That blatant disregard ignited a flicker of rage in the Golden-Winged Roc, whose life was already hanging by a thread. Its nearly dissipated spirit somehow found the strength to rally.
Slowly, Gu Qingfeng walked to the Ethereal Spirit Spring, bent down, and scooped the entire spring source into his palm-sized world.
"No!!"
The Golden-Winged Roc’s eyes nearly burst from fury. The Ethereal Spirit Spring—its most treasured possession, guarded for thousands of years—had just been snatched away.
"Huh? You’re still alive? As expected of a primordial ferocious beast, tougher than your average demon. Well then, allow me to send you off properly."
With that, Gu Qingfeng kicked the Golden-Winged Roc’s head clean off.
Golden-Winged Roc—deceased!
After dealing with the Roc, Gu Qingfeng stored its corpse and took out Sword Maniac’s Qiankun Ring, rummaging through it for the Emperor’s Scripture.
He figured someone of Sword Maniac’s status as a peerless genius would likely possess one.
Now that he had the Ethereal Spirit Spring, all he needed was the Emperor’s Scripture to condense a flawless Divine Core. He couldn’t wait any longer—his cultivation had stagnated at the Soul Realm for far too long, severely dragging down his overall strength.
But after searching for a while, Gu Qingfeng’s expression darkened.
Nothing. Still fucking nothing!
Damn that Sword Sect, hiding the Emperor’s Scripture so well!
Screw it, I’ll just ask Sword Maniac directly!
Gu Qingfeng immediately activated Earth-Treading Golden Light and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Inside the Hanging Heaven Secret Realm, he feared no one. He could do whatever he wanted. Once outside, these people would have their sect elders backing them—now was the time to act!
Thanks to the speed of Earth-Treading Golden Light, it didn’t take long for Gu Qingfeng to locate Sword Maniac, who was recuperating beneath a waterfall.
Whoosh!
A flash of golden light, and Gu Qingfeng appeared right beside him.
Sword Maniac jolted in shock, hastily rising to his feet. He never expected someone to approach him undetected.
Such terrifying speed!
When he sensed it was Gu Qingfeng, his face instantly tensed with wariness. "I’ve already given you everything. What else do you want?"
"Hand over the Emperor’s Scripture," Gu Qingfeng demanded without preamble.
Sword Maniac froze for a moment.
Just as Gu Qingfeng grew impatient and was about to threaten him—
"Fine."
This time, it was Gu Qingfeng’s turn to be stunned. The hell? That easy?
I haven’t even started torturing him yet. This Sword Sect’s so-called peerless genius is way too compliant.
"You’re giving in this quickly. Are you planning to trick me with a fake Emperor’s Scripture?"
Sword Maniac shook his head. "The Emperor’s Scripture embodies the laws—it’s a perfect entity. It’s impossible to forge. Tampering with the Emperor’s Words within it would disrupt its harmony, like ink stains on pristine paper. The flaws would be glaring."
Gu Qingfeng was half-convinced, but he wasn’t worried about being deceived. With his talent and insight, he’d see through any forgery.
"Then why agree so readily? Got a grudge against the Sword Sect?"
His mind immediately conjured up a dramatic scenario—a persecuted genius, biding his time for revenge.
Sword Maniac shook his head again. "The sect has treated me well. I’m only agreeing because I don’t want to die.
I can tell you’re the type who’ll stop at nothing to get what you want. If I refuse, you won’t let me go. Am I wrong?"
"Don’t slander me! I’m a man of peace. Everyone who knows me says so. Watch your words, or I’ll sue you for defamation. More importantly, where’s your pride as a peerless genius? Scared of death?"
"Pride doesn’t fill my stomach. And it’s not that I’m afraid to die—I just don’t want to. Not yet."
"What’s the difference?"
"‘Hearing the Dao in the morning, dying at dusk is acceptable.’ I want to witness the Supreme Sword Dao with my own eyes. Until then, I can’t die."
"And you think the Sword Sect will just let you hand over the Emperor’s Scripture like this?" Gu Qingfeng eyed him skeptically.
Sword Maniac stared back—despite the black silk blindfold, his gaze felt piercing.
"You don’t actually think the Sword Sect has kept its Emperor’s Scripture from leaking over tens of thousands of years just by relying on disciples keeping their mouths shut, do you?
No secret in this world stays hidden forever. Sooner or later, everything gets out. The Emperor’s Scripture is no exception.
The Sword Sect is powerful, but it can’t control hearts. There will always be disciples with ulterior motives.
Yet, even after all these millennia, no Emperor’s Scripture has ever circulated openly—not just the Sword Sect’s, but none from any Imperial Court or immortal sect. Do you know why?"
"Tch! Are you asking for a beating? I’m the one questioning you here. Spout any more nonsense, and I’ll make sure you never lay eyes on that Supreme Sword Dao!" Gu Qingfeng threatened.
Sword Maniac was taken aback. So this is the so-called ‘man of peace’?
A wry smile tugged at his lips as he hurriedly explained, "The reason the Emperor’s Scripture has never spread isn’t secrecy—it’s strength."
"Strength?"
Gu Qingfeng instantly grasped his meaning.
"Exactly. The Imperial Courts and immortal sects are so powerful that anyone who dares learn their Emperor’s Scripture is erased. They don’t fear leaks because they’ll hunt down and kill anyone who studies it. That’s the real reason it’s never surfaced.
So even if I give you the Sword Sect’s Emperor’s Scripture, the sect won’t punish me. They’ll just send someone to kill you. And when an Imperial Court wants someone dead, no distance is too far."
"Well, well..." Gu Qingfeng mused. "Now that’s what I call dominance. Cutting the problem off at the root."
"But here’s a question—what if I learn the Emperor’s Scripture, then kill you? No one would know I’ve studied it, right?"
Unfazed, Sword Maniac replied calmly, "It won’t work. The Emperor’s Scripture isn’t something you can hide once learned. The Sword Sect will sense it."
"What if someone from another Imperial Court learns it? Would that start a war between two Imperial factions?"
"The Emperor’s Scripture is the scripture of the Heavenly Emperor—a sovereign’s edict, bearing supreme laws. Heavenly Emperors are beings who suppress the myriad Daos of heaven and earth with their own. No one can master two Emperor’s Scriptures. Attempting it means death.
Every Imperial Court believes their Heavenly Emperor is the strongest and their scripture the most profound. They’d never study another’s.
Besides, not just anyone can learn the Emperor’s Scripture. Unless you’re a peerless genius like me, it’d be like reading the stars—utterly incomprehensible."
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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.
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
