Yang lowered his eyes, looking at that breathtakingly beautiful, flushed face that was so close at hand.
He did not break free, nor did he respond.
He merely watched her quietly with a gaze as cold and indifferent as an abyss.
Those abyssal black eyes held no lust and no warmth, only an extremely calm calculation.
"Take your hand away first."
Zhao Yuelian's breath hitched slightly.
She obediently withdrew her hand, tucking it into the wide sleeve of her gray robe. Her eyelashes drooped, but a meaningful, faint smile still hung on the corner of her lips.
The insteps of her feet quietly pressed against the cold stone floor.
Gu Yang stood up and paced half a circle around the cramped stone room, eventually coming to a stop under the faint halo of the luminous pearl.
"The Supreme Sword Sect wants my master's Nine Yin Origin."
His voice was extremely flat, as if stating a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him.
"Then I will first firmly grasp what they want in my own hands."
Zhao Yuelian's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She raised her head, a trace of confusion overflowing from her bright, autumn-water eyes before she suppressed it just as quickly. She knew that at times like this, the best thing to do was to keep her mouth shut and wait for him to finish.
"The Shattered Star Sword Domain opens in half a month."
Gu Yang returned to the stone chair and sat down, his knuckles gently rapping against the stone table, making a steady tapping sound.
"The various sects of the Eastern Region will all receive quotas to enter the valley. They all want to obtain good fortune."
He paused.
"I want it too."
It was not a mere desire to want it, it was an absolute demand to take it.
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...
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.
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?"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
