Although the princess had rejected him, Yin Xiao remained convinced that once he utterly crushed that lowly insect from the lower realm, she would surely change her mind.
Thus, Yin Xiao declared loudly, "Your Highness, it’s understandable that you don’t believe my words, as you’ve yet to witness my true strength. How about this—let me face your chosen trial-taker in battle. The victor shall represent you in the Taiyi Secret Realm, increasing your chances of claiming the top prize."
Inside the room, Gu Qingfeng trembled with excitement upon hearing this.
Finally, was it his turn to enjoy the protagonist’s treatment?
A villainous side character challenging the protagonist for the heroine’s sake?
What a delightfully classic trope unfolding before him.
After all these years of struggle in the lower realm, he’d never experienced such a privilege. Had his luck finally turned upon arriving in the upper realm?
Heh heh heh…
"Accept his challenge," Gu Qingfeng commanded.
"Hmm?" Shangguan Wan'er sounded puzzled but ultimately complied.
Moments later—click!
The door swung open, revealing Shangguan Wan'er and Gu Qingfeng stepping out.
The moment Yin Xiao laid eyes on Gu Qingfeng’s striking, peerless appearance, a flash of jealousy and resentment flickered in his gaze.
He had already resolved to teach this lower-realm upstart a brutal lesson—to show him that a toad lusting after swan meat was nothing but a delusion.
"Yin Xiao greets Her Highness."
"At ease," Shangguan Wan'er replied, her voice slightly hoarse—evidently fatigued from her earlier exertions.
"So, you’re the one challenging this Emperor?" Gu Qingfeng sneered.
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. That didn’t sound like a righteous protagonist’s line at all!
Yin Xiao snorted coldly. "A mere lower-realm trash dares to call himself ‘Emperor’? Know your place and surrender now if you want to avoid suffering."
Oh? Now this was the good stuff!
Next would come the beloved trope of the protagonist humiliating the arrogant fool.
Gu Qingfeng replied indifferently, "Enough talk. Let’s settle this with action."
"Fine. Since you’re eager to die, I’ll oblige!"
With that, the two took their positions, facing each other from a distance.
An overwhelming aura erupted from Yin Xiao, the pressure of an extreme-path cultivator, as if he were a sovereign reigning over the cosmos, his majesty shaking the heavens.
Gu Qingfeng stood unmoved, deliberately suppressing his own aura. If he released even a wisp, Yin Xiao would be crushed instantly—and where was the fun in that?
"You still have time to admit defeat," Yin Xiao taunted with a cold laugh.
In his mind, below the Immortal realm, he was invincible!
But was he truly? Not quite. Unlike the lower-realm Heavenly Emperors who had weathered countless trials, his reliance on upper-realm immortal techniques granted him an advantage—but not an insurmountable one.
Those techniques might place him among the top-tier Heavenly Emperors of the Cangming Realm, but he was no match for the absolute pinnacle experts, let alone figures like the Flame Emperor or Old Ghost.
"Invincible below the Immortal realm"? He was far from it.
"Are you all talk and no action?" Gu Qingfeng said flatly.
Enraged, Yin Xiao summoned a spear-like immortal weapon, its shaft engraved with coiling dragons.
"Die!"
Without hesitation, he unleashed a lethal strike. The spear radiated immortal light, transforming into a majestic golden dragon that surged toward Gu Qingfeng with devastating force.
Perfect!
Gu Qingfeng’s excitement grew. Finally, his moment to shine had arrived!
Just as he prepared to swat the golden dragon aside like a fly—a sudden twist!
A viper-like smirk twisted Yin Xiao’s face as his spear abruptly changed trajectory, hurtling toward Shangguan Wan'er instead!
The flashy golden dragon vanished, replaced by a single, piercing gleam—a concentrated point of frigid light, as if all the world’s coldness had been compressed into a needle of death.
This was a strike at the True Immortal level!
The shadow of death enveloped Shangguan Wan'er in an instant.
Stunned by the sudden betrayal, she barely had time to react before realizing escape was impossible. Instinctively, she screamed, "Master, save me!" and squeezed her eyes shut.
Yet, after a long moment, she realized she was still alive.
Cautiously, she peeked open her eyes—only to see an impossibly towering figure shielding her, his silhouette casting a protective shadow over her like an eaglet sheltered beneath its parent’s wings.
"Master!" Shangguan Wan'er cried out in relief.
This was the most genuine cry she had ever uttered, a clear sign she had fully succumbed to Stockholm syndrome.
Gu Qingfeng ignored her. His reason for saving her was simple: she was his property.
And one’s property was sacred and inviolable!
Yin Xiao, meanwhile, had undergone a complete transformation. Gone was the arrogant, brainless antagonist—now, he was a cold, calculating assassin, his eyes brimming with cruelty.
"You’re not even an Immortal, yet you blocked a True Immortal’s strike? Who are you?" Yin Xiao’s voice had changed too—now raspy and aged.
Gu Qingfeng’s expression twisted into sheer fury as he roared, "I’m your damn father! Why did you ruin my chance to humiliate you?! Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?!"
"I—" Yin Xiao barely managed a syllable before terror seized him.
Gu Qingfeng had vanished.
Then—a crushing grip clamped onto the back of his skull.
Horrified, he turned his gaze sideways to see a monstrous face inches from his own, its owner grinning with grotesque glee, baring bone-white teeth and crimson gums.
Before Yin Xiao could react, an overwhelming force yanked his head downward—SLAM!
His face was buried into the earth with such force that his body arched unnaturally, legs kicking upward. The ground shattered, and the surrounding palace collapsed in the shockwave.
Suddenly, a wisp of white smoke erupted from Yin Xiao’s body, streaking away at blinding speed.
Shangguan Wan'er gasped. "Soul-Possession Art! That’s the True Immortal’s soul!"
"Think you can escape?" Still seething, Gu Qingfeng would never let a mere True Immortal’s soul slip away.
His trillion-year cultivation surged forth, manifesting as a colossal hand that blotted out the sky—a divine palm like the Buddha’s Five Finger Mountain, vast beyond measure.
The True Immortal’s soul was the Monkey King, doomed to fail in escaping its grasp.
With a mere flick of his wrist, Gu Qingfeng seized the soul.
"Devour the Heavens and Earth!"
Without hesitation, he began absorbing the soul’s essence.
The True Immortal’s soul panicked. Dispersion was one thing—he could reform—but this devouring technique consumed his very origin, erasing him for good.
"Don’t kill me!" he shrieked. "Don’t you want to know who sent me to assassinate Shangguan Wan'er?!"
"No." Gu Qingfeng’s reply was ice-cold.
And with that, he drained the soul dry.
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
