Power aside, its appearance alone was incredibly unremarkable.
The blade was completely silver-white, lacking any intimidating gleam, with only a few lines of fine runes carved along its spine.
Other than that, there was nothing special about it.
Let alone comparing it to his demonic sword, Bayana, even the standard-issue knight swords of the Storm Territory Knights looked more intimidating than this sword.
"This is it?" Ye Chuan muttered, stepping toward the center of the altar.
"Lord Xi Xi! You mustn't!" Seeing this, the Pope quickly stepped forward to stop him, reminding him in an urgent tone.
"This Hero's Sword is bound to the origin of the world. Only the destined Hero chosen by the world can touch and pull it out."
"Anyone other than the Hero who approaches will be repelled by the guardian power on the sword. If you forcefully touch it, you might even suffer a backlash from the origin power!"
"Repel? Backlash?" Ye Chuan waved his hand. "I'd like to see exactly how it repels me."
As his words fell, he had already reached the core of the altar and reached out to grasp the cold hilt.
The moment his fingertips touched the hilt, a surge of power instantly erupted from the blade, violently bouncing toward Ye Chuan's palm.
Ye Chuan subconsciously channeled his chaotic power to resist, but that force was like flowing water, passing right through his chaotic power. It didn't clash with his power head-on at all, yet it firmly locked the hilt in place, preventing him from moving it even a fraction.
Hmm?
It can actually resist chaos?
Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow and added a bit more force to his hand.
Even if the chaotic power had no effect, Ye Chuan's raw stats were still there.
Let alone a sword, he could easily flip over the entire Holy Mountain with a wave of his hand.
But no matter how hard he pulled, the Hero's Sword remained completely motionless, as if it had grown into the altar.
He tried a few more times, going from gentle probing to full exertion, but the result was the same.
Not only did the blade remain completely still, but that guardian power grew increasingly stronger, faintly showing signs of a counterattack, as if warning him, a non-Hero, to stop attempting to touch it.
"Interesting." Ye Chuan let go, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the hilt.
It wasn't a lack of strength; it was an absolute rejection on the level of rules.
This sword was locked down by the origin rules of this world. Only someone recognized as the Hero could gain its approval.
The Pope, watching this from the side, sighed softly, a bit of helplessness in his tone. "Lord Xi Xi, it's not that your strength is insufficient. Other than the true Hero, no one can control it."
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Ye Chuan casually raise his hand toward the Hero's Sword on the altar.
A flash of white light.
The Hero's Sword, which had been firmly planted in the core of the altar, vanished without a trace in an instant.
The Pope's words came to an abrupt halt, the expression on his face instantly freezing.
He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes vigorously, staring fixedly at the empty core of the altar. But the Hero's Sword, which had accompanied the Holy Church for a millennium, was truly gone!
"The... the sword?!" the Pope cried out in disbelief, his aged face filled with extreme shock and bewilderment. He staggered forward two steps, almost tripping onto the altar.
"Where is the Hero's Sword?! How could it be gone?!"
Kalisia, who was standing to the side, was also dumbfounded. What was going on?
How did the sword just disappear all of a sudden?
While the two were still stunned, Ye Chuan casually flipped his hand, and the completely silver-white Hero's Sword appeared securely in his grasp.
He even tossed it lightly, weighing the blade in his hand, and raised an eyebrow with a look of total indifference.
"If I can't pull it out, can't I just take it away directly?" Ye Chuan couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the Pope, who was about to faint on the spot.
His spatial backpack was completely unbound by the rules of this world.
Regardless of what it was, he simply issued a storage command and snatched the sword right into his backpack.
And then he took it out.
It was basically a cheat code.
The Pope looked at the Hero's Sword being toyed with in Ye Chuan's hands and felt completely numb.
What kind of unreasonable maneuver was this?! You just bypassed the rules of the world!
"T-This is against the rules!" The Pope's voice was trembling as he pointed at the sword in Ye Chuan's hand, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.
"H-How did you do that?! T-This is a sacred relic bound to the world's origin!"
"Rules are dead, but people are alive." Ye Chuan waved his hand, too lazy to explain the mechanics of his system space to him. His attention had already fully landed on the Hero's Sword in his hand.
With a thought, the sword's attribute panel instantly floated clearly before his eyes:
[Item: Hero's Sword (White)
Hero Exclusive
The origin sword of the Aether Continent. For every ten percent reduction in the human population, the tier of the Hero's Sword increases by one level. Possesses an armor-breaking effect against special demons.]
Ye Chuan silently looked at the Hero's Sword's attributes. He hadn't expected it to only be of white quality, but the words below made him slowly draw in a breath.
A ten percent reduction in the human population increases the Hero's Sword's tier by one level?
Ye Chuan calculated the current tiers.
If more humans died, wouldn't the quality of the Hero's Sword reach an existence far higher than red quality?
"No wonder Lilith said the Hero was quite fierce. It seems it really is quite fierce, it just requires sacrificing the majority of the world's population."
Ye Chuan felt that the trait of this Hero's Sword was quite abstract.
However, in that case, it seemed he still couldn't use it?
"Um, Lord Xi Xi, what are you thinking about?" At this time, the Pope beside him asked, seeing as Ye Chuan had been staring at the sword in his hand, seemingly deep in thought.
"Oh, I was just thinking about whether I could directly melt this sword down and reforge it." Ye Chuan's words almost made the Pope jump in shock.
"Melt it down?!!!!!!!!"
"Why are you so excited?" Ye Chuan glanced at the Pope's wide-eyed, furious expression. "I was just saying it casually."
Although he was very confident in his forging skills, Ye Chuan also wasn't sure what the Hero's Sword would look like after being reforged.
He was just afraid of losing its traits.
Moreover, looking at it now, it seemed he couldn't use this Hero's Sword at all.
"Hero..." Ye Chuan thought for a moment, and finally put the Hero's Sword away. For now, it seemed he still needed to find a way to draw the Hero out.
And then he would devour the Hero's power, so he could use this sword.
"Um, Lord Xi Xi, what are you thinking about now?" the Pope asked from the side, seeing that Ye Chuan appeared to be deep in thought again.
"Oh, I'm thinking about how to draw the Hero out and butcher them." Ye Chuan's words almost made the Pope jump up again.
"Butcher the Hero?!!!!!!!!"
The Pope felt that the world had gone mad.
No, could this Lord Xi Xi be the Demon King in disguise?! This way of speaking was even more demonic than the Demon King's!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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.”
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."
] 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.
