"Let's go, return to the sect immediately," one of the men urged anxiously.
"But what about that centipede and the soul entity?" another man in black asked.
"Leave them for now," the first man replied. "The Nine Realms aren’t that vast. Finding them won’t be difficult, and we can eliminate them anytime. But this area unaffected by the Black Domain is far more important in comparison."
"Killing them would indeed be easy," the other man said. "But what puzzles me is how they vanished the moment they arrived here. Could there be some kind of teleportation array?"
"Hmph, there’s no teleportation array here. If there were, wouldn’t we have sensed its fluctuations with our strength?" the first man sneered. "They probably noticed our pursuit and used some means to escape. No matter—it’s insignificant!"
"True. Then we shouldn’t delay. Let’s report this place to the sect at once."
"Agreed."
"We’ll split up. You stay here and keep watch, checking for anything unusual. I’ll return to notify the Three Lives Sect."
After settling their plan, one remained behind while the other hurried back to the Three Lives Sect.
The black-clad man left behind circled the area but found nothing out of the ordinary. He then settled down in a spot to meditate.
---
Inside Dark Shadow Island, Yi Feng was troubled.
The monsters? Nearly all cleared out. The few left barely gave any experience.
As for his strength…
Yi Feng was utterly confused.
In his current state, was he strong or weak?
"Ding!"
Just as he brooded, a long-absent voice echoed in his mind.
"Host has reached the second stage of the Heavenly Tribulation. Please undergo the tribulation as soon as possible."
"Tribulation?"
"What tribulation?"
"And what’s this 'second stage'?"
Yi Feng shot to his feet.
"The first tribulation—tempering the heart—has already been successfully passed."
"The second tribulation—'break to rebuild'—must be completed promptly."
"'Break to rebuild'? What nonsense is that? And how am I supposed to do it?" Yi Feng pressed.
"'Break' means death. 'Rebuild' means rebirth," the system replied coldly.
Yi Feng exploded.
"You’re telling me to die?!"
The system clarified, "It is 'perish to rise anew'—first death, then revival."
"So you’re saying if I die, I won’t actually die? I’ll just come back to life?" Yi Feng asked hurriedly.
The system confirmed, "Correct."
"And what do I gain after reviving?" Yi Feng pressed further.
The system answered, "True immortality—even if the universe perishes."
Yi Feng stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Immortality…
It was tempting.
But was this damn system trying to trick him?
Probably not…
If he, the host, died, the system would cease to exist too.
So it wouldn’t make sense for the system to screw him over.
Besides, lately, the system had been pretty reliable—delivering promised cultivation boosts and confirming that killing monsters really did grant experience.
"Fine, I’ll die!" Yi Feng gritted his teeth. "But how should I do it?"
The system replied, "Any method."
"Please complete the tribulation within ninety-nine years. If the host fails, the Great Cataclysm at that time will bring true peril."
"In that case, actual death may occur!"
With that, the system fell silent.
"Oh."
Yi Feng let out a flat, indifferent "Oh."
The Great Cataclysm in ninety-nine years must be the one the system had mentioned before. A year had already passed, so ninety-nine remained.
But did it really need to remind him?
Dying was easy. Did he need ninety-nine years to figure it out?
Pfft.
Yi Feng scoffed and strode into the kitchen, grabbing a gleaming cleaver. With a swift spin, he pressed it against his neck.
"Hey."
He took a deep breath, shut his eyes, steeled himself—but the blade didn’t move.
"Damn, suicide really takes guts!"
Yi Feng grimaced. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
What if he didn’t die cleanly and ended up half-alive, suffering?
Clang!
He tossed the cleaver aside and walked out, hands behind his back.
Time to find another way.
The streets of Dark Shadow Island bustled with activity.
Elderly men played chess. Others exchanged flirtatious glances. The lively atmosphere was thick with the warmth of everyday life.
As Yi Feng wandered, he pondered.
After dying, how long until revival?
Immediately?
Unlikely.
In the novels he’d read in his past life, those who underwent "break to rebuild" usually went through a rebirth process—lasting months, years, or even decades.
If it took decades…
Yi Feng glanced at the white-haired elders around him.
Would they still be here by then?
"Better say my goodbyes."
He approached a chess game under a tree, where a crowd of elders had gathered.
Seeing Yi Feng, they greeted him warmly.
Ahem.
Yi Feng cleared his throat and announced solemnly, "Everyone, pause the game. I have something to say."
The group turned to him.
"I’ve come to bid you all farewell. Due to unavoidable circumstances… I’m going to die."
It took him a moment to say it, his expression tinged with sorrow. The thought of never seeing these elders again filled him with an inexplicable ache.
He could already imagine their grief—after all, they’d been neighbors for years. Surely, they shared a deep bond.
Regret crept in. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so blunt. He could’ve made up an excuse to spare their old hearts the pain.
As he braced himself for their tears and lamentations—
"Checkmate! Hah, you lose!"
A cheerful voice rang out.
"Let me take that back—just one move!"
"No way!"
The two players bickered.
"Move aside! My turn!"
"I’ve been waiting forever—finally!"
Others, eager for their chance, joined the commotion.
???
Yi Feng’s face twisted in confusion.
Did they not hear him?
He was going to die. No one cared? Not even a word of concern?
They were still playing chess?!
"Quiet!" Yi Feng barked.
The chatter died down as they turned to him again.
"I said—I’m going to die!"
Yi Feng scowled, emphasizing each word with grave seriousness.
The elders blinked.
Exchanged glances.
Then, in unison, they replied, "Oh."
And resumed their uproar.
"Come on, give up the seat!"
"If you’re this bad, stop embarrassing yourself!"
"My turn! Out of the way!"
Yi Feng’s eye twitched.
That was it? Just… Oh?
What do you mean?
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ress Kneels to Admit Wrong] [Dealing with Love-Struck Fools] [Forced to the Throne] Ren Tianye transmigrated into a female-oriented novel world, only to find everyone in it was utterly insane. He risked his life to save a young girl from barbarians, but was accused of arriving too late and branded the real murderer. He held a knife to a military officer's neck, demanding the troop tally, but the officer only cared about questioning his wife: "Do you not love me anymore? All these years of affection and time together, they were all a mistake, a mistake!" After seizing Yunji City, the original defending general, to save face with the Empress, knelt on the ground: "You must give Yunji City back to me, or I'll hang myself at the city gate and let everyone know you're a villain!" The young lord of the Duke's mansion, to please a woman, directly ordered a merchant: "The menstrual pads you buy for her must be studded with diamonds. Loving her means giving her the best." Having become a great general, he was about to marry a merchant's daughter, who set a pre-nuptial rule: "I can divorce you anytime. When that happens, you must give me half of your troops and soldiers!" Even the Empress was a severe love-struck fool, who ordered the execution of 70,000 elite troops simply because they stood in the way of her romance. Ren Tianye was speechless. He was done. Let it all burn! This deranged female-oriented novel world! ...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
