"Kekeke... my little darlings, come on! Let’s have some fun!" Gu Qingfeng looked down at the horde of demons and monsters, laughing wildly.
The demons roared in fury and surged forward in a frenzied rush.
Gu Qingfeng watched their murderous onslaught with ecstatic delight. He didn’t dodge or move an inch, firmly blocking the exit, clearly intending to take their attacks head-on.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless surges of demonic energy erupted, causing the heavens and earth to tremble violently!
Gale winds, scorching suns, towering mountains—various supernatural phenomena manifested from the demons’ hands, relentlessly crashing toward Gu Qingfeng.
"Kekeke... level up for me, damn it!"
Gu Qingfeng cackled madly as his figure was swallowed by the demonic energy. But then...
Something bizarre happened.
The system’s notification sound didn’t ring.
"What’s going on?!" Gu Qingfeng shuddered in shock.
Did the damn system malfunction? Where’s the notification?
But then he reconsidered—if the system really had malfunctioned, why was he still completely unharmed?
"System, System, are you there?" Gu Qingfeng hurriedly called out in his mind.
"Here." The system’s cold, aloof voice responded promptly.
Hearing its voice, Gu Qingfeng immediately relaxed. The system was his greatest trump card—if it disappeared, he’d be screwed!
"System, were you napping just now? So many divine-level demons attacked me, why didn’t my stats increase?"
"This system is named the Become Stronger When Attacked by Demons System. Please comprehend its function yourself."
Damn it!
Gu Qingfeng cursed out loud. Ever since he got this system, the brain-dead thing seemed capable of only spouting that one sentence.
Still, the system’s words gave him a clue. If the system only worked when attacked by demons, and he wasn’t getting stronger despite being ganged up on, then there was only one explanation.
The ones attacking him weren’t demons.
Gu Qingfeng glanced at the circle of ferocious monsters around him. If these weren’t demons, then what the hell were they?
Just as he was racking his brain in confusion—suddenly!
The entire blood-red space shattered like a mirror, countless cracks appearing out of nowhere. The grotesque demons burst apart one after another, vanishing like bubbles.
Once the space fully collapsed, an entirely different scene was revealed.
It was as if Gu Qingfeng had traveled through time and space, abruptly shifting from a demon-infested hellscape to the immortal realm.
Lush green mountains, crystal-clear waters, and layers of mist-shrouded peaks stretched before him. White cranes soared through the skies, while deer darted through the forests.
A waterfall cascaded down as if pouring from the heavens, its source invisible. Majestic palaces stood atop mountain peaks, veiled in white mist like celestial abodes.
Immortals occasionally flew past—some riding swords like exiled deities, others drifting on clouds, chasing rainbows.
Everything was exactly as one would imagine the immortal realm to be.
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Gu. You have passed the Trial of Heart’s Reflection."
A voice came from behind Gu Qingfeng. He turned to see Jue Mingzi, the speaker, standing there with the same warm, gentle smile as before—so comforting it could make one feel bathed in spring breeze.
Yet, looking at that smiling face, Gu Qingfeng had the overwhelming urge to punch it.
He wasn’t stupid. Putting together the system’s earlier behavior and Jue Mingzi’s mention of the "Trial of Heart’s Reflection," he understood exactly what had just happened.
And now he was furious—not just because Jue Mingzi had deceived him, but because that whole demon feast had been fake!
It felt like winning the lottery, only to find out the numbers were from last week’s draw—pure disappointment!
Seeing Gu Qingfeng’s dark expression, Jue Mingzi quickly explained, "Fellow Daoist Gu, please don’t take offense. The Trial of Heart’s Reflection is a test every newcomer must undergo. With the demonic forces growing stronger, we in the Hidden Realm must take precautions to prevent traitors from infiltrating. This was a necessary measure."
I’ll endure it!
Gu Qingfeng suppressed the urge to beat Jue Mingzi senseless. He kept reminding himself—this was the territory of human divine-realm experts, not demons. He had to stay low-key.
While he understood the Hidden Realm’s reasoning—after all, a demon-revealing mirror could only confirm if someone was human, not whether they had sided with demons—adding a heart trial made sense. But understanding didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed.
