"Another monster?!"
A golden streak of light, dazzling like a meteor, seemed ready to scorch through the clouds.
"What is that?!" Wang Yanran gasped.
The three leader-level Molten Rock Lizards and the hundreds of ordinary ones were terrifying enough, but that golden meteor filled her with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
"Roar?" Sensing the terrifying pressure, the massive Molten Rock Lizards raised their heads and let out furious cries.
At that moment, the golden meteor plummeted straight down!
With a deafening boom, the shockwave swept outward like a hurricane, making everyone's clothes flap violently—some even got blown off their feet!
Amid the billowing dust, faint golden arcs of electricity flickered, and a pair of dark red, eye-like lights glowed ominously.
The oppressive aura made everyone present tremble, stunned by the figure's majestic presence.
"Boom!" Another shockwave dispersed the dust, revealing a beam of sunlight shining down on the golden dragon-shaped armor, refracting a resplendent glow.
So terrifying!
Centered around the golden armor, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground. He stood there, drawing the gaze of every person and monster present.
Wang Yanran, in despair, raised her walkie-talkie to call for Alliance reinforcements when she suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Ugh, I'm gonna puke."
The golden armor seemed to be cradling a figure—a white-haired girl dry-heaving as she dangled limply in Ye Chuan's arms, her limbs and backpack swaying in the air.
When Wang Yanran recognized Lan Xiaoke, her eyes snapped back to the golden armor.
"Ye Chuan?"
Hearing his name, the golden armor turned its head, as if surprised to see Wang Yanran there, and gave a slight nod.
"He's on our side!" Wang Yanran immediately announced, making everyone relax.
If the Molten Rock Lizards had made them feel powerless, the golden armor before them was the kind of foe that would leave them in utter despair.
Feeling the stares around him, Ye Chuan struggled to suppress the grin tugging at his lips.
Realizing no one could see his expression, he finally let it spread wide.
No way, he couldn’t hold it back.
How could this armor be so damn cool?
"ROAR!!!" Before Ye Chuan could act, the Molten Rock Lizards seemed to sense the threat and let out low growls before charging at him!
"Watch out!" Wang Yanran shouted, but she quickly realized her warning was unnecessary.
Ye Chuan’s strength made worrying pointless.
"Oh? Foundation-level monsters? The rift creatures are getting stronger?" Ye Chuan sensed the auras of the leader monsters—already nearing the Foundation stage.
At that level, they could easily wipe out everyone here, since even Wang Yanran, the strongest among them, was only at Qi Condensation.
Ye Chuan casually tossed Lan Xiaoke aside, ignoring her startled "Wah!" as he lightly tapped the ground with his foot.
An invisible ripple spread outward, forcibly halting the charging Molten Rock Lizards mid-movement—as if frozen in place!
The next moment, Ye Chuan simply stood there, unmoving.
He did nothing. Just a flicker of the dark-red visor in his eyes, and the leader Molten Rock Lizards exploded into bloody mist!
"What?!" The super-soldiers present were dumbfounded.
H-how did he do that?
Those leader-level monsters just… popped?
"I am the phoenix reborn, I am my own emperor~"
A background melody kicked in at the perfect moment, syncing flawlessly with Ye Chuan’s radiant golden armor.
But all eyes turned elsewhere—toward Zhang Chao, who was holding up his phone, playing the music. Noticing the stares, he coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem, I just thought it fit the mood."
After Zhang Chao turned off the music, Ye Chuan scanned the remaining Molten Rock Lizards in the distance. He raised a hand, initially planning to summon flying swords to wipe them out, but it didn’t seem to match his current armor’s style.
"Beam."
A low-tier light magic spell erupted—a thick, water-vat-sized ray instantly vaporized dozens of Molten Rock Lizards in the distance, the blinding golden light forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
A few more beams later, only deep trenches and scattered particles of evaporated monsters remained.
"Y-Ye Chuan, we can handle the rest," Wang Yanran quickly spoke up. She wasn’t entirely sure if this figure was really Ye Chuan, but with such an overwhelming presence, who else could it be?
Still, where did he get that golden armor?
Hearing her, Ye Chuan stopped. The remaining Molten Rock Lizards were already paralyzed with fear, trembling uncontrollably.
"Uh, Ye Chuan, monster remains are valuable for research," Wang Yanran explained. They needed materials for studies and equipment crafting.
While Ye Chuan’s instant kills were efficient, they left nothing behind—not even scraps.
"Mn." Ye Chuan acknowledged, then glanced at Lan Xiaoke, who was still dizzy from being tossed around. "Xiaoke, time to work."
"Wah-wah-wah?" Lan Xiaoke looked like she was about to throw up. Floating unsteadily, she whined, "Do I really have to?"
"Get moving. Why else would I bring you?" Ye Chuan crossed his arms, sitting on a rock, the metallic clinks of his armor producing a pleasing friction sound.
"Fine…" Lan Xiaoke didn’t dare complain. Despite being at the Foundation stage, she hadn’t learned any real combat techniques.
She reached under her skirt and pulled out a two-meter-long giant hammer.
Floating to the nearest Molten Rock Lizard—which couldn’t see her due to her ghostly form—she swung down.
"Hyah!"
The hammer crushed the lizard’s skull instantly, its body collapsing lifelessly.
One by one, Lan Xiaoke went around smashing heads. But to the other super-soldiers, it looked like the monsters were being drained by some unseen force.
Just… pop, pop, pop.
After all, aside from a few Wang family members, no one else could see Lan Xiaoke.
"Her combat methods are too limited…" Ye Chuan watched her mindlessly hammering away and considered giving her more techniques.
Right now, she was just bullying weaklings with sheer level advantage—against real opponents, she’d struggle.
The rift monsters were evolving faster than Ye Chuan expected. Foundation-level creatures were already appearing.
Meanwhile, Wang Yanran hesitated, clearly burning with curiosity about Ye Chuan’s armor.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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.”
