While a fierce battle raged in the cavern, a completely different scene unfolded in the Snake-Person City.
Within the royal palace of the Holy City.
Armored snake-person warriors completely surrounded the twenty-three dancers. The gleam of their blades reflected the candlelight, radiating a chilling glint.
Although the city's elites had all gone to the underground cavern, and the guards left behind were mostly at the Foundation Establishment realm with a very small number of Golden Core snake-people, it was still more than enough to deal with this group of dancers who had not even reached the Qi Condensation realm.
Looking at the guards exuding murderous intent all around them.
The dancers huddled together in fear, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Some of the more timid ones had even begun to cry.
Hemp rope always breaks at its thinnest point, and misfortune only seeks out the wretched.
At this moment, only Xiao Qingli remained standing in the center of the hall. She stood there in a daze, staring at the gleaming longswords, her little head completely blank.
She could not understand.
Why?
Why had things suddenly turned out like this when everything was fine? Why did they suddenly want to kill them?
Clearly... clearly she had worked so hard.
Clearly everyone had danced so well.
Clearly these past two months had been the happiest time of her life. Clearly they, these very guards holding longswords, had been so happy when watching the performance from below the stage, and had even applauded for them, had they not?
It should not be like this.
Reality should not be like this!!!
She had it all planned out. She was going to use the best dance, the best performance, to make everyone remember them, so that they could all stay and live a good life.
But now, with blades pressed against their necks.
What did all her hard work amount to?
"Why?"
Xiao Qingli clenched her small fists, her nails digging deeply into her flesh. Tears welled up in her large eyes as she questioned unwillingly, "You were the ones who invited us to perform, were you not?"
"We did not do anything wrong!"
"What gives you the right!!!"
"My mom, dad, and I were staying peacefully at home, but I was kidnapped into the dance troupe and abused. I finally had two months of a good life, and now you want to kill us!"
"On what grounds!"
"What did we ever do wrong! You bad people, why will you not just let us go!"
Xiao Qingli cried and shouted, scolding incoherently. The grievance in her heart clogged her throat, making her almost unable to speak, yet she still roared with all her might because she was afraid... afraid she would never have the chance to say it again... Her voice was hoarse, and her small body looked exceptionally frail in the grand hall.
However—
The blades were merciless, and the snake-people were ruthless.
"The Queen has decreed."
The leader's tone was icy and devoid of emotion.
"Anyone who has entered the Holy City within the past two months, whether snake-person or not, shall be killed without exception!"
"Just for that reason?"
Xiao Qingli was stunned.
How absurd, how utterly absurd. It was the snake-people who invited them to perform, yet now they were going to kill them because of it.
The leading snake-person warrior said no more.
He gestured to the other guards, and everyone took a unified step forward, tightening the encirclement a bit more. The dancers inside turned deathly pale and huddled together; some had already collapsed onto the floor.
An aura of despair spread among them all.
A silver-white longsword slashed downwards, but Xiao Qingli stood frozen in place, not dodging or hiding. There was no fear of death in her eyes, only a profound despair.
Fake... it was all fake...
Big brother was fake...
The performance was fake...
She thought she could exchange her performance for sympathy, thought she could lead everyone to a good life...
It turned out to be nothing but an illusion, an empty dream.
This world is too bitter, Mom, too bitter. Why must Xiao Qingli still die when she has worked so hard? Why is no one in this world reasonable...
Mom... Qingli is so tired...
Qingli wants to come and be with you...
Xiao Qingli closed her eyes. Two trails of clear tears slowly slid down from the corners of her eyes, splashing onto the ground.
However, the expected pain never arrived.
Instead, there was the sound of a flute.
Very familiar.
Very melodious.
Like a gentle breeze brushing over the hills, like a clear spring flowing, smoothing away all the pain and grievances in her heart.
The flute melody drifted for three thousand miles, and the entire city heard the sound of the wooden flute.
Xiao Qingli opened her eyes in bewilderment.
The snake-person guard holding the longsword was frozen in place. The blade had stopped a mere inch from her, yet it could not be slashed down no matter what.
The clear and bright flute melody still echoed within the great hall.
Xiao Qingli turned her head and looked in the direction the sound was coming from.
She saw a figure slowly walking over.
It was Qingyuan.
She held a bamboo flute, playing with her eyes closed. Her feather-light rainbow garments fluttered in the wind as she walked step by step towards Xiao Qingli, moving through the hall full of armored, sword-wielding guards as if there was no one there.
With every step she took, a cluster of flames rose beneath her feet.
The flames were the color of colored glaze, burning along the edges of her clothes and blooming into lotus flowers.
She walked unhurriedly, advancing step by step.
Amidst the hall full of guards.
Amidst the panic-stricken dancers.
Following her footsteps, the surrounding guards fell down one after another, as if they had fallen into the deepest of dreams.
Under the burning of the flames, her feathered garments gradually transformed into a white robe, her smooth throat grew an Adam's apple, and her full chest flattened out.
Finally, when she arrived in front of Xiao Qingli.
Xiao Qingli saw clearly.
It was a man.
He had a delicate appearance, not particularly handsome, but he carried an aura as warm and gentle as a spring breeze. A faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth, just like a boy-next-door. His clothes were whiter than snow, as white as the snow-capped mountains described in storybooks.
His flute music was more pleasant than a clear spring.
The bad people fell asleep upon hearing it.
He stood in front of her, and behind him were the fallen bad people who had wanted to hurt her.
The melody finally came to an end.
Ye Shu lowered the bamboo flute and looked down at the teary-eyed little girl looking up at him. He reached out a hand to her and smiled faintly:
"Do not be afraid, I am here."
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
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.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