Once he became invincible, he’d make sure Jue Mingzi learned why flowers were so red!
"Alright, Fellow Daoist Gu, come with me to meet the Dark Emperor."
Huff.
Gu Qingfeng took a deep breath. "Let’s go."
Jue Mingzi nodded, then raised his hand toward the sky. A cloud drifted down to his feet, and he stepped onto it, soaring away.
Gu Qingfeng watched enviously. Speed aside, the sheer coolness factor was undeniable—and being cool was a lifelong pursuit!
Unable to summon clouds himself, Gu Qingfeng had to rely on brute-force flight to catch up. "Fellow Daoist Jue Mingzi, I’ve noticed many in the Hidden Realm can ride clouds. Is this a divine-realm-exclusive ability?"
"Fellow Daoist Gu, you reached the divine realm through sheer effort, without inherited teachings, so it’s natural you wouldn’t know these minor techniques. Divine-realm cultivators can borrow the power of heaven and earth through their divine souls to cast spells—cloud-riding being one of them. The Hidden Realm has a Scripture Pavilion containing many divine-realm techniques. After meeting the Dark Emperor, I’ll take you there."
Gu Qingfeng was intrigued. During his battle with Silver Prince, he’d noticed that divine-realm combat was entirely different from that of ordinary martial artists. With a wave of his hand, Silver Prince summoned gale winds, while pre-divine-realm fighters relied on brute swings of swords and fists.
It was like transitioning from warrior to mage.
What excited him wasn’t the power of spells—nothing could surpass his Indestructible Demon-Dragon Body—but the sheer coolness factor.
Summoning clouds and commanding wind and rain with a flick of the wrist was infinitely more stylish than just swinging fists.
He’d definitely visit the Scripture Pavilion later. At least then this trip to the Hidden Realm wouldn’t be a total waste.
Soon, the two arrived before a grand palace.
Descending, they entered the hall.
Inside, over a dozen figures stood waiting. At their forefront was a man clad in dark golden robes, his face hidden behind a golden mask. Each exuded an ethereal aura, like immortals descended from the heavens.
Gu Qingfeng’s heart tightened. Among them were several peak divine-realm experts, and the masked leader’s power was utterly unfathomable—even his divine soul, enhanced to peak divine-realm level by Silver Prince’s sacrifice, couldn’t pierce through!
This defied logic. If even peak divine-realm perception couldn’t gauge this man’s strength... did that mean he had surpassed the divine realm?
"Dark Emperor, this is the newcomer, Fellow Daoist Gu Shenghui," Jue Mingzi introduced.
ave】 Shen Qingling was a man with peerless looks, a cunning mind, and the ability to play both the aloof noble and the innocent sweetheart—a master of seduction who could outplay any player. But after an untimely death, he found himself bound to a system and transmigrated into the tragic "true young master" of a melodramatic novel. In the original story, his childhood sweetheart treated him as a backup plan, his fiancée swore to break off their engagement for the sake of the "fake young master," and his own sister saw him as the family's disgrace. He was nothing more than a rat everyone wanted to stomp on. System 077: "Your mission is to change the original fate and conquer the goddesses." Shen Qingling: "Thanks for the invite. If seduction had tiers, I’d be max level." His childhood sweetheart knelt, begging for forgiveness: "Qingling, I was wrong. Please give me another chance." His ex-fiancée refused to marry anyone else: "Shen Qingling, I was blind before. In this life, I’ll marry no one but you." A yandere CEO went mad for love: "Shen Qingling, you can only like me. I’ll stop at nothing to make you mine!" His green-tea sister clung to him daily: "Brother, look at me, won’t you? I’m more obedient than them—I love you the most~" At first, they scorned and trampled on him. Later, they burned themselves like moths to a flame, all for his sake. His looks were his weapon, his sweet words the bait—heroines obsessed over him, villains turned to madness for him. Shen Qingling became a true male siren, igniting battlefield after battlefield of women fighting for his affection. Years later, when System 077—now one of the elites—was asked how to become as outstanding as it, it lazily exhaled a smoke ring and replied: "Just know how to cheer ‘666’ at the right time."
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
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…
